2026 WSOP Strange Deal: Same Hand Appears Twice in a Row, Order Completely Identical

2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Again Hit by Card Dealing Controversy – Same Hand Twice in a Row

The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has once again been hit by a dealing controversy. While it ultimately looks more like a bizarre anomaly or minor error rather than a serious issue, it is certainly unsettling.

Professional poker player Dario Sammartino raised the alarm on social media, and fellow pro David Lappin shared the post. Sammartino reported that during the $10,000 Mystery Bounty event, the auto-shuffler at his table seemed to deal the exact same hand twice in a row, with the same card order.

He described it as follows: In the first hand, he was in the big blind and held J-5 offsuit. In the second hand, the player in the big blind again received J-5 offsuit. Both times, the middle position player got A-7 offsuit, and the button picked up K-6 suited. Furthermore, the flop both times came 2♠3♠4♠, followed by a K and a J (the suits of the last two cards were not specified).

Another Credible Witness

Sammartino noted that even someone with no understanding of math would agree that the probability of this happening after a shuffle is virtually zero. Some speculated that a new deck might have been put into play without being shuffled.

But professional player Loni Harwood Hui later said that speculation was incorrect. She was at that table and can confirm Sammartino's account; however, she clarified one point: the first hand used a red deck, then they played a normal hand with a blue deck, but the very next hand with the red deck produced the exact same board as two hands earlier.

Dealer Error?

The author of this article (not present at the scene, nor a WSOP shuffling expert) speculates that the dealer may have accidentally pressed the "sort" button on the shuffler.

The WSOP uses the DeckMate2 automatic shuffler, which uses a camera to verify all 52 cards are in the deck, then shuffles them in just 22 seconds. The device can also sort cards in three preset orders. As shown in the video above, the machine has safety measures to prevent dealers from putting a sorted deck into play, but it is possible that feature failed, or the dealer and other personnel present failed to notice the sorting mode was active.

Oddly, if the sort mode was activated, it must have been triggered either multiple times or left on. The former would be an unfortunate coincidence of dealer error; the latter—even if possible—would mean the blue deck was also sorted.

Regardless of the accuracy of the speculation, the key question is whether the WSOP will investigate to find out what happened. This is not the end of the world, and everything seemed normal after those few bizarre hands, but understanding what occurred would still be beneficial.