Players like Kassouf, Tony G and Luke Schwartz are great for the audience. No one wants to watch a bunch of introverts wearing sunglasses pretending to be statues.
kassouf is just an oaf with no redeeming qualities. he's not funny like tony g - he just antagonises people because he can- as this interview shows. and taking a ridiculous amount of time to make every single decision just to irritate people is just plain ignorant. i'd bet he's the same irritating person away from poker too- the sort of guy you sigh if he's in the same room as you and for someone who says he wants to keep it friendly and not insult people he sure does dish it out himself in this interview- a long unceasing whine from start to finish
Totally agree! I love him, he even made Jack Effel come short in an argument, I´ve never seen anything like this before! He made Jack Effel much more likeable for me!
he plays too slow, but that's the fault of the rules. there needs to be an automatic clock especially preflop. As for his talking, he did nothing wrong and everyone else did to him what they claimed he was doing.
Nazim There's no rule against slowrolls either. Just because something isn't forbidden, doesn't mean you have to accept it being done. Whatever happened to common decency?
Will is absolutely bang on here with his analysis. I was furious with the way Will K was treated and how absurdly the TD, the table and the rest of the tournament staff behaved. I was shouting the TV! I lost all respect for Jack E the TD. Thank God he's not a cop. He'd be starting riots. Josephy lost a uteload of cred ( his fake sincere routine is busto). WIll K is clearly annoying but that's his game. I hope he spends some money on a writer because he is getting a bit repetitive. Tanking is a pain in the ass part of these live MTTs but that can be fixed very simply will a shot clock and time bank chips. It should not up to players to call the clock every hand. Overall though, he made the coverage worth watching and the WSOP should offer an apology, Jack E should go back to TD school (along with the Euro TD at the table). WSOP should broadcast this interview in full as part of a wider apology. That, would be good for the game. Will K, is good for the game.
First of all, I am aware that we only see x% of hands on TV. Secondly, I don't think that ANY of the hands on TV that included Will and his "banter" were outside of the lines. There needs to be a differentiation between the rules of the tournament and the emotional boundaries of the players. The sympathy/empathy of "Jack" the TO, who kept verbally (and once 'physically') reprimanding Will for his extensive conversation was clouding the actuality of the contract that Will signed. Will is a LAWYER! Honestly, if anyone is more clear than him on these stipulations, please make a video! Will is ALLOWED to speak his mind, heart, and whatever other part of his being that he wishes! There needs to be some change after this year's poker main event. Thank you Will, for stirring the pot enough to bring much needed change!!!!!! 9 HIGH LIKE A BOSS!!!! GAMBLING WITH THE NUTS!!!! ONE-EIGHTY!!!!!!!!!
Will is not good for poker. I agree some things can be funny. That hand nine high like a boss for an example. But the thing is u need to have some kind of pokeretiquette and have respect for the other players. I have listened to what both Doug Polk and and Alec Torelli have said about this. They have both said there was alot of unnecesary tanking from Kassoufs part. And when that happens constantly it can very quickly be annoying and frustrating. As Alec Torelli said. What if everyone acted the way that Kassouf did. Tanking so much for example. I know we may not know the full story from the mainevent because of editing. But from the hands you can see where Kassouf is involved there is to much unnecessary tanking. He is talking constantly. And talking to other players when they are not responding to you. Of course they will be irritated in the end. So I understand Bengers frustration. Imagine if you are the one sitting there with Kassouf and he is talking constantly to you. Would you not also be frustrated in the end.
He's right about how Christoforou reacted to him. It might just be an American thing - they are very uptight in these situations. Like Benger said, "Check your privilege", it's a pansy ass social environment that the Americans have to tiptoe around nowadays, with SJWs piping up every 2 seconds in social media, too. Brits remember that a good ribbing is a good option in social bonding. And Gervais gets it right too when he says that the context and intent of a joke is what is important. Offence is taken more often than given.
