Now it appears that a fiftyish man has been permanently barred from all future World Series of Poker tournaments and events after he was caught by cameras stealing another player’s chips during Event Number 4, the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event, which took place on Day 1A of the 2010 WSOP.
The chip-thievery was first reported in Michael Craig’s Full Tilt Poker blog and now has been confirmed by WSOP tournament director Jack Effel, who replied to a question about what the guy banned from the WSOP had done with “You don’t take someone else’s chips.”
The chip-cheat/thief has not been publicy identified beyond being around fifty years-old and wearing a ball cap above gray hair. He had been seen being removed from the tournament area by Harrah's security personnel on the day in question. According to reports the chip cheat poker move went down after the twenty-minute break had been announced at the end of Level Two. The eight players at the table not involved in the last hand had left the two remaining players to play out that hand. The accused chip-thief won the hand, and as he leaned over to scoop the chips in the pot with his right hand, he put his left hand on the layout to give him support and cover, then he snatched a stack of chips from the player who'd been sitting next to him. That player had quite a few stacks of chips at the time. The dealer obviously saw nothing.
It is not known how the cheat move was discovered or exactly when, but it is clear that Effel and other WSOP officials didn't want the bad news getting out. But now that it did, Effel was forced to admit the truth about another WSOP cheat scam. I am sure there were others that have been successfully covered up. The evidence on the video is conclusive. Effel added that the chip cheat will be "banned from the World Series forever."
So, do I know who the cheat is? Believe it or not, I have a good idea. I can't say who because until it is made public, I would be opening myself up to a libel suit. But I will tell you this: his initials are MN.
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