- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
A PokerNews Debate: Was Griffin Benger Justified in Attacking William Kassouf?
- Updated: October 25, 2016
Fireworks exploded Sunday night as the cooler that spelled the end of speech-play impresario William Kassouf in the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event aired on ESPN. While previous episodes showed most of his opponents had taken to ignoring Kassouf’s often abrasive and certainly excessive table talk, Griffin Benger took a different tact in this fateful hand.
Benger opened with a raise and after Kassouf three-bet, his typical verbal probing began. Benger fired back with a fourth bet, staying quiet at first as Kassouf’s chatter continued. Suddenly, Benger exploded. With all the confidence that two aces in the hole can bring, Benger finally fought back, unleashing a verbal tirade on Kassouf that, to some, seemed even worse than anything Kassouf ever said.
Benger classified Kassouf’s endless table talk as rude, mean and verbally abusive. He called him a bully and a bad person, and from where I sit, it was about time somebody said what just about everybody in the room was already thinking. Benger may have seemed a bit angry and out of control, but every word was justified. It was about time somebody let Kassouf know the other 16 players left in the tournament were sick of his antics.
Chattering away when your opponent is faced with a decision is rude. Probing away at opponents who are ignoring you is borderline verbally abusive and Kassouf’s filibuster-style of psychological warfare is at the very least unethical, if not plain mean. Employ such tactics and there’s little doubt you are acting like a bully and might even be a bad person. Not to mention the fact Kassouf had begun to tank excessively on every street of every hand – Poker’s truly unforgivable sin.
Holding aces, it likely didn’t matter to Benger what Kassouf had, and in fact, the verbal tirade itself may have been a bit of theater, turning Kassouf’s own speech play against him in an attempt to goad him into shoving all in with an inferior hand. Perhaps Benger even sensed what was happening and wanted to give Kassouf a taste of his own medicine on the way out the door.
In the end, Kassouf had kings and his chips were probably going in regardless; it was just nice to see Benger send him on his way with the message that his behavior throughout …
