The long and the short of this scam is: it’s easy to open up a facebook fan page, user profile or any other format to claim that you are a famous person. It’s even easier to convince people that you are who you say you are. The amount of pictures and information you can get off one google search alone is enough to convince most non-internet savvy people. They then carry on a conversation with “friends” or “fans” and start asking for money transfers between poker sites; a small loan or for you to stake them (partially or fully) in a tournament.

While most casual and even semi-serious players aren’t involved very much in the action of staking a player, this is a scam that could have a lot of people falling for it. People who have never staked someone before andaren ‘t aware that it’s done very formally (usually), or people who are just thinking of making a quick buck may actually end up getting burned.

How Serious is This?

Honestly, i’m not one to give people money just because they asked. Even if they promise me a whole lot of money, or if it’s a “really good investment.” But, one person is reporting (again to Sports Media Network) that he has been befriended by 12 “DanielNegreanu’s.” There have also been reports of multiple Willie Tanns and Mike Matusow. A quick facebook search of any of the top poker players (i searched Negreanu and Mike Mizrachi and a bunch came up for both) yields a lot of results…

So…to avoid being bothered in upcoming months by people just asking for money and posing as famous poker players, maybe take “poker” off your list of interests onFacebook..oh, and keep your money unless you know the person you’re staking very well!

Aashish Nanak with his "wireless" keyboard

It’s a few weeks to go before April Fool’s Day, but questionable poker stories seem to be flying around like crazy today. First there was the discovery of isildur1′s blog, and now, there’s the tall tale of an 8 year old poker prodigy who won half a million dollars in India.

His name is Aashish Nanak, and he is apparently a poker whiz. He started playing when he was just six years old and has already won a few smaller cashes. He was even using earnings as a poker affiliate to pay his family’s rent. But after recently winning $500,000 USD playing on his uncle’s account, things started to go sideways. The unnamed online poker company is refusing to pay out the winnings. As of this writing, the case is set to go before the courts in New Delhi.

Why the family chose to go public and admit it was an 8 year old playing, before claiming the half million dollar jackpot, is still a mystery. Of course, there are a few other details that call the entire story into question. Like, what online poker site offers jackpots of $500,000 for tournament winners? And exactly what kind of keyboard is that in the attached photo, and is it wireless?

When the now infamous UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) was pass in 2008 the company made the choice to pull out of the US market. Other sites that stayed in the US market after the law passed have actually increased their revenues. Those other companies where only able stay in the US market because they didn’t have to answer to investors.

Party Poker didn’t come out of the UIGEA mess unscathed since they were hit with a fine of $105 Million, but settled out of court paying $15 Million.
Jim Ryan, the Chief Executive Officer of Party Gaming, has stated that the site may be looking to buy, or merge with, other gaming companies in the near future, snowballing their way to the top spot once again. The group did purchase the World Poker Tour last year. The group is also a firm believer that the United States government is considering the lessening of the notoriously tough online poker laws of the US.

The upgrade also includes the launch of the Titan Poker Academy, a free online poker training site in the mold of the Full Tilt Poker Academy. The addition of a full training academy will give Titan Poker a huge edge over other second-tier online poker sites looking to attract new players.

Among the other upgrades, Titan Poker has added Razz tables to its game lineup; five additional languages for players to choose from; and a Flash version for Mac users. The great thing about Titan’s upgrades is they don’t affect any players in a negative way, as some other sites have done by making changes to their software; Titan has simply added language options, a new game type, and a flash client.

Titan Poker operates on the iPoker Network, which is ranked #4 in overall traffic. The software upgrades come on the heels of Full Tilt Poker’s major changes and upgrades.

Additionally, Spielbank Berlin –the tournament sponsor—had unarmed security guards. Finally, there were a scant few security cameras to capture the scene giving no clear views of the robbers.

Hopefully the lessons have been learned, and tournament officials around the globe will realize there are millions of dollars in cash lying around at these events, and take the necessary precautions.

Tom “durrrr” Dwan was able to continue his winning ways in 2010 by taking over $1 million of Isildur1, which was Dwan’s first major victory of the mysterious Swedish player who has practically owned “durrrr” every step of the way.

Then there is Phil “OMGClayAiken” who was a no-show for most of 2009, even during the epic games that took place late in the year. Galfond was able to take $1.7 million off Isildur1. The win marks the biggest win of Galfond’s illustrious online poker career.

By the way Full Tilt Poker will be starting Full Tilt WSOP Qualifiers soon if anyone is interested.

According to Card Player magazine, Dwan told Sammy George –at their challenge match in London– Ivey has already tried to buy-out of the bet, so apparently for Phil Ivey’s palate, legumes and bean sprouts are no substitute for steaks and hamburgers. I can’t say I blame him!

Everything seems to revolve around isildur1 these days. If the Swede is playing it seems to bring the other pros out of the woodwork, and not because Isildur1 is a fish, or easy money, it just appears they want in on the mega-pots that are being generated.

Since January 1st 2010:
· Isildur1 is up $3 million
· Alexander “postflopaction” Kostritsyn is up $3 million
· Tom “durrrr” Dwan is up $2.4 million
· Gus Hansen is up $2.1 million
· Cole South is up $1.7 million

And of course for every winner there has to be a loser, and in a complete reversal from 2009 it’s Patrik Antonius topping the list:
· Patrik Antonius is down $3.3 million
· Brian Townsend is down $2.2 million
· Brian Hastings is down $1.3 million

Poker players at the Grand Hyatt Regency hotel in Berlin were taken by surprise when robbers armed with machetes, guns, and possibly hand grenades stormed the hotel in search of the prize-money; fortunately no shots were fired and only a few minor injuries were reported.

The arrest is hopefully a tipping point in the investigation, and will lead German authorities to the remaining suspects who made off with a reported $331,000 of the tournaments prize-pool. News has also trickled in about a possible “inside man” who tipped off the robbers to precisely when the money would be transported from the main safe. It’s unclear whether the suspect in custody was one of the armed robbers, or if it is the accomplice.

Ilari Sahamies

Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies would be the first player to take on the unknown Swedish pro.

After 451 hands of $300/$600 Pot-Limit Omaha, with Sahamies losing over $487k, the two moved their game to $500/$1,000 PLO, where they remained for 40 minutes.

By the end of the 259-hand nosebleed session, Sahamies logged off, down another $290,965.

With Sahamies gone, Isildur1 went on the hunt for his next opponent, finding him in Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo. The two played $200/$400 NLHE for 791 hands with Bonomo finishing up $187k.

Looking to bounce back after that NLHE loss, Isildur1 took on the CardRunners team, playing both Cole South and Brian Hastings heads-up at the same time.

Despite starting the year off with a white-hot streak of wins, South lost $334k over his 825 hands, while Hastings made $330k over a shorter 224-hand match, all at $300/$600 PLO.

Hastings, who holds the online record for most money made in a single session after crushing Isildur1 for $4.2 million on Full Tilt late in 2009, tried to repeat his feat, convincing Isildur1 to move their game back up to $500/$1,000, where they played for another 468 hands.

Although Hastings was unable to make anything close to $4.2 million, he came away from the nosebleed session with another $219k, up over half a million total on the day.

After some small sessions at smaller stakes games, Isildur1 sat for his final heads-up sessions, giving South a chance to get even on the day.

After 565 hands of $100/$200 PLO, and South getting himself suck another $222k, the two doubled the stakes, finishing their session with 344 hands at $200/$400.

Although he wasn’t able to get completely out of the hole, South managed to make back $77,958 before the end of the match.

In total, Isildur1 added $572,746 to his roll, putting him up well over $1 million in 2010 so far.