Poker Star Accused of Cheating in $250K World Series Event

The term "poker face" is "an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person's thoughts or feelings," according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Unsurprisingly, it stems from poker players, who must maintain a neutral face while playing a hand, whether good or bad. Because most poker players have perfected the look, it comes as no surprise that they would also be able to keep their cool while cheating. This week a professional poker player was publically accused of cheating during the World Series of Poker event and the interaction has gone viral. 

The event, which required a whopping $250,000 buy-in from each player, brought some of the top poker players to Las Vegas. However, only one would go home with the mega jackpot. 

On June 18, Dan Smith was eliminated from the game, ending up in 6th place. However, he accused Martin Kabrhel, 40, of cheating – but not before publically accusing him of cheating. 

"Your antics are the worst of anyone I've ever played with," Smith says to Kabrhel, in a video that has gone viral. "Good luck most of you. I hope you get barred (banned)."

Out of 69 players, Kabrhel finished third, bringing home $2.3 million from the Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em event, the "biggest buy-in of the summer." However, he is now being investigated for cheating. 

After the video went viral, other players tweeted their support of Smith and supporting claims that Kabrhel is a cheater. "Dan is 100% right. Martin should be banned. He has a history of repeatedly marking cards to try to cheat and everyone in the high roller community knows it…," wrote poker player Hayley Hanna."Not only that but Martin makes the experience unpleasant by being rude, yelling in peoples ears nonstop, taking full time when he knows he's folding, standing over people to "see their stack" when he's clearly trying to angle."

Another pro player, Andrew Robl,  tweeted that he has seen him "mark cards in every tournament" he's played him in. "He makes any tournament no fun for anyone and on top of it I've seen him mark cards in every tournament I've ever played with him."

The World Series of Poker issued a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, revealing that the situation is under investigation. "While we do not discuss specific security protocols used to monitor players and gaming equipment, the integrity of the game remains paramount and we can assure fellow patrons that we are taking these allegations very seriously," it say. "As this is an ongoing investigation, there is no further comment on the matter at this time."

Kabrhel defended himself on Twitter. "On behalf of yesterday situation I feel necessary to speak up," he tweeted. "@Andrew_Robl yesterday posted on twitter an accusation that I'm marking cards and cheating in poker tournaments. I was shocked by how quickly people took it as true, pure statement with no evidence and started media blizzard in which I am portrayed as cheater."