Mizzi Responds To New Online Poker Cheat Allegations

Already condemned online poker cheat Sorel Mizzi this time says he's innocent and that the recent possible online-poker-cheating-intent conversations he had with Steve "Thorladen" Weinstein were tied to threats that Mizzi himself received online.

On August 20, 2010, "waxonchris" posted to the MTT Community forum on TwoPlusTwo.com a lengthy chat transcript between Sorel Mizzi and Steve "Thorladen" Weinstein, which generated a bunch of cheating speculation involving Mizzi once again. Mizzi states that these transcripts are nothing more than a melange of conversations between himself, Weinstein and other online poker players that took place during a whole year. He went on to say that in December of 2009 he was threatened and extorted by someone demanding money against a threat he would release the very same transcripts. Mizzi claims he did not succumb to the blackmail.

Mizzi's words:

"I am saying this to clear the names of the people mentioned in the conversation and because there are actually people I know and respect who are curious about whether or not this conversation did in fact take place."

My take: I wouldn't trust Mizzi or anything he says as far as I could throw him or it!

Sorel Mizzi (Imper1um) Allegedly Involved in Another Online Poker Cheating Scandal!

Source: Poker News Daily

Recent activity across several of the online poker forums are once again indicating that noted online/live poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and potential accomplices may have been involved in an attempt to rig multi-table tournaments.

Threads appeared on the TwoPlusTwo forum on two occasions over the weekend, with one being squelched by the moderators and a second taking on life and quickly zooming up to 537 posts. Another form of the thread came to life on the PocketFives forum over the weekend (and following the closing of the original thread on 2+2) and has blitzed its way to 282 posts. In both instances, the transcript of an IM chat between Mizzi and an alleged co-conspirator are the main topic of discussion.

This is one thing that the different threads have in common: an undated AIM or MSN Messenger chat transcript allegedly between Mizzi and another top online poker player/backer, Steve “thorladen” Weinstein. In a rambling discussion allegedly between the two, Mizzi and Weinstein discuss their issues with players who are in “makeup,” or owe money from backing arrangements. The conversation then allegedly has Mizzi making assertions to Weinstein about how to violate many of the terms and conditions of online sites using a common business tool.

Mizzi proposes to Weinstein the use of remote PC access programs, such as GoToMyPC.com, PCNow.com, or Laplink, to access computers in different locations. These programs allow a person from one location to be able to use another computer – using the accessed computer’s IP address – from a different location. Mizzi notes to Weinstein in the alleged conversation that usage of such programs “revolutionizes teaching/ghosting in poker (and) can also be used for multiaccounting.” Weinstein comments (verbatim) that “while im certainly interested in whatever u thinking, if u want me in, but obv I have to know woh knows cuz I cant get busted… I have alot of maoney online.”

As the alleged conversation continues, Mizzi goes on to name players who would be willing to take part in the suggested plot. Named by Mizzi as potential co-conspirators are such players as “cdbr” (FTOPS champion Chris Dombrowski) and “Intervention” (Aditya Agarwal). Mizzi goes on to allegedly comment to Weinstein the full context of the plan after discussing who could be involved.

“Now there’s more than 1 way we can profit from this program obv,” Mizzi allegedly says in the IM. “The most obvious is just watching and taking over for your stakes when they’re deep in a tournament. The beauty of it is ur not logging in from another IP, all you’re doing is controlling their mouse and keyboard and they can take it over again right away with the click of a mouse.” Mizzi allegedly also proposes a scheme where, “Hypothetically, imagine if 20+ PC’s were set up in various locations or in the same location but with various IP’s and different people could login to any of them at any given time?”

Although the alleged IM in question is undated, many on the forums have deduced that the time frame may have gone back as far as 18 months ago. At that time, Mizzi had been fleeced by cardsharps with a marked deck in Monte Carlo, leaving his bankroll decimated. It can be likely concluded, as many have done, that the alleged IM between Mizzi and Weinstein was to curry Weinstein’s backing for the escapade.

What has been remarkable about the discussions on the forums is the reaction from those potentially named in the discussion. Weinstein, under his “thorladen” handle on the PocketFives forum, simply states, “I have not engaged in this activity with Sorel. I would not engage in this activity ever. I am voluntarily cooperating completely with Full Tilt in an investigation of these alleged activities.”

