An automatic shuffler dealt players the same cards twice in a row at the WSOP

Automatic shuffler dealt players identical cards twice in a row at the WSOP

World Series of Poker bracelet winner Dario Sammartino reported identical hands at the WSOP after an automatic shuffler was used. The Italian pro shared this on his Instagram and called for the incident to be investigated.
"What happened today at the WSOP requires an explanation. During a tournament, the automatic shuffler dealt the exact same hand twice in a row. Every position at the table got the same hole cards, and the board was identical. Same ranks, same suits.

Hand 1: I was in the big blind with J5 offsuit.
Hand 2: the big blind was dealt J5 offsuit again.
The cutoff got A7 offsuit both times. The button got K6 suited both times. Every player who remembered their cards confirmed the same thing. The board in both hands was identical: 2-3-4 of spades, plus a king and a jack.

And this happened right after the dealer 'shuffled' the deck using the automatic shuffler. The probability that this happened by chance is practically zero. This is not normal, and in the interest of the integrity of the game it needs to be investigated."

Attention to the incident was also drawn by professional player and commentator David Lappin. His post on X with a screenshot of Sammartino's story gathered more than 20 thousand views.

"If the facts match what's described, this has enormous implications for the integrity of the game."

One user in the comments to Lappin's post suggested that the shuffler was running in "sort" mode instead of "shuffle" mode, which caused the identical hands. The dealer probably didn't notice that the machine was using the wrong mode.

These identical hands likely occurred during the $10,000 Mystery Bounty NLH tournament. Sammartino bagged on Day 2, finishing 83rd with 55,000 chips. The Italian guaranteed himself an ITM finish, since 84 players will be paid. The chip count is led by Todd Ivens with 1,400,000 chips.

Also still in the tournament are Adrian Mateos, Brian Rast, Kristen Foxen, Scott Seiver, Erik Seidel, Tony "Ren" Lin, Russia's Arseniy Karmatskiy, Ukraine's Artem Metalidi, Belarus's Vadim Lipovka, and former interim UFC champion Colby Covington.