I have never been a poker tournament director, but I would imagine one of the most difficult aspects of the job is making rulings on hands in which there are both confusion and disagreement at the table. Especially in a situation where there are potentially millions of dollars at stake. Such was the case this weekend with a controversial hand deep into the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, a hand that may have shaped the rest of the tournament.

It was very late on Day 5, close to 1:00 in the morning, and there were about 100 players remaining of the original 6,598. The action at one of the tables folded all the way around to France’s Gaelle Baumann under the gun, who opened the pre-flop betting with a min-raise to 60,000. The button folded and then Andras Koroknai of Hungary moved all-in for somewhere around 2 million chips from the small blind. Gavin Smith then folded from the big blind and the action was back to Baumann, one of the tournament’s chip leaders.

But it wasn’t. As soon as Smith folded, Koroknai mucked his cards, thinking that the hand was over and that he had won. For whatever reason, he didn’t realize Baumann had raised or even bet anything at all. He thought he had been the first to act, so when Smith folded, the hand was finished. When he realized what he had done, he tried to retrieve his cards from the muck, but was only able to positively locate one of them.

Gaelle Bauman is a professional poker player and is seen as a role model for the female poker community. Early Life, Family & Personal Details: Gaelle was born on 26 April 1983 in Strasbourg, France. She is the only girl in her family and has 2 older brothers. Gaelle Baumann Baumann Poker Gail Baumann Florida Gymnastics Alyssa Baumann Aviva Baumann NCIS Baumann Poker Player Miss Austria Swimsuit Gymnastics Floor Black.

Tournament Director Dennis Jones was called over and after some thought, he decided that Koroknai would lose the 60,000 chips that would have amounted to a call, but he would get to keep the rest of his stack. The players, particularly Baumann and Smith, were confused by the ruling, so Jones called WSOP VP Jack Effel, who confirmed the decision. Jones cited the “integrity of the tournament” as the reason for not requiring Koroknai to lose all of his chips.

As it turned out, Koroknai would go on to eliminate Baumann in 10th place a couple days later, dashing the hopes the poker community had of seeing the first woman at the Main Event final table since 1995, when Barbara Enright placed 5th (he also eliminated Elisabeth Hille in 11th place). Koroknai goes into the final table 2nd in chips.

When this hand was originally reported, much of the poker community was up in arms. It was an angleshoot! He mucked, he’s done! Too bad, don’t be so stupid next time! The outrage was deafening.

But here’s the thing, it was the correct ruling. Official WSOP rule 89 states:

All chips put into the pot in turn stay in the pot. If a Participant has raised and his or her hand is killed before the raise is called, the Participant may be entitled to the raise back, but will forfeit the amount of the call. Any chips put into the pot out of turn fall under the action “may or may not be binding” Rule No. 88.

Koroknai raised all-in. His hand was killed before the raise was called, albeit by Koroknai himself, but it was still killed. According to the rule, he gets his raise back, but loses the amount of the call which was 60,000 chips.

So really, case closed.

But even if that rule did not exist, if the Tournament Director had to just come up with a decision out of thin air, I still don’t have a problem with the ruling. I agree with the “integrity of the tournament” opinion (which also makes it seem like the Tournament Director did not remember the rule quoted above and was, in fact, just making a judgment call). From everything I have read, it does not appear that Koroknai was trying to be devious, he wasn’t angleshooting. He didn’t know what Baumann had. It may have been the result of fatigue or the language barrier or any number of things, but it looked like he honestly did not realize Baumann had raised and he mucked as soon as Smith folded. He didn’t wait to see if Baumann might call and then mucked his hand. He thought the hand was over.

Sure, he should have known to protect his cards until the dealer shipped him the pot, but everyone makes mistakes.

In a case like this, when there was obviously no intent to cheat or angleshoot, it wouldn’t make sense to just say, “Sorry, even though we know nobody in their right mind would forfeit all their chips while all-in, we’re going to take them because, mistake or not, you mucked.” That wouldn’t be in the spirit of the game.

Things are more complicated because one card was irretrievable, but that doesn’t negate my point that the logical and reasonable thing to do would be to allow Koroknai to stay in the tournament. Maybe penalizing him an orbit or making him forfeit some additional chips (say, in the amount of a min-raise or something) would be appropriate, but to send him home for doing something that he obviously didn’t intend to do would be ludicrous.

Word is that Baumann eventually showed pocket Kings, so unless Koroknai had Aces, she likely would have won the hand, but that’s beside the point. Plus, who knows, it may have been a lucky break for her, as she might’ve avoided a suckout. But none of that really matters. The floor made the correct decision, even if it wasn’t laid out in black and white in the rulebook.

