A video montage of alleged cheating at the 2009 Partouche Poker Tour Grand Final was uploaded to You Tube on January 28. The man behind the video, Nordine Bouya, claimed that the winner (Paul Pierre Pasqualini) and the second place finisher (Cedric Rossi) used a simple code to signal to each other what cards they had. The video has been viewed over 115,000 times so far and has generated a wild debate.
Global Poker Index (GPI), a ranking site of the top 300 live tournament players in the world, has debated the matter internally for the last 10 days and now decided to suspend Paul Pierre Pasqualin and Cedric Rossi.
"By taking this action, we are not claiming that we know they cheated - this is up to the casinos and the overseeing regulatory bodies to decide. What we are convinced of is that there wasn't fairness at the table. Unfair behaviour will not be promoted via the Global Poker Index. It goes against everything I'm trying to do to promote poker, players and events," wrote Alexndre Dreyfus on GPI's website.