Crossing the Line? Sam "Señor Tilt" Kiki's High Stakes Angle
GipsyTeam
Today, 13:20
A high-stakes live game featured one of the most talked-about hands of recent months. Viewers, led by Doug Polk, saw the actions of Sam "Señor Tilt" Kiki, an amateur angle-shooter.
Let's introduce the main characters of this little scandal.
First, we have Sam "Señor Tilt" Kiki. He's become a recent regular in high-stakes games. He's got the personality of Nik Airball, but the poker record of Action Dan.
He'll be playing the villain role in this story.
Next, we have the wealthy businessman, Darin Feinstein.
PokerGo aired this hand at the end of December, but it didn't elicit any reaction at the time. But a few days ago, the hand was posted on YouTube with the title, "CRAZIEST Hand in High Stakes Poker?!"
Afterward, it went viral on social media and poker news sites.
Señor Tilt or Señor Angle? Let's See
Let's go through the hand step by step, up until the questionable part.
The stakes were $500/$1k/$1k.
Señor Tilt opened with a raise to $2,000 from UTG, and Feinstein immediately followed him with a raise to $8k.
Comedian Kevin Hart in the SB with made the call, and Kiki also called.
On the flop of , Feinstein bet $16k, Hart folded, and Kiki called.
On the turn, Feinstein bet $20k and when Senor Tilt raised to $65k, he called extremely quickly (before the graphics could even display the raise).
The river was where things got interesting.
While Kiki was pondering what to do, Feinstein warned him while smiling, "I'll probably fold if you bet."
This got a puzzled smile out of Señor Tilt, but he didn't check.
Then, he picked up a stack of $5k chips and made a distinct motion toward the center of the table as if he was about to bet. Feinstein also moved a handful of chips towards the middle. When Sam saw this, he pulled back his chips (which hadn't touched the felt).
Both players nervously laughed, but it's quite clear from the footage that Feinstein didn't feel cheated.
After this moment, the players checked and opened their cards, and there was laughter around the entire table.
"Oh boy," commentator Nick Shulman sounded disturbed. "That's a little bit... He sort of motioned forward, and it looked like... They're in the wild now, but what Kiki just did there was a little bit..."
If you watch the clip, Schulman's tone will fill in the blanks in his speech perfectly.
Kiki's strange actions sparked heated discussion and outrage on social media.
High-stakes player Sam Kiki has been involved in a controversial hand that happened over on High Stakes Poker on PokerGO. Was this bet fine, or was it over the line? I think it’s over the line, but maybe that’s technical.
In my opinion, this is clearly a bet. Whether it’s a hard betting line or forward motion, both criteria are met. He clearly makes forward motion.
When you’re playing poker, you shouldn’t have to worry about whether a bet actually ends up being a bet or not. That’s why I only play online at my favorite place, using my name.
If we pause this frame by frame, the moment he puts the chips over the line, that’s a bet. Then, a few frames later, you can see him look over and notice Feinstein is going to call. He still has the chips in his hand, and that’s when he realizes he’s going to lose the money. At that point, he pulls it back and plays it off like it was a joke.
Even the commentator Nick Schulman doesn’t know what to say.
In the PokerNews article, they ran a poll asking people what they thought, and the vast majority felt this was clearly a bet.
Now, to argue the other side for a moment, sometimes in games where players are friendly, joke around a lot, and don’t take things too seriously, you might see behavior like this. The other players didn’t seem angry. Everyone was laughing, and even the player who won seemed okay with it.
But just because people are laughing doesn’t make it acceptable.
What really crosses the line for me is checking to see what your opponent is doing and then pulling the chips back. That’s clearly trying to get a reaction, or using a reaction to decide whether a bet you already made is going to stand.
I don’t think Sam is a bad guy. I’ve gotten to know him over the last year. But at some point, the rules of the game need to be enforced. Poker rules are not about how far you can push chips forward and then see what your opponent does.
