Before I start, a little about what was happening this summer. My name is Tal Ron and I am bipolar. Most of the time I am on the depressed side, but this summer I was manic. More manic then I'd ever been, by far. I had an episode lasting almost 2 months; my previous high was around a week. Each day was higher levels than the previous.

As my mania grew, I became harder to tolerate. My high levels of energy, non-stop running motor, and arrogance were so off-putting that most of my friends distanced themselves from me. I was somewhat delusional as I thought people were trolling or gaslighting me frequently - they weren't.

I first met Juan in Durant last January. We played a few times and were cordial at the table. This past June I went to the WSOP playing the best poker of my life. I played 25-50 PLO daily and lost just about every hand for 2 weeks. I saw Juan a couple times and we talked, exchanged numbers, but didn't really spend much time together.

I came back home in late June, disappointed in the result. That day I get a text from Juan. He told me he was broke, depressed, and wanted to die. He was completely broken down. I barely knew the guy, but I knew that feeling. Most of my life I wouldn't have the energy or ability to help anyone, but I was in a state where I could carry someone on my back. We texted back and forth as I told him I was coming to help him, and that night I was on a flight to Vegas. He had nowhere to stay and he was waiting for me. I guess I wanted to be a hero and desperately needed a friend.

Now this is where I was naive and extremely careless. I assumed someone so down would never betray the person coming to save them. Juan was going to be my personal assistant - help me with tasks like laundry and the such. I gave him a 50/50 stake up to 5K at 1-2 PLO, and 8% of my action at 25-50 PLO. If I lost I wasn't really going to collect, as he had no way of paying me. I just wanted to make him some money so he could get back on his feet. He had mentioned that if he could grind that he believed things would get better.

I know I'm going to get roasted for my carelessness and blind trust. I gave him access to my debit card so he could book us hotel rooms, pay for lyft rides, etc. In my mind there was no way he would abuse that privilege. I gave him money for the stake. The first day he played a $1500 tourney. I told him we couldn't afford the variance of tourneys and to play cash. He argued a little but finally agreed. A few months later I saw he binked almost $12K on July 3 while on my stake. Of course I never saw my half.

Over the couple weeks things didn't go that smoothly. I was so manic and irritable - I yelled at him every time he screwed up, which was often. At first he wasn't keeping all the stake figures in the same place so he didn't know the total the first time I asked him. He missed meeting me a few times we had scheduled. He booked a hotel at the Rio when I wanted to switch over to Monte Carlo so I could play at Aria.

Most days he claimed he lost at 1-2 at The Golden Nugget. After about 2 weeks I knew my arrangement with him had to end - that day I told him and he reported a loss that took him past the $5K stake max. I told him if he needed a friend, someone to help him figure out he was feeling, or just someone to talk to he could message me. That evening in mid July I gave him $4K as a loan that he could pay back whenever he could. Start up money - he told me he was going to be with his sick father. I felt so bad for him. I saw a lot of myself in him. He seemed honest, emotional, and at that moment, very depressed. I didn't care about the money, I just wanted him to have a chance to fix things. He told me he was going to get a job and be with family. That's definitely what he needed.

2 hours later he went into my hotel room (he set up the room so he had a key), stole almost $10K in chips and my wallet which has several thousand in cash. At the time I had a roommate at the Monte Carlo who I knew from around the circuit. When I filed the police report I stated I didn't know which one of them took the money. Of course, now it's pretty clear.

That was the beginning of my big crash. My mania was dissipating and I slowly went into the deep depression that has consumed most of my life. I called my baby brother, and he booked me a flight the next day to Arizona so I could be with family. I was still pretty manic for the week I was there and didn't get along with my family. I guess aside from being delusional I was also very distraught from the robbery.

While I was in Arizona Juan used my debit card to deposit into his Venmo. He tried $100 a few times, then when he saw it kept working he upped it to $700 by the time I noticed and cancelled my card. In total he got over $3500 from my account onto his Venmo. This was refunded by my bank.

I"m sure I've left out a lot of details. I don't remember them all as a lot of this summer is just a blur. I expect to get made fun of, and I got what I deserved for being careless. I don't expect to get this money back, I'm not even going to try. I just want to make sure that no one ever does any financial dealings with this horrible person, Juan Mendoza.

TL;DR - He stole $13K from my room, $3500 from my debit card, and over $4K in loans. As well as winning $12K in a tourney while on my stake, while claiming a $5K loss. This is around $31K total

Sucks. Yes you were pretty dumb. The best thing you can do is seriously rid this from your brain. It's spilled milk. I'm guessing many depressed people may be that way because they have a hard time controlling their emotions and dwell on stuff. This is your chance to prove to yourself you have the power to overcome. That might be worth 30k.

Probably worth adding any other identifying details you have, because there are a lot of Juan Mendozas out there.

what a scumbag that guy is

Thank you

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=272536

best of luck recovering, looks like he's had some success so that adds some hope

Juan is a regular that travels a lot of the circuit events. I made the mistake of buying 10% of him for a few circuit events in AC where he got a third for 8k roughly. I never saw my split off that stake either. Finally got him to give me 10% of the National Championship which he qualified for thru points as my share. He stone bubbled that event lol. He is from Wilmington NC and I usually see him at the circuit events in Cherokee 3 times a year. He is def a capable player but I would not trust him with any sort of money at any time. Hope you can recover it, but seems unlikely as I've heard more stories about this behavior from him in the past year. Good luck OP...hope you can snap out of the funk you're in as well.

