Professional poker player disqualified from tournament for head-butting opponent

Michele Nizzardellil was disqualified from the European Poker Tour [EPT] Prague Main Event after allegedly headbutting Ghattas Kortas at table 12.

Upset at his elimination in the tournament, Kortas allegedly grabbed Nizzardelli's hat when he turned around and began walking away. Nizzardelli is said to have taken exception and pushed Kortas to the ground from behind.

Kortas got up to confront his opponent when Nizzardelli reportedly delivered a headbutt to his nose, sending him to the ground again. Security intervened, and Nizzardelli was removed from the tournament and escorted out of the venue.

The poker tournament occurred at King's Casino in the Hilton Hotel. Over 1,200 participants joined the approximately $5,830 [€5,300 buy-in] tournament, with more expected as late registrations are still open. The fight started when the night ended, after a tense hand unfolded, leading to the unexpected fight.

The headbutt resulted in a nosebleed for Kortas and him falling. Dazed, Kortas asked other players about his injury. According to reports, Nizzardellil's future in PokerStars events is now up in the air.

Izzardelli has won approximately $78,000 from live tournaments, while Kortas has earned just over $525,000 in winnings. However, neither of them will receive the first-place prize of around $1,133,000 [€1,030,000] in the coming days.

Altercations during poker games are not uncommon, given the intense and competitive nature of the activity where players strive to win significant amounts of money. In 2022, an incident unfolded at the Hustler Casino poker room, where two players fought. One of the players reportedly used a table as a weapon following an alleged insult to his mother.

Another incident in 2020 occurred at the Aria poker room involving a scuffle between a dealer and a player. The altercation escalated to the point where a table was used as a weapon, and it concluded with the dealer chasing the player around the venue.

Subsequent investigations revealed that the dealer, who had been well-liked by players, had been subjected to an attack involving a beer being poured on him. In response to this incident, a GoFundMe campaign was initiated, and $5,775 was successfully raised to support the dealer.

As of the conclusion of day 3, 53 players are remaining in the tournament. Jon Kyte leads the pack, accumulating 2,200,000 in chips.

Following closely is Steve O'Dwyer, the 2013 EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event champion, who secured 1,915,000 in chips by the end of play. A consistent participant in EPT tournaments, Kyte boasts live-tournament earnings exceeding $1,000,000.

The Norwegian professional recently won in a hyper-turbo freezeout event at EPT Barcelona earlier this year, earning €50,325. He is currently in a prime position to pursue his first EPT Main Event title and the first-place prize of $1,030,000.

Here is a look at the results of the competition after the conclusion of Day 3:

1. Jon Kyte, [Norway]: 2,200,000 chips
2. Steve O'Dwyer, [Ireland]: 1,915,000
3. Teun Mulder, [Netherlands]: 1,875,000
4. Cesar Garcia, [Spain]: 1,660,000
5. Marius Kudzmanas, [Lithuania]: 1,630,000
6. Padraig O'Neill, [Ireland]: 1,600,000
7. Tobias Garp, [Sweden]: 1,595,000
8. Marle Spragg, [USA]: 1,395,000
9. Omar Eljach,[Sweden]: 1,250,000
10. Asaf Groofi, [Israel]: 1,100,000