Updated on 23 Feb 26 by
Barry carter
Poker Expert

Martin Kabrhel accused of marking cards live on stream

A host of high profile high stakes players have called for Kabrhel to be banned after video suggests he was marking the deck.





Chris Brewer won his first bracelet and the biggest WSOP event of the year so far on Sunday night, but the big talking point of the evening was third-place finisher Martin Kabrhel. 

Many high stakes players, led by Andrew Robl, have accused him of cheating. He has previously caught attention for stalling and rude conduct, but specifically this time he has been accused of marking cards. 

This sent the poker community into investigation mode and during the televised final table, Kabrhel was seen doing some very strange things. He was caught on camera scratching his cards and leaning over to look at his opponents' face-down cards. He was also called out by the other players live on the stream for standing during a live hand:

There is an argument to be made that he was standing and leaning to look at his opponent's chip stack, but all of this evidence brought together does not look good for Kabrhel. 

One of the final table, Dan Smith, did not remain tight-lipped. Upon his exit he immediately called for Kabrhel to be banned, suggesting that something untoward was happening and also calling out his conduct in general. 

There does seem to be some compelling evidence that Martin Kabrhel was marking the cards at his table. If so it is yet another example of a player brazenly trying to get away with something like this on a live-streamed table broadcast to thousands. Many high profile names have called for the WSOP to look into this, so it will be interesting to see if the story develops. 

Do you think he was marking the cards? Let us know in the comments:


Barry carter
Poker Expert

Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2, Poker Satellite Strategy, PKO Poker Strategy, Endgame Poker Strategy, GTO Poker Simplified, Mystery Bounty Poker Strategy and Beyond GTO. In 2025, he won the Global Poker Awards for Best Book and Twitter Personality of the Year.