David Baker had to say some harsh words about Brian Hastings
David Bakes Baker has lashed out at serial poker cheat Brian Hastings. He was enraged that the man he outed in the infamous ‘Noel Hayes’ scandal was tweeting about social justice while still owing him money…
https://twitter.com/DMBakes/status/1267100565055520769?s=20
Baker, not to be confused with fellow US pro of the same name David ‘ODB’ Baker, was one of those hoodwinked by Hastings back in 2015.
Playing in the SCOOP series, an account under the name Noel Hayes wasn’t the Irish businessman most had assumed. It was rather Hastings ‘in disguise’, apparently he ‘bought’ the account.
He played on the PokerStars account of a decently well known UK gambler (@BigCityBanker) for the better part of 2015
— Bakes (@DMBakes) May 31, 2020
If that all sounds a little familiar, the recent Perkins/Jungleman ghosting scandal isn’t too dissimilar – a strong pro deviously playing on a weaker player’s account.
Just as Perkins was irate at being cheated by Jungleman, so too is Baker – although it’s not the money that has him angry.
“…I’m not expecting restitution, we played a few cash hands and were at a scoop FT,” Baker says of his play against Hastings, aka ‘NoelHayes’ on PokerStars at the time.
Brian Hastings ghosting scandal
“It’s not some large amount but he admitted guilt, paid out other people, and then threw it in my face that I wouldn’t get a cent. Laughable to see him rebrand as a justice advocate”
A 157-page thread on the 2plus2 forum is testimony to how big a story this was half a decade ago. Baker and Hastings both posted, as well as many other well-known pros, including Berri_Sweet.
It was anonymous online crusher ‘Sweet’ who detailed how the ghosting/multi-accounting problem can affect even the best players.
“I play as BERRI SWEET on stars. The biggest winner in the world against me this year is NoelHayes. I was always playing him under the assumption that he was someone other than Brian Hastings.
“Here are two hands, that sprung to mind, that I would have played very differently, had I known it was Brian I was playing.”
Hastings was part of the infamous crush of Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom. The team took $4.2million from the Swede in a single session.
It transpired, however, that Hastings, Brian Townsend, and Cole South had access to a 50k hand history of Blom’s play – which broke the site’s T&Cs – Townsend getting a 30-day suspension from Full Tilt for sharing them.
Hastings, however, refused to reply to Baker’s angry tweets yesterday. He ignored them and several more from other pros.
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