One of the most annoying players in poker has been banned from the game’s biggest stage.
William Kassouf, a controversial figure known for his excessive stalling and table chatter, was banned from World Series of Poker events for the rest of 2025 after he was eliminated from the No-limit Hold’Em World Championship Saturday in Las Vegas.
Tournament director Dennis Jones informed Kassouf that he had been banned, and the 43-year-old was escorted from the Horseshoe Events Center by security.
Kassouf, who is from England, drew the ire of his opponents, plus officials, dealers and just about everyone else in attendance for the WSOP Main Event, which runs through Wednesday.
Throughout the tournament, Kassouf had the clock called on him, because he would try to take as much time as possible before his moves in a tactical effort.
Eventually, on Day 6 of the Main Event, the officials put a 10-second shot clock on Kassouf for each decision, which greatly angered the London native.
Then, on Day 7, Kassouf erupted in frustration when he was called for a shot clock violation on the first hand, arguing that the officials hadn’t given him enough time to make a decision.
That incident led to a one-round penalty for verbal abuse of an opponent, and Kassouf was threatened to be banned from the tournament if he didn’t get his act together.
He did not.
Kassouf continued to clash with Jack Effel, the senior vice president of poker operations and WSOP for Caesars Entertainment, and with other players at the table.
After he was eliminated, Kassouf told the table: “Disgrace. You’re all pathetic. I’ll see you next year. All of you, I’ll remember your faces. I’ll see each one of you next year. I’m going to bang you all up.”
He was banned shortly thereafter.
Kassouf, who is also a lawyer, did emerge from the event with $300,000 in winnings.
“I’m here to play my game my way. If everyone wants to sit there in silence, say nothing, headphones, hoodies, sunglasses on, that’s their prerogative. I have no issue with that,” Kassouf told PokerGO. “I’ve not called a clock on anyone in the whole tournament when they’ve been tanking for like three minutes preflop, four minutes postflop. I gave them respect, let them play their game. They want to call a clock on me after 10 seconds, five seconds, whatever, 20 seconds.”
