In recent weeks, the web has been filled with rumours about a new poker scandal. Bill Perkins, the high stakes poker player from Texas, left mysterious hints about a cheating incident. However, he chose not to tell the public much. According to his tweets, it supposedly happened on a poker download app or online platform.
But little by little, he began exposing more details, letting the public know who was at fault. According to Perkins, he participated in a private game against recreational players, who later turned out to be seasoned pros. And one can assume that this deception affected his gameplay, and probably cost him some money.
While he didn’t name the players who were caught ghosting, Dan Bilzerian did the job for him. He outed Daniel Cates, also known as Jungleman, as one of the cheaters. However, he deleted the tweet later in the day.
Ghosting in poker is a scenario where a professional poker player advises or assists another player in winning a hand. In this scenario, the fact that the pros used the names of supposedly unseasoned players, can be perceived as deception.
After being accused, Cates had to release a statement to defend himself. He stated he’s not the only pro using a pseudonym, therefore, it’s not fair he was singled out. After all, other pros participated in the same game he was busted for.
To support his claim, he stated that the level of play at those apps is uncharacteristically high, indicating that amateur players are not the only ones playing. And because it seems that pros regularly play under different names, he felt his actions were justified.
The Public’s Opinion
And what about the reaction from other players? Well, at first, not everyone was supportive of Perkins’ decision to bring the matter to light. Some accused him of blowing things out of proportions and trying to attract attention for selfish reasons. However, according to a recent poll by HighstakesDB, the majority of the online poker community (36%) sides with Perkins. Also, 11% think that Cates is in the clear, while 31% stated they don’t care, and 22% said they’re against private games in general.
Some even went as far as to post an official statement on tweeter, supporting Perkins. Daniel Shak, a successful poker player, stated that Jungleman’s excuses aren’t acceptable. He said: “…to just say it’s ok everyone doing it is a travesty for online poker and especially app playing”.
In Conclusion
It seems as if there is always some drama happening in the poker world. While we were still recuperating from the Postle case, this new cheating scandal shocked the community. Do you think the matter is taken too seriously? Or do you believe that ghosting should be publicly condemned?