blonde poker forum

Surprised there isn't a thread on this.

Only saw the Lee Davy interview today and then read the 2+2 thread.

http://calvinayre.com/2015/07/24/poker/ben-warrington-the-worst-decision-of-my-poker-career/

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/61/mtt-community/scam-ben-warrington-kidcardiff6-1546472/

Been reading it all week. So much car crash TV on two plus two.

Couple of hours on Ultimate Texas Holdem Simulator before the trip, share card info with the Swedes, none of this happens!

So many obvious things to pick up on about Vegas spitting you out, or players not thinking they could possibly lose a WSOP schedule, I won't even bother (or perhaps I already did)

I'm sadly in the camp of "dog bites man, not news.  Man bites dog... news"

This was man bites dog.

This is my favourite quote by far.

"I'm fairly convinced that Ben is in the top 5%+ in terms of integrity and self-discipline."

What would the 95% with less intergrity do? Steal from their grandmother?

Still unbeatable the game though!

Edge in this game comes from just how hard you can confuse the dealers, speshly if you're drinking :-D

Even harder to pull off when "disorientated."

No one does outrage like 2plus2

Not wrong. Real curates egg, that place.

I've not looked at the 2+2 thread yet, but I imagine all the usual clichés have been trotted out - "douchebag" "scum" & so on.

(https://regmedia.co.uk/2015/04/23/curates_egg.jpg)

Read the first 3 or 4 pages. Think all the cliches were covered in those pages.

Looks positively good natured compared to a couple of recent threads here. 

Has anyone called the police yet?

One day I might out everyone I know who has ever done any thing dodgy in gambling, including myself.

Would take a week.

Yawn.

There seems to be a new cliche for 2015, usually within about three pages someone asks everyone to stop 'cyber bullying' the scammer.

Interested in Rupert's comment in the 2+2 thread.

Which other UK players have been exposed as scammers?

link pls

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=47560275&postcount=82

JMCD89, think he's had trouble with other backers too but that's an unsubstantiated claim

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/61/mtt-community/scam-alert-evidence-jack-mc-dermott-stars-jmcd_89-scoop-2015-cash-close-200k-usd-1543104/

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/232/transaction-feedback-disputes/jack-mcdermott-jmcd_89-warren-bennett-wozzle9-scammers-thieves-1543394/ (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/232/transaction-feedback-disputes/jack-mcdermott-jmcd_89-warren-bennett-wozzle9-scammers-thieves-1543394/)

Cliffs JMcD and friend were backed for tournaments.  Backer can no longer back them so let's them go writing off MU, but buys 12.5% stake in SCOOP. JMcD wins 200k and tells ex backer to F off, friend wins smaller amount and also tells ex backer to F off.  This is in addition to the other poster JMcD didn't pay.

Pieface from Big Brother?

Played with this person a couple of times live, seemed like a good player.

Also, is that a picture of Sam Grafton in the IMs? If so, what has he got to do with this?

No money in poker, everyone's scamming.

Think it safe to assume it is nothing to do with him and he is either in a separate chat at the same time or somebody has nicked his photo.  Pads is in the 2nd IM shot with his dog too.  

It's a mix of both. The account has Sam as a profile pic (obv not him) and pads is there because it's a separate chat that the poster is having with Pads at the same time as being called a cheeky German *unt in the other box.

John O'Shea randomly playing some of the biggest games online vs some of the toughest opponents too atm.

Didn't think he was a battler like that.

Bumped into Hayestings at WSOP?

His blog used to be a good read back along.

Played a fair amount of big, tough games with John.
He's a degen

On the facts as we know them, which do you consider is the most reprehensible?


The Ben Warrington situation.

The Brian Hastings situation.

And why?

Warrington out right theft imho
Hasting is just very shady

Sooner or later a site is going to come up with webcams on
Epically for the larger buy in HU tables

I think scams like the one Ben Warrington pulled are among the worst possible because they are premeditated theft.

The more common one of a player winning money and then pissing it away at roulette/blackjack/cash games are down to the player being a degen gambler.

Much easier to forgive a degenerate gambler than a con man IMO. (Although impossible to trust either ever again)

I almost don't consider them in the same bracket, r.e hastings; its gambling he's breaking some rules to give himself an advantage, one side could argue that this is the job of a pro gambler - sneaking out edges wherever they are.
Obviously it's unethical, but others who are pro gamblers should be on the look out to protect themselves from this.

