Interview wtih london pro Michael Piper (Wazz)

[Skgv]

guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.

This is a bit in the vein of "bloke down t'pub told me..."

Did the guy tell you what evidence he had that this was the case, or how well he knew Michael? Or was he just bitching, stirring, or guessing?

I can understand why blonde regs are conditioned to assuming the worst in these type of matters, given the recent blatch stuff etc. But a great deal of what has been said on this thread (like the post I quoted) is merely dealing in rumours, speculation, guesses and hearsay. And it's not very fair on Michael. Neither is it very helpful. The thing is, when Greekstein posts this it is going to be read by a lot of people. He is a respected poster here (and from what a lot of people have told me he is a top guy too) so at least some people will assume that Greekstein is personally endorsing what this random guy has said to him, and will make judgements accordingly. When really there is no substance behind what he says, other than just some random bloke telling him "Michael Piper you say? Yes,  I know him ... I'll bet he's using that money to play poker with".

I know Michael really well. He is not broke. He has the money and everyone will get paid. He has acted like a complete idiot in this obviously. And he has destroyed his reputation in the process (on 2+2 especially where he was pretty well-respected as a poster, coach and moderator). It's all his own fault of course. He has been lazy, irresponsible, and incompetent. And he's made some serious errors in judgement (for example massagegate was lol really, but it shows how unintentionally clueless and inappropriate he can be). But he has not ripped anyone off, is not going to do so, and he has never had any intention of doing so. He is just one of those people who has a tendency to act in totally inappropriate ways, get carried away, and fuck things up by accident. He is a really nice guy, but he makes a mess of things from time to time just because, well ... he fails a bit at life. I even use the expression "you've done a Michael" when he does this sort of thing. Honestly, he is one of the good guys. He is, however, also a doofus. We all know someone like this I'm sure, and many of us (me included) have a bit of the doofus in us ourselves.

The most important thing is that Michael realises that he has fucked up, and he is doing everything he can to make sure it's all put right as soon as possible. Go easy on him. Instead of slagging him or hating him, think of him like he is your slightly clueless 16 year old brother who keeps fucking things up for himself and others, but whose heart is in the right place, and is learning (slowly) how to deal with life.

Well this is what happens when you do something wrong in life an you have to say sorry an move on an try to gain people's respect an trust again. Showing remorse is always a good way to start an becoming a trusting human being is the second an who knows all the haters will become better human beings an also learn to forgive an move on!

[thetank]

Well this is what happens when you do something wrong in life an you have to say sorry an move on an try to gain people's respect an trust again. Showing remorse is always a good way to start an becoming a trusting human being is the second

Fix the shit out first no?

Remorse it up at any juncture, but you don't get any remorse points from random internet people for remorse shown prior to the fixing of the shit.

[Skgv]

Well this is what happens when you do something wrong in life an you have to say sorry an move on an try to gain people's respect an trust again. Showing remorse is always a good way to start an becoming a trusting human being is the second

Fix the shit out first no?

Remorse it up at any juncture, but you don't get any remorse points from random internet people for remorse shown prior to the fixing of the shit.

Of COURSE! obviosly ........!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tikay]

guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.

This is a bit in the vein of "bloke down t'pub told me..."

Did the guy tell you what evidence he had that this was the case, or how well he knew Michael? Or was he just bitching, stirring, or guessing?

I can understand why blonde regs are conditioned to assuming the worst in these type of matters, given the recent blatch stuff etc. But a great deal of what has been said on this thread (like the post I quoted) is merely dealing in rumours, speculation, guesses and hearsay. And it's not very fair on Michael. Neither is it very helpful. The thing is, when Greekstein posts this it is going to be read by a lot of people. He is a respected poster here (and from what a lot of people have told me he is a top guy too) so at least some people will assume that Greekstein is personally endorsing what this random guy has said to him, and will make judgements accordingly. When really there is no substance behind what he says, other than just some random bloke telling him "Michael Piper you say? Yes,  I know him ... I'll bet he's using that money to play poker with".

I know Michael really well. He is not broke. He has the money and everyone will get paid. He has acted like a complete idiot in this obviously. And he has destroyed his reputation in the process (on 2+2 especially where he was pretty well-respected as a poster, coach and moderator). It's all his own fault of course. He has been lazy, irresponsible, and incompetent. And he's made some serious errors in judgement (for example massagegate was lol really, but it shows how unintentionally clueless and inappropriate he can be). But he has not ripped anyone off, is not going to do so, and he has never had any intention of doing so. He is just one of those people who has a tendency to act in totally inappropriate ways, get carried away, and fuck things up by accident. He is a really nice guy, but he makes a mess of things from time to time just because, well ... he fails a bit at life. I even use the expression "you've done a Michael" when he does this sort of thing. Honestly, he is one of the good guys. He is, however, also a doofus. We all know someone like this I'm sure, and many of us (me included) have a bit of the doofus in us ourselves.

