Tournament unit in the Czech Republic
Martin Kabrhel's name has been appearing in TheHendonMob database since 2009, since when he earned $12.8 million in live tournaments. These winnings include 2 WSOP bracelets, 5 WSOPC rings and 4 EPT trophies. All of his rings and bracelets have been won at events hosted in Rozvadov.
It is worth noting that he has achieved as many as 64 of his 134 in-the-money finishes at the King's Casino in Rozvadov. Kabrhel himself claims that his home environment helps him, but he has nevertheless travelled the world and appeared in various interesting series and tournaments. Another interesting observation concerns tournament buy-ins - in fact, his repertoire includes tournaments ranging in value from $100 to £1,000,000.
As for the online waters, Kabrhel has never been very good at those. In 2017, he cracked the top fifteen of the highest losing players on highstakes. During his time at Full Tilt, he lost $425,000, in addition to which he lost $619,000 at PokerStars under the nickname "gomir".
He didn't come to the table to make friends
In various polls around the world, Kabrhel's name often appears at the top of tables of the most disliked and unpopular players. There was even a thread on reddit where players shared their experiences playing with Martin Kabrhel and listed together the reasons why they were uncomfortable playing against him.
1. Mixing chips of different denominations when betting. For example, when betting 95k, he takes 2 green chips (worth 25k each) and 9 red chips (worth 5k each). The green chips are mixed with the red chips, making the bet less noticeable. The players and the dealer must recount the chips.
2. Use of inappropriate denominations of chips. For example, announcing a raise to 240K and betting 300K when he could have topped up the 240K with other chips.
3. Deliberately prolonging the decision-making process. This irritates not only the players but also the viewers of the broadcast. Even when he clearly has absolute air on the river, it takes him another few seconds to discard his cards.
4. Slowroll. For example, he slow-rolled Ramon Colillas on the bubble of the EPT Prague 2022 Main Event. In the WSOP Europe €25K Platinum High Roller, he engaged in two minutes of Hollywood action on the river with a nuts full house against Joni Jouhkimainen.
5. Constantly at the table talking. He tries to get under every opponent's skin with trash talkers. And he often succeeds.
What does he use to turn the community against each other?
Kabrhel gained the most attention for his behavior in 2023 during the $250,000 WSOP Super High Roller, where he finished in 3rd place ($2,279,038). The main accusation revolved around Kabrhel marking his cards by leaving scratches on their edges with his fingernail.
One of the first players to make an accusation against the Czech regulator was Andrew Robl. "How is it possible that Martin Kabrhel is not banned from the WSOP? No tournament is fun for anyone with him, plus I've seen him mark cards in every tournament I've played with him. If I knew he was going to be in any tournament I would rather not play, imagine how recreational players must feel. Most pros have felt that way for years."
Arthur Martirosyan also voiced accusations of foul play, " There are suspicions that Kabrhel is marking his cards. Dan Smith came up to me during the break and said: "Be careful. Try not to cover your cards completely with chips, because it is very likely that Kabrhel may be marking cards."
Immediately after being eliminated from the tournament, Dan Smith said: "GG. Good luck to everyone except Martin Kabrhel. I hope they ban you from tournaments. Martin is the worst player I have ever played at a table with. Many players say he marks his cards. I don't know if it's true or not, but he's not pleasant to play with. He's rude, he takes 30 seconds to make up his mind every time. When I played with him, I had the feeling that something strange was going on. I can't say for sure, but he should definitely be banned from the game."
The whole affair has not escaped the attention of investigative reporter Doug Polk, who has compiled the following video about it:
Despite the reluctance of many players, the WSOP investigation never found any foul play by Martin Kabrhel. What is your opinion on this controversial player? Have you ever played with him at the table? Do you think his behavior is over the line? Share it with us in the comments on our social networks!
Sources - YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, pokeroff, pokernews, wsop
