Showing posts with label scandals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scandals. Show all posts
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Latest Online Poker Cheat Sensation is Well-Respected (was) Portuguese Poker Pro
Source
Online poker has suffered another blow to its reputation after 18 year-old Portuguese poker pro José “Girah” Macedo admitted organising an online poker swindle which netted him $30,000.
Apparently, the ‘sting’ involved some of his online high stakes friends/the marks being duped into playing against a so-called ‘fish’ chosen by Macedo in a series of online heads-up cash games.
However, the fish, whose screen name was “sauron1989″ was in fact José “Girah” Macedo himself, who then proceeded to take his buddies from a private strategy group for around $30.000.
In order for the scam to work, José “Girah” Macedo abused his trusted position as part of the heads-up strategy discussion group on Skype to obtain information on his opponent’s hole cards in real time, under the pretence of railing the study group and offering advise later.
During a monitoring session, group member “ImFromSweden” then proceeded to lose around $10,000 over 70 hands of $10/$20 HU NLHE to “sauron1989,” before 10 days later “jajay1963″ lost a further $21,900 to the same player at $25/$50 HU NLHE.
Suspecting foul play “jajay1963″ then contacted the Skype discussion group creator “TooCuriousso1″ and before long the pair also noticed that “sauron1989″ and Macedo would always log on and out of Skype at the same times.
Along with other circumstantial evidence, they then took their findings to the 2+2 forum prompting a quick admission of guilt from José “Girah” Macedo, who offered to pay back those he cheated in full plus compensation. His post read:
“A while ago, I did something stupid. A friend of mine, whom I introduced to poker, made a suggestion to me which was, I’m not going to sugar coat it, cheating. I had introduced this friend to poker, and he was losing money — badly. He asked to play some of my poker friends and said ‘why don’t you sweat them and we’ll see their hands.’ I don’t know why I agreed. I don’t know why I did it. I guess it was a mixture of guilt and stupidity and feeling shitty for getting him involved in something which seemed to be bad for him.”
Macedo then went on to say: “I’m holding my hands up and taking whatever consequences come. I realise the severity of this, but I also realise that I have to take responsibility for my actions and so I’m paying back everyone involved and in addition paying them compensation of $30,000. I’ve also told my sponsor etc and whatever happens there I will take the consequences too. They have been really amazing to me and I’ve enjoyed every minute of working with them. Representing Lock and being part of their amazing team, witnessing the incredible growth, was a pleasure and an honor.”
José “Girah” Macedo has since been dropped from Team LockPRO, as well as losing his position as an instructor at Team PokerStrategy.
My take: Hooray! We finally got a big-time online poker cheat from Portugal...Surprised?...I'm not...in the least.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Accused Blogger/Reporter Poker Cheat Tekintamgac Now Suing Partouche Poker Tour!
Source: onlinepoker.org
Alleged poker cheat Ali Tekintamgac has decided to sue the Partouche Poker Tour over his dismissal from the tournament last year. Tekintamgac was removed from the final table of the tournament when a review of the video tape showed he was using an elaborate scheme to see other players’ hole cards.
Tekintamgac used a few strategically placed “bloggers” and “reporters” to relay the strength of Tekintamgac’s opponent’s cards through hand signals. After reviewing the video tapes the Partouche Poker Tour decided to disqualify Tekintamgac prior to the final table of the tournament; which had a €1.3 million first-prize.
At the time the Partouche Poker Tour turned over the evidence to French authorities, who were unable to detect the cheating going on from the videos –the scheme is quite elaborate, and without the help of professional casino security would probably be overlooked by typical law enforcement officers.
However, when Tekintamgac received word that charges would not be forthcoming, and the French authorities were unable to discern the cheating taking place he has decided to sue the Partouche Poker Tour for €1.5 million! Tekintamgac is suing not only for prize-money lost, but also for damages to his reputation –which he apparently values at €200,000. According to his lawyer, Filiz Tinas, “My client was never questioned by French authorities… He has very good chances of winning,”
My take: This is just another case of a guilty poker cheat taking advantage of the fact that it can't be proved he cheated...Heck, he'll probably sue me too!
Alleged poker cheat Ali Tekintamgac has decided to sue the Partouche Poker Tour over his dismissal from the tournament last year. Tekintamgac was removed from the final table of the tournament when a review of the video tape showed he was using an elaborate scheme to see other players’ hole cards.Tekintamgac used a few strategically placed “bloggers” and “reporters” to relay the strength of Tekintamgac’s opponent’s cards through hand signals. After reviewing the video tapes the Partouche Poker Tour decided to disqualify Tekintamgac prior to the final table of the tournament; which had a €1.3 million first-prize.