There are some real scum bags in poker. Never loan, never borrow. If we all adhered to that motto most of these situations would never happen. This guys a douche. Glad you outed him.

This was moved from NVG for some reason by a MOD. They leave the some threads there about scams but move others. Not sure how they decide but I see this was moved to a heading: Transaction Feedback & Disputes. However, on my index of forum categories I don't see that listed. What heading is that listed under? I'm not sure many people will even see this or other similar threads.

This is Juan Mendoza. Tall Ron, the statements you are making regarding Vegas this summer are lies. You staked me and I lost $12k and you decided to drop me from the stake. Then you loaned me $900 for a way home and some money to get by. Not $4k as you claim. Also, there are cameras everywhere in every casino and hotel in Vegas. You are stating I stole $10k plus $3500 more. That is also 100% false. There are cameras everywhere. If it was me, then you should be able to prove it through camera footage. You have mental disorders and as you had stated you lost millions this summer. You are trying to say it was me who got into YOUR room? and stole this money. It is not even like your word against mine. There are cameras on 24/7 everywhere in every angle so when things like this happen, then it can be solved right away. I dont have a venmo account, i didnt steal anything from you. I am gonna sue you for defamation of character. You are completely delusional. You should reconsider what you are doing and the lies you are spreading about me.

I would also like to be clear here...while Juan and I may have disagreed initially about how this situation was handled 2 years ago, the 10% of the Natty seemed to be a reasonable way to get things handled. I have no problem with Juan at this point, was simply stating my past experience with him. We are still friendly when we see each other at events. He has made it clear to me in the last times we have seen each other that he knows he acted poorly at the time but has shown great strides in making sure that all business transactions will be handled properly going forward. Everybody should be given a chance to make things right and restore their rep and I believe Juan is on his way to doing so. GL to everyone involved here.

Do they have cameras in the hotel rooms?

He is right that I don't have proof it was him that entered my room, or that he was the one who used my debit card for the Venmo thefts. I did give him $4K in loans to "pay back his debts" and start a new life.

The police investigated the cameras which only work in the main area near the elevators and could not conclude who entered my room.

After he blocked me and stopped responding to my texts, plus the fact he was the only other person with access to my debit card, makes me pretty certain it was him. He never reached out to me to try say he couldn't pay but was still planning on it, and it's been many months.

Also he claims he won the tourney while on someone else's stake, at the same time as being on my stake. This seems fishy at best.

All in all the story doesn't add up and I don't believe anything he will ever say.

This guy's Hendon Mob shows four years of circuit seemingly non-stop grinding with only 240k to show for it, 60k a year minus all those buy-ins and expenses...

Gotta get the money somewhere I guess??

"Some reason" is that this is where it belongs.

The occasional thread is left there when it is concerned to be newsworthy.

It's a Marketplace subforum.

Threads like this should be of interest to people who are considering transactions with someone; having them all in one forum where they are easy to find is the goal here. People entering into transactions with someone on 2+2 will usually do so in the Marketplace, which is why the forum resides here.

lol i wouldnt even trust real life friends ive known since public school and hang with every day with some of stuff you just described.

sorry but you deserve to lose every cent. SO much of this could have been avoided. its like you hate your money or something.

May i ask how you got so much money to begin with?

Whats that got to do with you or the situation?

Far as im concerned Juan is guilty as sin. Entering in to a backing agreement with a person who has some mental issues its clear what his plan was from day 1.

seems like trustafarian, also possibly a homosexual trying to buy a boyfriend with free poker moneys

Update: Juan contacted me the day after I posted this. He was very frantic and demanded I take this post down or he will sue me for libel or slander. I told him I would if he started making payments and that was the end of our conversation. He did concede he owed $18K which I assume he isn't planning on paying, given that he blocked me on facebook and ignored me for 6 months until the day after the initial post.

Does Juan know what libel and slander are?

Not sure. Based on what the OP claims he owes and what I read. He might have a case.
- the tourney cash for 12k doesn't seem like it was on OP stake (OP said no tourneys on stake, he agreed)
-money disappearing from room may or may not be stolen by Juan or another person (not enough proof)
sounds like several people had access
-venmo should be traceable (no proof here)

idk if this person did or didn't do it. might have. Sounds like OP was pretty careless and in a bad state of mind too. But also sounds like the accused had at least one mark against him in this sorta sitch.
Kind of hard to form an opinion one way or another based off this.

Some facts on this case:
- He played the first tournament on my stake on day 1. Then, when I didn't allow any more, he:
a) Decided to transfer tourneys to the "other staker" without telling me.
b) Didn't tell me about his tournaments (and big score).
c) Lied by claiming he is playing 1-2 cash.

- On the last day he was down $3.5K and knew that the max was $5K and reported a $1700 loss at 1-2.

- He blocked me on facebook and didn't respond to my texts shortly after I left Vegas.

I think the circumstantial evidence speaks for itself. He lied to me and had no intention of paying back. He conceded he owed $18K and then cuts off all communication. He is a breakeven reg. He had a key to my room. Who do you think stole from me?

Read this twice. Ouch.