Poker Player Tony Korfman Strangles Opponent During Tournament
December 15, 2009 11:21 amThe Bellagio was the scene of an extraordinary display of tilt after poker player and writer, Tony Korfman, in a fit of temper, put his hands around the throat of a fellow player and proceeded to throttle him, until the security team arrived and removed him from the premises.
The $1,000 re-buy second chance tournament was in full swing at the Fontana Living room, when the incident occurred. Bryan Devonshire, an eye-witness described the moment Korfman ‘lost his calmness’ after being knocked out of the tournament on the bubble, and so enacted his revenge on the unfortunate opponent, by throttling him.
Korfman has written a whole series of poker books, and in one of them he has a chapter entitled “Table Image – How to make your opponent fear you.” Strangling the opposition wasn’t actually mentioned in that particular chapter, and surely his latest tactic goes beyond table etiquette and is unlikely to be accepted anytime soon as a legitimate strategy by the poker community.
Eye-witness Devonshire originally aired his account on the TwoPlusTwo forum, and Korfman decided to post a response in order to give his version of the incident:
“i did not bubble. said punk bubbled then slammed his stack toward the guy that won the hand. punk was pissed because guy rivered him with a gutterball. then he had the balls to question weather the guy had him covered with part of his chips in the pot, part on the floor and part in the guys stacks. i then mother ****ed him for being a prick and chaos ensued. i always defend the dealers, floormen and players that dont defend themselves. these types of punks should have been spanked when they were a kid. actually im sorry i didnt pants him and take him over my knee. that would have been a great lesson for him. tk.”
Despite his self appointed status as the etiquette avenger of the poker tables, Tony Korfman sure has a funny way of getting his point across, and has now been banned from the Bellagio until further notice.