Charlie Carrel was also interested in this hand, and did his own investigation.
That was 100 percent a bet. Forward motion plus crossing the line. It’s a bet in any respectable card room. But private games are private games. They’re different.
As long as this is a one-off, you probably shouldn’t roast a guy too hard for something like this in a private game. It’s easy to make a mistake in the moment.
If it’s a continuous pattern, then you have to be a lot more judgmental.
If I were Sam Kiki and I watched this back, I’d probably text the guy and say, “Bro, I didn’t realize how bad that was. I owe you 80k.”
I doubt that happens. There’s no honor among thieves. That concept doesn’t really work when you’re a bunch of rich guys sitting in a private game meant to be having fun.
I feel like there should be a bit more etiquette. He’s probably very happy to be in that lineup too, because he’s likely winning decent money there.
Kiki, in a since-deleted tweet, accused Polk of hyping up the situation for hype and clickbait. He added that he and Feinstein had known each other for years: "We often run into each other at home games where a lot of this kind of nonsense happens."
At the request of my friends, I deleted some of my past tweets (they do not want to be involved in poker drama).
TL;DR
1) My buddies and I can do whatever we want to each other in our games (even if they are on PokerGO) and we are capable of resolving our own issues without referee Doug.
2) DougPolkVids is jealous he doesn’t get invites to these games and is stuck in his basement playing with gold coins to win free poker coaching (or whatever it is that goes on at ClubWPTGold)
3) Since no one in poker media can find anything better to write about than antics between me and my buddies, I’m going to give them a buffet this week on PokerGO. Make sure you tune in.
Pump fakes with chips, slow rolls, and whatever else I am in the mood to do with my hard-earned money.
Peace.
-Señor
(Btw I own a site where you can win real money, not gold coins)
A little earlier, at the height of the discussion, Señor Tilt published an essay on the state of poker ecology:
Poker has no future other than private games.
These bot rings and unethical behavior online make it extremely unpleasant for most to play the game. And operators really don’t police it.
In the live arena these grinder dorks ruin the experience for any recreational player who wants to enjoy the game. And then there’s all the cheating (at private games and casino ones) that has recently been exposed which makes every game feel untrustworthy.
I am going to make poker fun again through nosebleed private cash games with some of the most successful and accomplished businessmen, investors and entrepreneurs, all gathered around the table talking shop. PokerGO has been a big ally in that regard and I plan on working with the HCL Poker team as well to bring recreational players into the game. I have even been approached by the ownership of WPT to collab on a reality TV/docuseries type thing similar to Drive to Survive to attract more recs to the game.
The media needs to focus on how poker is a game that brings together many skills critical in life – bankroll management, cost-benefit analysis, probabilistic thinking, emotional IQ, etc.
But the upside isn’t the EV made playing a hand. It’s the soft skills developed playing the game and the relationships made on and off the felt.
Everyone in my network will only play poker with friends or friends of friends (ie has to be vouched for). I think that is increasingly becoming the future of the game.
There are so many “coaches” and old poker pros turned influencers who are trying to convince you that the money is made playing a hand a certain way but the EVs run so slim that when you add in rake + variance, very few people can make a living playing poker. Even the guys shilling you instructional videos and trying to get you to watch their content are barely afloat.
Being a short term EV hunter or chiseler doesn’t get you shit in life. Ask any of these pros making GTO videos if they get invited to the high stakes private games. They don’t. So they spend 80 hours a week honing their craft to battle against other top pros honing their craft and having to somehow have enough edge against them + overcome rake + have enough of a bankroll to survive the variance.
They rely on selling you the false dream of making a living playing a game that they themselves can’t make a living playing (why do you think they are always wearing patches and hunting for sponsorship deals).
Be smart. Have fun playing poker. Enjoy the media of it (it’s entertaining for sure). And then go get a real job so you can enjoy the game for what it was designed to be- a hobby.
BTW, even people who can play the game profitably likely have made more money in outside business ventures, is my guess.
