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When the Stoxtrader scandal broke I found myself reading the Internet forums searching for a massive morsel of scandalous information that would put into question the very integrity of online poker. After searching for some time I did note that various large companies were under the microscope in a negative way but I came to realise that the large online poker sites were not in the firing line this time. In fact, given the furore and anger in the forums it was a bit of an anti-climax when the actual “scandal” was made clear to me.

It is particularly reassuring for me to know that there is not another super-user problem as was discovered in the far worse UB and Absolute Poker problems of 2007 and poker sites like bwin.com remain trustworthy and dedicated to providing a good online poker experience for us all to enjoy. I note with pleasure that the poker software upgrades in the opening part of 2010 by many poker rooms have been excellent. Unfortunately it is the players themselves in this case (if they are guilty as nothing has yet been definitively proven) that have used the software in a certain way rather than the software being coded to maliciously cheat players.

This scandal should remind everyone that there are far more instances of players being naughty than online poker rooms. The real dangers of cheating lie in opponents more than they lie in the poker rooms in my opinion. Everyday poker rooms issue refunds to players affected by those who have acted in breach of the rules of fair gaming. I even had money refunded to me from a SNG I played in as there was something going on in that game, probably two players sharing details of their hole cards with each other via Skype or mobile phone.

One thing that did alarm me was given the session times of two of the accused players was it not obvious to the poker room security people that these players had a very co-incidental habit of appearing on the same tables together? But when you consider that some players follow other players whom they have stats on and hand histories you realise that there must be many instances where a certain fish is followed through the tables they play on by opponents believing they will get their money. Buddy lists, table selection over many thousands of poker players must make instances of players playing on the same table over and over commonplace. For that reason I do think that this could vilify the poker sites for appearing to be slow on the uptake that this was colluding was potentially going on.

Stoxtrader has since resigned from his coaching site Stoxpoker.com as he does not want to drag its name through the mud. Unfortunately the damage may have already been done. He has said he had two accounts one for playing and one for his training. Why did he not use another site? His explanation is plausible but there are still questions to be answered.

Despite his own problems, the actions he has taken are that of one individual and unfortunately there are many cheaters in the online poker world, protected by the relative anonymity of it. For this reason alone, I believe the furore of this is a little bit of an overreaction. This is especially in light of the fact that Stoxtrader has not yet been found to have done anything wrong.

Ironically damage has also been done to the reputation of his publishers two plus two, who have banned users and deleted threads when discussions of this scandal have appeared. They portrayed themselves in the past as the honest voice of poker during previous scandals but now refuse to allow discussion on a scandal close to home. This blind protecting of their authors despite increasingly compelling evidence that he was, at the very least, not acting completely honestly in the way he was playing online poker, has enraged their users.

To honest poker players integrity is everything. This compounds the feeling of dissatisfaction when a player or company acts below that high standard. Only by everyone discussing their issues openly and hopefully reaching the truth can this matter be resolved. Hampering this discussion has only added petrol to the flames on what is an issue that poker room security can probably solve through their own records. Two plus two need to let the public have their say and air their grievances.

By Malcolm Clarke

Tags: online poker, Poker, poker scandal, poker security, stoxtrader

Unfortunately yet another scandal has appeared that puts a negative spotlight onto the world of online poker. Fortunately, it is not related to a security breach perpetrated by unsecured poker software but this time, a player has been identified as being part of an alleged multi-accounting scandal which has angered the high stakes Limit Holdem community. This is more of a player pet hate than a full on poker scandal, but it has taken a twist when the two plus two poker community has started to restrict discussion on the matter which has angered forum members.

It must be pointed out to readers that as yet, nothing has been admitted and players should be treated innocent until proven guilty.

Nick “Stoxtrader” Grudzien is a co-owner of stoxpoker.com, which is a fairly large coaching site. He also co-wrote the book, “Winning in Tough Hold ‘Em Games”, which was published by 2+2’s publishing that also has on its books high profile poker authors such as Collin Moshman, David Sklansky and Dan Harrington (none of whom are connected with any of these allegations).

An allegation was made by an anonymous two plus two forum poster that Nick Grudzien was behind four accounts that had enjoyed big winnings and then abruptly quit the site amid these big wins. Behaviour like this always rouses suspicion because it is rare for a gambling player at the high stakes games to walk away with a big profit. Normal behaviour sees them continuing to stay involved like Durrrr or Phil Ivey. The thread was quickly deleted and his account banned. Two plus two often has to deal with things like this so the banning was not unusual.

Stoxtrader further fuelled the flames by making a bizarre response to the allegations where he did not deny the relationship to the four accounts he was accused of owning, thus multi-accounting, and the speculation between forum posters went into overdrive. Despite clamour for full investigation and discussion, two plus two continued to stifle this and unwittingly heighten anger and uncertainty and banned any user mentioning such discussions in the forums. They have therefore faced a large amount of criticism for blindly trying to save one of their own authors from the firing line rather than accepting there may be a case to answer, not least because of Nick’s ambiguous and puzzling statement he made on the matter.

One can back up two plus two to a point as this scandal, albeit potentially damaging, is just hearsay and allegations in its current form. But rather than two plus two allowing it to run its course by stifling the discussion it looks more guilty.

Users of online poker sites need to be reassured as this allegation is more about the character of the poker coaching sites and certain high stakes players rather than a discussion about the code security of the online poker sites themselves. Sites like bwin.com, my favourite poker site for cash games, remain out of the firing line and I believe them to be reputable and highly recommend anyone to try them out.

Hopefully this latest poker scandal has just got out of hand and will pass like the weather. It may hold some credence for certain players and cost a few reputations. Thankfully online poker is not the villain this time, so we can continue to play our hands and study to make our own profits. It is up to those accused of these “poker crimes” to deal with the ensuing chaos surrounding alleged events. For now, at least, the rest of us can simply continue to play poker.

Part 2 of this article will look in detail at whether this is all a large over reaction and exactly what the ramifications of any wrongdoing are.

By Malcolm Clarke

Tags: online poker, Poker, poker scandal, poker security, stoxtrader