|
| Pokerazzi |
| There is no escaping the smile of Amanda Leatherman, or her notepad and camera. Like an annoying member of the paparazzi, Leatherman is there to get the dirt on what is going on in the poker world, and on the PokerRoad, just for you. |
| Bad Boys Part III: The BluffMagCV and Imper1um Scandal! |
| People enough with the online cheating! Seriously! It seems like every time I go on the forums there's a new scandal. And now we have one that involves your average Joe…or should I say Chris? The whole hubbub started a few weeks ago when a relative unknown took down two major online tournaments in back-to-back weekends. That's right, the guy finished first in Full Tilt's big Sunday tournament then followed that up by winning the Poker Stars version next week. Pretty exciting news for us low limit players. I mean if some Joe Average can win not one, but two, Big Sunday tourneys, the rest of us gotta have a shot too, right? Turns out the "everyman" in question was one Chris "BluffMagCV" Vaughn, who up until his big scores earned his living as the respected managing editor of Bluff Magazine. |
So what's the controversy you ask? Well, Vaughn, who made over $500K in the two week span, revealed in interviews that he had the same backer for both tournaments. That backer, supposedly, was none other than Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi, the twenty-one year old online poker wunderkind. Unless your mailing address begins with "under a rock," you probably know that Mizzi is good…he won almost $200k on Full Tilt Poker and $1.2m on Poker Stars last year alone (stats courtesy of www.pokerdb.com).
Nothing seemed too unusual about the Joe-Average-Backed-By-Online-Daddy-Warbucks-scenario at first, then…wait for it…the forums started buzzing about a possible cheating scandal during the Full Tilt Sunday tournament involving "BluffMagCV" and "Imper1um." The allegations remained unconfirmed until the tourney's second place finisher, Soren "Kongsgaard" Kongsgaard, received an email from Full Tilt, and posted the contents of said message on www.twoplustwo.com: |
Upon conclusion of a lengthy investigation into the $500 + $35, "$1Million Guarantee" tournament held on October 21st, we have determined that you were among the victims of one player using more than one Full Tilt account in the tournament. Late into the tournament, a player who had already been eliminated took over the account of a player who was still in, which is against our tournament rules.
Say what!?!?!!? According to numerous reports (although the Pokerazzi hasn't found an official statement as of yet), Full Tilt confirmed that once Chris made it deep in the event, Sorel, after already busting on a different account, took over and played the "BluffMagCV" account onto victory. Obviously the alleged maneuver broke site rules, which prompted Full Tilt to disqualify Chris and award the first place money to Soren. On top of all that madness, there are also rumors that Full Tilt banned Mizzi…scuttlebutt that has only been strengthened by the fact that he hasn't been seen on the site in over a month. A little odd considering he's an online pro. The moral of the story: Watch out and play fair, cause nothing ever
gets by the 2+2ers! |
 |
|
|
Sorel Mizzi |
|
|
| Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan vs. The U.S. Government |
| Deport Shawn Sheikhan??? Sounds crazy, but it almost happened. A couple months ago, authorities arrested "Sheiky" at his Las Vegas home when the U.S. government believed they had cause for "preparation to deport" the Iranian-born poker pro. Why would anyone want to kick "Sheiky" out of the country? While some people might think Sheikhan's "colorful" table banter justifies enough abuse to give him "the boot," the actual reason stemmed from a 1995 conviction for sexual battery and molestation of a child. Despite already successfully serving nine months of jail time and five years of probation, the U.S. Government came back at "Sheiky" because of a Homeland Security push to deport all foreign nationals convicted of a sex crime. |
 |
|
Sheikhan |
|
|
Well, folks, don't mail those farewell cards yet. After his arrest in late August, Sheikhan was held at the Northern Las Vegas Detention Center for over a week, but was released on a $10,000 bond…and he most likely won't be heading back to the slammer any time soon. Lucky for "Sheiky," the county of his 1995 arrest, Contra Costa County, maintains a policy in which they retain records for misdemeanor convictions for a period of no longer than ten years. In other words, the authorities ultimately lacked enough evidence to send "Sheiky" back to Iran as a sex offender. So, for now, Sheikhan, who along with being a poker pro owns several successful tattoo parlors, will remain in Las Vegas with his wife and nine-year old daughter.
The Pokerazzi would like to point out that we in fact know very little about the arrest, only that the incident occurred over 10 years ago. While Sheikhan was around twenty-five at the time, the age of the victim remains a mystery. That being said, representatives for Sheikhan contend that the recently resurfaced allegations have been "blown out of proportion." |
|
| |
|