Agarwal says in the same thread, “I wasn’t gonna post but general consensus among my frnds is tht I shud. Neither me or chris hv had any knowledge or been involved in any of the activities mentioned in the chat log, as everyone knows it was around the time period sorel was hving money issues, both me and chris hving cleared our MU voluntarily left sorel and went to vivek/yev and hv been with them since.”

Mizzi has made a statement regarding the subject on the TwoPlusTwo forums in an attempt to clear up the situation. “The conversation in question contains bits and pieces of information from several conversations I’ve had with Thorladen and others over the course of about a year,” Mizzi writes in his lengthy post. “It was quite a while ago, but if I had to guess I would say the conversations occurred from 2008 to 2009 while I was sponsored by Betfair.” Mizzi is now a Titan Poker pro.

Mizzi states that, in late 2009, he was contacted by a potential extortionist who was “threatening to release what he had fabricated if I didn’t send him money online. I chose to completely ignore the threats.” Mizzi also clears Dombrowski and Agarwal by writing, “As far as Chris and Adi go, they were my horses about 2 years ago and neither of them have ever been involved in any shady activity that I know of. They are both good guys and both very trustworthy/loyal, so much so that I allowed both of them to calculate their own makeup.”

Mizzi also stands up to the continued attacks on his character by writing, “I strongly dislike coming on internet forums to read unfair, untrue, libelous BS judgments about my character. The only people who have the right to attack my character are the ones who know me well personally and I don’t think anyone who’s posted thus far does. I don’t blame them. As soon as anyone posts anything to defend me they get verbally attacked and accused of “sticking up for a cheater.”

He finishes his post on TwoPlusTwo by saying, “There are serious things that I’d like to address in a subsequent thread that I’ve been thinking about posting for a long time. I’m not sure whether or not I’ll post it because I truly don’t owe anyone here explanations about anything I do. But I’ll give it some serious thought.” Poker News Daily attempted to contact Mizzi, who is in Cyprus for the Full Tilt Poker Merit Poker Classic. At this time, Mizzi has not returned any request for comment.

Wherever the truth is in the most recent hubbub regarding Mizzi, his track record in the online poker world has been a turbulent one. He has served multiple suspensions for various violations of the terms and conditions of the top poker rooms, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, and continuously has to defend himself from the “cheater” tag. It is also apparent that Mizzi has an extreme poker talent; the Canadian has over $3.2 million in live tournament earnings since his first venture into the arena in 2006.

Connecticut Lawyer From Famed Jurist Family Busted For Cheating Casino!

Of course it happened at Foxwoods Casino, the world's #1 casino cheat haven, albeit at the MGM Grand part of the giant casino complex. And, believe it or not, it wasn't the typical bet-capping incident that amateur casino cheats fancy doing so much. The famous lawyer, identified as Walter Bansley IV (we have had suffix IIIs as casino cheats but this is the first time I am hearing of a IV!), has been charged with pinching (removing a losing bet from the layout) a $100 losing chip off a craps table before the dealer could rake it off the layout. No way is Bansley IV a professional or even moonlighting casino cheat. He probably just got pissed off losing or was drunk enough to do what he did.

So how is Bansley IV famous? That's because his father, Walter Bansley III (no casino-cheat arrests as far as I know...LOL) was the US Marine lawyer portraed by Tom Cruise in the film "A few good men." I bet Jack Nicholson, who played Cruise's adversary in the film, had a good laugh hearing about this!

Bansley IV was also charged with refusing to show proper identification and refusing to leave the casino floor when confronted by casino security.

Delaware Park Casino Busts Blackjack Cheat on 7 Felony Charges!

It sounds a lot worse than it is, but Clifton Shaw, a thirty-one year old New Jersey native, was arrested for both capping and pinching bets(removing chips from a losing bet before the dealer can take them). Shaw's cheat moves only involved red $5 chips but things got more interesting when Delaware state police found two fake driver's licenses and a half-dozen counterfeit $20 bills, the latter much more serious than any of the casino-cheat charges, especially if there was an intent to distribute. In any case, Shaw was sent to the Young Correctional Facility after he could not post the $33,000 bond set by a district court judge.

Like its sister state of Pennsylvania, Delaware just recently allowed its casinos to put in table games, and they are seeing the same type of cheating, mostly capping bets at the blackjack tables. Those caught so far appear to be amateurs. I am sure that some professional teams are working both states and managing to get off their moves without taking much heat.

