Can Any Player Call Clock After Isaac Haxton Tanks Six-Minutes in WSOP Main Event?
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With 99 players remaining the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 Main Event, an interesting hand took place involving one of the biggest names in poker, a hand that begged the question – who exactly can call the clock in a poker tournament?
The tournament was actually on a pay jump bubble, as 99th place was slated to take home $70,000, while whoever made it to 98th place would be guaranteed at least $85,000 in prize money.
The hand, as reported by Connor Richards, took place in Level 27 (50,000/100,000/100,000) when Johan Schumacher opened to 200,000 in middle position and Isaac Haxton three-bet to around 1,400,000 from the cutoff with just a single 5,000 chip behind.
Jose Bogarin called in the big blind and Schumacher re-shoved to send Haxton into a deep tank with a pay jump looming.
"Feel free to call the clock on me when you think it's been enough time," Haxton told his tablemates repeatedly.
A few minutes into Haxton's tank, it became apparent that Bogarin had also been in the tank. Not knowing Haxton had chips behind, Bogarin folded out of turn. That is when Haxton exercised his right to tank, hoping someone busted at another table.
Some players sitting at an adjacent table noticed that Haxton had stalled action at his table, so they also halted their action, with some players inquiring whether or not a clock had been called. When it was shared that a clock had not been called, they asked if someone at another table could call a clock.
What’s the Answer?
According to the Tournament Director’s Association (TDA) General Concepts Section 29 under General Concepts, it states:
Calling for a Clock – Players should act in a timely manner to maintain a reasonable pace of the game. If in TD’s judgement reasonable time has passed, they may call the clock or approve a clock request by any player in the event.
So, the rule is that any player in the tournament is allowed to call a clock on another player, even if they’re not at the same table. However, it’s ultimately up to the floor person as to whether or not the clock request will be honored.
So, What Happened?
The other table didn’t end up calling the clock, and that’s because someone at Haxton’s table, Yuchen Chen, finally did after more than six minutes had passed. At that point, Haxton called off his last chip and it was off to the races.
Johan Schumacher: A♦K♥
Isaac Haxton: 3♣3♦
"I was hoping it would be ace-king," Haxton said as the board ran out 9♥A♠Q♥5♥K♠ to mark his elimination in 99th place for $70,000. Despite the holdup, he missed the pay jump.
It wasn't until after the hand that Bogarin realized he had acted out of turn.
"Ohhhhh," he said with a look of shock as he touched his face.
