The “replayed” hand at the WSOP Main Event

Reality, however strange it is, often surpasses the imaginary tale. And poker is full of curious stories which also help us understand the rules and mistakes we make at the table. Today we take you to the 2025 World Series of Poker with the hand (re)played by Savvides

WE ARE “ONLY” AT THE TOURNAMENT OF TOURNAMENTS

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The stage is the most prestigious in the world: WSOP Main Event which will see the victory of Michael Mizrachi. Now: it is very complicated to know how many Italians have played, at least once, the most important tournament in the world. What we can imagine is that we would be very careful. Maybe not to everything but to what is basic yes. In 2025, a decidedly curious hand came into play. We are at level 3 of the game. The blinds are 200/400 and Marios Savvides decides to limp, or “call” the big blind bet, i.e. 400 chips. So far nothing strange. Let’s continue: here comes a raise from the cutoff to 1,500 from this Ritvars Cekalins. Kristopher Rundquist is in the small blind and decides to call his opponent’s raise. The good Al Riccobono wakes up on the BB with (perhaps) a good hand and decides to raise the stakes. To play you need 5,000 chips (remember, there is a 5,000 denomination so only one chip arrives as a 4bet). Savvides, who had limped, put in a 5,000 chip and declared “call”. The problem is that he thought he was calling the raise to 1,500 and didn’t notice the BB’s action. At that point the genius: Savvides throws away the cards!

WORLD SERIES OF POKER: MESS FOR SAVVIDES

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Let’s immediately talk about the rule that is enforced in these cases: the oral declaration is valid for what it is, that is, a call. Even if the player got confused or if (as in this case) he wasn’t paying attention to the previous action. The floorman explains to Savvides that by throwing away cards he cannot “save” chips but gives the player the opportunity to take them back since they are still distinguishable from the dealer’s muck of cards. After checking, Savvides “returns” to the game. Cekalins and Rundquist remain in the coup. The flop comes A♦ 4♠ 9♣ with Riccobono betting 7,000. Just call our hero. The turn is a Q♣ which leads the big blind to put them all in the middle. That’s about 20,000 chips. Savviedes, visibly happy, calls instantly turning A♥ Q♠ but Riccobono had a really good hand. And…yes: exactly that or A♣ TO♠ which makes the river useless. At this point Savvides protests but can do nothing against the rules. Distracted Marios is player out in the most incredible way for an important tournament like the WSOP Main