For most of us, the World Series of Poker is still a player's dream. For many others, especially those from overseas, it's either a grand celebration or a great opportunity to play some juicy tournaments and cash games, make some good money and possibly make history. If we were to look for a comparison, a WSOP ban would be a similar blow to the locals as a ban from King's Casino would be to the locals. Today, we take a look at four exotics whose behaviour managed to earn them a ban.

Jared Bleznick - Card Ripper
 

Jared Bleznick is clearly the most famous player of today's foursome. He has long appeared in high stakes online cash games under the name "Harrington25" and you might recognize him from his appearances on Poker After Dark or Poker Night in America. He infamously reminded the public of himself last year when he had an unprecedented moment during an Omaha Super High Roller Bowl event. His opponent was all-in, and he decided to spend all his time bank cards, but not to think - to unwrap his collectible sports cards!

Every poker player knows that time extension management is a crucial part of tournament play. @harrington25 uses his time extensions to break two boxes of @PaniniAmerica One's and One's. #SportsCards pic.twitter.com/v3027dWNpA

- PokerGO (@PokerGO) October 19, 2023

The American pro is and always has been known for his difficult nature and temperament, which has gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. The worst of it came in 2013, when a considerably out of shape Bleznick ended his run in a $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw Event by angrily crumpling the last card in his hand into a ball and throwing it across the table when the dealer dealt him the last card as an all-in player, which meant elimination for Bleznick.

Shouting"Floor, give me a fucking payout ticket now," he subsequently did the same with the other four cards. For this incident, combined with his long-standing indecent behavior, he was given a lifetime ban by the competent authorities. However, this was shortly afterwards lifted thanks to Phil Hellmuth, who spoke up for Bleznick. What prompted Phil to do this act is unknown. Anyway, thanks to Hellmuth, Bleznick was able to participate in the other tournaments of the year, including the Main Event, in which he made a great deep run, and so instead of being banned, he finished the WSOP that year with $338,288 for 16th place.

Thang Luu - Hand (Heart) Breaker
 

Another local pro, this time with Asian roots, had a great opportunity to make history as a top-notch Hi-Lo Omaha player. He narrowly missed out on a bracelet at the 2007 WSOP, finishing 2nd in the $2k. Thang Luu didn't have to wait too long to make amends, he conquered a $1,500 buy-in Omaha Hi/Lo tournament the very next year, and to make matters worse, he even defended his title a year later. As we wrote - a first-class Omaha Hi-Lo player. Yet, in the end, he made history in a very different way.

Not only did he fail to make an unprecedented hat trick, Luu, in a very stupid way, deprived himself of the opportunity to even attempt one. And forever. According to several eyewitnesses, Luu was in a cash game (Omaha 8/b) in 2009 where things got out of hand. In a showdown in one of the hands, Luu turned over his cards, to which his opponent told him that he couldn't see them well. So the dealer took Luu's cards and moved them forward so that everyone could easily see them, including Luu's opponent.

According to witnesses, Luu yelled at the dealer not to touch his cards and then shook his fist at the dealer's hand, which was on the table. Security , doctors and police were immediately summoned, and the dealer himself had broken several bones in his hand. The immediate result was a lifetime ban from the WSOP, which this time remains in effect to this day.

Ken "Naked Bandit" Strauss - bare ass and dancing on the table
 

Situation: dude shits into you, flips you a Q3o, shows you his penis, then throws a shoe at you. You have a pair of 55's under your arm and slowly but surely you're running out of time. What do you do? No, this is no joke but a story brought to you by the 2019 WSOP Main Event. Starring Ken "Naked Bandit" Strauss, this is how he distinguished himself, for which he was immediately escorted away from the table by floored and security (he won the hand, by the way, as he hit a queen). But the story doesn't end there....

Uhhhhhhhh what is going on at the #WSOP main event???? Player shoves blind, drops his pants, then throws his shoe on the table 😂 😂 😂 😂(video via @blattsmullet) pic.twitter.com/oHGk5pjlnJ

- Scott Davies (@sdaviespoker) July 5, 2019

The #nakedbandit, as the poker community immediately started calling him, made his way to the casino section of the Rio Hotel instead of the exit though, where he started dancing on the craps table. Once again, there was no shortage of pants pulling, but this time it ended in an arrest. Since he had performed similar stunts in other casinos, he ended up in court, where the charges included terroristic threats.

After an investigation, Strauss was deemed unfit to stand trial and, in agreement with prosecutors, was given a suspended sentence. Strauss had to undergo psychiatric treatment and had to avoid all casinos for at least 2 years. Since then, he has come a long way, becoming a teetotaler and avoiding casinos to this day. In May this year, he even offered an interview to PokerNews in which he told his whole life story.

David "Lefty" Diaz - the player who (allegedly) went too far with the alcohol
 

Players like to drink. After a tournament, during a tournament, or before a tournament, it's a fairly common thing. Even so, so far only one player has managed to get banned for alcohol-related behaviour - and that's despite the fact that Diaz's story is now a decade old.

What Diaz brought up that earned him this unique status is something not only you and we would like to know, but at that moment, he would like to know himself. Indeed, his tweet from the period in question suggests he had no idea: "Apparently I'm banned from all Harrah's owned properties (owner of the Rio casino)...because I was too drunk and bothering people. I don't remember any of that, though. F*ck!"

A number of other players spoke up for Diaz in this case instead of Hellmuth, saying that he was a really good and decent guy. That, along with Diaz's apology, worked, and so, following the example of Jared Bleznick, he too eventually returned to the tournament tables just a year later.

Source - PokerNews, Poker-king, WSOP, PokerTube, Twitter