A massive controversy unfolded at the WSOP Paradise Super Main Event in the Bahamas, involving a confusing mucked hand, a screaming match, and a brutal runout. For the second day in a row, player James Caputo found himself at the center of a procedural dispute, this time clashing with poker vlogger Ryan Depaulo in a hand that left the table stunned.
The incident occurred on Day 2b of the $25,000 buy-in tournament, turning a standard high-stakes hand into a ten-minute standoff involving floor staff and heated arguments among players.
High-Stakes Action at the Super Main Event
The drama began during Level 15, with blinds set at 25,000/50,000. Andre Moreira started the action by opening to 100,000. Ryan Depaulo called from the next seat, and James Caputo three-bet to 200,000 behind him.
Moreira called the raise, prompting Depaulo to shove all-in for 1,175,000. Caputo made the call, putting Depaulo at risk. However, the hand was far from over. Moreira then re-shoved for over 3,000,000 chips. This move isolated Caputo, forcing him to decide for a massive portion of his stack.
The Confusion: A Verbal Fold?
Following Moreira’s large re-shove, the situation descended into chaos. According to video footage recorded by Depaulo, Caputo expressed confusion regarding the betting state. He indicated he was all-in against Depaulo but not against Moreira.
Caputo then tabled his hand, A♦ 5♦, face up on the felt. The dealer interpreted this action, combined with Caputo’s verbal statements, as a fold to the 3 million chip shove. The dealer subsequently mucked Caputo’s cards, killing his hand.
This left only two active hands:
- Ryan Depaulo: K♣ K♠
- Andre Moreira: J♠ J♣
Heated Debate and Floor Ruling
Once the dealer mucked the cards, Caputo immediately protested, arguing that his hand should still be live and that he intended to call. High-stakes pro Martin Zamani, who was seated at the table, came to Caputo’s defense. Zamani insisted that Caputo never explicitly said “fold” and never stated “I am not calling.”
Depaulo strongly disagreed. He urged the floor manager to ignore Zamani, claiming the pro was “biased.” According to Depaulo’s account of the event, the floor staff had asked Caputo if his intention was to fold before the cards were mucked, and Caputo allegedly replied “yes.”
Tensions rose with expletives exchanged as the floor rendered a final decision: Caputo’s hand was dead. He was forced to surrender the 1,175,000 chips he had already committed to the pot against Depaulo and could not see a flop.
A Costly Runout for James Caputo
The ruling proved devastating when the dealer ran out the board. The community cards included three diamonds. Had Caputo’s Ace-Five of diamonds remained live, he would have turned a flush, cracking both Depaulo’s Kings and Moreira’s Jacks to scoop the entire pot.
Instead, the board gave Depaulo a set of Kings, which held up against Moreira. Depaulo raked in the massive pot, boosting his stack to approximately 70 big blinds. Moreira dropped to roughly 20 big blinds.
Caputo was left furious. He screamed expletives and slammed a stack of $50,000 cash onto the table in frustration. Despite the “nightmare” scenario, Caputo remained in the tournament with a healthy stack of around 60 big blinds. This marked his second controversy of the series, following a preflop raising error the previous day that inadvertently aided David Benyamine.