The most important thing is that Michael realises that he has fucked up, and he is doing everything he can to make sure it's all put right as soon as possible. Go easy on him. Instead of slagging him or hating him, think of him like he is your slightly clueless 16 year old brother who keeps fucking things up for himself and others, but whose heart is in the right place, and is learning (slowly) how to deal with life.

Wow! Top writeage, Sir.

[Skgv]

guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.

This is a bit in the vein of "bloke down t'pub told me..."

Did the guy tell you what evidence he had that this was the case, or how well he knew Michael? Or was he just bitching, stirring, or guessing?

I can understand why blonde regs are conditioned to assuming the worst in these type of matters, given the recent blatch stuff etc. But a great deal of what has been said on this thread (like the post I quoted) is merely dealing in rumours, speculation, guesses and hearsay. And it's not very fair on Michael. Neither is it very helpful. The thing is, when Greekstein posts this it is going to be read by a lot of people. He is a respected poster here (and from what a lot of people have told me he is a top guy too) so at least some people will assume that Greekstein is personally endorsing what this random guy has said to him, and will make judgements accordingly. When really there is no substance behind what he says, other than just some random bloke telling him "Michael Piper you say? Yes,  I know him ... I'll bet he's using that money to play poker with".

I know Michael really well. He is not broke. He has the money and everyone will get paid. He has acted like a complete idiot in this obviously. And he has destroyed his reputation in the process (on 2+2 especially where he was pretty well-respected as a poster, coach and moderator). It's all his own fault of course. He has been lazy, irresponsible, and incompetent. And he's made some serious errors in judgement (for example massagegate was lol really, but it shows how unintentionally clueless and inappropriate he can be). But he has not ripped anyone off, is not going to do so, and he has never had any intention of doing so. He is just one of those people who has a tendency to act in totally inappropriate ways, get carried away, and fuck things up by accident. He is a really nice guy, but he makes a mess of things from time to time just because, well ... he fails a bit at life. I even use the expression "you've done a Michael" when he does this sort of thing. Honestly, he is one of the good guys. He is, however, also a doofus. We all know someone like this I'm sure, and many of us (me included) have a bit of the doofus in us ourselves.

The most important thing is that Michael realises that he has fucked up, and he is doing everything he can to make sure it's all put right as soon as possible. Go easy on him. Instead of slagging him or hating him, think of him like he is your slightly clueless 16 year old brother who keeps fucking things up for himself and others, but whose heart is in the right place, and is learning (slowly) how to deal with life.

Wow! Top writeage, Sir.

3 differant people wrote here tikay! Which bit did u like the best ! X

[tikay]

guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.

This is a bit in the vein of "bloke down t'pub told me..."

Did the guy tell you what evidence he had that this was the case, or how well he knew Michael? Or was he just bitching, stirring, or guessing?

I can understand why blonde regs are conditioned to assuming the worst in these type of matters, given the recent blatch stuff etc. But a great deal of what has been said on this thread (like the post I quoted) is merely dealing in rumours, speculation, guesses and hearsay. And it's not very fair on Michael. Neither is it very helpful. The thing is, when Greekstein posts this it is going to be read by a lot of people. He is a respected poster here (and from what a lot of people have told me he is a top guy too) so at least some people will assume that Greekstein is personally endorsing what this random guy has said to him, and will make judgements accordingly. When really there is no substance behind what he says, other than just some random bloke telling him "Michael Piper you say? Yes,  I know him ... I'll bet he's using that money to play poker with".

I know Michael really well. He is not broke. He has the money and everyone will get paid. He has acted like a complete idiot in this obviously. And he has destroyed his reputation in the process (on 2+2 especially where he was pretty well-respected as a poster, coach and moderator). It's all his own fault of course. He has been lazy, irresponsible, and incompetent. And he's made some serious errors in judgement (for example massagegate was lol really, but it shows how unintentionally clueless and inappropriate he can be). But he has not ripped anyone off, is not going to do so, and he has never had any intention of doing so. He is just one of those people who has a tendency to act in totally inappropriate ways, get carried away, and fuck things up by accident. He is a really nice guy, but he makes a mess of things from time to time just because, well ... he fails a bit at life. I even use the expression "you've done a Michael" when he does this sort of thing. Honestly, he is one of the good guys. He is, however, also a doofus. We all know someone like this I'm sure, and many of us (me included) have a bit of the doofus in us ourselves.

The most important thing is that Michael realises that he has fucked up, and he is doing everything he can to make sure it's all put right as soon as possible. Go easy on him. Instead of slagging him or hating him, think of him like he is your slightly clueless 16 year old brother who keeps fucking things up for himself and others, but whose heart is in the right place, and is learning (slowly) how to deal with life.

