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Cat Valdes Ejection From WSOP Circuit Event Stirs Controvery

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Over the weekend, word broke that someone had been kicked out of the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Bally’s in Las Vegas. Later, we discovered that Catherine Valdes, aka “catrific”, was the person that was given the boot.

Later, she told the world what happened, and the reaction from the community was what you would expect based on the situation. In the end, she got off with a slap on the wrist when she may have deserved more.

How the Situation Unfolded

Over the weekend, Valdes attempted to enter a $400 NL Event at Bally’s and ended up reporting to the late registration desk of the $1,100 WSOP-C Main Event. The person checking entry tickets didn’t notice that she was trying to play in a $400 side event and let her play in the Main.

She then proceeded to play for a couple of hours before tournament officials discovered the mistake and proceeded to DQ her from the tournament. She was given the option to return to play the $400 event, but apparently, she did not.

Catrific’s Version of the Story

According to Valdes’ version of the story that she gave on YouTube (the video has been pulled), she explained that she is still new to poker and that she knew something was not quite right when she saw how many chips she got in the event.

However, it took her about an hour to fully grasp that she was in the wrong tournament. Instead of coming clean to tournament officials, she decided to follow a friend’s advice and continue playing in the tournament.

Tournament officials discovered the error and proceeded to DQ her from the event. She then said that she was treated rudely by tournament staff, scolded for her actions, but still given the option to play in the $400 tournament.

Poker Players Not Happy With Her Choice

As you can expect, their public outcry over this situation was largely negative towards Valdes. While some agreed that the tournament staff could have been kinder to her, most put the blame solely on her shoulders.

Bill Perkins took a differet view:

 

Some claimed that she was trying to play the victim while others accused her of outright cheating by continuing to play in the event.

Tournament Officials Made Correct Call Based on Information Given

This is indeed a dicey situation for tournament staff to make, but they handled it about the best they could considering the circumstances. It does appear that WSOP staff were at fault at letting her play in the event. However, the fact remains that she still played in an event that she shouldn’t and the DQ was indeed accurate.

In terms of the treatment received, one can argue that it seems likely that she should realize that something was wrong at some point and it does seem unlikely that she didn’t know what was going on. In my opinion, it could have been worse for her.

After Video Admission She Should Have Been Banned

I’m going to take a bit of a harder stance on this than what happened based on what she said in the video. She admitted that once she figured out for certain that she was in the wrong event, she chose to continue playing in the event.

This is a conscious choice and now the situation goes from a simple mistake to blatant dishonesty. Many said that she was outright cheating, and I can see the argument there. If anything, it was a serious offense and indicative of a lack of moral fortitude on her behalf.

After hearing her admission on video, if I were the tournament direct, I would have banned her from the property, which would have effectively banned her from all Caesars properties. She could reapply for readmittance after a year when she shows that she has improved her character.

Valdes Posts Follow-Up Video – Says She “Owns” What Happened

On Monday, Valdes posted a video where she says that she is heading to her grandmother’s funeral and wanted to address the ban situation. She then said that she owns what she did and that she had no intention of cheating or taking other player’s equity.

She then said that this was a “learning experience” and she knows what to do in the future. During the video, she claims that she was naive during the whole process and that people that really know her understand her heart and that she wouldn’t do something like that intentionally.

It will be interesting to see what impact this has on her as a poker player in the future. Once you get a certain stigma, it is hard to overcome it. The best thing for her to do is to work on her game and try to be completely above board in her dealings in the poker world. Time, and playing well, tend to rewrite history in the minds of poker fans.

Don’t believe me? Remember back when Justin Bonomo was considered a cheat in online poker? Now he is #1 on Poker’s All-Time Money List. When is the last time you heard his past online endeavors brought up?

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