In a controversial ruling, World Series of Poker bracelet winner and two-time Circuit ring holder Ryan Eriquezzo (pictured) was disqualified from an event at the Parx Casino in Pennsylvania for losing his temper and allegedly making threats after a particularly bad beat.

The incident went down in a Parx Poker Big Stax $1,600 event when Eriquezzo lost a massive 200 big blind pot after going all in pre-flop with A-A versus his opponent’s Q-Q. Apparently unhappy with the outcome, the American pro reportedly crumpled his cards and threw them, shoved his entire stack across the table, spewed verbal abuse toward his opponent, and called the dealer a “fat mfer,” according to Parx Poker Room Ambassador Matt Glantz.

For the floor supervisor, the insult to the dealer was the last straw and the call was made to disqualify Eriquezzo from the tournament. As he was being ejected, one staff member heard him say that he would “torch this place,” but another claimed that he heard the full statement, in which he added, “on Twitter.”

And that he did. Eriquezzo railed against the casino to his over 2,000 followers, saying, “Think about it… I shelled 11 barrels into one of your events. I would have played here for life. I will never be back.”

He continued, Tweeting, “Never threatened anything at all. Was swearing, bitching, etc. about the beat. The floor is now likely trying to cover his ass.”

In his mind, the punishment was “way out of proportion” and many in the poker community agreed. “DQ’d seems beyond excessive,” said Matt Salsberg on the forums. “At most they should give him two orbits and a Xanax.”

Stealthmunk pointed to Phil Hellmuth‘s (pictured) sometimes-outrageous table manners, saying, “If @phil_hellmuth acted exactly how @RyanEriquezzo did, he wouldn’t get tossed. And that discrimination with lots of $ involved is a joke.”

But while some opposed the ruling, others found Eriquezzo’s behavior reprehensible and defended Parx’s actions.

Pokeraddict had no patience for such behavior and pointed out the fact that while the grinder threw a fit, other players were forced to sit through a delay while the spectacle played out before them. “I support any poker room/TD/series/suit that immediately disqualifies any player that purposely damages cards at a poker table out of anger,” he said. “Anyone that does this does not belong or need to be in a casino environment.”

Others thought that due to Eriquezzo’s experience at the tables, he should be afforded no sympathy. “He’s been around poker for years, knows how his table etiquette should be, he just lost control,” said one P5er. “He totally deserved to be DQ’d. You are supposed to conduct yourself properly at the poker table. He did not, so why should the players and staff have to put up with him?”

In a Two Plus Two thread, Glantz(pictured) chimed in to explain the casino’s reasoning behind the ruling. “While other venues may tolerate that type of behavior, we will not at Parx,” he stated firmly. “I guess we are the exception in the industry that we choose to protect our staff and make sure we maintain an enjoyable environment for all players. I am so very proud of that fact.”

He then highlighted that the incident might make other players think twice before they acted in same way. “I can tell you one thing for sure… It is much less likely you will see a player rip/throw cards/berate staff in a future Parx tournament.”

Eriquezzo has been very successful in tournaments throughout his career, winning over $1.2 million on record, according to the Hendon Mob. His biggest cash came when he took first place in the 2012 WSOP National Championship, pocketing $416,051.

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