It wasn’t too controversial, but at table 45 just now one of the floor managers had to be called over to clarify a rule prior to the flop being dealt. And for Denyse Mignault, a Women’s series regular, it was a good thing the decision came down in her favor – she ended up winning the hand! Keep in mind, table 45 is the one with two of the three chip leaders, one of which is Crystal Abouhanna, the first champion in this year’s Women’s Series.

The question was whether or not Denyse had folded her hand preflop, or if she had called, as she insisted. As the dealer explained to the floor manager, Crystal had opened with a raise from early position, which was called by Aviva Chepurny in late position. As the action came around the Denyse, seated at the small blind, she simultaneously pushed her two cards into the middle and said “I call” while pushing in a 5,000 chip with her elbow – an interesting combination of moves from Denyse to be sure!

The manager, pro that he is, immediately knew the answer. “In the case of simultaneous action,” he explained, “the player’s verbal instruction takes precedence.” With that taken care of, the hand could continue, and Denyse threw in her chip, receiving the appropriate change. The dealer did his thing, and the hand progressed with relatively quick raises and calls occurring throughout.

In the end, with the board showing a , Denyse’s ace-ten was enough to win, gaining her at least 20,000 chips in the hand and putting a dent in both Crystal and Aviva’s chip stacks in the process.

Play continues…