Turkish Player Karabulut Disqualified From Poker Tournament For Alleged Cheating

Following the alleged cheating and subsequent removal from the Partouche Poker Tour final table of Ali Tekintamgac, a suspected fellow compatriot Kadir Karabulut has now been disqualified from the Holland Casino Dom Classic on similar grounds.
Last year when Turkish origin Ali Tekintamgac was ousted from the Partouche tournament, Kadir Karabulut was one of the reporters accused of standing behind players and signalling their cards to Tekintamgac via hand signals.
Now, Karabulut has been removed from the €1,500 Holland Casino Main Event with just 30 players remaining after PokerStars Team Pro Pieter de Korver became suspicious of the interaction between a photographer circling the table and Karabulut.
Having relayed his concern to the tournament director, other competitors became aware of the situation resulting in the players refusing to continue with the game until Turkish player Kadir Karabulut was disqualified. As a consequence of their findings, Karabulut, the photographer and several railbirds were banned from the casino with Holland Casino spokesman Mark Woldberg explaining:
 
“[Entrance by] the three persons to Holland Casino [has been] immediately denied. The stack of the player remaining in the tournament [Karabulut] was taken out of the tournament. We particularly regret that this occurred and it goes without saying that this is totally unacceptable for Holland Casino.”
The potential for crooked media staff to operate as part of a cheating ring has now been highlighted with the removal of Ali Tekintamgac in September and now Kadir Karabulut. Under scrutiny now is the game’s security, and in particular media access to the tournament floor. Summing up the need for change, Woldberg continued:
“To avoid such problems in future, we will see if we – in addition to the press regulations [that] currently have to be signed [by media personnel] – can have even stricter regulations for bloggers and journalists.”
After his removal, the tournament recommenced with M de Gier eventually coming out on top of the field to pocket the €63,420 first place prize.