Dan Bilzerian has accused Dan Cates of cheating in a high-stakes private poker game played on a mobile app between wealthy businessmen.
On Saturday night, millionaire poker enthusiast Bill Perkins tweeted that he was cheated in a presumably high-stakes game that would 'make the Mike Postle scandal look like a church service.' He said that the incident involved players that 'you would call poker heroes.'
Perikins' initial tweet sparked curiosity and popcorn gifs from many in the poker community as theories about the situation began to spread.
Poker News & Discussion News, Views, and Gossip Poker Goals & Challenges Poker Beats, Brags, and Variance That's What She Said! Ghost of Scandal Past.
Cheating scandal in poker going on that would make the Mike Postle scandal look like a church service. Really hard to wrap my head around. I'm very disappointed in many people. Some you would call poker heroes. 1 person/pro showed integrity others failed miserably #POKER
- Some are saying that a cheating scandal involving poker pro 'Jungleman' Daniel Cates will make the Mike Postle cheating scandal 'look like a. Rampant with professionals who were ghosting.
- With the increasing popularity of unregistered real money poker applications, cheating issues in the forms of ghosting, chip dumping, multi accounting and so on have likewise arised within the poker community. High stakes players are not exempted to these scandals as more money is on the line making it highly tempting for participants alike.
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) May 24, 2020
At first, Perkins wouldn't give any more detail than that, only that he was cheated by a top tier poker pro. He spent several hours responding to players who wanted Perkins to reveal more if for no other reason than to save other poker players from being cheated by the same person.
What is this crap teaser? Can't understand why you would leave it at that. Anyone else that gets cheated from here out can thank you for this useless warning.
— Tim Reilly (@TimReillyPoker) May 24, 2020
Tell us, Bill we need it. You must.
— ralph massey (@TheSilverStash) May 24, 2020
How you gonna do us like this? After everything weve been through? pic.twitter.com/IIlZu10lBY
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) May 24, 2020
Eventually, he revealed that Jason Koon was the one player who showed integrity and alerted Perkins to the scandal, and that a separate player had confessed to cheating.
On Sunday, Perkins elaborated further, clarifying that the game was private and played on a mobile app. A top pro was playing under the screen name of a recreational player invited to the game in exchange for a piece of the profit. This form of cheating commonly referred to as 'ghosting.'
The majority of mobile poker apps on the market right now do not facilitate real money gaming. Any payments made to players must be made outside of the app based on play money balances.
Perkins agreed to keep the name private in exchange for more information about who else was involved. In a subsequent tweet, Perkins said that it was a 'top 7 player' that was cheating the game.
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I have been permission to say that @JasonKoon was the pro who was tempted and acted in integrity. I've always like Jason and now I love him. So you can stop speculating about him. I'm still in investigative mode and not ready to discuss. As I said hard to wrap my head around. https://t.co/HoUiPDs7BR
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) May 24, 2020
Settlement w/ 1 participant gave my word I would not Publicly reveal UNLESS they lied during questions
Game: Private
App: download for friends
Cheating: pros playing for fish account (so far)
Participants #: unknown now
Investigation: Ongoing
Evidence: confession/physical https://t.co/HoUiPDs7BR
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) May 24, 2020
Top 7 pro in the world for sure and now completely obliterated my trust AFTER the confession. I'll never play a game or tournament with him until this is rectified.
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) May 25, 2020
On Monday afternoon, Dan Bilzerian tied a couple of names to the story when he tweeted that Sina Taleb allowed Cates to play on Taleb's account against Bilzerian, Perkins, and others. The tweet included a picture of Saleb and blurred out contact information. Taleb is an unknown to the poker world without a documented tournament cash.
This cocksucker Sina Taleb cheated me, bp22</a> and others outta money on Fun Ocean poker app by having <a href='https://twitter.com/junglemandan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>junglemandan play on his account pic.twitter.com/lvysYyd9x8
— Dan Bilzerian (@DanBilzerian) May 25, 2020 What happens if there is a tie in texas holdem against.
Cates, however, is touted as one of the best players on the planet and regularly plays in the biggest cash games in the world. He also has just shy of $7.4 million in tournament earnings.
He responded to Bilzerian's accusation by saying it was 'misleading' and that he has never played a hand of poker with Bilzerian, but couldn't dive into the issue any further because of legal reasons.
I can't discuss this right now for legal reasons but this is misleading, I haven't played a hand of poker with @DanBilzerian ever lol. More to come when appropriate but there was rampant ghosted on the site that people have admitted to.
— Daniel Cates (@junglemandan) May 25, 2020
Perkins showed up in the responses to Bilzerian's tweet and said that he had high-level attorneys advising him on his next step.