My take: Delaware casinos will continue to get victimized by cheats for the next few years to come...at least.

Is Rival Gaming Software Helping Along Online Poker and Casino Cheats?

Since Rival Gaming hit the online poker and casino industry with its software, claiming its innovativeness and anti-cheat benefits to online poker and casino players, we have seen a labyrinth of its online casinos opening and closing and a host of players complaining on poker and casino blogs about Rival Gaming. However, Sloto’ Cash Casino, the first casino to use Rival Gaming software and one of the first to welcome players from the US, seems to be escaping the barrage of doubt levelled at the online gaming software company. I am hearing online gamblers attest to Sloto’ Cash Casino's excellent standing for anti-cheat safety, player friendliness, fairness in play and quick cashouts.

The overall criticism aimed at Rival Gaming Casinos has mainly centered around player dissatisfaction and cheating, as well as non- or slow-payment of winnings, difficult terms and conditions with bonuses and other complaints about the lobby and overall presentation of casinos using the software. Several Rival Gaming online casinos have closed the past few months.

But why not Sloto’ Cash Casino? Well, this beats me, although I have read bloggers talk about the ownership of this particular online casino that supposedly has a very low rate of cheating. Sloto’ Cash is owned privately and run privately and has different rules than the other casinos using Rival Gaming software do. Rival Gaming owns almost all the other casinos using its software, which seems to be the difference. In other words, have a problem with one Rival Gaming Casino, have a problem with all Rival Gaming Casinos...except Sloto’ Cash because it has its own independent management.

My take: It is what it is. I am not promoting Sloto´ Cash Casino but it does seem okay. They do offer solid promotions and bonuses and there is a fine spectrum of games to play. However, as far as the other Rival Gaming casinos go, avoid them like the plague! I know it is hard to make sense of why only one of their casinos is trustworthy but that has been the history, so let's keep believing it...until...or if it changes!

Who At Your Brick and Mortar Poker Table is NOT Cheating?

Maybe you think I should be asking this question about your online poker table, but, believe it or not, cheating on your local casino's live poker tables is getting way out of hand. Between the collusion play in cash games, softplay and chip-dumping in tournaments, and card-switching in both, you really have to wonder who is NOT cheating these days. To narrow this down a bit, let's take a look at the smaller stakes poker tables in both cash games and tournaments. There the cheating is lots more common than you might think. More card-switchers are working these games simply because they know less attention is paid to them by poker room personnel. As difficult as proficient card-switching at poker tables may be, the derring-do of low-stakes card-switching cheats surprises even me.

On the low-stakes tournament side I am seeing lots of scams revolving around collusion and chip dumping, especially holding out chips from one tournament-level and re-introducing them in a higher one. Many casino poker rooms are still allowing players to choose their tables and seat numbers, a practice that breeds collusion, chip-dumping and soft-playing.

So with all this dirty dealing and playing...who at the poker table is NOT cheating? Well, sorry, I don't have the answer to that one, but I do have the answer to this one: Who at the table has NEVER cheated in a brick and mortar poker game? If collusion and softplaying are to be considered cheating, then the answer is probably "no one."

Canadian Provinces Treadding Tricky Online Poker Cheat-Waters by Regulating Online Poker!

Canada online poker cheating is a real risk!

source: CBS News Canada

Online gambling experts are warning provinces to brace themselves for hackers, cheats and criminal gangs that target gaming sites. The warning comes after British Columbia launched its online gambling site, a venture that was marred by a series of glitches. The province, the first to launch an internet casino operation, abruptly shut down operations mid-July, just hours after the launch, due to "load issues."

BC Lottery Corporation had more unanticipated technical glitches Thursday, but after hours of delays, they were up and running again early Friday morning. The site offers players blackjack, video poker and slots among other games.

B.C.'s website offers blackjack, video poker and slots, among other games.
As a result, BCLC continues to investigate the cause of what it calls "data crossover" that allowed users unauthorized access to 134 player accounts.

"BCLC's investigative report will hopefully be made public as to what went wrong," said criminologist John McMullan of St. Mary's University in Halifax. "I'd like to know what were the performance issues that were related to the vulnerabilities surrounding the software related to this launch."

BCLC spokesperson Seamus Gordon insisted that currently in B.C. officials have "no evidence that there was technical sabotage or hacking" aimed at the provincial site. "This was a server defect," Gordon said of the lottery's recent problems.

