"Ninety Eight"

Webjoker

Level 6 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

Martin Jacobson opened for 7,600 under the gun and Ivan Soshnikov, who won the €10,000 High Roller here last year for €382,050, called on the button.

Jacobson bet out 6,300 on the flop and Soshnikov called. The on the turn made Jacobson check, and then call the 17,000 bet his Russian opponent made.

The river came the and Jacobson checked. This is where things got a little interesting as Soshnikov said "Ninety eight" before tossing in two red 25,000 chips.

Immediately some confusion amongst the players and the dealer arose, and the look on Soshnikov's face made clear he knew he just did something wrong. He said 98 but he put in 50,000. Did the Russian player mean 9,800 and used too many and too big chips for it? Or did he mean 98,000 and didn't put in enough chips? Or did he mean a totally different number and just said it wrong?

The dealer called over a floor and the situation was explained. The floor ruled that the intention must had been to bet 98,000 and so Soshnikov was forced to change the two red 25,000 chips for a single green 100,000 chip.

Jacobson wasn't convinced yet, and Isaac Haxton, Andrew Chen and Tobias Reinkemeier questioned the ruling as well. The tournament director came over and confirmed the ruling her colleague made, stating the PokerStars rules were clear on the subject.

Chen argued a similar situation happened during the EPT London High Roller where the player was forced to bet the smallest amount possible, instead of the highest possible meaning. That player had said "Three" before throwing in a 5,000 chip, but was forced to make it 300 instead of 3,000.

The decision to make it 98,000 stood though, and Jacobson said it felt like an angle before folding. "I would have called 9,800" he stated. Soshnikov raked in the chips and when asked, said he wanted to make it 48,000 and not 9,800 or 98,000. "I need to work on my English" he said with a blush on his face.