This is Volume 5 of an ongoing series in which PokerNews looks back on some of the most memorable hands recorded in the long history of live reporting on this site. To read more about the concept and which hands make the cut, check out Volume 1.

All In But Card-Less

Everyone who has ever played more than a few hours of live poker has had 'a moment.' A moment where he or she loses track of something at the table, be it the action, their own cards, or something else. What results is usually out of turn action or a fundamental playing error, and these can be quite costly.

Having such a moment occur in the World Series of Poker Main Event is the nightmare scenario, and that's exactly what happened to Andras Koroknai deep in the 2012 Main.

With fewer than 100 players left out of 6,598, Andras Koroknai moved all in from the small blind for 2 million at 15,000/30,000/4,000. Big blind Gavin Smith mucked his holding and Koroknai flung his cards to the dealer and prepared to rake in the pot.

Only one problem: unbeknown to Koroknai, Gaelle Baumann had actually opened the pot under the gun for 60,000. Koroknai attempted to retrieve his cards, but only one could be fished out for certain. Smith chuckled at the absurd scenario after the tournament director arrived, but things were deadly serious for Koroknai as he had committed his whole stack but mucked his hand.

Fortunately for Koroknai, the TD determined he'd only have to forfeit 60,000. Baumann asked for a clarification and a phone call to Jack Effel affirmed the ruling, as the 'integrity of the tournament' took precedence over Koroknai's mistake.

Koroknai got lucky in more ways than one. Not only did he dodge what could have been an epic disaster, but he also avoided playing a pot against Baumann, who Smith said showed pocket kings.

While Gaelle Baumann would eventually bubble the final table that year ($590,442), Andras Koroknai went on to finish sixth for $1,640,902. Canada's Gavin Smith finished 96th for $62,021.

Eight-Deuce Offsuit Binks for $30K

Gaelle Baumann Husband

The oldest trick in the poker player's book for passing the time, mindlessly gambling or paying out those odd dollars in home games, is running out hands and seeing who wins. PokerStars decided to take that to the next level in one of their first $30,000 Platinum Pass giveaways. They selected a random table on Day 2 of the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in which the players would participate in a blind hand, with the winner claiming a Pass.

Gaelle Baumann Net Worth

Table 34 was drawn and the staff honed in on the lucky locale. Six of the seven players were present, with only Thai Ha still missing. Nonetheless, he was dealt a hand along with his neighbors and everyone flipped over a card after the flop was spread:

Top pair for Mike Leah, middle pair for Joseph Drory and a combo draw for Pavel Ignatov.

The turn didn't change much of anything but the river made things interesting as it paired the board.

Jahangir Nazemian revealed he missed as he had a worthless . Likewise Jonathan West with , Mei Siu with , Ignatov with , and Joseph Drory with . Leah didn't improve but still held the winner with . However, Ha's card was revealed to be the , good for trips and the Platinum Pass.

Gaelle Baumann Poker

A disbelieving Ha showed up and probably needed to pinch himself. Walking into a poker room and being told you've won a Platinum Pass is the epitome of running good, and Ha has locked up positive equity for the rest of his life in flipouts. Ha will be able to redeem the pass for an entry ticket into the upcoming PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship in January of 2019.

Balsiger Keeps the Marathon Going

The 2012 WSOP Main Event infamously lasted longer than nearly any other WSOP Main Event final table up to that point. It set a record for the longest stretch of play without an elimination, when three-handed play between Jesse Sylvia, Greg Merson, and Jake Balsiger went on for about 11 hours across 247 hands.

Michael Baumann Facebook

The journey there was a long one, requiring numerous doubles as Sylvia and Balsiger mostly chased Merson, who came in with the chip lead. However, it could have been done much sooner than it was if not for a stroke of luck saving Balsiger on the 289th hand of the final table.

At 600,000/1,200,000/200,000, Sylvia raised to 2.4 million on the button. Balsiger, on a stack of just 17 million, shoved from the small blind. Merson mucked but Sylvia called after some thought.

Sylvia:
Balsiger:

Balsiger needed help or the Main Event was about to be heads up. No waiting as the brought him a big lead on the flop and the sealed it on the turn.

Had Sylvia won the hand, he would have gone into heads-up play with Merson on very deep stacks and not far behind in chips with about 92 million against 106 million. Instead, the three-handed war lasted about four more hours, with Balsiger even moving into the chip lead at one point. However, he'd eventually bust in third (worth $3,799,073) nonetheless, leaving Merson up 117 million to 80 million at 1,000,000/2,000,000/300,000.

Gaelle Baumann Age

Would a different result here have changed the course of poker history and ended with Sylvia being crowned Main Event champion? Nobody will ever know, but everyone — players and staff — certainly had to buckle down and settle in for five more hours of grinding in what turned out to be a marathon of a final day.

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