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A costly procedural error unfolded during the $1,100 buy-in WPT Prime Lodge Championship, held at The Lodge Card Club near Austin, Texas. The event ultimately crowned Shrikant Pillamarapu as champion, earning $138,127.
With roughly 25 players remaining and blinds at 20,000/40,000, short-stacked David Pelosi held 520,000 chips and was looking for a spot to make a move. He found pocket aces in the hijack after Matthew McDowell raised to 80,000 from under the gun with A♦J♣.
Pelosi took time to consider a three-bet and began counting out chips, but the shot clock buzzer sounded before he placed his raise over the line. The dealer flagged the issue to the floor manager, prompting a ruling on the hand.
Pelosi argued he had been in the process of building his stack to bet when time expired, but since he had no remaining time extension chips, the ruling stood. His aces were declared dead, and he flipped them face-up in frustration.
McDowell went on to lose the pot anyway, as the big blind flopped two pair to scoop the chips. Still, the sequence proved symbolic of Pelosi’s unlucky run with aces.
Shortly after, Pelosi ran AxKx into a cooler against pocket aces, losing about 90% of his remaining stack. Minutes later, he was eliminated in 21st place for $7,300 after running AxJx into pocket aces once again.
