Not long ago, Brian Townsend got his red pro status at Full Tilt removed after that the poker site found out that he had been using a non-allowed poker program to collect hand history against Isildur1. Townsend had also shared the information he had collected using this program with Brian Hastings and Cole South. However, neither of them got any kind of penalty from Full Tilt poker. This made Isil[...] Read more » Isildur1 wants his money back
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Latvia
Age: 38 (M)
Posts: 556
I agree with Isildur1 as a red player was caught cheating, took lot of money from him and just got the red status removed for a month. That doesn't sound like justice.
I was wondering "when" he was going to demand he get his money back, not "if." The Fulltilt rules have been broken by "Fulltilt pros" and should be dealt with accordingly. After all, if one of us average Joe players did this our accounts would be froze and all money taken from us. Now if Isildur1 was caught breaking the FT rules and took $4M from the FT pros you can damn well bet his account would be closed and money seized. I just laughed when I saw the punishments these guys "didn't get" oh I mean "got." Maybe Isildur1 should go to a poker room like Cake, where you can't use software like this. Oh wait, about a week ago I did see a player with the name "Isildur1" but he wasn't any good tho..lol
Joined: Jan '08
Location: Germany
Age: 41 (M)
Posts: 153
i think this scandal was the worst that could happen to the highstakes on full tilt. what i mean is: which new highstakesplayer will risk his money when he knows that the players will cheat on him if he is too good? if i would play there i would make some multiaccounts just to get sure nobody can see all my handhistories. the "punishment" makes it look like it's okay to cheat and for a pokersite it should be the most important thing to be reliable, otherwise players will move to other sites
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 42 (M)
Posts: 401
@ fcumred Getting hand histories from games you didn't played is illegal. Sharing tips about the opponents isn't.
Townsend did both and got a stupid 1 month ban punishment. Ridiculous, many players get banned permanently for using illegal software and get their funds frozen, so why not to apply the same penalty to a pro. Good example comes from above.
Posted by racpxt: @ fcumred Getting hand histories from games you didn't played is illegal. Sharing tips about the opponents isn't.
Townsend did both and got a stupid 1 month ban punishment. Ridiculous, many players get banned permanently for using illegal software and get their funds frozen, so why not to apply the same penalty to a pro. Good example comes from above.
If it stays like this: Crime pays you back.
I dont know if you are aware, but using hand histories on players is NOT against the rules. Far from it.
There are countless serious players who use hand history databases to keep their eyes on players. You would be very hard pushed to find a serious poker player who doesnt do it.
Certainly every pro will have some form of software to help them in their game, and that is 100% legitimate.
Townsend had a database of 20,000 hands on Isildur, the indiscretion he made, was to obtain a further 30,000 from someone else.
These he analysed, then discussed with Hastings. Sharing what he felt were pertinent facts about Isildurs game.
What he did is was a breach of the rules, but its a rule that has never fully been implemented, and those that say Full Tilt close accounts and take money, for those that have been caught doing it, are completely wrong.
Pokerlistings offers you the very same information that Townsend had access to. So its public information. How many people on Pokerlistings use that information ? Most probably thousands, every single day of the week.
How many of us go to OPR or SHARKSCOPE to track a players ROI.. Most probably 90% of us... That is illegal. Do we get our accounts locked for doing it.. Do we heck....
The rule he broke is a rule that is broken by a good 50% of poker players every single day, the only difference is he openly admitted doing it, and thats why he got a 30 day ban. Not because it was a serious case of cheating ( which it wasnt ) but because Full Tilt have to make an example of him to show they do uphold their rules if they need to...
Joined: Jun '09
Location: France
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 670
This story proves one thing we can be a good poker player, but not very smart also ...
Isidur because he says he quickly sensed that something was wrong. Why continue this case and to reduce over 4 million dollars (tilt, ego ...?)?
Hastings because I'd like to know what is the point - how small it is - to boast having shared HH in this story, knowing that this is not tolerated ...
PS: I think we overestimate the advantage Hastings has been having access to HH enemy. The Holdem is a game of perpetual adaptation. I doubt qu'Isidur always plays the same way, regardless of its opponents
