Poker Player 86’ed From 2026 WSOP After Smoking Incident

A player on Day 1 of the $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event at the World Series of Poker was kicked out of the tournament for putting his chips in his pocket after attempting to smoke at the table.

The WSOP’s social media account posted a video of the incident involving a player arguing with a floor supervisor over smoking a cigarette at the table. The player was adament about smoking while playing, which hasn’t been permitted in any U.S. poker room since 2003.

Poker Player Banned for Smoking

Security was called over to the table, and another player at the table was heard calling for a one-round penalty “at least.” The player smoking a cigarette continued to refuse to put his cigarette out. Nick Schulman referred to the player as a “legend.”

He would later be informed he’d been kicked out of the tournament over drinking excessively and putting his chips in his pocket, PokerNews was informed by a WSOP source. He was removed from the tournament area without further incident but was not banned from Caesars properties and is expected to return to the WSOP on Saturday.

The tournament in question, Event #56, had 342 players in the field at the time of publishing, with registration still open. Jean-Robert Bellande, Bruce Buffer, and Jeremy Becker were among the players in the field. PokerNews will begin live reporting coverage of the tournament tomorrow on Day 2.

Eliot Thomas is an Editor at PokerNews, specializing in casino and poker coverage. He has reported on major events around the world, including the World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour, and Triton Super High Roller Series.