Online poker sites across the globe have set terms and conditions in place as far as their operating measures as well as what poker players are to adhere to. Players who do not adhere to regulations set forth by the online poker room will be subject to punished based on the violations that are broken. In the online poker industry, common issues with players breaking regulations include multiple accounts, collusion, poker bots and more. Just recently, a recognizable poker pro was banned from top online poker room PokerStars for playing poker on another player’s account, one that was located in the United States.
Sorel Mizzi, known as Imper1um online was reportedly found to be cheating according to PokerStars. The pro was playing the site while in the United States, which is totally illegal unless you are located in New Jersey, as well as competing via another player’s account, also not in line with the poker sites regulations.
Violation Goes Back Months
Reportedly, Mizzi has been in violation of the rules of PokerStars for some time. Going back to February of this year, a Two Plus Two forum poster claimed that the pro was playing as far back as September of 2015 in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker Main Event and even made the final table. The forum poster said that Mizzi did this while in an apartment in the US. This is of course, not permitted by the online poker room.
Rory Brown is a friend of Mizzi who also competed in the WCOOP event and made the final table. The player spoke to Mizzi about strategizing before the final table and how he could read players. Brown had no idea that a player sitting at the table was actually Mizzi competing, using a different user name.
Admitting Guilt
Fast forward to July and Mizzi fully admitted that he had violated the rules while doing a podcast with Joey Ingram. Mizzi stated that he really wanted to compete in the Main Event of the WCOOP so he used another player’s account to do so. He was able to use a virtual private network so that his location could be faked, allowing him access to PokerStars. Mizzi even admitted that he did not feel guilty about cheating the system.
As far as brown is concerned, Mizzi did try to contact his friend when the event came down to less than 20 players. The pro did not want to cheat his friend or any of the other competitors. He tried to contact Brown to let him know that he was in the tournament and offer a swapping of action and to let him know he was at the table. Mizzi says that Brown did not answer any calls or texts.
PokerStars has reportedly banned the pro for his actions. According to a report at Pokerfuse, Mizzi has been banned for a couple years from competing at the site. This will certainly hurt the pros career, as he has earned $3.6 million with online poker tournament gaming. In live tournament wins, the pro has amassed as much as $11.2 million. Despite being a solid poker player, Mizzi has been known to push boundaries when it comes to following the rules. This has many in the industry not happy with his game play, especially considering the fact that the pro has no remorse for what he has done.
This is not the first time the pro has broken the rules. In 2007, Mizzi used his funds to purchase a Full Tilt Poker account owned by Chris Vaughn, the then editor of Bluff Magazine. The account was purchased when Vaughn was competing in a big event and Mizzi ended up winning. This action was found out and he was banned for life, with winnings going to other players.