blonde poker forum

I dunno if any of you have followed the happening since last weekend or not but i will try to explain it all. I know this is a long post but well worth it!

There is a succesful player who goes under the name JJprodigy, he used to be a mod on 2+2 and now posts on pocketfives.

Anyway he won the big comp on party last weekend, only under a diffrent name, a big debate kicked off on 2+2 about how he had used 2 accounts in 1 comp, he defended this by saying it was his grandmother playing and he took over when he was knocked out....i have copied his post:

To understand my scenario, you must first understand my day. I picked up my brand new expensive computer from a computer store today (I tried to build it, without knowing anything abotu CPUs, I suck!). I got home about an hour before the MTTs start, and it was very hectic, and I was stressing out a ton. My Grandparents come to the house every weekend. My Grandma is an absolute poker fanatic, and I try to teach her how to play just due to her sheer enthusiasm. I stake her occasionaly, as much -EV as it is. I'll be honest, I do not conserve money the best. I staked her to play the 500k at Party. A few hours later, I bust out of Party, and am only playing 1 MTT. Finally, I am relaxed. I see that she has amassed a decent stack. I start coaching her every hand. Once she got to aobut 10k in chips, I took over, still talking to her. When I got to 100k (tripled from 33k), I asked her to leave the room, and she could watch me on the laptop. I do get nervous and emotional when I get deep, and I figured I had a real shot at it. Of course, my grandma being the kind soul that she is obliged. Before I know it, I won the thing. I am thinking of buying her a new car, but I haven't put much thought to it.

I didn't really realize people would make that big of a deal of it until 10 people started IMing me telling me to prepare for shit. Curse at me, hate me, flame me. I can't say that I do expect less.

But, I just won 140k! Not even all this flaming can take away the amazing feeling I have right now



Now over the last few days Party have acted on a whole load of complaints and carried out an investigation, the conclusion of which was that he was indeed cheating, he has had the $140,000 win taken away from his 2nd acct, and they have also cleared out his normal acct, 'JJprodigy' another $40,000!!!

He has come clean though now and published his e-mails with party:

Alright, so here it is.

The account 'ABlackCar' was not made for multi-accounting. It was intentionally made for my grandma for her birthday present. However, it was never given to her. So, I had an extra account. Yes, I multi-tabled. Yes, it is incredibly easy. Yes, many people do it was . You really have no idea about the situation.

About 2 months ago, I thought it was just a really bad idea like everyone else. A lot of my friends did it, and i always gave them a hard time for it. But, I had a conversation with a player where we decided it would be a lot of +EV to not be known when you are playing MTTs. So, basically, I had a spare account with tons of +EV in it. So many poeple did it with no reprocautions. I know someone who had over 10 accounts in a recent million guaranteed. Party has no idea.

So, back to the day of the win. When there was about 30 left, I started telling all these people I was in. I was too much caught up in the moment, and it was a really stupid thing to do in hindsight. It slipped out, and everyone knew. The account was in the name of my grandma, and it was intended for her to play in, so that was the easiest excuse for me. I apologize for lieing to everyone. I really do. When such a large amount of money is on the line, it's really tough to be loyal to morals.

The next morning, both accounts were close. Today, they took away all the money. The roughly 40k in JJProdigy, and the 140k in ABlackCar. The following is what I was e-mailed by Party:

Josh,

The PartyPoker.com investigations team opened an investigation on accounts JJProdigy and ABlackCar relating to suspicious activities during the February 12th $500K Guaranteed Tournament. The investigation was initially triggered by the investigations team as a result of a ýcommon informationý alert, IP and computer. Although the investigation was initiated internally, customer service began receiving complaints/concerns regarding this situation starting on February 13th.
With this investigation, the complaints and alerts pointed to multiple accounts being played from the same location in the same tournament.

The accounts involved in the investigation:
Account JJProdgy was created on November 4th, 2004.
Account ABlackCar was created on December 31st, 2005.

Note: The account ABlackCar was not created until December 31st, 2005, therefore all previous data was not used in the investigation unless found to be relevant.

When investigating the location of where an account is played from, there are two identifying factors that are taken into account.
A specific computer is traced by a unique computer identification number.
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is the address that an internet service provider uses to identify and trace the location of a computer.

From December 31st, 2005 until February 11th, both accounts only used the IP address xxxxxxx, which traces to xxxxxx, CA. Both accounts only used a computer with the same identifier. These are referred to as the xxxxxx IP and computer.

Account ABlackCar was created from the Home IP and computer on December 31st, 2005. On dates of January 1st, 3rd, 5th, 15th and February 6th, 7th and 9th ABlackCar logged into the Home IP and computer and registered and played in a total of nine tournaments. All of these tournaments had a buy-in of $100 or more.

Account JJProdigy was logged into from the Home IP and computer on the same dates and registered and played in the same tournaments.
Both of these accounts were played from the same computer and the same IP address in the same tournaments.

The tournament in question took placed on February 12th. At 13:54 ET account JJProdigy logged into a different computer, but from the Home IP, and registered for the $500k Guaranteed Tournament. That account then logged out and back in on the Home computer at 15:18. $215 was transferred to account ABlackCar at 15:27. At 15:32 account ABlackCar logged onto the Home IP and computer and registered for the same $500k Tournament.

Both accounts started playing the $500k Tournament from the Home IP and computer.

Summary:

This indisputable evidence led to the conclusion that both accounts had played several tournaments together from the same computer located in the same location.

Account ABlackCar, although registered in a different name, is believed to have been created with the sole intention of playing multiple accounts in the same tournaments. Both accounts were consistently logged into at the same time and show a consistent pattern of being played by the same person.

