Poker has long been known for its cheats and scandals. These five scandals particularly rocked the poker world and damaged its image.
Luck Poker recently made headlines when news spread that players could see each other’s hole cards.
1. The AP and UB Scandal
By January 2008, posters in the High Stakes Limit (HSNL) forum had grown suspicious of certain players’ playing styles and win rates, prompting them to email Absolute Poker’s security department asking to view tournament hand histories – only to be denied by them.
Standard procedures dictate that accounts requesting name changes be reviewed by the site’s security team, yet Johnson was informed by them that no evidence was found pointing towards cheating. But Johnson knew better and within 24 hours had uploaded an Excel file which proved that POTRIPPER was using an account with superuser permissions that allowed him to see opponents hole cards – cheating many players out of millions!
2. The Robbi Jade Lew Affair
Last week the poker world was abuzz with accusations of cheating made by Garrett Adelstein against Robbi Jade Lew. All of this stemmed from an August 29th hand in which Lew called an all-in with only jack high against Adelstein’s trashy draw and Adelstein felt betrayed, swiftly attacking her on Twitter claiming she must have cheated.
He reasoned that she would only call such a hand if there was some clear advantage for herself; and was suspicious of the word salad explanations she provided afterwards.
Days later, she took a lie detector test in an effort to clear her name and demonstrate her innocence – yet that still wasn’t enough for some individuals who continue criticizing her.
3. The Mike Postle Affair
Mike Postle’s tale is one rife with cheating allegations and lawsuits, beginning when Stones Live stream regular Veronica Brill made her suspicion public that Postle was cheating during his livestreamed cash games. This began the domino effect that eventually brought legal action from both sides against Postle.
She and 88 other players joined her in filing a $330 Million lawsuit against Postle, the Kings Casino owners, and Justin Kuraitis from Stones Live Poker – represented by attorney Mac VerSandig in their suit.
Brill and the other plaintiffs were allowed by the judge to amend their claims against Kings, Kuraitis and other defendants; however, Postle’s claims remain controversial in the poker community who believes he can somehow see his opponents’ hole cards during livestreamed cash games on live streaming platforms like Twitch. Poker forums remained abuzz with speculation regarding his claims of viewing opponents’ hole cards during live stream cash games live-streamed by him while players in various forums analyzed data, created scatter plot diagrams of Postle’s play as well as searching social media for proof against him.
4. The High-Stakes RTA Affair
When two of poker’s rising young stars were discovered using RTA, it sent shockwaves through the high-stakes world and seriously undermined trust levels within poker as an overall game. Recovering from this blow took much longer than anticipated.
GGPoker conducted an investigation of these allegations, employing cybersecurity, private investigation, and legal firms to help find any cheaters. Their experts discovered Kruse’s “dream machine”, which enabled him to access solver-based solutions while playing poker.
This is a serious threat to online poker’s future, particularly at higher stakes where even small edge improvements could mean hundreds of thousands in extra profit. Furthermore, RTA may become increasingly common as sites struggle to detect it – increasing the chance that similar cases arise again in future.
5. The PokerStars Scandal
No scandal in poker can generate more talk amongst its community than an explosive one. From big tournament winners and cash game players alike, any high-stakes scandal is sure to create waves in the industry that won’t easily die down.
When two of the game’s biggest names were discovered to have used RTA at high-stakes games, it caused serious trust issues within the community. Not only did they lose money due to being falsely accused of cheating but were shunned as cheaters as well.
What could possibly motivate one of the world’s most profitable online poker rooms to rig it? That was the question posed after the AP and UB scandal; its answer came on April 15, 2011, commonly known as Black Friday.
