WPT $25,000 Championship Day 2: Outrage, Controversy and Physical Threats

Action at the WPT Championship has been overshadowed by anger at the arrival of Ali Tekintamgac. Disqualified from the Partouche Poker Tour for alleged cheating and resented by some of the poker community, things have been getting heated at the Bellagio.

Tekimtamgac stroking his imaginary cat

As Abe Mosseri ran over a sick, pro-heavy table to take the lead on Day 2 of the WPT $25,000 Championship, the focus was shifted from the action to the unwelcome presence of Ali Tekintamgac.

Tekintamgac achieved his Bond villain-esque status last November when he was disqualified from the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event final table for alleged cheating. The organisers used tip-offs and video footage to collect evidence that suggested Tekintamgac had recruited fake bloggers and media to signal his opponents hole-cards.

Tekintamgac won the WPT Spanish Championship last May which also won him entry to this year's WPT $25,000 Championship. Unsurprisingly, when players turned up to find a labelled cheat at their table they were far from happy.

Tweets of disgust

Alongside the anger vocalised at the tournament, players turned to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction, ask questions and report on the unrest at the tables including reports of physical threats from Tekintamgac.

Vanessa Selbst:
@jesswelman @scott_seiver is Ali Tekimtamgac really playing this tournament? @SavagePoker why was he even allowed to register???

@SavagePoker would really appreciate a statement on the WPT's stance on allowing cheaters to play. will he be banned in the future or not?

So far there has been no reply from WPT Executive Tournament Director Matt Savage.

@RealKidPoker yeah it's really disappointing, they didnt want to deal with the legal battle of denying him the 25k so WPT took the easy road

Daniel Negreanu:
Ali Tekimtamgac who was caught cheating in Partouche is in #WPTChamp I called him out, and floor told ME I can't do that!

Bellagio/WPT should absolutely not allow this person in the event. He was caught red handed cheating and should be banned. This is absurd. No excuse to have to play with a guy who's been caught multiple times.

The cheater just threatened Scott Siever the floor was alerted and won't do anything about it. Physical threat, he should call the cops.

Scott Seiver:
Ali threatens to find me after the tournament away from cameras

Tekintamgac is still in the tournament and will play Day 3. He'll bring with him an average stack and no doubt more controversy if he makes a deep run.

The sick table

Aside from all the drama, there was actually a poker tournament going on. The most notable table included the likes of Doyle Brunson, Bertrand Grospellier, Eugene Katchalov, Hoyt Corkins, WPT Player of the Year frontrunner Andy Frankenberger, David Chiu, Kevin Saul and Abe Mosseri.

Mosseri ran over the table, finishing Day 2 as chip leader with 685,200.

Prizepool swells from late registration

188 players started on Day 1 which was whittled down to 170 at the start of Day 2. There were 32 late registrations on Day 2 increasing the overall field to a total of 220 players. 116 players made it to the end of Day 2.

The prizepool is now a cool $5,309,500. 27 places are paid with the victor pocketing $1,618,344. Second spot takes $1,061,900.

Here are the top 10 going into Day 3:

Abe Mosseri	685,200
Alan Sternberg	606,400
Steven Kelly	566,500
Roger Teska	534,900
Scott Seiver	461,300
Josh Bergman	415,600
Justin Young	414,100
Robert Mercer	408,600
David Peters	401,400
Darren Elias	342,900