Conclusion:

A decision has been made, in consultation with the Poker Room Manager, Legal and Management, to close both accounts and confiscate all funds. Funds gathered by this deception will be refunded to the players that were affected.

Regards,

Francis Hamilton,
Investigations Team
alerts@PartyPoker.com
PartyPoker.com

The next one is:


Although we did not need such admission given the overwhelming evidence of cheating that you provided to me, Mr Fields’ admission certainly helps us feel even more confident that we have taken the right action. Mr Field’s assertion that this is permitted is completely untrue. Term 5 of our terms and conditions states:



5. True Identity and One Account.

The name on your Account must match your true and legal name and identity and the name on your PartyPoker.com Account registration must match the name on the credit card(s) or other payment accounts used to deposit or receive monies in your Account. You are prohibited from holding more than one Account at PartyPoker.com.



This means that Mr Field is in breach of our terms and conditions by holding more than one account in different names. This term is included in our terms and conditions to prevent player cheating and fraud.



Furthermore, our terms also state (relevant sections highlighted in blue):



“6. Rules and Procedures of the Games.

You must play the Games pursuant to the generally accepted casino and poker rules set out in the Game Rules section, and the procedures specifically set out in the, the Games Section of the PartyPoker.com website, including but not limited to How to Play, Table Stakes, Tournaments, Tournament Rules, Poker Etiquette section and any other page on PartyPoker.com that specifically relates to and governs any particular event, game or tournament.



…

19. Fraudulent Activities and Prohibited Transactions.

The Company has a zero tolerance policy towards inappropriate play and fraudulent activity. If, in the Company's sole determination, you are found to have cheated or attempted to defraud the Company or any other user of any of the Games in any way including but not limited to game manipulation or payment fraud, or if the Company suspects you of fraudulent payment, including use of stolen credit cards, or any other fraudulent activity (including any chargeback or other reversal of a payment) or prohibited transaction (including money laundering), the Company reserve’s the right to suspend and/or close your Account and to share this information (together with your identity) to other online gaming sites, banks, credit card companies, and appropriate agencies.

….

21. Forfeiture & Account Closure.

21.1 THE COMPANY RESERVES THE RIGHT, IN ITS UNFETTERED DISCRETION AND IN RELATION TO YOUR ACCOUNT, ANY RELATED ESP ACCOUNT, ANY ACCOUNTS YOU MAY HAVE WITH OTHER SITES AND/OR CASINOS AND/OR SERVICES OWNED OR OPERATED BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY AND ANY SERVICES THAT SHARE THE SHARED GAME/TABLE PLATFORM, TO WITHHOLD YOUR ACCOUNT BALANCE, SUSPEND YOUR ACCOUNT, AND RECOVER ANY PAY-OUTS, BONUSES AND WINNINGS IF:

(i) You are in breach of any term of this Agreement;

(ii) The Company should become aware that you have played at any other online gaming site or services and are suspected of fraud, collusion or unlawful or improper activity;

(iii) You have "charged back" or denied any of the purchases or deposits that you made to your Account;

(iv) If you become bankrupt or analogous proceedings occur anywhere in the world.

21.2 If after a Security Review (see section 20 above) has been performed you have either:

(i) Been found not to have been in compliance with this Agreement; or

(ii) Not provided responses satisfactory to Company in its sole discretion within any reasonable timeframe specified in a security review request or (where none has been specified 30 days from the sending or making of the request); then ANY WITHHELD ACCOUNT BALANCES WILL BE DEEMED FORFEITED AND YOUR ACCOUNT CLOSED.”



In this case we should also remind Mr Field that his behaviour is both against our terms and conditions and against generally accepted casino and poker rules (which are incorporated by reference in clause 6) and which are there to protect both him and our other players. His actions leave us with no other options given our zero tolerance policy to cheating and unfair practices.



Regards



Legal Affairs



What I did was wrong. I shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. It made me lie and cheat to people and a community I know and trust. I feel terrible about it, but there isn't much I can do about it now.

Adam and Cal have handled this very well, and I thank them a ton.

***I am not sure where I move on from here. I am contimplating legal action, but I won't go too much further into that.
((I am saying this more about the 40k than the 140k. They deserve to take away the 140k from me, and I compliment them that they were able to make such a bold move. However, I doubt anything will come with it. I typed this swiftly, and was somewhat still hoping I would be able to get some of the money back, which i do not deserve.)

Thanks for all the supports through this whole ordeal. I really do appeciate it.

It's good that they took harsh measures against him. It's needed as a deterrent.

But unless they update their fraud detection systems, then it will just continue, the cheaters will just use a higher degree of discretion.

Two side-issues from this.

- He is apparently a 16 /17 yr old. This hasn't stopped a deluge of death threats from members of the poker community. He cheated and deserves punishment, but this is going way too far and shows the skewed perspective of some people.

- I hope that party intend to recompense the other players in the tournament with the 140k. To keep it would be ludicrous, seeing as the people who lsot out from his actions were the other players in the tournament, not party.

His biggest problem was Ego. If he kept quiet during the tourney noone would be any the wiser and he'd be home free with $140k.
Still it's obviously wrong and they have done the right thing by taking back the dough.
I bet Josh feels like a proper 'numpty'.

anyone else use two accounts? gonna admit to it on here?  ;)

There are so many teenage players who, once they win a few quid, get greedy and let their egos go to their heads.

I'm glad this guy lost his prize money plus the other money he had in his account. I hope Party also send him to bed with no dinner.

everyone wants to be a "name" - get over it.
take the money and run.

Party confiscated the 140k form the account "ABlackCar" and then Party confiscated 40k from then "JJProdigy" account.

Do you agree that they should confiscated all the funds from the JJProdigy account, even though this account wasn't involved?

