Full Tilt Cheating Scandal includes Brian Townsend
Posted by Curtom | December 23, 2009 | Posted in: Articles, News | Comments (4)I am sure you have heard rumblings about the Full Tilt cheating scandal involving Brian Townsend by now. If not, Townsend and a couple of buddies of his took down $4 million dollars playing a cash game against well known online poker pro isildur1. Townsend basically colluded with a couple of other players comparing hand histories. This allowed them to put isildur1 on a range of hands and also to recognize betting patterns which gives the player with that knowledge a HUGE advantage!
To say that I am pissed off would be an understatement. This isn’t the first time I have heard Brian Townsend’s name mentioned in a cheating scandal. I have never met or spoken to Brian Townsend a day in my life. However, I am extremely disappointed in his conduct or lack thereof. The reason being is that Brian was extremely selfish along with those he colluded with in not taking into account the repercussions to online poker. Online poker is in the midst of its toughest fight ever and yet again it gets hit with another cheating scandal. Townsend is a fantastic player in his own right. I have seen him play both cash and tournaments just as many others have. He has the talent to win in high stakes games. That is what makes this entire situation so puzzling. I realize that it was Hastings that was doing the playing but sharing specific hand histories is a no no. Yes, we all read our hand histories but not necessarily to take down one particular player as is the case with this scenario.
What the hell was he thinking?
It’s my hope that Townsend gives this situation some serious thought over the next few weeks. He has done damage to himself and to the game of online poker. I don’t believe he is a bad guy but he sure has made some very poor choices lately. In 2008 he lost his Full Tilt Pro status due to multi-accounting.
Hey! Brian Townsend!
“C’mon MAN!”
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I think calling the isildor1 incident a scandal is a little much. It’s fairly common for good players to compare hand histories and discuss strategy. Isildor1 has gained a lot of attention recently and it makes sense that one of these poker brain trusts would come together to take him on.
There was no chip dumping or in-game collusion. Only review and discussion.
It’s true that Townsend was caught cheating in 2008, but that was over a year ago. It looks like he’s playing it straight now.
I think the isildor1 game, a game Towsend didn’t even play (though he was one of the player’s stakers), was legit. Hastings (if I remember his name right) won because of study and review. Nothing underhanded there IMO.
CF thanks for the comment. Yeah, I looked at it from that angle as well. However, Townsend did admit he was wrong. I still think the onus is on the culprits not to engage in the conduct when they know it is a violation. How enforceable it is is another question. Yes, the name was Hastings.
The problem is Townsend said “he had 20k on Isildur and ACQUIRED another 30k” Where did he get those hands???? It would seem quite likely from hastings and Cole South. The whole situation stinks, especially when you consider this is supposedly THE BEST online poker has to offer –Townsend being a well respected sponsored pro at Full Tilt Poker/Cardrunners–and is yet another black eye for online poker:
Pokerspot shuts down
multi-accounts with zeejusting and JJprodigy
UB and AP super-users
pitbull poker shuts down
Full Tilts poker bot lawsuit
Townsend/hastings/South accused of datamining
It’s getting to the point where it becomes hard to defend the online poker industry. At best these players bent the rules far into the gray area, and walked off with millions in the process.
Thanks for the comment Steve. I agree. This debacle makes it very difficult to defend online poker. Every scandal that takes place simply lays doubt in the minds of those that do not play online poker.
What can you do?