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The William Kassouf Show at the World Series of Poker Main Event finally — mercifully — ended Saturday night.
The controversial poker pro from England, who repeatedly clashed with players and WSOP staff for the past several days, was eliminated from the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship on Day 7 in 33rd place.
After busting, Kassouf was informed by tournament director Dennis Jones he was banned for the remainder of the WSOP, which ends Wednesday, and escorted out of the Horseshoe Events Center by security.
The Main Event continues Sunday with 24 players still in the hunt for the $10 million first prize and is expected to play until the final nine players remain. Kenny Hallaert of Belgium holds the chip lead with Las Vegas resident Adam Hendrix in fourth place.
The MOMENT @WilliamKassouf finds out he is being banned from 2025 WSOP events. pic.twitter.com/pY6daIQzr0
— Poker Org (@pokerorg) July 13, 2025
Kassouf is known for pushing the boundaries of table etiquette, nearly bringing a player to tears during the 2016 Main Event when he finished 17th. His speech play tactics, stalling and endless complaining wore on players, dealers, PokerGO producers and officials throughout this year’s tournament.
During Day 6, Kassouf had the clock called on him repeatedly by opponents in an effort to speed up play and was ultimately put on a 10-second shot clock for each decision. He vehemently argued with officials and anyone else who would listen that he was being singled out and treated with a different set of rules.
The situation finally erupted on Day 7, as Kassouf had the clock called on him during the first hand and believed he wasn’t given enough time by the floor supervisor to make a decision.
After arguing his case, Kassouf was ultimately given a one-round penalty for verbal abuse of an opponent. Officials threatened to disqualify him from the tournament if he continued to be disruptive.
Kassouf didn’t stop and had an animated conversation at the first break with Jack Effel, the senior vice president of poker operations and WSOP for Caesars Entertainment, as security looked on. During the second afternoon break, Kassouf and Effel had another exchange as the player pleaded his case.
Kassouf argued with players at the secondary feature table after dinner and received another one-round penalty. The end came not long after he returned to the table.
Hallaert opened with a raise, and when action got to Kassouf, the clock was called almost immediately by another player.
That set off Kassouf, who eventually put in his remaining chips with pocket sevens. Hallaert called with king-five, and the ace-jack-10 board kept Kassouf in the lead. But the king on the turn gave Hallaert the better pair, and the jack on the river sent Kassouf packing.
“Disgrace. You’re all pathetic,” Kassouf told the table. “I’ll see you next year. All of you, I’ll remember your faces. I’ll see each one of you next year. I’m going to bang you all up.”
Will Kassouf (@WilliamKassouf) has been eliminated in 33rd place ($300,000) after shoving pocket 7s pre-flop into by Kenny Hallaert (@SpaceyFCB) who called with K♥️5♥️ and turned a King to send Kassouf to the rail. Watch the stream on https://t.co/pGPDDvqFQG! #WSOP2025 pic.twitter.com/OxTLHAgxVy
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 13, 2025
Despite being out of the tournament, Kassouf remained at the table and continued to complain about the way he was treated. He was then serenaded by spectators with the chorus from Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”
Kassouf bowed to the audience before being escorted off the PokerGO set. He earned $300,000 for his efforts.
“I’m here to play my game my way. If everyone wants to sit there in silence, say nothing, headphones, hoodies, sunglasses on, that’s their prerogative. I have no issue with that,” Kassouf said in an interview with PokerGO. “I’ve not called a clock on anyone in the whole tournament when they’ve been tanking for like three minutes preflop, four minutes postflop. I gave them respect, let them play their game. They want to call a clock on me after 10 seconds, five seconds, whatever, 20 seconds.
“I’m sitting there with 10 big blinds for my tournament life playing for $10 million and they’re calling the clock on me every five seconds.”
Chip leaders
1, Kenny Hallaert (Belgium) 63.6 million
2, Braxton Dunaway (United States) 51.1 million
3, Muhamet Perati (Italy) 50.1 million
4, Adam Hendrix (United States) 39.5 million
5, Luka Bojovic (Serbia) 33.9 million
6, Richard Freitas (Brazil) 32.5 million
7, Joey Padron (United States) 29.9 million
8, Daniel Iachan (United States) 28.1 million
9, Ruben Correia (Portugal) 26.7 million
10, Daehyung Lee (South Korea) 25.6 million
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.
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