He also walked back the comparison to the Postle situation, noting that he only did so because the amount of money at stake in his game was much more than what Postle is accused of cheating players out of.
Update: Bilzerian's tweet has since been deleted, but Cates' response is still up.
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GGPoker Ambassador Daniel Negreanu has made his personal views on VPNing perfectly clear in a recent podcast.
On the latest episode of The Orbit, a round-table discussion hosted by Cardplayer Lifestyle's Robbie Strazynski, Negreanu stated that he 'didn't give a crap' where players were located, as long as they were who they said they were.
The Orbit - Episode 4
Negreanu was joined on The Orbit by Run It Once Poker founder Phil Galfond, partypoker Partner Rob Yong and the former managing director of the Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) Alex Scott.
Poker Ghosting Scandal News
During the episode, the panel discussed the role of regulation in poker, and whether regulation is a barrier to how online poker should run.
Harrah's casino new orleans poker tournaments tournament. Negreanu said that the obvious goal for online poker is for everyone to play against one another, but made some interesting comments about VPNing.
What is a VPN?
A Virtual Private Network is a tool that enables you to mask your internet protocol (IP) address, giving you online privacy and anonymity.
Many people use this to watch shows on Netflix that they are unable to in their country, but more importantly for this conversation poker players can use this in order to conceal their location.
Poker sites have repeatedly stated that the use of a VPN is against their terms of service, with 2018 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) champion 'wann2play' was stripped of their title and $1.35 million in prize money due to 'multi-accounting/ghosting' and use of a VPN.
Negreanu's Views
This isn't the first time that Negreanu has spoken out on the ethics of using a VPN in order to play poker from a country where it is not allowed.
On this occasion, he referred back to his time as a PokerStars ambassador in his views on this topic, saying that he found it difficult to understand why PokerStars spent so much money and resources trying to catch people 'VPNing', or playing from countries they're not supposed to.
'I've said this [before],' Negreanu went on. 'I personally don't give a crap where you're playing from as long as it's you. It doesn't bother me.'
'I personally don't give a crap where you're playing from as long as it's you'
Negreanu posed a hypothetical where Senegal banned Apple products, and whether or not it would be up to Apple to police whether people were using an iPhone or an iPad in that country.
READ MORE:GGPoker Responds to Cheating Scandal
'I don't think it makes a lot of sense for the companies to police in these cases when the rule is stupid in the first place. It doesn't make sense to us to spend resources to enforce that [..] If that's an issue in your country, then you police it.'
The poker Hall of Famer then clarified that it's most poker companies' policy that you're not allowed to do 'any of that stuff,' but reiterated his views on it.
'Do I think it makes sense personally to spend a lot of resources trying to catch these people? I don't. I don't have a problem with it.'
What do the Sites Say About VPNs?
Here's what the Terms & Conditions of the three major poker websites - GGPoker, partypoker and PokerStars - have to say about the use of a VPN:
GGPoker
GGPoker are the only one to explicitly mention VPNs in their T&Cs. Under section 15 of GGPoker's Security & Ecology Agreement it clearly states:
'GGPoker strictly prohibits users located in prohibited jurisdictions to use VPN/PROXY, remote desktops, or any alternative methods to mask their true location.
Should we determine that users are accessing GGPoker from prohibited countries, we may restrict their use of VPN/Proxy, or suspend the account and request Proof of Presence ('POP').'
partypoker
There is no explicit mention of the term 'VPN' in the partypoker General Terms and Conditions. However, under section 2 it states:
'You may only use the Facilities if You are 18 years of age or over (or such other higher minimum legal age in Your jurisdiction) and it is legal for You to do so according to the laws that apply in Your jurisdiction.'
In section 6 of the same document it goes on to state:
'We forbid the use of all unfair practices when using the Facilities.'
PokerStars
There is no explicit mention of the term 'VPN' in the PokerStars End User License Agreement. However, under section 5 it states:
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'The Stars Group (TSG) prohibits persons located in (including temporary visitors) or residents of certain jurisdictions (including jurisdictions where persons are required to play according to the regulations in such jurisdiction, using the appropriately designated, licensed game client) from making deposits into their Stars Accounts or engage in Real Money Games.
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'Any attempt to circumvent the restrictions on play by any persons located in a Prohibited Jurisdiction, is a breach of this Agreement. An attempt at circumvention includes, but is not limited to, manipulating the information used by TSG to identify your location and providing TSG with false or misleading information regarding your location or place of residence. Any such attempt will entitle us to take such steps as we deem appropriate including, without limitation, seizing the funds in your Stars Account.'
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