WSOP 2016 Main Event DRAMA - Griffin Benger Goes Off on Will Kassouf - Poll (1 Viewer)

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
whforde

whforde

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Maybe you've seen it already. If not, you can watch it here on YouTube. Late in episode 13 of the main event.

I don't want to spoil anything but needless to say Griffin Benger lost his shit on WIll Kasouff. Kasouff was trying to speech play some info on a legit difficult tournament life call. Benger went thermo-nuclear and claimed, among other things, the following:

  • Kasouff is verbally abusing him,
  • Kasouf is bullying him
  • Told him to check his privilege
  • called him mean,
  • Said he's a bad person
  • Insulted Kasouf's state in life compared to his
  • Told him to go back to England apparantly (This is really funny as Benger is a fellow Canuck)
So for those who have seen it, I pose this question:

Was Girffin Benger's tirade Heroic or Immature.

I know where I come down on this one. I'm no fan of Kasouff's antics but I think Benger was being just a tad bit sensitive here to say the least. Maybe he got high on himself and went white-knighting because I don't think anything Kasouff said even approaches bullying and I don't see the need to insult the dude.

What do you think?
 
Whether you love him or loathe him, I don't think you can deny the effectiveness of his strategy. I watched his delaying tactics, bad table etiquette, speech play and polarizing personality get him the call/folder/raise/reaction he wanted in some very big hands throughout the tournament. From what I saw on the youtube videos, I think it was +ev for him.

I doubt he would be successful in the long run - or even get a regular seat - in any sort of decent cash game with this behavior. However, in a tournament as drawn out and ridiculous as the WSOP main event, why the hell not act like a buffoon to gain a slight edge over the better players in the field? He isn't there to make friends, he is there to win as much as he can while getting the most free publicity as he can.

To the so-called professionals complaining like little school girls over his play - harden the fuck up. You reacting like that shows to him that his tactics are working. He is not only getting under your skin and affecting your decision making process but you are giving him constant, real time feedback that it is working beautifully! He is getting EXACTLY the reaction he is hoping for. You are the reason his strategy works. A true professional "mind sport" player would realize what he is doing, control their emotions and figure out how to counteract it.
 
What a baby.
Yeah, it takes a real big man to stand up and defend the world against the bully when you've got aces.
And by the way, the phrase "check your privilege" has NO place in a poker tournament. Everybody starts equal there; there is no privilege.
Kassouf got what he had coming, no doubt. But Benger is no people's hero. He's just a wanker who got aces at the right time.
 
CHP TD said:
he wasn't being a bully per se. but he got what he deserved.

suck it mouthy boy
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Yup this.

Though, I thought WK was a douche for filing that (on-the-way-out-the-door) complaint to Effel. Just take your $300+k and leave with your dignity sorta intact.

I think WK's behavior was douchey throughout (albeit +EV for him), but he stayed for the most part, in bounds with the rules. That said, I don't fault players boiling over in that circumstance, after hours upon hours (days upon days in Benger's case) of sitting with WK and enduring his behavior.
 
ChipEnvy said:
It would have been better if Benger STFU after he rolled aces.


It would have been even better if he slow rolled his aces and then STFU.
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That's just it. It was fine if he used Will's own tactics to goad him into a call. But after the call when he kept ranting about how he didn't care if he lost because he has a better life? That was very weak.
 
guinness said:
I think its ironic that Benger said something about Kassouf needing help from Daddy. Clearly Benger is the one that needed his blankie and parents in that moment. I can only imagine the physical unfolding of Benger if K caught the K.
Click to expand...

A King coming up would have been amazing. Benger might have flopped on he floor and started blubbering.
 
The talk from Benger seemed to be at just the right time inducing a call from the douche bucket. However, once Will went all in, Benger should have stayed quiet. They did shake hands after. WK is never ever invited back to my house after not ShuttingTFU. He is annoying and creates a situation where the table kinda bands together to get his ace outta there.

Na Na na na.........na na na na......hey hey hey,,,,goodbye. Glad he's gone!
 
Dr Lecterr said:
The talk from Benger seemed to be at just the right time inducing a call from the douche bucket. However, once Will went all in, Benger should have stayed quiet. They did shake hands after. WK is never ever invited back to my house after not ShuttingTFU. He is annoying and creates a situation where the table kinda bands together to get his ace outta there.

Na Na na na.........na na na na......hey hey hey,,,,goodbye. Glad he's gone!
Click to expand...


I find it entertaining to watch on TV but it would be annoying to play with. Especially when the people at his table were having none of it. Just move on man.
 