Jon Bond An apology doesn't make up for what you say or do. What happened in that hand is a reflection of who he is. At his worst, sure, but it's still him,
The floor staff at the wsop really looked stupid in this case. It would have been easy to just give the guy timeouts for the repeated stalling. The "one player to a hand" comment by the floor was easily the most stupid thing I ever saw a floor do.
I understand why he's frustrated, it seemed the entire WSOP went against him just because they know how impatient the others got with him. The rules unfairly got stricter on him and not anyone else.
He's right about that he wasn't doing anything wrong. But you do have to consider that he couldn't be bothered to shut up for a moment. He was purposefully trying to get the other players on tilt... And even though that's not forbidden, I don't think there are a lot of people who would mind you getting punched in the face for that kind of behavior...
I think that was the real problem. This guy is a talker and it slowed the pace of play down. If I was playing at the table and it got to the point that everyone else had lost their patience with him all they had to do was call the clock on him every hand - that way he couldn't take longer than 60 seconds each time.
Like him or not, the WSOP officials openly displayed two standards of rulings, definitely unprofessional , they should be seriously reprimanded . He made an infamous name for himself, put each table on tilt ,but did not break any tournament rules, did he ? he should litigate
Mr. Kassouf, the problem is your stalling. The amount of time you took per hand was ridiculous. They showed a stat last night that said you averaged some 2 to 3 times longer to make a decision per hand than all of the final 9 players! If I was playing with you, I would have NO problem with what you were saying but I would have a problem with how long you were taking!
You cannot used this as rebuttal for unfair judgements from Jack Effel et al. If its stalling then punish stalling and we will all support Jack, for sure, genuinely we would. But by not directly tackling that and saying all these other things, and making up rules, and taking out talking, he devalued the integrity and 'watchability' of poker.
The Tanking and amount of time taken on every decision is the real heart of this escalation. Dosnt matter if its AA or 23os.. you stall everytime you will annoy people. There are others that have a reputation of this IE: Doc Sands.. and after a while honestly its just overkill. If you can talk that fast, you can think that fast, so you can ACT faster in your decisions. Just like when Jamie Gold won the ME and used speech play alot (a new rule was implimented @WSOP) and next year expect to see the William Kassouf rule !!!
Kassouf is the best, he is 100% right about everything he says, he played better poker than every other player at the main event and he would have won the main event if bad beats didn't exist. incredibly quick thinking genius with sick intuition. he had complete control of every hand and player, hes a boss.
you played really good and fair and respectfully as opposed to some other players who insulted you. I would sue WSOP if I were you. they did really embarrassing job.
He does act slowly, but other than that, I didn't have a problem with his table talk. I do agree with him that the table definitely did gang up on him, and it was embarrassing to see.
Here is where Kassouf is wrong. Its not about being rude. Its not about being a boss Its not that he does not have the right to ask questions to his opponent. The action is on him to make a decision. He can not keep asking questions for unlimited time like want do you want me to do. The player can not drag out a decision until he feels he has a read. Other wise tournaments would take 20 days. You can not play the way you want to just because you want to get reads. He takes way to long just to put people on tilt. He does tank with rubbish. His ego is bigger than his game.
You are right its angle shooting because he is asking questions to try to get extra information, when It only took 10 seconds to fold 33 to a short stack all in. Its a -ev play to call some of the time you are flipping some of the time opponent has a higher pair and you are 20 percent, and if you double the short stack that sucks, he should have never raised preflop with 33 in early position, its a good play in late position
DUDE we all seen it...you were thinking pre-flop with like 92 off-suite for 30 sec that's the problem, that's number one!!!!!! (or you are telling me that ESPN gave you trash cards when you tanked just to make you look better) And second, yes you are entitled to ask questions, but when you ask the same question ten times, and the other player doesn't even look at you...that's the limit...you can't just be sitting there "talking to yourself" for five minutes "gathering info" before you start making the decision...