Yes of course, it is involved, its his real acct, it was the 'other' account, if there is only 1 account how is it multi-accounting. He was even stupid enough to transfer money between the 2!

Now that is stupid.

Party have taken back the 140k, and given it to the remaining players, and the 401st (bubble) has now scraped into the money. They seem to be looking at the period of time since he opened the 2nd account, can't say fairer than that.

Well done PP!

No-one battered an eyelid when Noah Boaeken did this 6 months ago on Pokerstars.

He entered the 750k under at least 2 known accounts. He got knocked out under 'Exclusive' and then he ended up winning the tournament under the account 'IlCapitano' which supposebly belongs to his friend Marcel Luske.

If Party have the info to check that he had done this in the past how come they only act now?

They have been happy to take double rake for the previous events. Maybe they should earn their rake and protect other players by checking on this for every tournament.

The diffrence there was that both marcel and noah were playing, when noah got knocked out he took over for marcel. It was not Noah playign 2 accts.

However there was a big fuss when that kicked off.

who believes that he opened it for grandma?

Hard to believe someone can be a poker fanatic without knowing how to play....

Not for one minute

 ::)

I feel sorry for this guy. Ok, take the tournie money away, but not his account money.

This is similar to an athlete having their medals taken away after failing a drugs test. Even though they had competed and won before they took the banned drug.

I don't agree with cheating, but in this instance exceptions can be made. As far as we know he didn't cheat to win the money in his accounts before the win. It seems like stealing to me to take it away from him.

Who at 17 years old didn't get into a few dodgy situations. With poker on TV and the advertisment of a great lifestyle being shown on countless TV shows weekly it would be hard for any kid with the brains not to do this.

I don't think what this guy did is any worse than sneaking a beer at 15 or borrowing his parents car without permission. This is all part of growing up, he will hopefully have learned his leason and will think twice in future.

Fortunately for this guy he is young and will come back. But does this now mean he can't play on internet poker sites?....Won't he now be banned?

Actually how can they ban him?....he is under age regardless where he lives in the world. He is only 17

By breaking the T's+C's you lose your cash its as simple as that, he has been using 2 accts for 2 months, this was not an isolated incident.

Also if he is 17, who really knows? Then he has been violating the T's+C's since day 1 so all monies should be taken.

What I found pretty shocking about the whole situation, is that when his friend "gbmantis" started the first thread about JJ winning, Actionjeff said something like "shssssssssssh".. so he obviously knew what was going on, and his only reaction was to try and stop mantis from speakin, rather then finding anything wrong with the actions!

I like partys decision, I think it was correct to take both gramma and JJ's account. Do we know if the $40k came from cheating? no, but as James said, he violated the T&C, and got pretty much what he deserved.

Today at some stage he is talking to one of the bigwigs to see if there is a way to try and get some money back.. which should read 'he is talking to party, and will see if ratting out his friends to party and telling them the account names will get at least some of his money returned', so i expect that there is more to come out of this sorry swordid affair

Guess you can't keep em away....He's been playing $100/200 HU on stars...Now playing the $200 omaha MTT LOL

The most important issue in this whole debate

A $40k fine is harsh!  Why can't they take away his net earnings since he created the 2nd account... that would be fairer.... taking away the $140k is fine, but the rest of his account money... nah that's too much.. these poker sites need to be regulated and there should be a max fine for cheating.

just because he got caught this time, doesn't mean it's the first time. $40k is a huge ammount of money and it's quite possible cheating was involved in gathering that.

if he's been caught cheating he loses the lot.

its about time that these sites took basic steps to stop multi accounts playing in same comps by logging ip numbers only 1 account per ip can play in a comp

that should be a first basic step

Doesn't that ruin it for wireless networks tho?

Yes it does - tough. If you're on the same wireless network as someone else you're going to have to enter different tournaments - big deal.

Personally I'm amazed that poker software allows more than one entry from an IP address anyway - if you are lax in your security in any way, someone will exploit it.

I agree

I agree with Sark and think it's a bit harsh too.  If Party are saying that they have the facilities to look into these sorts of things then they should be able to go back on the other accounts record and cross reference IP addresses and see if he's cheated before.  If he has then fair enough, take the money, if not, he should be entitled to it.

As for death threats and hate mails he's getting, that's just out of order too.  It's not crime of the century, all he's done is have two accounts in one game.  He still had to play them.  Resorting to pathetic 'death threats' should also be punished imo, there is no need for it.
 

I recall playing in a Blonde tourney not too long ago when a certain person played sat in a car outside someones house using a wireless connection without their notice :D

I don't think they will do it then as that will push out lots of players, shared houses, halls of residence, internet cafes etc etc

I have played in the same tourneys as housemates and when we ended up on the same table one of us got kisked off, so obviously they can bar same ip's but don't want to.

But even that can be got around easily enough, if you are really determined.

- connect each wireless pc in your home network to an external VPN, then you will get different IP addresses
- Buy fixed IP addresses from your service provider, and assign them each of the machines on connection.

etc etc...

I was following this story last week. I'm not surprised that this goes on.
If this is going on in tournaments it still requires a little bit of skill to get through, but I'm more concerned that this takes place in Ring games where someone coud occupy 2 seats or more. Imagine having 2 seats in a short-handed game - you could have a big big advantage calculating odds if you could see 2 more cards and easily clean up.

The best solution can only be to ban multiple accounts logging on from the same IP address. This may hurt wireless network users, but I don't think there is a safer way, at the moment, of policing this. Even if this can be bypassed it's a start. I know some online poker rooms do this already.

Interestingly Crypto already bans same IP from entering a tourney or sitting at the same table.  Myself and Tony Chessa found this out in Copenhagen when we couldn't get into the big January tourney.

Does he use the same name, Bundle?

