It seems that barely a month, let alone a year goes by without some kind of scandal rocking the poker world and 2023 was no exception. Here are the Top 5 Poker Scandals of 2023. Read and beware!
#5: San Diego Fraud Ring Targets Pros
The year was only days old when the first scandal emerged and it was a real doozy – an online banking scam that hit dozens of poker pros in the US.
Poker Fraud Alert founder Todd Witteles took to Twitter to reveal the scam, claiming that between 50 and 100 poker pros had been hit, Chance Kornuth, Joseph Cheong, Kathy Liebert and Kyna England among them.
Global Payments were described as “the weak link” and here’s how the scam operated:
- Scammer opens an account at a sportsbook and deposits from victim’s bank account using previously-stored information via Global Payments
- Scammer opens a fake Venmo account in victim’s name,
- Scammer takes out a matching Venmo debit Mastercard.
- Sportsbook deposit is withdrawn to fake Venmo account
- Fake Venmo account used to transfer to scammer’s legitimate Venmo
- The money, as much as $10k per scam, is gone forever.
#4: Rudy Gavaldon Wins Bracelet while out in bail for Attempted Murder
It’s not clear if this next horror story is a scandal or just, well, a horror story, but it saw Rudy Gavaldon winning a WSOP online bracelet while out on bail for the attempted murder of his wife.
In July 2022, Gavaldon brutally beat his wife to within an inch of her life, Lara Gavaldon narrowly surviving but losing an eye and having to undergo multiple operations.
View this post on Instagram
Rudy Gavaldon was given bail and, while awaiting trial for attempted murder, played – and won – WSOP.com Michigan online bracelet Event #3: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo 6-Max under the screen-name “Flyheim86”.
However, he was then recalled to prison after failing a drugs test in August of this year and was refused further bail, his trial for trying to kill his wife set to begin in January 2024..
#3: Rafael Caiaffa Caught Cheating at LAPT
It was the turn of another WSOP Online bracelet winner to hit the headlines when Brazilian poker pro Rafael Caiaffa was caught cheating by adding extra chips to his stack.
Caiaffa was playing the Latin America Poker Tour (LAPT) stop in São Paulo and was given a stack at the registration desk and then another one at his table, hiding one until he lost most of the chips and was moved to a different table.
Thankfully, an eagle-eyed fellow player saw him produce the second rack of chips and reported the cheat, Caiaffa disqualified and suspended from the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP).
Caught red-handed, Caiaffa admitted his offence, explaining: “Obviously, I was the one who made the mistake. I’m not taking away my responsibility. A player at my table noticed and spoke up, and he’s more than right. The floor came and saw everything that happened. I also told the truth and he eliminated me.”
#2: Hustler Casino Live regs lose $3Million to California Private Game Cheats
The Hustler Casino Live crew have been headline news for numerous reasons, but recently it was revealed that they had been cheated out of more than $3million, by bad guys using marked cards!
Nik “Airball” Arcot, who shot to fame on the back of a feud with Matt Berkey earlier this year, accused fellow highroller Tony Ye Shen Mars of taking him for a cool $million…
Nik Airball’s fellow HCL reg, Wesley “Wes Side” Fei explained: “After a game we found a cheating deck. The deck is a very good cheating deck that you can’t find. But we went to a very dark room and we used a blue light and then you can see the numbers on the back of the deck.”
With the players going public, and apparently screwing up an even bigger $15million owed to the gang by poker-playing celebrities, things took a sinister twist, with Fei claiming that he had received death threats.
#1: Martin Kabrhel Accused of Marked Cards Poker Cheating
Having scooped #1 spot in our list of Top 5 Most Toxic Poker Players 2023, it seems fitting that Martin Kabrhel should top both lists, this time on the receiving end of cheating accusations.
Highstakes pro Andrew Robl was the first to raise concerns about Kabrhel’s table mannerisms, claiming:
“How is Martin Kabrhel not banned from the WSOP? He makes any tournament no fun for anyone and on top of it I’ve seen him mark cards in every tournament I’ve ever played with him.”
Reading his card markings or is he just using his X-Ray vision superpower? pic.twitter.com/OZleiV85mi
— Andrew Robl (@Andrew_Robl) June 18, 2023
;
Others jumped on the bandwagon, with Dan Smith having some very harsh words for the Czech pro after busting out, and later asking a card magician to investigate Kabrhel’s behaviour.
Kabrhel’s response was to launch legal action against Robl and Smith, as well as Chance Kornuth, Justin Bonomo, and PokerGO.
- Get the best rakeback deals
- See the best poker promotions
- View the latest poker news
- Get the best No Deposit Poker Bonuses
- Benefit from the biggest poker bonus
- Watch more poker videos
- Calculate your rakeback with the rakeback calculator
- Watch the best Twitch Poker streamers
Terms and conditions apply. New customer offer and 18+ only. Please gamble responsibly! Should you require help regarding your betting pattern, visit www.begambleaware.org
