Naim Clock Controversy
Dimitri Holdeew, a PokerStars player from Germany, was involved in a bit of a spat with the player to his left, Boutros Naim from the Lebanon, who he has accused of stalling every hand. The floor was called but Naim released his hand before the countdown started. There followed a bad tempered exchange where Naim said “This idiot calls the clock after ten seconds.” Holdeew responded, “Don’t call me an idiot.” Naim shot back, “Well don’t call the clock.” As the next hand was dealt Naim asked Dominik Nitsche, who was on his phone, if he had a stopwatch but Nitsche refused to get involved.
Oleh Okhotskyi from the Ukraine opened for 6,800 and it was folded round to Naim in the big blind who chuckled and made the call after a brief hesitation. They saw a flop of . Naim had a bit of a dwell up and checked to Okhotskyi for fired out a bet of 8,000. Naim examined the board, checked his cards and after a couple of minutes made the call. The on the turn and a check from Naim. A quick bet of 9,100 from Okhotskyi and Naim did some thinking. The minutes ticked by and the tension seemed to increase around the table. It didn’t quite approach five minutes but nobody called the clock and Naim eventually folded.