What's so wrong with multi-accounting?

playing in the same comp under 2 names is pure cheating

Why is it cheating? You cant sit on the same table so both entries do not have an effect on each others results. Loads of people play 2 accounts in big crypto tournys, under 2 different skins, it doesnt help either player because you cant sit on the same table.

For it to be out and out cheating you need to gain an advantage, the only advantage you get is 2 lifes and you pay for that privledge anyway.

its cheating

plus on party you can sit on the same table

Well that is different then because you could gain an advantage.

It seems to me that this is amazingly easy way to cheat Imagine sitting at a 6 handed 5/10 nl game and being able to see 2 sets of hands or start raising war to drive players out ect...  It should be one accout per IP address for a start . the problem being that if people want to cheat they will find a way wether it is IM or on the phone even routing through a proxy server to ping a fake IP is probably possible . IT is strange that there a lot of pro players beating the game , only the bad ones feel the need to cheat. Inferioty complex anyoone?

Duabi , What happens if 2 flatmates make the final table using the same IP? Two laptops for example? They have done nothing irregular so what is cryptos move?

duabi

let say you won the lottery this week and said hello WSOP here i come and decide that you wanted to play

but just to make sure you dont get knocked out 2 early you buy in 7 or 8 times can you see a problem?

i sure can

well that is what these guys are doing

One of them wont be able to see their cards. Ive seen it happen at Gutshots Internet Room. 2 players in same tourny, neither knew. All of the sudden they get put on same table and one of them cant play.

Surely the risk of being moved to the same table, and thus one player being blinded out, makes this a -EV plan anyway?

Ironside that is the most common arguement against Multi Accounts.

In my opinion live and internet poker should be treated differently, as realistically you can play 2 entries in 1 tourny online but if it was live obviously you would have to travel between tables etc. Therefore I think the  situations are different and shouldnt be compared.

Depends Andrew in these huge online fields of 800+, the chance of both players being on same table at any point is a distinct longshot.

not really at the start your 80-1 to be on the same table after 2 hours if your both in the chances of you being on the same talbe for some part of the comp is about 4-1

You can't sit on the same table with the same IP address on any of the major sites.

im starting to get worried as brad and i are members of 2 differrent poker sites. we have only ever entered the the same blonde tourney on virgin before and i made him sit in the next room. what if we decided to enter the same tourney completely with everything on the level, then one of us wins and gets the prize taken away. this is scarey

mad

Stars, Tribecca, Prima not sure about the others.

JJProdigy has been banned from playing at Pokerstars as well as Party Poker. They've banned him because he is only 16 years old and that is illegal. But isn't playing online Poker illegal for any American citizen?

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060217-6204.html

Most sites stop you playing at the same sit and go event from the same IP Address but you can enter Multi Table Tourneys from the same IP.

If he is 16, how can they take away his money?...   dosen't he have a right to bring legal action against the sites where he has been playing for allowing him to play in the first place. If not him, then his guardians would be able to on his behalf.

If they take his money, he puts them in an awkward position.

Surely there is a way for the sites to determine if someone is underage?

i was told by a customer that he has paid for three IP addresses at his house, and admits to cheating. Is this possible?
I would name and shame if it is, but he wont give me his user name.

This was off fulltilt

To everyone else out there cheating: Watch out for the Karma police.

UPDATE: Poker Stars has now banned the “JJProdigy” account after doing their own investigation and finding that “JJProdigy” was playing with multiple accounts in some of their tournaments. Word has also leaked that “JJProdigy” is only 16 years old. The poker sites have a MAJOR problem on their hands here. How will the other rooms react? Was he only playing with two accounts or were there more involved?

When "JJProdigy" signed up for each of his accounts, it would have asked him (in the T&C'S) to confirm that he is over 18 years old. Obviously he has lied and once you lie/cheat they can do anything with his Poker winnings

I have just been searching on google for 'JJProdigy'.  There is alot of information . One interview explains how he is a University Senior, so it isn't just the sites he has fooled.

It is a shame really. This guy obviously has alot of talent and now he has blown it.

yes it is possible

Greedy little shit, clearly no love for the game just money.

First of all it sounds like this guy is a pretty good player. Especially if he is only 16. I don’t think playing under two accounts would have given him a huge advantage in that tournament but at the end of the day it is cheating and the money should rightfully be taken away from him.

I don’t think what he has done is exceptionally bad because he is just a kid who is playing the system a bit. Other kids have done far worse things than playing a poker compo under two accounts. I believe taking all the money away from him is fair, and also banning him is fair too. At the end of the day he will find somewhere else to play down the line.

Another point. I once entered a tourney on Betfair and William Hill at the same time. I thought that there was something dodgy going on with the software because I kept on timing out on me. Anyway, after a while of struggling to stay in the game I ended up being on the same table as myself. I had no idea that it was the same portal and that it was the same tourney being advertised on both sites. Now what do you expect people to do in this situation. Is it wrong to have to play under two IDs on two different sites but in the same compo?

My 17 yr old is still at school and tries to get away with anything, If he is 16 it is slightly forgivable as that what 16 yr olds do. They see how far they can push anything thinking they are invincible. Remember when you were 16? I know I was a pain in the arse! All my mates were would be hackers, just messing around trying to be masters of the latest craze. He has tested the system and come a cropper. What I am failing to understand is that he was a moderator on 2 + 2 forum......at 16?

OK he cheated and paid the penalty, lesson learned :D Maybe he will use this lesson and grow up a bit and be a fine upstanding citizen from now on (like myself :)up)

No such problems at Blondepoker - to be a moderator here, you have to be very old, just to be sure... :)

To stand a chance of becoming very old, you have to learn not to be very cheeky

There are old posters and there are bold posters, but there are no old, bold posters...

who you calling old i am one of the youngest poker players in the UK and certainly one of the youngest blondites

I thought you were an Admin, not a mod??

