Justin Bonomo has joined the chorus of players unhappy with the amount of alleged cheating in the high stakes community. Alex Foxen recently exposed Ali Imsirovic as an alleged prolific cheater who was banned from GGPoker for multi-accounting and using real-time support.
Suspicion that he recently peeked at Paul Phua’s cards at a high-stakes event has some prominent figures in the poker community saying enough is enough.
Justin Bonomo gives his opinion
Just a few weeks ago, high-stakes poker heavy hitters Jason Koon and Fedor Holz speculated about a poker blacklist for online cheaters where they would be banned from prestigious live events.
Now, that idea is gaining momentum given the continued outcry over Ali Imsirovic’s behavior.
The poker blacklist can’t come soon enough.
Ali is banned from GG for multi-accounts and RTA. I have witnessed many unloadings of chips on horses and many suspicious in-game changes from people known to be his horses when immersed in online MTTs.— Alex Foxen (@WAFoxen) April 18, 2022
Justin Bonomo began his response by asking the poker community to refrain from insulting Alex Foxen for taking the lead on this matter, given his sometimes controversial opinions and previous accusations of his own transgressions.
Here’s a conversation with ACR support followed by an email from stars. It seems pretty clear that we were unfairly targeted despite no evidence on either account. We can both continue to play EPTs and were able to cash out, which is not allowed for anyone banned for collusion. pic.twitter.com/EZY5ZbSWfZ
— Alex Foxen (@WAFoxen) April 19, 2022
“Foxen’s worldview is very different from mine, and I strongly disagree with some things he has done and said. But I have respect for people who knowingly risk exposing themselves to storms. shit, seeking no personal gain, for the good of the community”,
Bonomo says we should choose another time to call Foxen but let him do his thing today to avoid hampering the message. More than fair.
In September 2020, GGPoker banned 40 accounts, 13 of which had their balances confiscated to the tune of $1,175,305.43. Justin Bonomo says he spoke to a reliable source who gave him information about the scandal.
1) Violations range from viewing preflop charts, to occasional RTA, to constant + auto RTA, to total collusion with horses (or MA) who were also using RTA software
2) I was told that A was the second biggest offender, while someone whose first name starts with the letters “Ja” was by far the biggest
He added that he himself had been a victim of this unethical behavior.
3) I lost over a million in games where I believe this was happening. Feels bad man.
4) I am told that the evidence goes well beyond hand tidbits and is completely irrefutable. I haven’t seen it personally, but I trust the source
Bonomo was quick to point out that the “Ja” clue was definitely not Jason Koon, one of the most respected members of the high stakes community. This leaves no suspects other than Jake Schindler.
After such a fallout over the past six months, there will be a lot of pressure from respected high-stakes players on the companies that run major live poker festivals to engage in blacklist discussions.
