When It All Got Too Much For One Player

03.10.2008 | 6:41 am | Poker

While there can be few sports which encourage the passion and heat of the moment exchanges seen in Poker, this rivalry and baiting was recently taken to a higher level at a World Series of Poker event at Caesars Atlantic City, which saw one player disqualified. So what exactly happened?

It all centred on a $300 no limit Texas Holdem Tournament which attracted a massive 1,056 poker players. Unfortunately for 76 year old Frank Panetta, his $76,104 win was largely over shadowed by the antics of one Lesley S Thornburg from Richmond. Quite why Mr Thornburg chose to take such an unsporting attitude to the final table is a mystery, but it all started earlier in the day when he was constantly warned for verbally abusing and baiting his opponents – something which is alleged to have gone on for several hours, prior to the final table.

Even though many were a little surprised, Thornburg was able to progress to the final showdown at which his actions became yet more erratic. When challenged on a number of occasions with a poor hand he is alleged to have thrown his chips and gone “all in”, gambles which came off and saw him remain at the table for some time. However, as the finale approached his attitude became more and more aggressive, throwing chips into the centre, ignoring house rules and showing a general lack of respect for the event.

It was when Thornburg threw in half of his chips, only later to announce all in that the patience of the officials finally snapped and he was ejected from the tournament, leaving in 5th place. While Thornburg still walked away with over $19,000 in prize money, he is unlikely to be welcomed at the WSOP tables in the immediate future. Passions really can run high when money and pride are at stake!