Justin Lapka (LappyPoker) accidentally given 5k starting tournament chips too many, then tries to protest when they're taken away
Pretty obnoxious case of self-entitlement when one is accidentally given an unfair advantage.
Justin Lapka, also known as LappyPoker, is a young poker pro who has recently been training under pros like Ryan Laplante.
Lapka played WSOP Circuit Event #5 (Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas), and busted it. He then entered with a second bullet, and was given 45k starting chips instead of 40k.
Lapka realized right away, but in his own words, considered it a "bank error in your favor" situation, and decided to just to keep the extra chips without saying anything.
That by itself is already unethical, but let's be honest -- many poker players would have done the same. Had the story simply ended there, I wouldn't even be wasting the time to post about it.
However, the same mistake was made for another player, and he spoke up about it. The floor then got involved and looked at the starting stacks, determining that Lapka also received 5k too much.
The situation should have ended there. Lapka should have sheepishly returned the 5k, and at worst, feigned ignorance so as to avoid embarrassment.
Instead, he argued with the floorman that he should be able to keep the chips!
People couldn't believe it. Lapka really tried to continue making the argument that he shouldn't have to give up that 5k. I'm not sure if he had already started playing at that point, but it doesn't really matter. He didn't deny receiving the extra 5k chips. He just didn't want to give it back, and he moaned about it on break after the floorman forced him to hand it over.
This caused somewhat of a stir in the poker room, and eventually word got around that he was training under Ryan Laplante and some other known pro. At that point, Lapka realized that he needed to do an about-face, or it might hurt his chances to keep training under these guys.
He then released the following statements via Twitter:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DsgMLbqXQAAFB4M.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DsgMLbpWsAIxVgI.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DsgMLboX4AUquIs.jpg
Some applauded him for the seemingly heartfelt apology, while others criticized him for only apologizing once caught.
Here's my take:
The issue here surrounds his protests regarding the 5k being taken back from him. I'm not even sure what justification he possibly could have used in order to keep it.
It's one thing to keep your mouth shut about an edge you're inadvertently given due to a tournament staff mistake. It's another to have that mistake caught, and somehow still feel you have a right to the unfair advantage!
His behavior at that point was clearly rephrehensible, and quite mind-boggling. What did he think he would accomplish?
The apology seems forced, and he's engaging in too much self-deprecation and "I didn't know I was hurting anyone" rhetoric.
Once he felt an apology was necessary, he should have simply stated that he saw the extra chips, decided to take the edge he was given, didn't really think through how unethical it was, and now realizes he made a big mistake. Then he should have offered an apology for arguing about it. That's it. No need for, "I'm a good person, I'm human, I make mistakes in life, I don't every try to hurt people", etc etc. Just admit you fucked up, promise you've learned from it, and move on.