I've heard it all now.

JJ isn't the only one being a naughty boy.

At 4.15pm today another thread appeared on 2+2 regarding ZJustin and his multiple accounts.  All 6 of his accounts have been shut by Party and all monies confiscated.  Here is his reply....



Post by ZJustin on  the MTT Forum @ 2+2 ...

Here is the email I got from PartyPoker yesterday morning:


Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Bonomo,

This communication is to inform you of the findings of an investigation launched internally by partypoker.com into six accounts originating from your own location and computer.

These are the accounts in question:

ZeeJustin
IBLUFFUOUT69
jwilson55
vapoker58
mehsab
greenb272

These accounts have been systematically used to enter the same Multi Table Tournaments as a ýteamý, in a deception that is in direct violation of our Terms and Conditions.

Although registered in different names, these accounts have been created with the sole intention of playing as multiple accounts in the same tournaments. All six accounts were consistently logged into at the same time from the same IP/System and show a consistent pattern of being played by the same person.

A decision has been made, in consultation with the Poker Room Manager, Legal and Management, to close these accounts permanently and confiscate all funds. I would ask that you do not attempt to open any further accounts with our company, as these will be closed and any monies therein will be deemed forfeited.

Furthermore, please be informed that we have withdrawn your PPMV Cruise Package and you will no longer appear on the passenger list.

Steve Winter
Manager, Investigations Team



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Yes, it’s true. I did use these accounts to enter multiple accounts in the same multi table tournaments. I have never done this in a tournament with less than 1,000 players.

I have been at the same table as myself. For what it’s worth, my standard protocol has been to increase my number of tables when this happens. As most of you know, I will very rarely be playing fewer than six tables at a time. If I had 6 tables open and two of my accounts were brought to the same table, I would simply open up 4-6 more SNGs. I felt that this would negate my unethical advantage. With 10 tables open, I just play tight and solid. I can’t even remember the hole cards one account folded after the flop, and I’m certainly unable to pay special attention to that table. After talking to Curtains, I realize my standard play should have been to sit one account out when this happens, but I want to make it clear that I never used collusion to my advantage, never chip dumped, or did anything of the sort.

However, what Party emailed me is wrong on several subjects.
First of all, the accounts were NOT created solely for MTT use. They were originally created for SNG play. It got to the point where everyone knew that ZeeJustin would steal the blinds often, and everyone called him liberally. I created these accounts to erase this loose image. Everyone would be readless against me, and it was a huge advantage. These accounts all did very well in the big SNGs on PartyPoker.

N82 referred to a hack that let you open multiple Party clients. I have no clue how no one has mentioned this yet, but no such hack was necessary. This is important, so listen up.

All you had to do was click the PartyPoker icon on your desktop very rapidly. If you did that, multiple clients would open up.

Using this bug, I was able to play multiple accounts on the same computer at the same time. I would be in a step 5 on one name, while playing a mini step 5 on another, and no one would ever suspect that it was me.

All of the money that was seized from me was from sit’n’go play where nothing unethical was done. I never entered multiple accounts into the same sit’n’go, never colluded with anyone, never soft played anyone and never chip dumped with anyone.

The other accounts I used never had any big MTT scores. Combined, I am pretty sure they were all long-term losers in the few MTT’s they played. Despite this, almost $100,000 was seized from my accounts.

For those of you that feel safe because my money was taken, open up your eyes. This money will not be returned to the players in any way. PartyPoker is keeping it because they can, just like they did with JJProdigy’s $40,000, and just like they will do to you when you get caught.

I know what you’re thinking right now, “I won’t get caught, because I didn’t do anything wrong.”

First of all, that doesn’t matter. PartyPoker reserves the right to take your money for any reason at any time (although I should point out that this does not make it legal).

Secondly, almost all of you have broken the rules at some point. How many of you have created a second account for rakeback? Neither creating a second account nor receiving rakeback is allowed. Both are expressly forbidden. Maybe you’ll see things my way once all your money is seized for doing that. If I’m a cheater, so are you.

If you are a saint like CSC claims to be, kudos to you. You are in the minority, and are certainly upstanding citizens. I commend you on following Party’s rules and not receiving rakeback. Most of us are too greedy to pass up money that easy.

Furthermore, I would like to point out, that I did NOT break the rules.


Quote:
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5. True Identity and One Account.

The name on your Account must match your true and legal name and identity and the name on your Account registration must match the name on the credit card(s) or other payment accounts used to deposit or receive monies in your Account. You are prohibited from holding more than one Account. If you have more than one (1) Account or Accounts in different names, then you must contact us immediately to have your Accounts managed so that you only have one (1). If you have lost your Account name or password, please contact us for a replacement.


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I have one account. That account is named ZeeJustin. My brother also has an account named Bernard61 (formerly jwilson55), and I have used that account quite often. No where in Party’s rules does it say you cannot use someone else’s account. I’m sure many of you have used friends’ accounts before, and there is nothing wrong with this. People will often take over MTT’s for friends that have unforeseen obligations.

I do think what I’ve done is unethical, and I certainly regret doing it, however, I need to point out that no where in Party’s rules is it stated that you cannot enter multiple accounts into the same tournament. Not only do they not forbid it, but to open multiple clients on the same PC, all you have to do is click the icon a bit more rapidly than normal. Great work PartyPoker.

To further show how corrupt PartyPoker is, here is an email I got today from my affiliate manager.

