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Last Thursday night, admitted poker cheat Ali Imsirovic was spotted playing Day 1a of the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) $1,200 Main Event at bestbet Jacksonville. Imsirovic was the chip leader heading into the dinner break, but upon returning with roughly 30 players remaining, his chips were no longer in play. Imsirovic had been removed from the tournament.
While no official reason was given publicly, it likely stemmed from Imsirovic’s past actions (he admitted to multi-accounting MTTs and ghosting, but denied other allegations against him). It wouldn’t be the first time, as a little more than two months earlier, Imsirovic was removed mid-tournament from a Day 1 flight in the $1,500 Champions Club Winter Poker Open Main Event in Houston, Texas.
“Champions is committed, first and foremost, to the protection of our members,” said President of Champions Club Isaac Trumbo, who gets credit for the title of this Op-Ed. “If poker is going to continue to thrive, the community must be able to trust operators to prioritize game integrity above all else, including our bottom line.”
Trumbo also revealed that the $1,500 entry fee was refunded, while live reporter Kirk Brown reported that Imsirovic exited the property and said he didn't make a scene or argue the ban.
Sources tell me the same series of events occurred at bestbet Jacksonville – that a refund was issued and Imsirovic left without opposition.
While I initially offered “kudos” to the decision in a post to X (see below), I must admit I didn’t expect the reaction to be so polarized. The whole situation opened up a can of worms, actually, it opened up several cans of worms that the poker community needs to address.
https://twitter.com/ChadAHolloway/status/1918096681704235422
The controversy was multi-faceted but seemed to boil down to two primary matters. The first was how bestbet Jacksonville handled the situation, specifically DQing him mid-tournament as opposed to preventing him from the tournament in the first place. A decision compounded by the fact that Imsirovic had previously played at bestbet Jacksonville, cashing an event at the WPT bestbet Scramble in November of last year, and more recently back in January in a bestbet Jacksonville Winter Open tournament.
The second was Imsirovic’s treatment as a cheater within the poker world. Should online cheating prevent him from playing live at an unrelated venue? Why is Imsirovic being singled out when there are other bad actors in poker? Has Imsirovic made up for his misdeeds and served a proper punishment? If not, how long should a figurative sentence be? What even is a proper punishment for what he did?
I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I do have some thoughts.
Admitted Poker Cheat Ali Imsirovic DQ'ed from Texas Tournament Upon Registering
Generally speaking, players need to realize there is no overarching poker blacklist of bad actors to which all tours and venues adhere. They may have their own for the property, or in some instances, by state (i.e. the Nevada Black Book), but there is no standardized database that tours and venues can refer to. There absolutely should be, in my opinion, but there is not, despite several attempts over the years.
The most recent was the establishment of the Poker Integrity Council (PIC) in the summer of 2022. Spearheaded by GGPoker, the council initially included Jason Koon and Fedor Holz (at the time both with GGPoker), Andrew "LuckyChewy" Lichtenberger (LearnWPT), Seth Davies (Run it Once), and Nick Petrangelo (Upswing Poker). They were selected to help fix one of poker's biggest problems — cheating.
Here is a video of Koon talking about his role as “Integrity Ambassador”:
Supported by players, tours, online sites, and more, the mission of PIC was admirable.
Council members will be called upon to investigate integrity issues on a case-by-case basis. Once an online poker account is flagged for reasons such as potential real-time assistance (RTA) use, ghosting, or other illegal activities, the PIC will review hand histories and then make a ruling on whether disciplinary action is necessary.
Punishment for being caught cheating at GGPoker, following a ruling from the PIC could include a simple warning, an account suspension, or a permanent ban from the poker site with the confiscation of funds. That will all depend on how blatant the violation is, among other factors.
Even worse for those permanently banned for serious offenses, the PIC is working with major live tournament operators to install an industry-wide ban. That includes the World Series of Poker (WSOP), World Poker Tour (WPT), Triton Poker, Poker After Dark, Kings Casino, Asian Poker Tour (APT), and many more.
The purpose of the Poker Integrity Council isn't just to kick cheaters off the GGPoker platform. It is also to eliminate cheating altogether in poker, online, and in live games.
Where does PIC stand today? I really couldn’t say. Koon is no longer on board after departing GGPoker, the others haven't said much about it, and it doesn’t seem like PIC made much of an impact, if any, over the past nearly three years.
I hope that PIC will continue its mission, especially now that GGPoker is the owner of the biggest brand in poker, the World Series of Poker (WSOP). They once again have the opportunity to lead by example on the matter of integrity, but even if they don’t, I hope someone else will take up the cause.
There are plenty of good actors in the poker space; in fact, I’m confident they greatly outnumber the bad actors, but can they ever become unified and effect real positive change? To actually break down a wall, fix the studs, and repair it better than ever, as opposed to slapping a fresh coat of paint for a temporary shine? The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) tried to become a larger advocate for players, but that didn't last. The Poker Integrity Council, if it even exists anymore, had good intentions, but has seemingly been ineffective.
