World Series of Poker bracelet winner and six-time Circuit ring champion Mike Holtz sounded off on absurd events that reportedly took place at Resorts World during the $800 buy-in Poker Atlas Tour Main Event.
The two-time WSOP Online Player of the Year went on a 10-minute rant that was heavily shared amongst the poker community on Twitter/X.
During the video, he describes some unusual behavior by a group of Spanish players that Holtz believed was clear-cut cheating. This group included Juan Campayo Hernandez, who ended up winning the 419-entry tournament for $60,250.
At the beginning of the video, Holtz describes some collusion-like activity happening at his table, which involved Hernandez and another player.
“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 [other player]. So every time he folds, he folds it towards the nine seat and he can see.
“That’s only when there’s seven, eight, and one seats fold that he does it every time. I saw it twice and I thought it’s pretty funky, like 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 [Hernandez] wins this tournament, by the way, keep that in mind, he wins all the money.
“My buddy Patrick says, ‘They’re f****** cheating, right? Like they, they have to be cheating.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, they’re cheating 100%.'”
Holtz also mentioned that, after a table change, the people in Hernandez’s group of friends continued acting in a very unethical way, with players not involved standing behind other players in the group and relaying information in another language (likely Spanish).
There were also references to the group intimidating other players at the table and even ghosting players on GGPoker. The site cannot be legally played in the United States.
Holtz criticized the staff for not taking any action whatsoever during the entirety of the tournament, ignoring the allegations of cheating completely and claiming there’s nothing they could really do about it.
Holtz also said the dealer quality was extremely poor, exposing cards while pitching on multiple occasions.
This comes on the heels of widespread criticism of dealers and tournament directors after the WSOPC Baltimore Main Event, where Maurice Hawkins won his 18th ring thanks in part to being awarded a pot with the worse hand in an all-in situation that eliminated Divyam Satyarthi in third place.
“Eventually we get another dealer, he’s exposing cards. I tell him five hands in a row. There are several regs at this table who can confirm this. I’m calling cards out. I’m saying black face card, red, red queen. What is going on right now? The guy won’t even talk to me. The floor is watching this. I keep saying I can see cards.”
Cheating in poker has been a very hot-button issue for some time, which only continues to be fueled by more cheating allegations. The Russian bot farm that was exposed in a high-profile piece along with ACR ambassadors causing a stir for having GTO Wizard open while playing has done nothing to turn down the noise.
Holtz is calling on the poker community to do better. One recent instance of immediate action came when admitted poker cheat Ali Imsirovic was DQed in Texas at the Champions Club before he could play an orbit.
“I don’t want to have beef with Resorts, but we have to do something as a community. This has gotten far out of hand and people are cheating in crazy ways. You think they don’t, you think some people aren’t using pinhole cameras with their phones on there? Do you think that’s not happening? Because it is. We’re being cheated.
“We want more people in poker. You know what happens when they see cheating scandals over and over and over again? People don’t want to play poker. Do you want to kill the game? This is how we kill the game.
“I feel like I’ve literally burned some of my social credit because I keep talking about this so vocally, and I don’t want to be that guy, but someone has to be that guy.
“We need this. We need to end cheating, and when you see someone at your table talk about getting cheated or think, everyone should stop doing what they’re doing and take it extremely seriously because we’re playing for amounts of money that regular human beings don’t see very often.
“So, it incentivizes cheating … It’s a fantastic game that we all love. I just want to see us be more protected.”
Holtz recommended a number of counter-measures that could reduce the likelihood of cheating, such as a more-attentive floor staff as well as European-style dealing, which involves the dealer sliding cards on the table as opposed to pitching. Holtz went on to say that Europe is 10 years ahead when it comes to live poker experiences.
On a personal note, I’ve played tournaments all over the globe, primarily in Latin America and Europe. Whenever I return back to the States, especially in Las Vegas, the majority of player experiences are on a far lower level.
In most places I’ve played outside of the States, tournament staff and dealers respect the game much more and are much more willing to stick their necks out for players for the good of poker. They are willing to make sacrifices and put their reputation on the line in order to ensure a phenomenal poker experience, which truly makes it feel like you’re playing for large amounts of money.
One barrier for European-style dealing in Las Vegas and the United States that I think about often could be the reluctance to replace felts long after they’ve worn out. All across Europe and Latin America, you play on virtually-new felts that allow the cards to slide effortlessly.
I recently played a WSOP Circuit stop at Harrah’s Pompano Beach Casino in Florida where there was absolutely zero slide on the felts, which were also terribly aged and dirty. It was to the point where I found the tables to be disgusting and the felts worthy of being thrown out many years ago. This is a pretty common thread in poker rooms across the United States.
I agree with Holtz that more needs to be done when it comes to cheating altogether and that there must be a bigger respect for the game amongst dealers and officials in Las Vegas. It feels like there’s more appreciation and concern for the bottom line above all else.