Wow! Top writeage, Sir.

3 differant people wrote here tikay! Which bit did u like the best ! X

The one with balance.

[wazz]

Hi guys. I've paid everyone off now, and fwiw I'm still left with a healthy bankroll.

Made this post on 2+2 hopefully to underline the whole issue. I would like to be able to rejoin the live UK poker community and not have people judging me for a lack of complete information or gossip.

'So now everyone is paid off.

I'd like to repeat that I'm sorry for letting people down. A lot of people defended me, and while that fills my heart with warmth, I'm disappointed in myself that I've made other people look bad.

I'd like to say sorry publicly to all the moderators and powers that be on 2p2 for showing me patience.

I completely understand the attitude in this forum, fwiw. The poker community has been through a number of scandals and traumas in the last couple of years, and with the benefit of hindsight I can see why this looked so bad. I bear absolutely no ill will towards anyone who said anything in the slightest big negative about me, either publicly here or in private.

I would like to repeat that there was never anything scammy going on in my head whatsoever. To make up for the delay in paying out my investors, I wanted to surprise them with a little extra money, and didn't see anything wrong with making a bit for myself at the same time. When deciding to proceed with this plan, I just didn't consider it from all the angles.

For what it's worth, I did contact all my creditors and asked them whether they were happy to wait until all the stuff in London rolled round, and if they said no, I would have found a way to pay them before. They were all happy with the plan, so I saw no reason not to go ahead.

At the end of the day, in my mind, this was a mix of a lot of bad luck, from not being able to receive my winnings in my stars account to the bank screwing me over repeatedly, and a healthy dose of incompetence, lack of foresight, irresponsibiliity and arrogance on my part. I've learnt that the most important thing when it comes to debts and investors is to put them first.'

Would like to say thanks to jackinbeat, numptyd and dmorgan for standing up to me.

Would also like to say sorry publicly to luckyscrote - thanks for putting up with me this summer, I wasn't aware of how selfish I was at the time. I had a really good time in that house this summer btw.

[titaniumbean]

Awesome tash!

[wazz]

guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.

I won't ask you to provide me with that name, but please be aware that he was very wrong.

My intentions were never to scam anyone or hold anyone's money for ransom: I'd suffered a lot of logistical problems in moving the money round without having me or the investors taking a hit in the form of charges, so to say sorry to my investors, I wanted to surprise them with a little extra profit.

I've been a professional poker player for over 4 years now, have been put in many compromising situations, and have come out of all of them with my head held high that I did the right thing. I have been coaching people, both live and online, for the last 3 years, and have never done anything the remotest bit dodgy in that time, again despite having many opportunities. I would like to make the bold claim that I have over 50 ex-students who would be willing to say publicly that, aside from being somewhere between a good and great coach, I have never done them bad in the slightest; one ex-student asked for his money back (and I gave it to him) after I missed a couple of appointments ~2.5 years ago, when I was going through personal troubles, and other than that, I highly doubt one single person would even be willing to say privately that I had acted in the slightest bit dodgy. I've also escrowed something in the region of $30k for other people and had the privileges of mod powers on 2+2 for about 6 months I think, and never abused those powers.

NumptyD summed it up well. I do and always have had the best of intentions, but from time to time show a lack of judgement.

[wazz]

I was sat at a cash table at DTD a few months back (think it was the Pokerstars thing) when this clown walked by looking like something out of a Showaddywaddy tribute band with his girlfriend. He pauses as they pass the table and points to a couple of young lads sat next to me. His girlfriend then stops as he scurries away, she then proceeds to lay into these 2 guys about money they seem to owe her boyfriend. She threatens to call police, the management and at one point I am sure she mentioned Tony Soprano. the young lads answers ranged from the money was sent to it wasn't me a big lad did it and ran away. After she left as they spoke to each other I heard the immortal lines "Railtard told me he had sent the money!!"


LOL multi level grimmaments. Poker players eh? what a stinking bunch......

Please get your facts straight before you make posts like this.

I do not look like anything out of a Showaddywaddy tribute band, whatever the hell that might be!

Partly relevant, but that was my ex-girlfriend. Not going into details publicly, but she believed he had scammed her new boyfriend. Out of loyalty to her (and her new boyfriend, who is one of the nicest guys in poker that I know and I'm sure you'd all agree), I pointed out who it was when she asked. I was not involved in any way shape or form other than helping identify the potential perp.

[GreekStein]

guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.

This is a bit in the vein of "bloke down t'pub told me..."

Did the guy tell you what evidence he had that this was the case, or how well he knew Michael? Or was he just bitching, stirring, or guessing?

