The 2015 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is currently taking place at the Rio Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The biggest live poker tournament has a number of exciting events and poker players from all over the world have flown in play at the WSOP.
The $10,000 Heads-Up No-limit Hold ‘em Championship event which concluded on the 4th of June created some controversy as players took to the popular Two Plus Two poker forum to accuse Valeriu Coca of Moldova for cheating his way to fifth place. Coca had a great match and ended up losing in the quarter final stage of the event to Keith Lehr who went on to win the event.
It was Connor Drinan who first expressed his concerns on the poker forum by stating that Coca’s game had a number of irregularities especially during the round of 32. Drinan said that he discussed his concerns with a number of players who faced Coca at the event and said all of them felt suspicious about Coca’s play.
Bubbled the HU. Hands down strangest hour and a half of poker of my life. Felt super-used
— Connor Drinan (@ConnorDrinan) June 3, 2015
Drinan also approached WSOP tournament director Jack Effel and brought these charges to his attention.
We are aware, monitoring very closely w/all resources @ our disposal. Those include surveillance/security,forensic examination of cards, etc
— Jack Effel (@WSOPTD) June 4, 2015
2/2 We take integrity very seriously, as evidenced by our lifetime bans, and would enjoy nothing more than catching a cheater in our midst.
— Jack Effel (@WSOPTD) June 4, 2015
Coca ended up winning $54,545 for finishing in 5th place and was disappointed to hear that his integrity was being questioned by his fellow players. He denied all the allegations and stated that the accusations against him originated from really good poker players who were probably upset and disappointed that he defeated them.
The WSOP has tight security in place to ensure that the tournament runs smoothly and has also committed to thoroughly investigating all allegations. A WSOP official confirmed that it will launch an investigation as soon as there are any claims of wrong doing or cheating. The WSOP conducts also conducts preliminary testing of cards to ensure that it is not tampered with and no foreign solution or markings are used to give players an unfair advantage.
WSOP official Seth Palansky confirmed that all cards from this event have been give for testing and a detailed investigation will be carried out to ensure that the $10,000 Heads-Up No-limit Hold ‘em Championship event wasn’t compromised.
