WSOP 2016 Main Event DRAMA - Griffin Benger Goes Off on Will Kassouf - Poll (2 Viewers)

Is Griffin Benger a Hero or a Baby?

  • Maybe He Missed His Nap

    Votes: 36 72.0%

  • People's Champ

    Votes: 1 2.0%

  • Genius play to induce a potential weak call

    Votes: 13 26.0%
  • Total voters
    50
upNdown said:
He's just a wanker who got aces at the right time.
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Or --- he's just as clever as WK and played "the whiny guy" to act weak with speech play in an attempt to induce a call against a table douche.

If that's what indeed happened, it's pure genius. And judging by WK's reaction after seeing the bullets, it looks like that's exactly what went down.

He realized immediately that he'd been played.

You reap what you sow.
 
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Interesting article online, interviewing both WK and Benger. Both seem to be respectful (empathetic) to each other, especially Benger, who seems very apologetic, and admits he overeacted. He also admitted that the vilified stories he'd heard about WK "making a girl cry" played into his reaction, but said the WK isn't really as bad a guy as he'd been led to believe. The article was written after the WSOP, but before the broadcast, so neither had the benefit of watching it back.

http://www.espn.com/blog/poker/post...-discuss-the-hand-of-the-2016-wsop-main-event
 
justsomedude said:
Or --- he's just as clever as WK and played "the whiny guy" to act weak with speech play in an attempt to induce a call against a table douche.

If that's what indeed happened, it's pure genius. And judging by WK's reaction after seeing the bullets, it looks like that's exactly what went down.

He realized immediately that he'd been played. You can see it in the co

You reap what you sow.
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I agree with this. I think Benger intentionally was overly whiny and dramatic, trying to induce a raise all-in. Remember, neither knows what the other holds, and Benger may have been trying to look weak so Pasty Limey™ would come over the top.
 
gopherblue said:
I agree with this. I think Benger intentionally was overly whiny and dramatic, trying to induce a raise all-in. Remember, neither knows what the other holds, and Benger may have been trying to look weak so Pasty Limey™ would come over the top.
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Everyone keeps saying this yet Benger continues to whine even after the shove and call.
 
Pokerdweebz said:
Everyone keeps saying this yet Benger continues to whine even after the shove and call.
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Clearly, Benger was emotional, and maybe WK did actually get him to snap. However, if Benger had sat their stonefaced, there is definitely some likelihood he could have led WK to fold. By snapping (pretending to or not), he let WK know that his antics got to him, which could have allowed WK to alter the range he initially put Benger on. Maybe changing his read from stonefaced-bullets, to now QQ, JJ, or even AQ, or AK.

Whether Benger's outburst was planned or not, it gave WK additional information to evaluate, and possibly alter his read. Judging by WK's shocked reaction, we can infer that he realized he was way off on whatever read he actually made...

sadstory.JPG

#gulp #wompwomp

I'm not saying either of these guys are right. But I don't understand the heat Benger is getting for having to deal with 5 days of WK's "speech play." You mess with the bull, you get the horns.
 
justsomedude said:
I'm not saying either of these guys are right. But I don't understand the heat Benger is getting for having to deal with 5 days of WK's "speech play." You mess with the bull, you get the horns.
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Totally agreed. But I want Kassouf to get the actual horns, not someone telling him to "check his privilege." If Benger were to just calmly say, "Clock on the cock. Will, you suck horribly and are bad for the game and I can't wait for someone to bust you," I would be Benger Fan 4 Lyfe.
 
Chippy McChiperson said:
I would have just nutter buttered him personally
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Now THAT would have been the best possible way to ding Kassouf. Call with the aces, wait for him to roll, leave your cards face down and throw your hands up, walking dejectedly from the table. Let the cameras catch Kassouf smiling while the dealer has to table Benger's hand and Kassouf melts.
 
justsomedude said:
I'm not saying either of these guys are right. But I don't understand the heat Benger is getting for having to deal with 5 days of WK's "speech play." You mess with the bull, you get the horns
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He didn't play with WK for very long. He admitted in the interview that he was only going off what he had "heard from other players" and that everything was way over exaggerated.
 
Pokerdweebz said:
He didn't play with WK for very long. He admitted in the interview that he was only going off what he had "heard from other players" and that everything was way over exaggerated.
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Agreed. And I meant that... just didn't make it clear. The word on WK had been going around the Amazon room for a while, and people knew of him, and were not looking forward to playing with him. I'm sure Benger's reaction was exactly how you stated it, and based on the rumors going around at the time, and the frustration of other players who had to put up with his crap.

I just didn't feel like getting into that level of detail in my post. Let's just call it, "editorial license." :p
 
justsomedude said:
Agreed. And I meant that... just didn't make it clear. The word on WK had been going around the Amazon room for a while, and people knew of him, and were not looking forward to playing with him. I'm sure Benger's reaction was exactly how you stated it, and based on the rumors going around at the time.

I just didn't feel like getting into that level of detail in my post. :p
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I just think that Benger sitting stone faced wouldn't give any reads away. I think WK's reaction is just upset at being coolered. I think Benger is genuinely upset and that doesn't have that much(if any) of an effect on WK(though I understand it's up for debate). The only person to handle the KO with class was WK.
 
justsomedude said:
You're idea of class is begging the dealer for a King and taunting Benger with trips from across the room?