Quote:
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Dear Justin,
We hereby give you notice that we are terminating our Standard Affiliate Agreement (the “Agreement”) with you. Clause 5.3 of the Agreement states that we are entitled to terminate our Agreement without cause immediately upon this written notice to you. We will also be exercising our right under clause 5.3 to terminate all trackers that you have with us.
We ask that you familiarize yourself with clause 5.5 of the Agreement which sets out the effects of termination. We require you to stop promoting our Site and you are no longer entitled to use our Marketing Materials. We also remind you that the obligation of confidentiality and non-disclosure shall, amongst other things, survive the termination of the Agreement.
Yours sincerely
PartyGaming
Sarah Hunter
Affiliate Relations
PartyGaming Marketing (UK)
Email: sarahh@partygaming.com
London Office +44 (0) 20 7337 0100
18 King William Street, London, EC4N 7BP
www.partygaming.com
This email is sent by PartyGaming Marketing (UK), a provider of services to PartyGaming Marketing (Gibraltar). The contents of this email may be subject to approval by an authorized representative of PartyGaming Marketing (Gibraltar).
The information contained in this email, and any attachments hereto, is strictly confidential and solely intended for use by the individual(s) and/or entity(s) to which it is addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the System Manager at admin@partygaming.com as soon as possible



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I have not broken the affiliate agreement in any way shape or form, so PartyPoker is using good old clause 5.3 to stop paying me simply because they can. If this makes you feel safe, you are being completely illogical. It can and will happen to more people, this I guarantee. You’re not safe at all.

In conclusion, I want to make it clear that I regret what I did, and have done somethings that were unethical. Despite this, PartyPoker’s actions are unreasonable, and their power to take the same actions against you should not be taken lightly. This rampage that PartyPoker is on will certainly not end with me. So whatever you do, be careful.




So, ZJ is a little POd right now  :D

I wonder who's next to be outed, be careful - it could be you  /:-|

Ali

The excuse about 'everyone knew ZeeJustin stole blinds so they called me' doesn't wash.

Party allows the facility to change your screen name every six months without anyone knowing. Plus, if it was such a problem, why not create only one new account. Not a whole bunch?

For those who don't know, ZeeJustin is Justin Bonomo, who featured in one of the EPT final tables last year.

Sheriff

OMG TOO FUNNY! (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y258/i_wanna_be_m/JustinZee2.jpg)

For those of you not in the know - Dikshit (yes that's his real name) is the guy who owns Party

Ali

LOL!

Brilliant  Ali that must of took a bit of work

very funny 

LOL Yes

Just so we're clear tho - that's not my handy work.  I would have made all the pictures much more neater as opposed to it looking like a 5 minute job !!

Ali

I was also reading about ZeeJustin on that forum.  I did a search for his cheating activities on google , but I couldn't find much.

I actually read this guys blog and tips page.  No way will I be doing this from now on. Cheating git.

He actually appears to be proud of himself.

This has to have an adverse effect on how other players will view him from now on.

Why do these guys have to cheat?  I aint a great player yet, but there is no way I would cheat to get there.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

is what he done really so bad to get the attention and flaming that it has?? i mean he used two accounts in a torny with what?..3000 people he paid buyins for both, i remember at my local club u could buy as many entries into the domino handicap as u wanted as long as u stumped up each buyin!

Well the biggest problem with a player having multiple entries into a MTT is that he will not be unafraid to risk his stack early on if he knows he can just fire up the other id if he busts. Not the same as your domino example as thats just like a rebuy trny, these were freezeouts, everyone has one chance unless you've got multiple accounts.

I just Hope Zee had a lot of $ in his account when it was closed :)

If they are good players why cheat? How many people have missed out on a live seat due to a tosser like this.
This makes me so angry these people are just plain dishonest. Would you trust any off them at any site?

Thing is these people will always get caughtas they will always boast about it

Greed, the need to do whatever it takes to make as much $,$$$ as possible.

Possibly, that's what makes them good players, constantly trying to figure out how to maximize their winnings.

It's ironic that the very quality that makes them excellent players is also what has been their downfall.

(http://www.observetheownage.com/img/zeecheat.jpg)

(http://www.geocities.com/anokabball24/cheatorsjpeg.jpg)

To view the imgaes close up right clikc and 'view image' (FireFox)

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

Just taken from ZeeJustin's blog

"I screwed up, on a practical, maturity and most importantly, ethical level. I’ve let everyone down including myself and for that I am very sorry.

The past month has been the hardest month of my life. I’ve never gone through anything like this before. In all facets of life, I’ve worked hard to develop a good honest reputation. But now that I’ve severely messed up, I have undone all that hard work.

For those of you that aren’t aware of the situation, I recently got caught by PartyPoker and PokerStars using multiple accounts in tournaments. There were six different PartyPoker accounts that I used. For big tournaments, I would often use these accounts to enter a single tournament with four entries. (I used all six once or twice, but generally used four) I did this by exploiting a bug which let you open multiple PartyPoker clients on your computer simply by clicking on the icon rapidly. On PokerStars, I had a single extra account which was mostly used by people other than me, but occasionally I did use it to double enter large PokerStars tournaments.

At that time, I unfortunately did not realize that what I was doing was unethical. For starters, many of the poker players that I have learned from were using the same practice. This obviously doesn’t make it ok, but I wasn’t questioning it at the time. Until recently; this wasn’t a well hidden fact. People seemed to accept it as ok and talked about it in the open.

Also, the idea was NOT to collude or chip dump with myself in any way. I only multi accounted in tournaments with thousands of players where it would be very unlikely for me to ever end up at the same table as myself. If the goal was collusion, I would have multi-entered smaller tournaments like sit’n’gos. This is something that I have never done.