New to online gambling

McMullan and other gambling watchdogs fear governments new to the online gambling business stand to be ripped off by criminal gangs that are far more technologically savvy and advanced.

While B.C. is currently the only province with an online casino site, Quebec and Ontario have plans for online gambling, and Nova Scotia has expressed interest in the possibility. "I think it's a risk," McMullan said. "Provincial government should not think they are going to some way or the other create a crime-free site. To be honest, they're going to have the same kinds of issues (as existing private sites). "They are going to have to protect their players, they are going to have good technologies and good skilled security people who are able to detect these sorts of problems and filter them out before they happen," he added.

"It is a gamble ... It is a gamble in many ways, I think."

McMullan and Aunshul Rege, of the school of criminal justice at Rutgers University in New Jersey, have published a study in the Journal of Gambling Issues detailing how criminals collude, cheat and use sophisticated computer plots to shut down gaming sites altogether.

"Attacks have occurred quite frequently in all kinds of jurisdictions," McMullan said, citing several cases where cyber criminals have commandeered hundreds of computers to launch "D-DOS attacks" (Distributed Denial of Service) against gambling sites. The attack basically herds all of these computers and directs a whole bunch of requests at the site, so the site actually crawls to a stop or is taken down because it can't manage all of the requests that are coming at it. It's to show a great deal of awe to the gambling provider and then to extort ransom monies from them. Or, D-DOS attacks can be much more subtle, used as it were to sabotage or to slow down sites to gradually make that site uncompetitive."

Cheaters are well-versed

McMullan has also documented scores of cases where cheaters have used special software, readily available online, to help them play, and calculate odds against unsuspecting competitors at online gambling sites.

"They use the technology usually on autopilot to play as a stand-in for them," said McMullan, explaining there's millions to be made with the computer-assisted programs. There are all kinds of packages out there that claim to be able to allow you to play against other players, to read and understand and compete against all kinds of hands and plays that might appear at a poker table, and it gives them an advantage because they have factored all that information into an artificial intelligence program."

BCLC notes that its website PlayNow.com does not include any games where players play directly against other players, which eliminates the risk of collaboration. Cheats and online criminals are the heart of a recent scandal at one of the world's biggest online gambling sites, PokerStars.com. The company recently paid players close to $2 million US after finding a band of players from China were going online and colluding to fix games of Texas hold 'em poker.

"The allegation is that several players were playing together kind of as a team, which is against the rules," said Aaron Todd, a reporter with the online industry publication Casino City News. "Obviously, if you know what other players in the game are holding, or if you're able to manipulate who's got chip stacks, you have a tremendous advantage in these tournaments," he added. "We simply know they were in China, but we don't really know [more], outside of what their usernames were."

Todd praised PokerStars for reviewing its player data, tracing the problem and refunding the millions to players. He said there's a lesson in these kinds of cheating cases for jurisdictions looking to launch government-run online sites.

"I think that government regulation on the whole would be good because you'd then be able to go after people taking these actions," said Todd, noting that private sites are powerless to prosecute cheaters who are often anonymous and untouchable given they are offshore.

In order to play on the B.C. casino site, a person must be 19 or older and a resident of the province. Todd, like others, still fear governments, who are in the business of running traditional casinos and conventional card games, don't have the technical expertise and savvy to keep ahead of sophisticated rings of international cyber criminals.

PokerStars Responds To Chinese Collusion Ring Scandal

Source: Poker News Daily

Earlier this week, Poker News Daily reported on the allegations of a cheating scandal on the site regarding its “Double or Nothing” (DoN) sit and gos. At the time, the world’s largest site had not responded to Poker News Daily’s requests to answer some questions on the issue. After the story was posted, however, PokerStars quickly answered our questions via
e-mail.

In the original story, we mentioned a thread on the popular poker forum Two Plus Two that addressed the issue in excellent depth. A player using the name “Jane0123” stated that their account had been closed due to alleged collusion (through the use of the “whipsaw” technique) with a ring of players from China in the month of January. The thread went on to detail how, over a tw0-month span earlier this summer, PokerStars handled the case and how some players were upset over the situation.

