Perry's high-stakes success in 2021 is undisputed, but his likability in the poker community is questionable
Sean Perry has experienced career highs in both poker results and notoriety in the poker community in 2021.
Perry, currently at the No. 2 spot in the 2021 PokerGO Tour rankings, has put together an undeniably great string of high stakes tournament results together so far this year. His PokerGO Tour resume for 2021 includes three wins, 12 cashes, and $2,206,378 in earnings from the newly-formed high roller tournament tour.
Perry nearly added win No. 4 on the PokerGO Tour to his 2021 accolades on Wednesday. PokerGO Cup Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em, ended with the player coming up one spot short of another tour win.
Perry (2nd - $132,000) finished runner-up to Alex Foxen (1st - $178,200) in the 2021 PokerGO Cup kickoff event. Perry’s rise through the ranks has put him on the radar on the high-stakes scene, and his results at the poker table unquestionably landed him in the top tier of the world’s best players this year.
While Perry’s poker achievements are indisputable, his popularity in the poker community is undeniably not very high. A string of statements from Perry on High Stakes Poker Season 8 on PokerGO started Perry down a path that now has him as poker’s newest villain in 2021.
Fraud allegations levied on Perry by high-stakes pro Daniel Coleman further solidified the pro as one of the game’s most unpopular figures.
Perry’s unpopular presence on High Stakes Poker
Perry made his High Stakes Poker debut on Season 8, Episode 6. He marked a modern-era addition to the lineup in the 2021 revival of the show.
Perry, seated at the table with High Stakes Poker stalwarts like Tom Dwan and Jean-Robert Bellande, didn’t exactly keep a low profile at the table. A series of comments from Perry during his appearances on the show irked many in the poker community.
The first of those came when Perry contended that he could hit the baccarat pits after a big lost pot, and easily recoup his poker losses. Fellow player Damien LeForbes warned that the baccarat pits were a dangerous endeavor, but Perry disagreed.
“I’m up seven figures in baccarat,” responded Perry. “I’m crushing.” That comment was met by momentary silence at the table, but Perry wasn’t done spinning his tales of life on the high roller gambling circuit.
Later in the episode, Perry tells a story about trying to make it to the Aria Las Vegas in time to avoid a $1,000 late registration fee in a $25,000 buy-in tournament. Perry contends that, while cutting it close on that deadline, he sped through the emergency lane on a Las Vegas freeway at 120 miles per hour.
Dwan doubts Perry’s claim of the 120 mph speed and questions the wisdom of Perry risking his life to avoid paying rake at a high roller event.
“I don’t get arrested; there’s like seven cop cars,” Perry said. “I pull over, and somehow they just let me go.”
Perry goes on to say that he did make it to the PokerGO Studio in time to avoid the $1,000 in late registration tax. He explains, however, that he busted on two bullets within ten minutes of arriving, laughing off the story and lamenting that getting arrested would have been better.
By the time the episode ended, poker’s newest villain had revealed himself.
Did Sean Perry pull off a seven-figure scam on Daniel Coleman?
Just about any form of entertainment can benefit from a good villain, and Perry’s dialogue on High Stakes Poker certainly upped the entertainment factor of the show. Perry played the role of the villain on that show the same way we might look at Phil Hellmuth or Daniel Negreanu in that role.
Names like Mike Postle and Russ Hamilton, however, belong on another kind of poker villains list. Known as perhaps the two biggest cheaters in the history of poker, Postle and Hamilton are so ostracized by the poker community that there’s virtually zero chance of either at a public event.
According to high-stakes pro Daniel Coleman, Perry belongs on the poker bad actor list. Coleman tweeted the details of what he claims is a seven-figure daily fantasy sports scam perpetrated by Perry:
“PSA to poker community: It's extremely likely Sean Perry is a scammer. Do not bet with him,” wrote Coleman in the May 7 tweet.
The tweet links to a lengthy account from Coleman that alleges massive fraud from Perry in high-stakes daily fantasy sports (DFS) bets. Coleman stated that Perry was actually in control of what Coleman thought were randomly drafted DFS players.
Perry would intentionally tank the DFS player accounts he was in control of, in cases where it benefited him. According to Coleman, Perry took in seven figures from the DFS cheating.
Perry never publicly commented on the matter, but the allegations from Coleman haven’t deterred the player from continuing to appear, and win, on the high-stakes tournament circuit.
Featured image source: PokerGO
