Justin Hammer Says WSOP Should Seek a Second Ruling After Dead-Hand Call
Patrick Leonard's posted hand left players arguing over whether the clock had already expired, and Hammer said phone replay is the wrong fix.
A WSOP clock ruling tied to a Patrick Leonard hand has set off another round of debate over when a hand is truly dead. The flash point came after a floor person said “dead hand” and the player still answered “call,” which left plenty of players arguing over whether the table should have stopped right there.
In Poker.org’s breakdown of the clip, the clock was called after Leonard moved all-in and 30 seconds were counted down. The report said the floor person then said “dead hand,” the player said “call,” and the controversy followed because many viewers felt the hand should have ended once the deadline hit.
Card Player described the same dispute as happening near the bubble in a $2,500 no-limit hold’em event. It said Leonard was heads-up against an anonymous opponent who shoved the river after tanking for six minutes, and that the floor announced the hand was dead after the 30-second countdown ended. Card Player also reported that Leonard wrote on X that he called for another floor after the dead-hand ruling, and that the bracelet winner later lost the pot.
The ruling drew sharp reactions from players at the table. David Baker called it “ridiculous” and asked whether the floor was even paying attention. John Monnette said it had been “exceptionally bad this year,” and Scott Seiver said there was “no world” where he would not stop the tournament until the right ruling was made.
Justin Hammer said the better answer is to ask for another floor opinion, not to lean on phone replay. He said a floor person normally signals the end of the prior countdown, and once the words “dead hand” are said, the player has already used the whole clock. In his view, any delay after that point can make it look as if the player still has a decision to make, so the cleaner fix is to bring in another ruling at the table.
Hammer also said he would not want every player in the tournament using video to verify decisions, because that would create inconsistent rulings if one table could use replay and another could not. He added that the WSOP has generally been good about bringing in a second floor when players think a call was wrong, and he said he would give floor people some grace because they are working long hours, are deep into the tournament, and sometimes make mistakes.
The basic tournament rules line up with that approach. The Poker Tournament Directors Association says players should act in a timely manner, and if the TD thinks reasonable time has passed, the TD may call the clock or approve a clock request. Under those rules, a player on the clock gets up to 25 seconds plus a 5-second countdown, and if the player faces a bet when time expires, the hand is dead.
The dead-hand debate also landed while the WSOP Main Event was already dealing with shot-clock questions. PokerNews reported that after a well-publicized tank of more than 15 minutes on Saturday, the WSOP brought in an Action Clock on Day 7 of the Main Event for the first time in the event’s 57-year history. On that day, players had 20 seconds to act before being forced to check or having their hand ruled dead if facing a bet, unless they used a time extension chip, which gave them another 30 seconds. There were 62 players left when Day 7 began.