For months and months, this practice was going on. It wasn’t until February 12th that the issue became public. ABlackCar won the $200 tournament on PartyPoker for $140,000, and it was discovered that JJProdigy was playing this account, even though JJProdigy had entered the same tournament on his own name as well. Despite a story about his grandmother playing the account until Josh (JJProdigy) took over, PartyPoker determined that both accounts were being played not only from the same IP address, but from the same unique computer identification number. As a result, Party confiscated $140,000 from ABlackCar and distributed it amongst the players in the tournament by effectively moving them up one place in the pay scale. Also, the $40,000 remaining in JJProdigy’s account was taken, and both accounts were permanently closed.

On February 23rd, I received an email from PartyPoker saying that all six accounts that I had used had been closed, and all the money in them had been confiscated. The total money confiscated was around $100,000 and included my PPM Cruise Package. On February 26th, PokerStars also came to the conclusion that I was multi-accounting tournaments. They close my accounts as well. They then conducted an investigation and determined that $3445.75 was won using this practice. They confiscated that amount of money, and returned the rest before closing my two accounts permanently.

I don’t think Party handled the situation as well as they could have. The money taken from me was won legitimately, almost entirely from sit’n’gos. None of the other accounts I used had any big tournament scores; in fact, they lost money overall in the few tournaments that they entered. Party has a zero tolerance policy which in my opinion is unfair. If I had only double entered a single $10 tournament, by the same policy, that would be grounds for them to confiscate $100,000 from me which seems unreasonable. The punishment was arbitrary, and no investigation was done to determine a reasonable adjustment. I feel like the amount of my punishment has been determined by what was in my account, rather than by what a thorough investigation would have determined.

Some players have begun to question my two recent tournament wins. Lee Jones publicly stated the following, “His big tournament win on PokerStars was legitimate (we checked it carefully).” PartyPoker has not made any similar statements, but my second place finish in the million guaranteed was legitimate as well. I have the hand histories to prove this, and if the good people at www.twoplustwo.com are willing to have me back, I will gladly post the hand history as proof. I will be taking some time away from 2+2 as well as poker in general to allow time for forgiveness, but I hope that people will eventually be able to welcome me back.

In the past month, I have come to many realizations. Once the shit hit the fan with Josh, I did some thinking and determined that it was indeed wrong to enter tournaments on multiple accounts. I have not done it since the JJProdigy incident, and I will never do it again.

I have many friends that have multi-accounted tournaments in the past. To my knowledge, they have all stopped, but I want to encourage them to talk to me if they still do it. I will explain to them exactly why it is wrong on both an ethical and practical level.

For starters, it is against the spirit of the game. In poker, there should be no situation where you have knowledge of more than one hand. Even the chance of this occurring is against the spirit of the game. It doesn’t matter if there’s a 9/10 chance or a 1/10,000 chance of ending up at the same table as yourself; that chance existing is against the spirit of the game.

It also leads to many gray areas in terms of ethics that should not exist at all. How many accounts is it ok to play with? Is two any better than fifty? What number of players in the tournament makes it ok? It’s obviously wrong in a 10 player tournament, but what about 100, 1,000 or 10,000? There is no one number at which you can draw a line and say, with 673 players or more it’s ok. Also, if you do happen to wind up at the same table as yourself, what is proper protocol? Should you try to play normal? Should you sit one account out? What if there are 5 people at your table each with two accounts making up ten players? Is there any way that game can be on the level? The answer to these questions isn’t important. What’s important is that you should never have to ask these questions in poker. There should be no gray area.

I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about the perception of poker. It’s a shame that poker has always had such a negative connotation because of cheaters. Just take a look at movies like Rounders and TV shows like Tilt. That’s not poker. I’ve always felt that players need to work hard to get rid of these false perceptions, because they hurt the future of poker. I can’t express with words how ashamed I am that I’ve completely gone against this and I’m now part of the problem rather than the solution. A few people have expressed their fear of playing at online poker sites because they don’t have proper detection methods against “people like me”. I obviously never wanted to be seen in this way, but I’m reaping what I’ve sown and will do everything I can to change this.

Most importantly, I’ve been thinking a lot about my character. In general, I’m a nice guy. I always try to be respectful of other people, and I’ve never stolen anything in my life. I’ve always wanted to be viewed as an ethical citizen, and up until recently, I believe I’ve deserved that view. Because of my actions, that’s no longer the case. My reputation has always been extremely important to me, but now I’ve compromised that. I’ve been getting a lot of heat lately, and I deserve it. I’ve been a huge hypocrite, and I didn’t realize it until recently. There is now a cloud over my poker accomplishments, and I vow to be the person I need to be to earn back trust in the poker community.

To those that have supported me, I want to say thank you. I have received a ton of emails mostly saying the same thing. They affirm that what I did was wrong, but what I do now will determine who I will be as a person. For the most part, they have been very encouraging. I’m extremely grateful there are so many people out there willing to express their faith in me after what I have done. It is times like these when a person finds out who his true friends are. I can’t tell you how important those of you that have stuck by me have been. This experience has been bleak, but it would have been unbearable without you.

As for what the future holds, I’m not entirely sure. No matter what, I will return to poker. Poker has been my passion, and I can’t picture myself doing anything else. I hope that I can one day reclaim my reputation. Obviously this will take years and not days, and I accept this.

Finally, to my readers I want to apologize again. I screwed up, and now I’m paying the price. My judgment was horrendous, and I hope that you guys will one day forgive me.

— Justin Bonomo"

That was an honest post.  I do think that he is sorry for his actions. 

I am not saying he should get off scot free,  but he is a talented player and he is 19 years old.

When I was 19, I made alot of mistakes.  I think this was a mistake, had he actually stopped to consider his actions. He wouldn't have done this. 

This isn't me being naive. I genuinely believe he has learned his leason.

It takes alot to write such an open post as his.  Ok, I am sure part of his reason for writing the post was to try and work his way back into the poker community. But I think, the most part was honest.