Jørgen Haugland that's a joke right? you have no business thinking 30 sec pre-flop with any-hand, and tanking 30 sec with 9 high pre-flop and folding is plain sabotage of a tournament...(I'm talking about no action before him)
He is annoying as fuck! BUT he speaks the truth, he did NOTHING wrong. On a daily basis, some players take alot of time about every decision without talking (eg. Yevgeniy Timoshenko) and some players talk alot... It's all part of the game.
Just saw this vid where Will get's knocked out. Will goes to shake everyone's hand, wishing them all the best, and then, more than one final 18 ignore his gesture. Oh gosh, the irony!
I totally get what wills saying and agree with him. That said, if I was playing In the WSOP I would play him at his own game and call the clock on him every hand. Not because it was getting to me but exactly because I want to get to him. It's an edge to react for wills opponents as much as it is for himself.
We're really lucky we didn't have to witness him play live at the final table. In the context of the edited episodes he did actually provide entertainment (as a villain for me personally, but entertaining nonetheless). But at the live table, where we'd truly feel the amount he'd draw out the pace, I'm sure I'd be praying for him to be eliminated.
I was a huge fan of Kassouf and really couldn't stand the players treating him like they did. I do agree his average time per hand was too high, but they could have handled that far better than they did. At the end of the day, he made them all look and act like amateurs. Can't wait to see more of him! I'd love him at a table with Hellmuth, Tony G, Durr and Negraneau! Something tells me we'd have some fun!
I enjoy this guys gameplay.....commentators did point out though that he takes a considerable amount of time to make a move when compared to other players...I have respect for this man nonetheless.
Josephy was really out of line there, but also Bleznick, Hallaert and others. They should be at least warned for sure. I had a tremendous respect for Bax, he definitely has to apologize himself for Will. Bleznick we all knew since the multi account thing he was a douche...
Josephy and Benger both got 3rd and 7th place respectively and this guy got 17th so I can pretty much say that I honestly don't care about this "one set of rules for one person and another for someone else" shit because in the end, it all boils down to the decision of Jack Effel and/or whoever's in charge of refereeing or whatever. I have to admit though, this Kassouf guy is pretty skilled, I'll give him that.
Let us hold on to it. He IS a clown. He does not break rules in the proper sense, but he is not good for the game. They play 10 hands per hour with the self-propelled at the table. No wonder the players react irrational at some point. This is what he wants. Then he should not complain. And yes .. he WAS tanking with garbage
the biggest mistake is the floor wasnt impartial in there decisions, they used grudges and hate they had vs kassouf. Without taking any side, and hey the dealer was happy he was relaxing his back :)
I agree. He's fun to watch at first, but after 5-10 minutes he bores me. It's the same circular arguments over and over. Kudos to her for staying engaged and relevent questioning without zoning out.
He is intertaining in this boring wsop. Years ago there was much more talking on the tables and then is was fun to look.They want the players to act like robots and that noone want to see.
Very interesting! On the battlefield of felt, while others try to survive, the master hand-salesman drives bargains to thrive. A fun way to sell yourself an almost free card in online poker is say "NH" in chat then probe bet a low fraction of the pot if not a minimum bet. Programming is fun, but yeah - some people's brains get overloaded super-easy and it really is funny when you program someone to ship it light cuz their mind overloaded and spazzed out hehe. Games are fun - gl all! Thanks for sharing info!.
WSOP is having a bromance with Cliff Josephy. William Kassouf could have been at the final table. AA vs KK made me sad. Interesting timing of that cooler hand.
I like everything about this guy except the amount of time he seems to waste doing what he does. He is not malicious, he seems super chill, but he reduces the average amount of hands that people at his table get to see in comparison to other tables. I hope he stays the way he is, as it is entertaining as hell, but finds a way to do it in a more timely manner.
I mean, I respect speech-play and love it, but I do imagine really hating if I'm looking at an all in and have to make a final decision and he's just talking all the time while I'm trying to think...I don't know what the best answer is, but it can't be him talking while someone has an all in decision AND it can't be people not being allowed to talk...does anyone have the answer? I feel like there could be one...Any ideas?
