Poker Ghosting Scandal
[I’ve written a little update to this post to add to some concepts below.]
This is Dan Cates
They call him Jungleman. He is within the top seven poker players in the world right now. Remember that number.
Daniel “Jungleman” Cates expressed remorse for ghosting a recreational player in a private online poker home game, but he denies ever having played against Dan Bilzerian and claims he wasn’t the. Sean Chaffin June 3, 2020 Live poker rooms may be closed at casinos around the world, but plenty of news poker remains. From a cheating scandal to casino re-openings to the cancellation of the PSPC, there is always news in the world of poker. Here’s a look at some topics making headlines over the last few weeks. Like Perkins’ initial accusations, which described the scandal as one “that would make the Mike Postle scandal look like a church service,” Cates did not name any pros who were ghosting the. The poker story arc of Jose “Girah” Macedo, once known as the “Portuguese Poker Prodigy,” is going to blow your mind. Multi-accounting is just one part of the 2011 poker cheating scandal involving Girah, Jungleman, and Haseeb “DogIsHead” Qureshi. The Rise of Girah. Perkins accused unnamed high-profile players of either ghosting or playing under a recreational player’s account on a poker app. The only player we know wasn’t involved is Jason Koon, as Perkins.
I am a very good researcher. I like to think of myself as a good poker player. I only make a living at one. And I don’t yet have a cool moniker like Texas Dolly, Kid Poker, Timex, The Mouth, or Jungleman*. It does not mean that I do not immerse myself, too much, probably, in the world of high stakes poker. Many people would say though, that poker is an excellent metaphor or teaching tool for life.
There are various books out there making the analogy between poker and life or poker and business. Two different successful female poker players, Liz Boeree and Annie Duke have leveraged their poker sucess into forms of life coaching. Here’s Ms. Boeree’s TEDX talk on thinking with probabilities as learned via poker, and here’s Ms. Duke’s book, Thinking In Bets, where she also applies lessons of the poker table to life writ large. I firmly believe that much can be learned from playing poker. Or just in reading about poker players.
I learned, like a lot of other poker geeks a week or so ago, that a “top seven” poker player was cheating. As one poker podcaster said later, it was good to be considered the eighth best. The allegation was thrown out on Twitter by someone named Bill Perkins, who exemplifies my dreams of being a successful businessman yet associated with the poker immortals. It came out a day or so later that the player in question was Dan Cates. Jungleman.
Poker Ghosting Scandal News
The crime, Cates was accused of, is called “ghosting”. Not the kind of ghosting where you go on a few dates and then never text back. This ghosting is when you play online poker under someone else’s account. In other words, the online avatar could say ManageRisks but the person playing would not be Rob Gardner but rather Dan Cates. The thinking would be that Cates and I would be sandbagging the crowd, that they would not expect ManageRisks to be a shark, and we’d take them for a bundle.
Which brings us to the lessons of the day. This ghosting scandal took place in a “private club”, via an app with passwords. The players had to be vetted, and there were certain controls in place specifically to protect against ghosting such as having your computer camera on—the way they got around that is that Cates and his cohort used a remote PC access program. The lead, the person named on the account, the one not supposed to be a top seven player, sat in front of the laptop and appeared to be playing. Cates hidden away, made the smart moves. See where I am going. On one hand, the game knew there were risks. They did not allow anyone to play, and they inserted controls to protect the game. The players still got duped. A concerted effort by people you trust wrecks the best of systems. Due diligence fail?
I listened to a podcast on this scandal the other day. The essential weakness exploited, they explained, was allowing Windows/PC systems to play. With just Apple/IOS there is no ability to do the remote play. It’s always easy to find the control flaw after. My only message, my whole point, way down here at the bottom of the blog post, is that it’s a jungle out there. You may think you’re playing poker with friends and it turns out you’re not. In this case, literally, you are not. In business, you may think you are doing business with friends. I’ve seen a lot of people decline business background research because they thought they were playing with friends. Most of the time they are. Yet, it’s a jungle out there and sometimes you are not. Do your due diligence.
*Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu, Mike “Timex” McDonald, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Dan “Jungleman” Cates
Table Of Contents
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.
During the episode, the panel discussed the role of regulation in poker, and whether regulation is a barrier to how online poker should run.
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.
Poker Ghosting Scandal Videos
'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:
'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.
'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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