Prominent German pro Fedor Holz has called out two well-known high-staked Brazilian pros for colluding during the final table of a recent high-stakes tourney on 888poker. The two Brazilians, Rodrigo "seijistar1" Seiji and Rodrigo "selouan1991" Selouan, were among the final five players in an event on 888's global online site.
Holz posted on his "@crownupguy" Twitter account, early on Christmas Day, "A pretty obvious collusion spot including Seijistar on a big 1K FT vs his friend Selouan. They are part of a Brazilian HS group that work together called '9Tales'. Cheating sucks. I think every HS reg that doesn’t cheat should work together to bring up similar situations":
Holz replied to his own post, further clarifying the alleged cheat. "In case It isn’t clear, AJ folds. They probably weren’t aware it’s live-streamed with cards up."
Holz said the two Brazilians are good friends, and he accused Seij of making the way-against-the-odds fold to allow Serouan to take the pot and stay in the event. That Holz's accusation also mentions that several Brazilians are involved in a high-stakes cheating team, known as "9Tales", adds urgency to the situation.
888 responds within hours, promises investigation
888 quickly responded to Holz's claims on Twitter, noting that an investigation will begin immediately. 888 promised a review not only of the hand in question, but of other action between the two Rodrigos.
Neither Seiji nor Selouan appear to have been suspended as yet by 888Poker. Should the collusion allegations be proven out, Seiji appears to be in the worst situation regarding possible sanctions.
Another of the players at the table "Panxetillo", was quickly alerted to Holz's own thread and posted his own thoughts. "Hi I'm Panxetillo," he wrote. "That hand was very suspicious, I didn't know they worked together in 9tales, so it makes sense now. Thanks for expose this case, we have to kick out people who cheat and collusion for the sake of poker. I hope @888poker investigate this and take action. Cheers!"
Such collusion remains a problem that poker has found difficult to eradicate. A Brazilian poker outlet has reportedly received a quote from Seiji stating that he "misjudged the situation," believing Selouan had a much stronger hand due to ICM factors. However, that likely won't satisfactorily explain Seiji's fold, given hos own strong ace-jack hand and the pot odds he was already receiving to call.
Featured image source: Twitter / Fedor Holz (@crownupguy)
