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A lot has transpired in the poker world this week. From controversy to craziness, it’s all here!
The European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona is well on its way to crowning a champion in the €5,300 Main Event, but no event in poker is ever truly complete without a side dish of controversy to accompany it. In the latest incident, Chinese player Quan Zhou was accused of angle-shooting on Day 3 of the Main Event, while playing a hand against Nikolay Ponomarev. While no action was taken against Zhou and the incident did not impact the ultimate outcome of the hand, it did raise many eyebrows within the poker community, with several fans and players asking for Zhou to be penalized.
While Zhou’s alleged angle-shoot had no consequences, Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates cash game session against Isaac Haxton at Bobby’s Room in the Bellagio saw the former dropping nearly $160,000. Cates even went on to call Haxton as the “Prince of Darkness” after the session.
European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona €5,300 Main Event completed its Day 3 last night, and while the event was already in the spotlight for achieving a record-breaking field of 1,988 entries, the event courted controversy through an alleged angle-shooting incident.
The incident occurred when Quan Zhou opened to 6,000 with and Nikolay Ponomarev 3-bet to 18,500 with . The action folded to Zhou who tanked for some time and then appeared to fold his cards. With two fingers, he moved the cards a few inches towards the dealer, seemingly signifying a fold. But he then took his cards back to indicate he wasn’t yet ready to give up on the hand.
In the meantime, Ponomarev had slightly lifted his cards, partially exposing them to other players. Zhou appeared to have taken a glance at his opponent’s hole cards before putting in a call.
The flop brought giving Ponomarev the lead with a two pair. He led out again and this time Zhou seemingly folded for good.
The incident was immediately criticized with commentators calling Zhou’s action questionable.
The incident was also a part of the live coverage and was later shared on Twitter by PokerStars.
Controversy❗
Get @Stapes and @spraggy‘s thoughts on a possible angle in the #EPTBarcelona Main Event
Cards-up coverage continues at https://t.co/hRFaQAqWdk pic.twitter.com/Ok0y6NN5rS— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) August 28, 2019
PokerStars even put up a poll on Twitter asking players if they though Zhou was angle-shooting or not.
You’ve seen the hand, was this angle shooting by Quan Zhou?
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) August 28, 2019
Majority of the people who responded believed that it was a “Clear angle shot.”
Many even took screenshots of the exact moment when the alleged angle-shot happened, and most images clearly show that Zhou was trying to take a peek at Ponomarev’s cards while apparently changing the position of his own cards.
Nothing to see here! pic.twitter.com/1Xy275ZAIt
— Jeff Boski (@ICuRaRook) August 28, 2019
Look at those peepers. Either wants a butchers at the cards, or wants a reaction. Disgusting pic.twitter.com/OjPl3Xpska
— GBR (@GBRBreakdown) August 28, 2019
Though many poker fans and players felt that Zhou deserved a penalty for his actions, but in the end, the alleged move had no significant impact on the hand that was played. Neither Zhou nor Ponomarev managed to make it through the day, and both players fell out well before the money bubble.
Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates is perhaps one of the most enigmatic personalities in the poker community. He is undoubtedly a beast on the felts and his plethora of titles and lifetime tournament earnings of $7,381,844 are proof enough, but he is also quite a character off the felts.
Recently, Cates had a run-in with another high-stakes poker pro at Bobby’s Room in the Bellagio, Isaac Haxton. It seems that Cates tried to con his fellow poker player but ended up losing nearly $160,000 himself. He even named Haxton as the “Prince of Darkness” after that and jokingly described him as “the picture of evil!”
Can Dan Cates Instagram post about this incident right here.
“I have been continuously losing every pot for the last two and a half hours…partly thanks to Ike Haxton, the Prince of Darkness himself,” said Cates.
Discussing how to lay the trap for a perfect con, Cates expounded, “If it wasn’t a good con, you would never get anyone…you gotta commit!”
“It’s about the big picture, you gotta think about that – the long run!” Cates concluded.