Unfortunately, we’ve seen a number of online poker cheating incidents lately, and some of the biggest names in the game are involved. So without further delay, here is a look at the major online poker scandals, and a description of what went down in each instance.
Jose Macedo (superuser scandal) – Jose “Girah” Macedo, who was once labeled the Portuguese Prodigy, was caught in an elaborate cheating scam where he referred unsuspecting friends to a supposed fish named “sauron1989.” Little did anybody know that Macedo was actually playing as sauron1989. He then asked his friends if he could view the match via Skype’s shared screen feature (to share poker tips), which they obliged to since it was unknown that he was also sauron1989. This gave Macedo access to his opponents hole cards, and essentially made him a superuser.
Haseeb “Dogishead” Qureshi (chip dumping) – Qureshi, who is Macedo’s poker friend, engaged in chip dumping, which involves intentionally playing hands bad so another player at the table can scoop up the chips. In this instance, Qureshi found chip dumping as the easiest way to deliver Macedo $100k since he backed the Portuguese Prodigy. However, this also enabled Macedo to win a Lock Poker challenge, and the victory was later rescinded after Lock discovered what happened. Qureshi has since quit online poker in light of the most recent Macedo scandal (they had close ties, Qureshi’s name is officially ruined).
Dan “Jungleman12” Cates (multi-accounting) – Cates was also linked to both Qureshi and Macedo, and he recently admitted to playing on three of Macedo’s online poker accounts. In an interview, Cates lied about not being involved in multi-accounting, but later admitted to playing through Macedo’s accounts in several $25/$50 PLO sessions.
David “Chino” Rheems (not paying money back) – Rheems has no connection to the aforementioned players, but he’s still earned a bad rap by borrowing money from players, and not paying it back afterward. At one point, Rheems was said to owe Will Molson, Tom Dwan, Joseph Cheong and Ben Lamb over $200k collectively. After winning the first Epic Poker League event, Rheems reportedly started paying people back with his $1 million in winnings.