How about desperate play to try and induce a weak call from a guy who actually has a strong hand and is never folding. Nothing genius about running aces into kings, and I thought Benger was over the line and came across as a douche. And believe me I am not a Kassouf apologist, I think this hand was Karma for all of his prior antics.
 
What's unbelievable is that he didn't realize the guy was trying to get him to call......the old seem strong but are weak, but not real strong trick.
At least no more Ricky Gervais pain in the ass sounding guy to deal with. I wonder if Sham Wow guy will continue to run hot. The Canadian guy will never win .
 
I understand the tilt caused by a player like Kasouff. Particularly how long everyone has to play with him. But it was fascinating to see how much more out of line everyone else became due to that tilt.

Yes, Kasouff was annoying. Obnoxious. Wasted time. Particularly for time wasting, I think there is room for tournament officials to say something.

I'm also not a fan of how he would chat up people while they are making decisions. I understand the strategy, but personally I don't like that sort of thing. Let people think, be polite, etc.

But if you look at what the rest of the table did in response, I think the table came out way worse. Name calling, talk of the table being against one player, talking and starting arguments with him during heads up hands, etc.

I think everyone else, Benger especially, ended up looking way worse than Kasouff.

But hey, positivity -- how awesome was Niwinski? I'd love to have someone like him join my game.
 
Can you imaging sitting next to a guy like Kassouf on a long haul flight? I can't imagine doing it for hours at a poker table. What if you just paid 10K to go to your once in a lifetime shot at the Main Event and this asshole was sitting next to you? Talk about a buzz kill....it would ruin your whole trip unless you survived to get away from him.
 
I would tell him to STFU many times over, especially when other players are at a decision. Talk when WK is deciding, sure. But STFU when others are thinking. NOT YOUR TURN AHOLE!

That's my two cents :)
 
After 30 min at the table in a tourney with this douche nozzle I'd start calling the clock on him after 5 seconds of his bullshit.

Cash game do whatever the eff you want, for the most part


I do think Benger going off on him did help induce his call though, possible WK is never folding there either
 
I got the sense that Benger was just fed up and let loose when he knew he was safe. Kassouf was certainly being a douche throughout, but little of what he did was illegal and his "speech play" was working for him. A bigger issue for me, as already mentioned, was the delaying of play constantly. I also thought the tourney officials looked like complete jackwagons in their attempts to rein him in. Much of what they said to him was either wrong, or made little sense.

While the guy was irritating as hell, I thought he made for good tv and I loved watching him to hate on him. That being said, don't want him at my table. Dealing with @ChippyMcChiperson is tough enough... lol
 
Just now watched this and completely grunching, so sorry if everyone has said basically the same thing, but I wouldn't be heartbroken if they both died in the same grease fire.

When Benger started in with the, "Check your privilege, bro!" bullshit I almost hurt myself trying to roll my eyes out of the back of my head. Exactly what is his privilege supposed to be in this case? And lol at verbal abuse. Being annoying is not being abusive, but no worries Benger because being annoying will still justify you punching Kassouf in the throat! Which he deserved.

I wasn't sure if the WSOP production team was trying to troll Benger or what, but it was hilarious that the whole thing went down right after the Benger bio where he insists that he needs competition and just wants to be the best at everything. "I love competition, but please only compete with me in the way I ask. Otherwise you need to check your privilege."

Fuck both of them.
 
The budding bromances following WK's bustout just about made me sick to my stomach. They should have held hands and sang Kumbaya.
 
Ben said:
Home game invite list status:

Kassouf still welcome (esp. if he brings Christoforou with him. :D)

He can feel free to leave if he doesn't like being put on the clock every hand. ;)

Benger perma-banned (I'm sure he's very sad about it.) :coffee:
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courage said:
The budding bromances following WK's bustout just about made me sick to my stomach. They should have held hands and sang Kumbaya.
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Pretty much these ^^^^

The only thing that really bothered me badly in Kassouf's behavior was his delaying the game, but he's certainly not alone in that behavior theses days... He would have a seat at my game for sure if he played faster...

Benger on the other hand would never, ever get an invite from me, for poker or anything else really...

From Amarillo, Brunson, Reese, Unger to those whining creatures?!?!?!? We've come a long way... o_Oo_Oo_Oo_O
 
The thing that plagues the WSOP in the last few years is the lenght of time people take for decision, it has become ridiculous, espeicially when watching live... people take way too much time on unconsequential decisions... The final table has become horendous to watch live:eek:... But I still do every year.:rolleyes:
 
Max D said:
The thing that plagues the WSOP in the last few years is the lenght of time people take for decision, it has become ridiculous, espeicially when watching live... people take way too much time on unconsequential decisions... The final table has become horendous to watch live:eek:... But I still do every year.:rolleyes:
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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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