Calling a Clock...Sort Of

[user253725]

We arrived at the table on the turn to see Chamath Palihapitiya bet all in for his last 21,150. The board read . His lone opponent looked at cards and said, half-jokingly, "I need help." A player not in the hand offered to call the clock to motivate him to make his decision faster, and he agreed.

The dealer called the for a floorperson, who arrived and announced that the player had 1 minute and 10 seconds to make his decision. The floorman then walked away, although the dealer apparently assumed he would stay there and time the decision. The miscommunication sparked confusion at the table, and no one seemed to know how much time was left.

Steve Gee, who made the final table of the Main Event last year, was at the table but not in the hand, and he offered to help. Gee pulled out his iPad and opened the stopwatch, and announced to the table, "This is the official clock now." Gee's iPad read about four seconds at that point, even though almost a minute had passed since the floorman announced the clock. A few of the players were happy to use Gee's iPad, but the dealer felt otherwise. After about another 30 seconds, the dealer called the floorman back to the table, and he immediately started counting down the final ten seconds. When the countdown finished, Palihapitiya's opponent folded face up, deciding his two pair was no good.