I can understand why blonde regs are conditioned to assuming the worst in these type of matters, given the recent blatch stuff etc. But a great deal of what has been said on this thread (like the post I quoted) is merely dealing in rumours, speculation, guesses and hearsay. And it's not very fair on Michael. Neither is it very helpful. The thing is, when Greekstein posts this it is going to be read by a lot of people. He is a respected poster here (and from what a lot of people have told me he is a top guy too) so at least some people will assume that Greekstein is personally endorsing what this random guy has said to him, and will make judgements accordingly. When really there is no substance behind what he says, other than just some random bloke telling him "Michael Piper you say? Yes,  I know him ... I'll bet he's using that money to play poker with".

I know Michael really well. He is not broke. He has the money and everyone will get paid. He has acted like a complete idiot in this obviously. And he has destroyed his reputation in the process (on 2+2 especially where he was pretty well-respected as a poster, coach and moderator). It's all his own fault of course. He has been lazy, irresponsible, and incompetent. And he's made some serious errors in judgement (for example massagegate was lol really, but it shows how unintentionally clueless and inappropriate he can be). But he has not ripped anyone off, is not going to do so, and he has never had any intention of doing so. He is just one of those people who has a tendency to act in totally inappropriate ways, get carried away, and fuck things up by accident. He is a really nice guy, but he makes a mess of things from time to time just because, well ... he fails a bit at life. I even use the expression "you've done a Michael" when he does this sort of thing. Honestly, he is one of the good guys. He is, however, also a doofus. We all know someone like this I'm sure, and many of us (me included) have a bit of the doofus in us ourselves.

The most important thing is that Michael realises that he has fucked up, and he is doing everything he can to make sure it's all put right as soon as possible. Go easy on him. Instead of slagging him or hating him, think of him like he is your slightly clueless 16 year old brother who keeps fucking things up for himself and others, but whose heart is in the right place, and is learning (slowly) how to deal with life.

I've only just seen this reply as I went away just after it was posted.

You're probably right that I shouldn't have psoted that and I apologise if I caused any offence to Wazz or anyone else. I wasn't starting it as fact of course, which is clear, just something that someone in my game said.

Glad the whole situation is resolved.

[GreekStein]

guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.

I won't ask you to provide me with that name, but please be aware that he was very wrong.

My intentions were never to scam anyone or hold anyone's money for ransom: I'd suffered a lot of logistical problems in moving the money round without having me or the investors taking a hit in the form of charges, so to say sorry to my investors, I wanted to surprise them with a little extra profit.

I've been a professional poker player for over 4 years now, have been put in many compromising situations, and have come out of all of them with my head held high that I did the right thing. I have been coaching people, both live and online, for the last 3 years, and have never done anything the remotest bit dodgy in that time, again despite having many opportunities. I would like to make the bold claim that I have over 50 ex-students who would be willing to say publicly that, aside from being somewhere between a good and great coach, I have never done them bad in the slightest; one ex-student asked for his money back (and I gave it to him) after I missed a couple of appointments ~2.5 years ago, when I was going through personal troubles, and other than that, I highly doubt one single person would even be willing to say privately that I had acted in the slightest bit dodgy. I've also escrowed something in the region of $30k for other people and had the privileges of mod powers on 2+2 for about 6 months I think, and never abused those powers.

NumptyD summed it up well. I do and always have had the best of intentions, but from time to time show a lack of judgement.

I won't disclose the guy's name but the next time I see him at the Vic or elsewhere I'll remind him that he was very wrong.

Hope my post didn't offend you too much.

[wazz]

Not at all, like I said in that 2+2 post, I completely understand the attitudes of everyone who commented on the topic, and can especially understand why people on blonde would be quick to jump to conclusions. I bear no ill will towards anyone who had anything negative to say about me publicly or privately.

[Boba Fett]

I was sat at a cash table at DTD a few months back (think it was the Pokerstars thing) when this clown walked by looking like something out of a Showaddywaddy tribute band with his girlfriend. He pauses as they pass the table and points to a couple of young lads sat next to me. His girlfriend then stops as he scurries away, she then proceeds to lay into these 2 guys about money they seem to owe her boyfriend. She threatens to call police, the management and at one point I am sure she mentioned Tony Soprano. the young lads answers ranged from the money was sent to it wasn't me a big lad did it and ran away. After she left as they spoke to each other I heard the immortal lines "Railtard told me he had sent the money!!"


LOL multi level grimmaments. Poker players eh? what a stinking bunch......

Please get your facts straight before you make posts like this.

I do not look like anything out of a Showaddywaddy tribute band, whatever the hell that might be!

Partly relevant, but that was my ex-girlfriend. Not going into details publicly, but she believed he had scammed her new boyfriend. Out of loyalty to her (and her new boyfriend, who is one of the nicest guys in poker that I know and I'm sure you'd all agree), I pointed out who it was when she asked. I was not involved in any way shape or form other than helping identify the potential perp.

LMAO

[sovietsong]

Hi Wazz

I dont know you or what happened but thought i would say hello.