Cliffs at the bottom.

I'm sure I will take heat because I was just involved in a different scam, but I'm staking people for live poker, I just accepted a bunch of new applications, and it comes with the territory.

The Story:

Oddly enough, a poster informs me that they sent me a PM in Pure_Aggressions PG&C.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...postcount=1869

I'm not going to dig up the PM because I got a ton around that time for staking and I might have deleted it anyways. But he explains his situation and asks for staking. I give him my Skype and we talk on there.


[9/16/2013 2:21:36 PM] Daniel: Hey Kydd. We don't know one another (well I've played in PA against you three handed 10/25plo)... But I was wondering if you'd be interested in talking to me about joining your team. I'm an ex PLO HU pro that gave up on poker after black friday. But was very successful prior to that. I've dabbled here and there in live poker, but now I'd like to turn that into a full time gig again. I've had quite a bit of success live, but with my prior engagements, was unable to travel. Now the time has come that I have all the time in the world, just would like to have a backer.

[9/16/2013 2:21:53 PM] Daniel: Hi Chad Power, I'd like to add you as a contact. Daniel

[9/16/2013 2:23:21 PM] *** Chad Power has shared contact details with Daniel. ***

[9/16/2013 2:25:18 PM] Chad Power: I don't recognize you in the picture, send me one and I'll see if I remember playing with you.
I have a staking application online, but in the wake of all the dhcg bull**** I've lost interest in staking people who are playing in different casinos than I am.

[9/16/2013 2:25:38 PM | Edited 2:25:46 PM] Chad Power: So if you want to tell me a little about what you're looking for from my end, then I'm listening

[9/16/2013 2:27:16 PM] Daniel: I'm unfamiliar with the dchg situation. I don't typically follow the whole poker community. What casino's are you playing at? I'm looking into Detroit and Cinci (considering those have ridiculous PLO action nowadays) and possibly Hammond's Horseshoe.

[9/16/2013 2:28:28 PM] Daniel: Basically, not sure if you're familiar with online poker much (I honestly don't know your background)... but I'm Flapjack1270 from ultimate bet and absolute poker. I was murdered by DOJ on black friday for well over 7 figures that I'll never see again.

[9/16/2013 2:32:11 PM] Daniel: So I gave up on poker after that and just travelled with my girlfriend (now ex). And settled down in Chicago and did the respectable job thing for a few years. Now that I'm not tied down to anyone or anything, I'd like to get into poker fulltime again. I only play PLO, so I'd want to travel to cities that offer a consistent game of it. Detroit, Cinci, Hammond, (maybe Vegas but I heard it's only 1/3 that runs consistently and thats a little low for my liking)... Let me see if I can't find a picture that you might recognize. It was a short session, we played with a guy named Sean (whom you later played against in the round by round game with The Counselor. I played the 5/5 game during that time.


I vaguely remembered playing with him in Pittsburgh once. The conversation continued with us talking about the specifics of my expectations in staking etc. I was suspicious of his story, but ultimately, as long as he could make me money I didn't even care. We made plans for him to come to Maryland for a week.

On Oct 18th he came to my house. I gave him some money to play and see how things worked out. This isn't my standard, but since he was claiming to be a HSPLO grinder, I felt like there was nothing I could coach him with and it was all about him showing me he was who he says he was.

First night he losses 300bb. He comes back to my place and drinks all the beer my other horse had bought without asking him.

The next day him and I played a session together and he was terrible. Super loose/passive no concept of math or preflop hand strength. He loses another 300bb. I move him down in stakes now that I've seen him play, and ask him not to play until I begin to coach him. He plays the next day anyways loses 200bb and it was a misunderstanding.

We have a coaching session, he loses 300bb the next day (300bb is stoploss). I am sleeping when he comes home, but he wakes me up and tells me the game is super good and if he pays me his makeup now can he keep playing. I'm thinking "wtf" but I just woke up and I just want him to gtfo so he writes me a check for $4k, and I give him $2k more. When he was writing the check my gut kept telling me to ask him to show me his bank account, but I didn't do it just because it was awkward. Instead, I asked if he had the money in his account and he scoffed and just said of course. He goes back to the casino and wins 200bb.

This Is Where The story Gets Interesting:

I come home from playing and I hear someone in the shower upstairs. It's Dan, which is weird because he was staying right by the downstairs shower and no one was using it.

He leaves to go play, and doesn't come back that night. He had played some long sessions before so I didn't think much of it. Marathon session. A few days pass, we don't see him in the poker room and no one can get a hold of him. We begin to worry. One of my horses searches the woods behind the house, but doesn't find him. After four days, I decided to filing a police report for a missing persons and also contact his parents to see if they had heard from him.

Just before I called the police, I got a text from a horse saying he had defriended me on Facebook. So I chalk it up as a scam and I come home. The reason I hadn't already assumed scam is because he had left all of his stuff in his room.

So, when I got home my horses and I went through his stuff. We found some really suspicious stuff. A notepad with multiple names written down. All generic names which we thought could be multiple identities. However, we also had multiple copies of his birth certificate, so probably not fake identities. There was AA info, GA info, multiple phones, sim cards, USB drives, his laptop, and a bunch of junk and notes.

I couldn't get into his laptop, but the sim cards and USBs had all kinds of encryption/hacker information and software on them.

At some point in the basement we were talking about when we saw him last, and the last time he was at my house is when he took the shower upstairs. It clicked in my head. I went up to my room and $10k-$15k was missing.

I contacted people he had written down in his notebook, and apparently they are all people he has scammed. The one guy said he tried to get a hold of me. Dan had stolen stuff off of him and then sold it to get to Maryland.

