Four central Indiana men, including a recently retired school principal, each face multiple felony charges in connection with the operation of an allegedly illegal online poker group that utilized an app to play for real money. Two of the four men, Robert A. Vincent and Timothy R. Vanwanzeele of Morgan County, southwest of Indianapolis, were arrested and charged in late May with promoting the DDDare Poker Club from 2020 to 2023.
Investigators from the Indiana Gaming Commission looked into the online club's operations after receiving a complaint in June 2021. The complainant, who remained anonymous, alleged losing $50,000 while playing in games hosted by the club on the Pokerrrr2 and Pokerrrr3 poker apps.
The investigators eventually served warrants against Google and other business entities in addition to obtaining financial records of the two men. Vincent and Vanwanzeele, the retired school official, served as agent-operators for the club, taking in real-money deposits and crediting the players with virtual funds, which were then used to gamble on the poker app.
Nearly $2 million in traceable transactions
Armed with the warrants, the IGB investigators identified well over $1.9 million that had been transferred to and from Vincent and Vanwanzeele for the alleged purpose of playing in the online games. Vincent moved $1,724,757.00 to and from club members, while Vanwanzeele moved $201,342.00 in funds. The transactions were done via popular online wallets, including Venmo, Paypal, Cash App, and Zelle.
The findings led to charges being brought Vincent and Vanwanzeele in May, following nearly two years of investigative work. Vincent and Vanwanzeele face four felony counts each:
- Corrupt Business Influence, Level 5 Felony
- Money Laundering, Level 5 Felony
- Professional Gambling Over the Internet, Level 6 Felony
- Promoting Professional Gambling, Level 6 Felony
Vincent and Vanwanzeele could face up to 17 years each if convicted on all counts. Vincent and Vanwanzeele's cases are both in their early phases, with trials currently set for September.
Two other Indiana men were also charged in connection with the online club's operations. Tyler Smith and Darren T. Drew face three of the same four felony charges as Vincent and Vanwanzeele, with the exception of the promoting professional gambling charge.
Poker apps offer limited security
Though increasingly popular for underground games, club-style poker apps designed for smart-device play have frequently been hacked or discovered to have viewable code. The apps also have no direct way to accept real-money deposits, meaning players and organizers employ the agent model to create virtual balances within the apps. The club-and-agent model first became popular in China.
Whether Pokerrrr2 and related apps are hackable or insecure is a matter of online debate, but security has been an issue for such software. The Indiana cases connected to the DDDare Poker Club, as reported on by local news outlets, do not state whether any complaints allege cheating or were solely focused on large losses in illicit underground games.
