Ricky Landais was eliminated in 22nd place in poker at Event #11 of the 2026 World Series of Poker after a dealer error changed the hand. With 22 players left in the $10,000 GGMillion$ High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, the board was reshuffled and redealt before Bobby James finished the hand.
James had just under 3,000,000 chips and opened to 120,000 from the cutoff with A♦9♠. Landais, sitting on 340,000 chips, moved all in with A♣K♣, putting his tournament life on the line against a weaker ace that was already behind preflop.
Bobby James And The Four-Card Flop
The flop first came 6♦5♦4♥K♦ with no burn card, which triggered the intervention. A floor manager was called and ruled that the dealer should reshuffle the four cards and select one of the face-down cards as the burn card, then deal the flop again.
The hand was redealt as 4♥6♦5♦, and the runout kept moving James forward. He picked up a straight draw on the 8♥ turn and completed a straight with the 7♣ river, ending Landais' tournament in 22nd place.
WSOP Prize Pressure At 22 Left
The elimination came in a field that drew 627 entries and was still playing for the bracelet and the $1,089,964 first-place prize. At that stage, every remaining player had already locked up at least $41,942, so the hand carried both laddering value and a shot at a seven-figure payday.
Joe Stapleton captured the reaction as Landais left the feature table area, saying, "This is one of the worst things that I have ever seen." The quote matched the shape of the hand itself: a big ace versus a smaller ace, then a procedural error that forced the cards back into the deck before the river settled the seat.
Landais Leaves At 22nd
For Landais, the swing ended at 22nd place and shut off the path to the final table in Event #11. For James, the pot moved him through a contested stage of the tournament with 22 players still alive and the top prize still in play.
