Some would say that the life of a Poker professional is easy. Or at least they would if they hadn’t seen the video of Ben Ross being thrown out of the Watauga Social Lounge. A video of the player surfaced on social media, clearly showing him getting escorted from the premises. Though, some would also say that he was asking for it.
It was during a $100 buy-in at the Texas establishment that the player started running off his mouth, loudly complaining about the rules. His first accusation came regarding the $60 add-on, which he claimed had a $12 rake built into the price. He also had brash questions about the antes, as well as even the color coding of the betting chips. Upon him declaring that the venue was a rat hole, staff forced him to take it outside.
Disagreement Goes Viral
The downside for the Watauga Social Lounge is that they seem to have forgotten that YouTube is a thing. Ross recorded the disagreement on his phone, including the establishment’s staff escorting him out onto the street. The video was quickly sent to PokerFraudAlert, run by Todd Witteles. He in turn uploaded it to YouTube.
Though, it should be taken into account that Ross wasn’t thrown out without consideration. At that point in the game he had already won 9 $25 bounties, which he was allowed to take with him. He was also even allowed to leave with his original $110 buy-in, as well as his $30 membership fees.
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But what exactly got him steamed enough to start bad mouthing an otherwise well-respected establishment?
Not Unwarranted Concerns
As loudmouthed as the pro player may be, his concerns aren’t unwarranted. At least as far as the added 20% rake is concerned. The add-on cost is not advertised as having a rake, which ultimately means that $12 of the cost is going directly into the house’s pocket. It is clear that this condition was not disclosed beforehand. Most troubling is that the problem only came to light when the pro player noticed that the prize pool wasn’t as big as it should be.
When the matter became a point of discussion amongst the players, the Watauga Social Lounge did return the rake fees back to the prize pool. But apparently the annoyance got Ross into a complaining frenzy. He raised additional questions about the rules being used for big blinds and small blinds, at which point staff asked him to leave.
It isn’t clear if the venue was actually breaking the law, but it is clear that they didn’t handle the situation particularly well.