In the hand when you got cooled with KK vs AA in your last hand what range , would you have folded with the way that your opponent acted. Would you fold QQ , AK , JJ. It seems that he got under your skin and you wouldn't fold some hands weaker hands. You seem mad rather than logical when you called.
TheEvilJade he took 3 minutes in that hand to make a decision. But in poker it's really 180 seconds. And you're right his final decision to call was based on emotion 100%. He couldn't handle getting under people's skin and he leveled himself. He doesn't seem like a bad guy. It's just that he's not really socially aware at the table. He kept talking for three minutes and benger wasn't saying anything. And the fact that he kept talking shows that he has a social problem. Look how he talks in this video. Bengers reaction was soft also. I would love to see how this guy acts at a table where Ivey Antonius dwan are sitting.
Well played William! Even though he was talking a lot he wasn't disrespectful to anyone, especially in HU hands it's part of the game if you're good at it. Kudos to Will and Jack Effel, read a fucking book or something.
Hey, Will! Have you seen the Main Event episodes after you got busted? Because Mr. Norman Chad was exceptionally berating towards you after you were out. Just letting you know.
A lot of casinos would never let you talk about the hand in play. I would put my hands over my ears and look straight down. I would just say, " Go ahead and make your mistake", and I would stay silent
no it's annoying when you open 33 get shoved on and tank when you know you're always folding. what are u gonna call with 33 and hope to God the dude is flipping with you? he's a time wasting donk. don't try to give him a positive outlook via the media. ofc the media and poker industry want controversy he's totally bad for the game.
Bobby S he's just abnoxious and you know it lol. even during this interview. he just talks and talks and talks and talks. 100 miles an hour. Like will, slow the fuck down and relax
Never seen this guy resort to namecalling or anything like that. Seem like a legit nice guy to me, but for some reason people get stressed out about him and it rubs off on jack effel that comes and does his crazy rulings.
I really don't think he changed the play of the other players by acting this way, he just wasted time. You play with these guys all the time, they are attention freaks that just want people staring at them. It's great for tv, but it sucks huge in regular games and tournaments.
His use of table talk is more suited to cash games versus tournaments due to the structure. The poker media is missing the point by supporting poor behavior for TOURNAMENT play. I guess what matters here is "....drawing more people into the game...." according to some, but it is frustrating for several people I know who have to look forward to 10 Kassoufs next WSOP.
Watching this interview was much like watching him at the tables. One trick pony on a merry go round. Felt like if you started watching this at any point it was the same thing being said on a loop. He's like the Martin shkrelli of poker.
His "speech play" actually broke several rules several times, and he tanked unnecessarily, which was evidenced on camera... so how can he possibly be surprised when it's the whole world against him?
The floor man did this all wrong, but im glad he did anyways. Kassouf did not tabletalk to get information. He just repeated him self. When ever a person did something, checked, raised or called he would respond with a "oh really" and then talk a lot of bullshit. He wasent unpolite in hes words, but he was talking so much that people didnt get silence to actually think about the situation. The biggest problem I had with hes talk was all the time he used up talking to walls. Ridiculous. Im pro talking and I wish I had that skill. But not the kind of talking Kassouf has. He is just good talking when for ex Negreanu is good talking to people. But I really believe the general quality of floormen and their ability to make decisions is scary. Been some controversies in the years with bad decisions and strange rulings. Like the one with Freeman, I think it was, who clearly called before the clock and was folded. And then you have Bouman or something that had an all inn and she has Kings and the other player folded before she could act. And the one with the dealer that mucked a womans hand that was all inn with aces. They made the worst decisions every time. I know the last one is hard to fix, but still. Must feel devastating to the ones that have this kind of experience.
If you don't like the way he plays that means you are an online player. What he does is normal for live games. All you have to do is call clock and not respond to his questions. What's so hard?