Such a talented guy.

I do actually feel for him.

Do you think that Party should have confiscated his $100k even though none of it was won by cheating?

I think I said that's exactly what he needed to do.

Quit whining about his funds having been taken away and put his hands up that he did something wrong.

He's sort of done that, still obviously a tad bitter that his accounts were emptied.

Good to see this though. (The acknowledgment of the crime I mean, not the bitterness)

I now have a little respect instead of a lot of contempt for Justin Bonomo and wish him luck in re-gaining a reputation.

In order to stamp it out - yes.

Make an example.

It won't stamp it out though. There are hundreds of players still multi-accounting tournaments (big buyin and little buyin). There will be even more now that the tournaments are getting bigger and bigger with Pokerstars introducing a 1k buyin and will soon be introducing even bigger buyin tornaments in the future.

It may not stamp it out but now everyone knows the standard if you get caught.

The marker has been set.

To be honest, I reckon his only regret is leaving that 100k in there.

Yep. But Party should have done a proper investigation like Pokerstars did to see if any of his $$$ was won by multi accounting.

I don't expect him to say something like.......

"Ignorance of the rules is no defence. Party were completely justified in their course of action."

...and if he did, I doubt anyone, including myself, would believe that they were his true feelings.

Still, I wouldn't have included this paragraph.......

I don’t think Party handled the situation as well as they could have. The money taken from me was won legitimately, almost entirely from sit’n’gos. None of the other accounts I used had any big tournament scores; in fact, they lost money overall in the few tournaments that they entered. Party has a zero tolerance policy which in my opinion is unfair. If I had only double entered a single $10 tournament, by the same policy, that would be grounds for them to confiscate $100,000 from me which seems unreasonable. The punishment was arbitrary, and no investigation was done to determine a reasonable adjustment. I feel like the amount of my punishment has been determined by what was in my account, rather than by what a thorough investigation would have determined.

It's difficult for anyone to take such a severe punishment like a man, especially a 19 year old. Whether he agrees with or not though, nothing can be done about it. He just needs to put it behind him and get on with things. I hope, for his reputations sake, that this is the last time he publicly mentions his grievance at Party's handling of the matter.

Probably true.

Still if he's talented enough he'll have a whole lot more soon.

A little harsh?

A reputation is worth more than $100k, you can't put a price on it. I think that losing the money is not his only regret.

I reckon a lot of people would do their reputation for 100K.

A lot of people in certain cardrooms do their reputation for a whole lot less.

But they don't have his talent.


 Best thing this kid could do is change his name. I'm sure he will be playing in the WSOP &WPT when he is of age, but with that name, he will be "oh yeah your that cheat"  I don't think the 100k is too important with his skills.

I agree, whatever people think about the guy. There is no doubt over how much he loves poker..  You only have to read some of his blogs to see this.  I am sure he feels he let himself down even more than he has let down other people.

It is going to take time for people to give him a second chance.

Everyone deserves another chance.  Look at some of our most loved athletes who get caught taking performance enhancing drugs.  They are forgiven and a few years down the line they get an honour in the New Years Honours list.

There is no difference with this guy.  Whatever his reasons for doing so,  he has appologized.   Now it is time to forgive.

Barry Greenstein has a bankroll larger than god and was IMO the best player in the world for a period between mid 04 and mid 05.

I bet you any money even he still rates 100k as important, even with his skills.

I'm not saying JJProdigy only regrets not having the money but do you think if he had the choice between his reputation back or a hundred grand he'd go for the reputation?

If he was that much of a stand up guy then I'm sure he wouldn't have cheated.

There is no denying the kids ability.

I find it impossible to believe that such a talent can be solely motivated by a desire for money and nothing else like Snoopy cynically suggests. It's obvious how others percieve him drives him to success too. For how many 19 year old phenoms is this not true?

For me, how Party handled the situation is a non-issue. If they were to return the confiscated funds from his sit n go proceeds tomorrow, Justin wouldn't be much better off, his name would still be mud.

For this, he can only blame himself, and it sounds as if he is beginning to realise this. I, for one, respect that.

 I bet this kids dream was to play on tour and make a big name for himself, now that name is very much tarnished before he even starts.

 I would like to think he would take the reputation, knowing he can win the money back over time.

It will all blow over soon.

No-one can argue with this. It's why I don't have any sympathy for him losing the money.

After doing the crime though, the first step to doing the time is to acknowledge that what he has done was wrong.

This he has done, and is why, if he eliminates me from an EPT event, I will shake his hand.

A long way to go before I take him home to meet mummy though.

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

Although I applaud the overall sentiment, there is another omission I would have insisted upon if I were his political advisor. (Unfortunately due to recent financial setbacks, he could no longer afford my fees)

I would have held off with the Zee-justifications, concentrating instead on the apology.

The insistance that he did not understand he was doing anything unethical appears a little whimsical to the critical eye.

He talks of exploiting a bug, having to click rapidly on the PartyPoker icon in order to open multiple clients. A man of his intelligence should have understood that what he was doing was not "allowed". He just chose to ignore it.

Considering his relative youth and that his role-models were involved in similar things, a reasoned reader can understand that Justin Bonomos character may not necessary be pre-disposed towards unethical practices. Without knowing him personally, I certainly can't cast a judgement.

I'm so sorry.........................................
































i got found out.

Huh?

just how i read his apology nem.

 Hi snoopy , I think you got it spot on with this guy, amazing really, the gushing contrition of the boy, if you change the game  it could of have been written by a Mr.Clifford to excuse behaviour of the so called great and the good,and to expedite thier acceptence back into society, I was begining to think I was the only cynic . PS whats happened to your Diary I cant seem to find it anymore.