At the time the Partouche Poker Tour turned over the evidence to French authorities, who were unable to detect the cheating going on from the videos –the scheme is quite elaborate, and without the help of professional casino security would probably be overlooked by typical law enforcement officers.
However, when Tekintamgac received word that charges would not be forthcoming, and the French authorities were unable to discern the cheating taking place he has decided to sue the Partouche Poker Tour for €1.5 million! Tekintamgac is suing not only for prize-money lost, but also for damages to his reputation –which he apparently values at €200,000. According to his lawyer, Filiz Tinas, “My client was never questioned by French authorities… He has very good chances of winning,”
My take: This is just another case of a guilty poker cheat taking advantage of the fact that it can't be proved he cheated...Heck, he'll probably sue me too!
Friday, April 18, 2008
UK Governing bodies seek Anti-Cheating Action on high-risk bets
Cheating scandals in the world of sport have become so prevalent, especially in Europe, that even the pub game of darts has been victimized by cheating scams! Now a network of governing and regulatory bodies has begun to speak out against the cheats orchestrating these major cheating scandals afflicting sports competition. According to the UK Independent, almost every sport offers a multitude of cheating opportunities for individual cheat plays that don't even effect the outcome of matches.
A coalition of every major sports governing body in Britain, including the Football Association and the Premier League, has accused the government of being "complacent" about the "very serious threat" of corruption and cheating that arises through the provision of certain "high-risk" markets by the gambling industry.
The governing bodies want some bet types banned or strictly regulated, as well as more passing of information from bookmakers to governing bodies and funding to police the integrity of sport. Only government can legislate on this, via the Gambling Commission, and despite the coalition "consistently warning" the Gambling Commission about the easy potential for cheating, it believes not enough has been done to stop it.
Earlier this month, the revelation that a UK footballer had colluded with a bookmaker for profit by getting himself benched is one example of a high-risk betting market making corruption and cheating simple. It is possible to bet, for example, on whether there will be a red card (penalties) in a match, and also on tallies of red cards, via spread betting.
In tennis it is possible to bet on double faults and in cricket on whether the first ball of a match will be a wide. These and other examples show sports' constant vulnerability to cheating as a result of certain specialist bets that sport has no control over. One football governing body said: "We know there's a door open to corruption, we know measures could be taken to make corruption harder. But we are powerless to shut the door. That needs legislation."
Tim Payton, a spokes-man on behalf of the coalition--which includes the FA, the Premier League, the RFU and RFL (rugby union and league), the LTA (tennis), the BHA (horse racing), the ECB (cricket) and the BDO (darts)--said: "The sports bodies take the cheating threat from betting very seriously.
"The sports have consistently warned the Gambling Commission that the growth in sports betting threatens their integrity. The sports want stricter regulation of high-risk bets and the right to receive more information on the type of bets being placed.
"The Government cannot afford to be complacent on this issue. The sports have presented them with detailed proposals... that need implementing as soon as possible."
Around $75 billion is spent each year on sports betting in Britain and the coalition members want around $10 million collectively to "police the integrity" of all members. This would pay to monitor betting, collate intelligence on cheating scams, set up legal and disciplinary measures and provide education. At the moment the sports do this individually. Aside from a horse racing levy of around $4 million, the gambling industry pays nothing towards this.
The UK Gambling Commission is sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. A DCMS spokesperson said: "The Government is aware that a number of sports bodies are in discussion with the betting industry and supports the efforts they are making to forge voluntary arrangements to address this issue. The Gambling Commission continues to regulate gambling in this country and has extensive powers. The Government will continue to monitor this issue."
When asked why high-risk bets are not banned or more strictly regulated the spokesperson said: "The Gambling Commission are best placed to answer this."
The Gambling Commission's position is that "bookmakers already risk-assess all bets offered and scrutinize all bets that pose any form of risk." The Commission says "it would not be be appropriate to restrict the categories of betting opportunity".
One problem for the government in seeking to impose stricter legislation is the fear that gambling firms will move offshore. This creates two problems: first that the industry moves out of the jurisdiction of legislation and second that the government risks losing lucrative revenue streams.
In a report sent to the Gambling Commission last August, the coalition warned the government against complacency. It cited examples of scandals few believed would happen, including examples in cricket (Hansie Cronje) and Italian football (the Serie A scandal).
The coalition said: "It is complacent to assume that incidents that have occurred overseas will not be replicated in the UK... we must remain vigilant to ensure similar incidents of this scale do not attack British sport."
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