R.e Ben this isnt finding a edge, this is saying "il do this for $X and not doing it" that goes against all principles.

I know some guys who would MA, collude, angle anything to get an edge in gambling, but if they ever say they will pay $x or do Y then they always do...

All's fair on the felt but your word should be your word.

One seems genuinely upset and sorry for his actions; the other seems to see himself as the real victim.

Looks to me like warrington got in over his head, panicked and allowed small repairable mistakes to snowball into some awful and maybe unfogivable ones.

Hastings seems to think that because similar behaviour is acceptable in his small circle of friends that he is the one being persecuted. He effectively stole ev of the player pool. Ok, so he told some of his reg friends. Baffles me why regs seem to think that looking after each other absolves themselves from responsibilty to the heartbeat of poker: recreational players.

In husngs it extremely bad ettiquite to blind out a disconnected reg without sending back the ev. It can blacken your name and result in being sat / blacklisted by regs. Yet is perfectly fine, and encouraged to blind out recreational players.

Weirdly warrington sorta comes across well to me in that interview. Ive certainly compounded bad decisions with worse ones before, and lied to cover up lies. I

Redarmi theft/fraud even worse imo. Long con, at least Ben has come out to the public and given statements, redarmi hiding away with every bodies money.

ben flat out stole from his friends. he has reacted somewhat better than hastings after they got caught but one is a cheat the other is a thief

It's Bleznick on the dagunman account. Confirmed

you say that as though they aren't morally equivalent.

and cheating in poker amounts to stealing.

ben seemed to get in over his head and looks like someone that made a series of ever more abhorrent decisions to cover up his previous mistakes. mr stinger went out of his way to deceive and cheat the players in his player pool and did so over many months with premeditation. i mean he sat that blom cat heads-up: he had previously datamined him on the way to taking him for a few million $$. and there are other regs, semi-pros and recreationals that thought they were playing a rich businessman and who claim they played big pots in vastly different ways than they would of against stinger. that in my eyes is very much in the same category of stealing - and with little remorse to boot.

i really dont think warrington is a scum-bag. he's someone who was weak and who made some really shitty decisions. i guess the reputational loss, lack of future staking and lost friendships will be an apt 'punishment' for all that.

stinger has no reptutation to lose, and it seems his friends were collusive in his cheating anyway.

the way cheaters are given passes as they are "only hustling extra edge, innit" and acting like it is not morally equivalent to stealing does the community no favours whatsoever.

Why isn't anybody else mentioning that other thread that Rupert posted? The guy basically sold %'s to people and isn't paying out ~$24k to one person and some more to another, literally laughing in their face too.

They probably read the numerous threats he has made!

Someone who steals to fund their addiction is still a thief even if they feel sorry for themselves and are apologetic

People who cheat you out of money and people who steal your money are the same imo.

Do you think stealing from a friend is morally worse than stealing from a stranger?

Interesting that Noel Hayes is getting virtually no heat for selling his account to Hastings.

Not specifically referencing any of the two situations being talked about, but clearly some of these scams that come to light are criminal in nature i.e. fraud.  Why are they never dealt with as such?  Are they so prevalent because the worst that ever happens is you are shunned by the 'community'?

lol yeah i thought people would see through it but playing the victim in the "coming clean" speech after being caught apparently does work

Been on holiday for a week so my info isn't fully up to date but the most incredible thing about the Warrington situation is that I don't think he's broke or anywhere near. Although you never really know

think its come out he is.

Without knowing anything about him other than he has gambling connections/got announced with the betbright position recently, I don't think he deserves that much stick. Its somewhat likely he doesn't realise how much of a big deal it is. It probably felt somewhat similar to the bearding situation with bookmakers, so I don't think he will feel as if he has done much wrong, so I'm not sure what giving him heat would achieve. If it was say, Eli Elezra (a bad example because of the 17 accounts on ftp video) then I think people would be a little more upset and willing to chase him down as it were.

I'd also like to tone down the statement regarding dagunman. Its probable still though.


Boba, Ben stated he would be paying anyone back who he stole equity off and has failed to do so so far, leading me to believe he is probably in worse shape than you would imagine.