Everything You Need to Know about the “Bill Perkins Cheating Scandal”

With the increasing popularity of unregistered real money poker applications, cheating issues in the forms of ghosting, chip dumping, multi accounting and so on have likewise arised within the poker community. High stakes players are not exempted to these scandals as more money is on the line making it highly tempting for participants alike. Usually operating on play money currency, technically any person who has access to an internet connection can play on these platforms without any background checks or profiles being conducted. The easy accessibility of these mobile applications, although the strongest selling point of the modern operators may equally pose great risks as players are less secured of their games.

What is it exactly about?

In recent events, Bill Perkins’ cheating scandal made poker headlines the past couple of days as the wealthy businessman claimed that he was cheated in a private online poker game wherein an unnamed ‘super pro of pros’ had played in place of a supposed friend in exchange for a piece of the profit.

With Perkins missing to drop any names, he did mention that the accused is included among the “Top 7 pro in the world for sure”. In a series of Twitter posts, Perkins also mentioned that he actually won in the games that confirmed cheating. The enraged poker player however says “…integrity matters irrespective of the results in my world maybe not in yours?”. While possible names in the small pool of top pros are being speculated, the avid high stakes poker player also ruled out Jason Koon, advising poker enthusiasts to stop speculating about him and that he was still in investigative mode. The partypoker pro apparently turned down the offer to ghost in the private online high stakes game with Perkins backing the pro saying, “I’ve always like Jason and now I love him.”

Why did it set up Twitter on fire?

Bill Perkins’ initial post blew the Twitter poker community away attracting multiple responses and a series of outbursts from the successful hedge fund manager. His statement saying “Cheating scandal in poker going on that would make the Mike Postle scandal look like a church service.” called on criticism from numerous poker fans.

Cheating scandal in poker going on that would make the Mike Postle scandal look like a church service. Really hard to wrap my head around. I’m very disappointed in many people. Some you would call poker heroes. 1 person/pro showed integrity others failed miserably #POKER

— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) May 24, 2020

He later on retracted his statement explaining he only drew the comparison due to the amount of money at stake in his game being greatly higher in value as compared to how much Postle pocketed from his scandal.

With Perkins well known in the poker industry, it was inevitable that his ghosting experience would set Twitter on fire especially when he mentions that one of the top 7 pros in the world is involved. For several hours, no mention of additional details were provided to the public, gaining no benefit to save other players from being victimized by the same person again.

Poker pro Tim Reilly joined in on the thread saying, “What is this crap teaser? Can’t understand why you would leave it at that. Anyone else that gets cheated from here out can thank you for this useless warning.” which was in summary most of the impressions held by the readers.

Why do we still not know the full details?

Considering the topic involves the top tier of the poker community, there is a great chance we may not really know the full details of the scandal. Perkins later on revealed that a settlement with one of the unnamed players included in the private game was reached.

Settlement w/ 1 participant gave my word I would not Publicly reveal UNLESS they lied during questions
Game: Private
App: download for friends
Cheating: pros playing for fish account (so far)
Participants #: unknown now
Investigation: Ongoing
Evidence: confession/physical https://t.co/HoUiPDs7BR

— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) May 24, 2020

Perkins also noted in reply to Adam Schwartz, “Made a bad deal, confessing player allegedly had more info upon asking more questions gave almost zero additional info to help expose extent of scandal but my word is so important to me, that I have to keep my end of the agreement. no proof he is lying or not transparent to out.”

“Top 7 pro in the world for sure and now completely obliterated my trust AFTER the confession. I’ll never play a game or tournament with him until this is rectified.”

What about Dan Bilzerian and Daniel Cates?

A tweet from internet personality Dan Bilzerian last Monday afternoon blew up a storm as he outright accused a person named Sina Taleb allowing Daniel Cates otherwise known as Jungleman to play on his account in place of himself. The tweet included a picture of Saleb and blurred out contact information which has since been deleted.

“This cocksucker Sina Taleb cheated me, and others outta money on Fun Ocean poker app by having junglemandan play on his account”

Cates however, was quick to reply saying Bilzerian’s accusation was ultimately misleading and that he can’t discuss the issue at the moment due to legal reasons. Considered one of the best heads-up players in the world, Cates made a name for himself excelling in online poker to begin his career while later on dominating live tournaments as well. To date, his recorded total live earnings are over $7 million.

I can’t discuss this right now for legal reasons but this is misleading, I haven’t played a hand of poker with @DanBilzerian ever lol. More to come when appropriate but there was rampant ghosted on the site that people have admitted to.

— Daniel Cates (@junglemandan) May 25, 2020

What is ghosting and why is it a form of cheating?

Ghosting in poker terminology refers to when a different player gives advice or play for someone else during a tournament or cash game in one way or another. It may also be seen as providing opinion during a hand, coaching or in its extreme form, sees a more experienced player take over in the final stages of a tournament to maximize the total win rate.

Poker in its own essence, is playing against the player himself more than the cards and hands provided. The one player to a hand policy is greatly weighed on to preserve the integrity and heart of the game whilst ghosting, technically overlaps with this ethic. Although considered greatly as a form of cheating, ghosting is difficult to police especially in online poker making it impossible to fully enforce. Leading networks on the other hand, have imposed policies against unethical plays to promote a fair and secure platform for its players.