Poker players have reacted to a heartfelt video from two-time WSOP Online Player of the Year Mike Holtz, who alleges that widespread cheating is taking place in Las Vegas poker rooms.
Holtz details the allegations in a 10-minute video after playing the $800 PokerAtlas Title Event at Resorts World.
Patrick Leonard reposted the video, saying, "Some big allegations in this explosive video. Don't be intimidated by the length; if you play live poker, especially in Vegas, it's worth a watch."
You can see the entire video from Holtz in the post below.
'This is how we kill the game'
In the video, Holtz details suspicious behavior from a group of players in the $800 event that played to a finish at Resorts World this week. Holtz states the eventual winner, Campayo Hernandez, was one of the players that he reported to the floor.
"I played Day 1C... The guy in the nine seat has a big stack; the guy in the two seat does not. Every time the nine seat opens, it seems to me like the two seat is folding in a way where he's folding his cards and showing the [nine seat].
"So every time he folds, he folds it towards the nine seat... I saw it twice and I thought this guy's got to be... it's pretty funky; it's a weird hand motion to do, so I decided to watch. I noticed that he started folding normally whenever the nine seat wouldn't open. Now, the nine seat wins this tournament, by the way, keep that in mind; he wins all the money."
Holtz claims the floor didn't act on what he told them and that dealers were also pitching high and exposing cards. Holtz even resorted to calling cards out as they were being dealt to prove his point. The floor told him they couldn't see anything.
"I like a lot of people at Resorts World... but I think we as a community need to be doing better."
Holtz' claims were backed up by the third-place finisher Joel Baker, who said, "I 100% felt like the guy that won the tournament was getting info from his buddies at times. They would stand behind other players."
Another respected pro, Stanley Lee, also corroborated Holtz' allegations, saying, "I back everything Mike said. I saw it all as well."
Holtz went on to call for the poker community to take action.
"We have to do something... This has gotten far out of hand, and people are cheating in crazy ways. You think people aren't using pinhole cameras with their phones; you think that's not happening? Because it is... Every dealer in poker has to learn to deal how the Europeans do."
PokerStars has already addressed the issue of pinhole cameras being used to cheat, with dealers now sliding cards out to players rather than pitching them.
Holtz also said that Wynn Las Vegas stood alone as the room that is doing things the right way.
Players and industry figures react
Many players and industry figures reacted to Holtz' video, including PokerOrg columnist and WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage, who said, "This is another reason that if you see something, you need to say something so we as TDs, floor, and even the dealers can investigate and penalize/DQ anyone that we think is doing something nefarious... It’s not an isolated case so I don’t want to pile on RW [Resorts World]. We as operators need to be more vigilant and proactive as ever."
Here are some other reactions to the disturbing allegations in the video.
