17:38

18 Jan

Cheating at online poker is, sadly, not that uncommon, and there are numerous reports on poker forums about people getting cheated out of their money on and off the tables. The cheaters, for the most part, get away with it without any serious consequences so, in a way, one could say Darren Woods got a raw deal.

As Woods learned recently, from time to time even online poker cheaters get caught and prosecuted in a court of law. After the court deemed that he made at least £1 million in profit through his cheating activities, the presiding judge sent him to prison for 15 months. Included in the sentence was the condition that if £1 million is not paid in full within the next six months, Woods would remain jailed for six more years.

If you are not clued in to this case, there is a long-standing thread on the biggest poker forum, 2 + 2, describing Woods’ cheating activities. The thread was started back in 2011 when a group of regular high stakes players noticed that something fishy was going on with Woods’ online account at the time (Dooshcom).

He and several other users, who seemingly appeared out of thin air, would sit down in the games and play other opponents at the tables in such a way that was at least suspicious. It did not take long for other regulars in the game to notice these anomalies and start their own investigation, which reaffirmed their belief that ‘Dooshcom’ was colluding with several other accounts.

They gathered evidence and sent it to the security teams of the room where the majority of the alleged collusion took place, 888poker. After investigators took a deeper look into what went down at the tables, they blocked several accounts, including that of ‘Dooshcom.’

At first, Woods (who was a PokerStrategy coach and 888poker-sponsored player at the time) defended himself on the forums, calling the evidence absurd and claiming that his reputation was being seriously damaged based on very little proof.

However, several 2 + 2 users did not give up and the evidence, in the form of graphs and in-depth analysis of play, was posted and made it less and less likely that the whole thing was just a product of someone’s imagination.

After a while, the thread became very technical, with a lot of equations and calculations that we, as mere mortals, could hardly follow. It seemed as if the actual problem was getting buried under a bunch of numbers and stats and the big picture was getting blurred.

888poker claimed that they turned the entire matter over to the police and players didn’t really believe them. But in October of last year, Grimsbytelegraph reported that Woods was going to face the music in front of a jury of his peers. At that point, Woods still denied all the charges brought against him (13 counts) and pleaded not guilty.

It wasn’t long before he changed his statement and pled guilty on nine counts after the police and investigation teams started finding damning evidence that he knew he could not deny or dispute. Part of his plea deal required £1 million in restitution, although the police believe that the amount he earned through cheating activities between 2007 – 2012 was much greater.

In individual games, other people playing against you stood to lose money because the odds had been rigged in your favour by the creation of multiple identities which were undisclosed to other players." Paul Watson, Presiding Judge ; £911,217 had already been restored and a part of that amount (£283,673) should be used to pay back the players on 888poker who were victims of his ploy. During the investigation, it was discovered that Woods had purchased a number of private online networks and computers to successfully fool security systems and pose as different online personas. Darren Woods, a WSOP bracelet holder and a name once esteemed in poker circles, has pretty much sealed his fate within the community. Although his punishment doesn’t seem particularly harsh (given all the circumstances), it will still signal the end of a lifestyle that he used to enjoy. His father, Morteza Gharoon, was also implicated in the case, as he helped with moving some money offline. Gharoon received a six-month suspended sentence and will have to pay a fine in the amount of £18,910. Woods may be one of the few who faced consequences for their actions, but cases like this may at least somewhat deter those considering going after the ‘easy money’ on online poker sites. Photo: Grimsbytelegraph.co.uk