I don't read sarcasm well online, so I must ask... are you being serious?
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I'm referring to after he is actually knocked out, though everything before that is seen in poker rooms across the world.
 
Pokerdweebz said:
I'm referring to after he is actually knocked out, though everything before that is seen in poker rooms across the world.
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All I saw after the 10 hit was Benger yell "c'mon!" and WK ask for a count. Then everyone sat down and continued to play. So, your gripe is with Benger screaming, "c'mon"?

Although Michael Niwinski did refuse to shake WK's hand (for obvious reasons).

But other than that, what was classless after the river?
 
justsomedude said:
All I saw after the 10 hit was Benger yell "c'mon!" and WK ask for a count. Then everyone sat down and continued to play. So, your gripe is with Benger screaming, "c'mon"?

Although Michael Niwinski did refuse to shake WK's hand (for obvious reasons).

But other than that, what was classless after the river?
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Just rewatched the video. If you think Kassouf is more out of line after the money goes in than Benger we aren't going to agree (which I don't think we will).

Kassouf graciously accepts his defeat and attempts to shake everyone's hand and wish them good luck. At least two (thought I saw at least three but I'm not rewatching) completely blow him off (how is that for obvious reason?). I can tell you a large amount of players would have reacted differently to getting knocked out by a little bitch who cries that they are abusing him and need to check him privilege for literally being talked to.
 
I'll be honest, I don't even know what "check your privilege" means in this context, but whatevs. It was nice seeing Kassouf get his just desserts.
 
Pokerdweebz said:
Just rewatched the video. If you think Kassouf is more out of line after the money goes in than Benger we aren't going to agree (which I don't think we will).

Kassouf graciously accepts his defeat and attempts to shake everyone's hand and wish them good luck. At least two (thought I saw at least three but I'm not rewatching) completely blow him off (how is that for obvious reason?). I can tell you a large amount of players would have reacted differently to getting knocked out by a little bitch who cries that they are abusing him and need to check him privilege for literally being talked to.
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I made it clear in my earlier post that I think they are both in the wrong. But I have a hard time calling WK "classy" after watching 5 days of his antics. He got out-bitched by some one just as obnoxious as he is. I have no sympathy for him, and there is no way I can point out his "class" at that point in the tournament. He had 60 hours of previous play to demonstrate class, and chose not to. And now he wants a handshake? What a joke... to me, that is the obvious reason why multiple players refused to shake his hand.

Clearly, you and I see the world differently. On this one, we'll just have to agree to disagree
 
justsomedude said:
I made it clear in my earlier post that I think they are both in the wrong. But I have a hard time calling WK "classy" after watching 5 days of his antics. He got out-bitched by some one just as obnoxious as he is. I have no sympathy for him, and there is no way I can point out his "class" at that point in the tournament. He had 60 hours of previous play to demonstrate class, and chose not to. And now he wants a handshake? What a joke... to me, that is the obvious reason why multiple players refused to shake his hand.

Clearly, you and I see the world differently. On this one, we'll just have to agree to disagree
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I completely agree that Kassouf was out of line more than once in the coverage I saw. That isn't what we are talking about. We are discussing what happened between him and Benger and unless there is footage that hasn't been mentioned Kassouf literally did nothing wrong in this specific situation and Benger is a fucking baby.
 
jbutler said:
Now THAT would have been the best possible way to ding Kassouf. Call with the aces, wait for him to roll, leave your cards face down and throw your hands up, walking dejectedly from the table. Let the cameras catch Kassouf smiling while the dealer has to table Benger's hand and Kassouf melts.
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I disagree... Best way to ding WK, would be to sit there stone faced... then when the river hits, stand up and point to the ceiling, then say "LIKE A BOSS!"
 
ChaosRock said:
No question!!!

And what's puzzling is there's more and more wiz kids playing live, the same kids that multi-table 18 screens online... Go figure... Live they take 3 minutes to fold 93o UTG full-ring...
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that is true :(, I am wondering if it is the coaching for internet guys:mad: not used to play live, so they are trying to be consistent everytime no matter if it is a easy fold or shoveo_O
 
D
CdnBeerLover said:
Nah. They actually have to think at that point because they don't have software to tell them what to do...
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Ha! Yeah, maybe he's just dumb and bad at math like me. I'm not slow guys, I'm still calculating ODDS!
 
Despite his debauchery, I would have loved to have seen Kasouff at the final table. Would have been entertaining at the very least.
 
whforde said:
Despite his debauchery, I would have loved to have seen Kasouff at the final table. Would have been entertaining at the very least.
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I agree, with the stipulation that he would eliminate slow play. It's boring to watch 9 statues who make hardly any sounds.

And as I said last year, don't show any hole cards live. Guys like Esfandiari, Coleman and Busquet make great commentators who can figure out likely hands. Show the hole cards in re-runs after the event is over.
 
I just now got to this episode, but one thing that it got me thinking about is the implications a player like WK has on the broadcast edit. Admittedly, I have not watched a full WSOP main event broadcast on ESPN in several years, but it felt like the producers were eating WK up. Obviously he's a gold mine for this years broadcast. He's a polarizing figure that keeps people tuning in each week to see if he busted. I just don't want every years broadcast out looking for the the biggest villain, and then having reality producers coach one up when a natural doesn't materialize.
 

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