Home / Poker News February 2014 / Chan Pelton Burned by WSOP and Palm Beach Kennel Club
Chan Pelton Burned by WSOP and Palm Beach Kennel Club
Posted by: Randy Williams - Fri, 2014-02-28 08:30
A couple of weeks ago we ran a piece on Chan Pelton, who had just won event #9 of the WSOP-C’s Palm Beach Kennel Club stop, taking down a $47k prize, the title and apparently pocketing a T25k chip after his victory. Although he stated that he had only decided to hold on to the chip as a souvenir, the casino management and the WSOP officials figured he may have taken it to use it in the Main Event which would follow the one he won.
The prize-money got frozen and so did Pelton’s status in regards to the WSOP-C, pending the investigation launched by the concerned authorities. The other day the punishment was handed down, and it was indeed a formidable one: Pelton got stripped of his title, and of his prize-money, he got banned from all Caesars proprieties and – the cherry on top of the cake – he got disqualified from the WSOP-C.
WSOP officials were in full agreement with the Palm Beach Kennel Club management in regards to the above said punishment.
The actual moment when Pelton palmed the chip was caught by the surveillance cameras inside the establishment. Pelton himself later admitted to the wrong-doing.
According to the Palm Beach Kennel Club, Pelton’s likely/admitted intentions were not considered at all when working out the punishment. The theft of casino propriety was enough of an offense to justify the seemingly harsh consequences. Pelton’s action also violated the WSOP’s tournament rules. The prize-money landed in possession of the runner-up, Chris Bolek, who was obviously pleased with the decision, simply tweeting “I’ll take it”.
According to Noah Carbone of the PBKC, the integrity of the games was extremely important for the operator, and there would never be any compromise made in that respect. The WSOP released a statement of its own regarding the Chan Pelton incident.
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