It seems the only judicial entity in the poker world that has any industry-wide impact is the Tournament Directors’ Association (TDA). Every other year, tournament directors from around the world meet in Las Vegas to evaluate rules, discuss changes, and implement better practices through consistency.
PokerGO set a precedent in 2022 by asking Imsirovic and Jake Schindler to not participate in their events, but they stood alone for three years. Champions stepped up to the plate earlier this year, and now, bestbet Jacksonville has followed suit. The message being sent, as Trumbo so eloquently put it, “the community must be able to trust operators to prioritize game integrity above all else.”
I fully support that mission, though how to prioritize seems to be a bit murky in terms of the who, when, where, and why of it all.
Perhaps the biggest talking point involved timing was why did tournament officials wait until the dinner break, when Imsirovic had amassed a pile of chips, to initiate his removal? Why didn’t they prevent him from playing in the first place?
"In my experience, the vast majority of the poker world is reactive as opposed to proactive, even when the latter is preferred."
Given he’d cashed a pair of tournaments at the venue over the past six months, the assumption is that he wasn’t previously banned. So, why now? Was it because of potential bad press? Did they feel more comfortable following the example of Champions than, say, setting one of their own previously? And why wait until midway through Day 1? Why not prevent him from registering in the first place?
In my experience, the vast majority of the poker world is reactive as opposed to proactive, even when the latter is preferred (a unified and universal poker blacklist would be of great use to those looking to be proactive). By that, I mean they don’t deal with potential issues beforehand, but rather wait to deal with them when they arise.
For better or worse, there was probably nothing preventing Imsirovic from registering for the tournament, and no prior ban existed. It’s more likely that, like at Champions Club in Texas, a decision was made in real time that they didn’t want someone of Imsirovic’s ilk participating in their event. After all, by allowing an admitted cheater to play, that isn’t exactly in line with “the community must be able to trust operators to prioritize game integrity above all else.”
Should they have acted sooner by preemptively banning him? Absolutely. However, they missed their opportunity to be proactive, so if they wanted to take action, they’d have to act, be it sooner or later. Should they have let Imsirovic continue to play the tournament and deal with a ban afterward? Maybe. Many players certainly seem to think so, while others are unsympathetic when it comes to an admitted cheat.
https://twitter.com/ThePokerBaffer/status/1918165634711515644
My mama always said, “It’s never too late to do the right thing,” and for me, taking action to prevent known cheaters from playing poker, even when they’re already in a game, is the right thing to do. Hence why I gave kudos. However, I do understand and can appreciate the other side.
In this instance, bestbet Jacksonville could’ve handled things better, even if the blueprint they followed was one written by Champions (interestingly, they didn’t seem to catch any blowback for making the same decision). That said, moving forward, other venues and tours should use this as a learning experience.
If you don’t want known cheaters in your events, speak up now. Tell them, whether publicly or privately, they’re not welcome, and put safeguards in place to prevent them from registering in the first place.
That is a tricky question, one that has been talked about previously by Matt Savage and others, but there currently isn’t an answer. I certainly don’t have the answer, but I firmly believe we as a community need to unite to find one.
What should the punishment be for those who’ve cheated, scammed, or otherwise inflicted an injustice on the poker community? Can such punishments even be enforced? And if so, what’s the appropriate sentence?
Can a bad actor be redeemed? Justin Bonomo has seemingly reformed since being banned 20 years ago for multi-accounting.
What infractions are too egregious to ever be forgiven? Russ Hamilton’s UltimateBet superuser scandal comes to mind (they still don’t display his banner at the WSOP).
What even constitutes cheating? VPNing is technically against the rules, but plenty of people do it, and it’s generally not viewed as unprincipled.
Are there different levels? Soft-playing and ghosting don’t seem as severe as, say, marking cards or utilizing electronics, but are they?
Are there even legitimate punishments? Russ Hamilton never did any jail time, nor did Howard Lederer or others associated with Full Tilt Poker. It seems bad actors rarely face consequences more than becoming a pariah within the niche industry – Annie Duke is largely despised in poker circles but is now more well-known as a successful author and decision strategist.
“If poker is going to continue to thrive, the community must be able to trust operators to prioritize game integrity above all else.”
There must be deterrents if bad actors are to be discouraged, but right now, there doesn’t appear to be many. It's subjective, of course, and depends on the jurisdiction, what and how things happen, etc. But when someone can potentially cheat for hundreds of thousands of dollars, knowing that – if they even get caught – there's a good chance there would be no jail time, fines, civil liabilities, or even bans from poker games, well, there are plenty of bad actors out there willing to take that risk.
There just isn't any consistency. Again, I don’t have the answers, but I think they are on to something. What I do know is that I agree with this statement:
“If poker is going to continue to thrive, the community must be able to trust operators to prioritize game integrity above all else.”
But for that to become a reality – some way, somehow – operators, both live and online, need to find a better way to communicate and come together. Perhaps it’s time to breathe new life into the Poker Integrity Council, or maybe a new coalition needs to step up to the plate.
Whatever the case, we need to get our shit together before it’s too late.
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