Two days later, Dan shows up to the house. He says he freaked out after dutsing off all the money. I told him I went through his stuff, he understood. He claimed he didn't blow any money in the pit, and he didn't take money out of my room. He asked if he could do a load of laundry. I said yes, and I never let him leave my sight. He left the house while the laundry was in and never came back. I have not seen or heard from him in a month. All his stuff is still sitting at my house.

A week or two after that I'm getting $100 blackjack match plays in the mail in his name.


Cliffs:
-Dan Harner aka Flapjack1270 contacted me for staking saying he played nosebleeds PLO and lost it all on black Friday.
-He wasn't good at poker.
-He likely stole $10k-$15k off me along with dusting off around $6k and writing me a bad check for $4k.
-He left without saying anything and all his stuff still resides at my house.
-I went through the stuff and the suspected super user has encryption software/info on USBs and sim cards that he left here.

Is there a reason you didn't call the cops when you realized 10-15k was missing?

Crazy story... The weirdest part is where you determine he is terrible at poker and then request that he moves down in stakes while still playing on your roll.

Intentionally giving someone a bad check is a crime. I am pretty certain it is a felony in just about any state. You should look into pursuing charges.


Edit: keep the check for the cops. Mention the stolen cash and all of the other stuff too, but the check is solid evidence of a crime.

I remember him being awful at plo, bad investment

I forgot to mention that I did call the cops and file a police report. He basically said there was nothing they could do because
1. It was a civil matter since I gave him some money initially
2. No one actually saw him take the money from my room
3. I showed him the check without know it was a felony to knowingly write a bad check and the cop just blew off the check and said there was nothing he could do with all the stuff. He didn't look into it very hard imo.

I just assumed I'd turn him into a winner. Not hard to beat live poker.

I find it pretty odd..

He didn't asked you to wash his back when he was taking a shower.

shoulda known after this..

Am I reading it right, that the guy Dan who robbed you came back to your house, and you let him do laundry? ..........he robbed you, he came back... and you didn't even hit him over the head a few times with a baseball bat or anything? You just let him wash his clothes?.....................???

Ya. What am I supposed to do? Beat him up? Hold his dirty clothes hostage? At the time I just viewed him as a sick degen and I have a good friend who is a CEO who degened off everything so I sympathized a bit.
Now that I have all the facts, there is more malicious/devious intent than realized at the time. In person he was a very nice quite guy.

I obviously played this situation horribly. I just posted this for the awareness. I'm sure he will ask someone else for staking, and I hope that person has read this thread before they consider any transaction with him.

I don't understand letting him do laundry either, with or without keeping an eye on him.

Yeah, cops are lazy as hell and like to blow off clear cut felonies so that they won't have to do paperwork. No, I don't mean that as a joke.

No doubt the guy must know that intentionally passing a bad check for over $1,000 is a felony in MD, punishable by up to 15 years in prison (source: I googled "passing bad checks maryland" and read some rando defense lawyer's site).

If you want to make trouble for him and don't mind spending money to do so, I would guess this is your best course of action:

1. call the police and inform them that someone scammed you by intentionally giving you a bad $4K check in exchange for cash, and that you know this is a felony in MD

2. if that doesn't work, try contacting the local prosecutor

3. if that doesn't work, consult with a local attorney (i.e. a guy who knows the local prosecutor) and ask him what your best course of action would be

I am sure the police/prosecutor can just blow it off and tell you it looks like a civil matter. But if they want to/feel like it, they can pursue felony charges. You might have to give money to an attorney to get anything done. Unless you know someone yourself, or on the off chance a government employee feels like doing their job...

Was the check written on a closed account? Or was it NSF?

If an actual police officer or attorney can chime in, you might get some good free advice. I am just telling you what I would try. I am no expert.

laundry thing is pretty funny. i would make sure he didn't **** w/ your computers (if u play online)

Can you elaborate on the sim cards, encryption stuff?

Did he rub your head?

I bet he used too much fabric softener too

you're waaaaaaay to naive to be in the kind of business that you're in. it's almost to the point where i have a hard time believing the story. wow...
hope you get your monies back asap, but more importantly that the thief gets what he deserves! gl!!
(trend: scammers really like using other people's showers.)

edit: what a premonition!
edit2: a simple google search of his username gave me very good indications to stay away from him. several respected players confirmed he sucked, many claimed the account is suspicious. what was your reaction when he said he was a plo hu pro that lost over a million dollars to black friday? did you just take his word for it? speechless.

You have to admire these scumbags of the poker world, they have some balls.

When I was 11 I stole a football out of someones garden while walking home from school a guy came out and shouted at me but I ran off with the ball, I am 25 now and haven't been back down that street since.

For some reason I couldn't stop laughing at the parts where you mentioned him drinking your friends beer, got your friend to look in the woods and the laundry stuff.

Odd story.

ahh....Yes. I understand that everyone is different, but i've seen people do some vicious things over amounts of money 10x less than this.

it's honestly kind of mind boggling that you allow a stranger into your home, he disappears with $15,000+ of your money, then when the thief shows up on your doorstep you let him do some laundry.

honestly, in your shoes (and im not a terribly violent person) the first thing that would occur to me would be:

-tell him i was worried about him, quite happy he is OK
-keep him at my house, mention nothing about the missing money until 2 or 3 people i called show up
-this is when the missing $15,000 gets brought up. and he gets a ****ing lesson beaten into him.

also, he pays you back every dollar he can get his hands on.

when he came back to your house OP, you were in a great position to make this happen.

There aren't many situations where violence is the answer, and this isn't even close to being one of them

OP do you think he read the DHCG and saw you as an easy mark?

Anyone willing to offer OP staking coaching?

Wow at this. Flapjack has long been suspect. The encryption/hacking description is a bit vague?