Late Wednesday evening, a member of the Game Security team by the name of “Jackson” answered six questions posed by Poker News Daily regarding the ongoing issue. While the spokesperson did not answer how long the ring had been in operation, Jackson reported that PokerStars first discovered the activity of the ring soon after the reports in the original January Two Plus Two thread (a supplemental condensed version of the case was started in July) began. “PokerStars discovered the illicit activity in early February 2010,” Jackson stated in the e-mail. “Whilst conducting our review during this period, accounts associated with this situation were closed.”

The Two Plus Two thread stated that the ring colluded on the higher level DoN sit and gos, but PokerStars says they found evidence that the cheating went on over a much larger scale. “The cheaters were active across many stakes, some as low as our $10 and $20 DoNs,” the PokerStars spokesman reported. “However, the vast majority of the collusion occurred at both the $50 and $100 levels” (Writer’s note: These are the largest DoNs offered by PokerStars).

What was important to many involved in the situation – how many players were involved with the ring, how much money was taken, and what restitution has been made to affected players – was reported in detail by the PokerStars spokesman as possible. When it came to the issue of the number of players involved in the collusion ring, PokerStars says, “Overall, PokerStars closed 38 accounts in this case.” This is a lower number than the Two Plus Two thread states (46). Additionally, PokerStars did not provide any information as to the player identities.

The compensation issue for players affected does line up with the 2+2 report. PokerStars spokesman Jackson states, “The colluders net profit was $494,000, and despite this, PokerStars has paid a total of $2,100,000 in compensation.” Although not exact, these numbers are close to those stated by posters on the forum; however, no actual numbers of players who earned compensation – or how much – was discussed by PokerStars.

The most critical issue of game security is something that PokerStars feels they have now adequately addressed. “We agree that we have room for improvement in relation to collusion detection, and alongside our internal discussions about this particular individual case, we are also very actively discussing various techniques to improve our performance here,” Jackson stated in the e-mail. “We have various ideas about how we can improve our prevention and detection methods, but we’re always open to listening to feedback from players on the site.”

To combat the possibilities of further problems with the games, “PokerStars has introduced a new security function to prevent players from certain countries from playing in the same Double or Nothing events together,” Jackson reported. “This restriction will ensure that only one player from each of several countries (those countries involved in this restriction were not given) will be able to play in these events.” The PokerStars spokesman goes on to say, “We continue to monitor the games for collusion and we do feel that they are now adequately secure, otherwise we wouldn’t offer them. The investigation of the accounts involved, as well compensation to players, have since been finalized.”

Singapore Casino Roulette Cheat Gets Two Years in the Brig!

The so-called Tanzanian tourist who cheated the Marina Bay Sands roulette tables for more than a hundred grand has (up to now) also won first-prize at a Singapore prison: two years free room and board there.

It is still not clear if the roulette pastposter, named Kipuyo Lemburis Israel, is a professional casino cheat or simply a tourist who noticed how bad the Singaporean casino staff was and just took a couple of HUGE shots at them.

The thirty-five-year-old had been arrested with $125,000 in cash, most of it taken off the Marina Bay's roulette tables. His two-year sentence is the harshest yet handed out to casino cheats in Singapore...and there have been lots of them!

Senior District Judge See Kee Oon said as he passed sentence on the Tanzanian casino cheat, "I was of the view that substantial imprisonment terms were warranted in view of the gravity and scale of the cheating involved." He was irked by the premeditation and repetitveness of Israel's cheat moves.

All the casino's losses except for $4 have apparently been recovered.

My take: Was the $4 cab-fare to get out of town...or off the peninsula?

Two More Blackjack Cheats Nabbed in Pennsylvania Casino

The barely post-virgin Pennsylvania casinos continue their fight against the waves of casino and poker cheats descending on their tables. Thus far I can't say who is winning the casino-cheating war, though the state's casinos are managing to bust some of the low-level blackjack cheats, most of whom are simple bet-cappers, adding onto their original bets when they have a hand standing a very strong chance of winning, such as a hard twenty against a 7 dealer up-card.

The latest cheat incidents happened at the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs casino near Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The two bet-cappers have been identified as Tjandra M. Wijono, 56, and Le Rain, 32, both of Scranton. Each was adding-on red $5 chips to their bets, not cheating the house out of any significant money. For their efforts they were both charged with fraud and cheating by deception.

My take: I am waiting to hear of the first real professional casino cheat (or cheats) to be caught in Pennsylvania. That may take awhile.