Has anyone heard anything about this?

Received this link in an email....



Full Tilt needs to release the hand histories to all players that played vs TexasLimitKing that have requested to see them...
Feb 25th, 2009
submitted by Neverwin
I was contacted by Eric Crain today regarding a controversial issue that has been brought up numerous times over the years. Was TexasLimitKing playing fairly or was something else aiding his rapid success when the first nosebleed limits were added on Full Tilt Poker? It has been well documented that this player won anywhere from 3 million to 5 million dollars from the best heads up limit holdem players in the world in a very short period of time and then suddenly disappeared never to be seen again to this very day. Many valid pressing questions and issues have not been thoroughly answered and some completely ignored. To this very day I have zero knowledge that anyone other than full tilt security itself that has reviewed this issue. Without any outside authority or the players who played him themselves to investigate fair play, the skeptism will never cease to exist. With the retrieval of the hand histories made public to the players who have played him over thousands and thousands of hands I am very confident that the poker community can analyze this situation with great accuracy and assess beyond any doubt that he either played completely fair or was aided in some way unknown. When this finally happens, then and only then can we finally put this issue to rest and everyone who felt skeptical to ease once and for all.

Why am I bringing this up for the 4th time now? First lets take a look at the most recent emails with Eric Crain and full tilt just a few days ago....

This time through a series of emails politely requesting hand histories by Eric (account - jakz1010poker) from early 2006 from his play in the 500-1k and 1k-2k limits for o8 and limit holdem he was sent very conflicting emails regarding the status of retrieving his own hand histories. I will post the full conversation of the back and forth conflicting emails at the end of this blog. Before you read through the emails at the bottom I will summarize real quickly... As you read these emails you will be quite astonished by not only the resistance of releasing such information but how they at first claimed they cannot retrieve any hand histories prior to March 2007, then to claiming they will be available someday and will send them as soon as they can retrieve them and finally back to they will never be available at all and so forth...very interesting to say the least?

Now rewind back a few years ago when I asked them to investigate the heads up matches between my account - eastsideslim and Texaslimitking which took place around the middle of 2006 to late 2006 where I was beat for over 1 million dollars. There was also an infamous hand that was played between us that was also well documented all over the poker forums in the USA and also some bragging posts by TexasLimitKing himself in some Swedish forums when he called me with 4 high on a board of QQ662 where he held pocket 4's and I held pocket 3's. I remember the precise action after the flop of q62, he was on the button and I checked raised him on the flop and he called. The turn was the 6, I bet he called. The river was the Q and I bet again and he called. He can beat 2 hands, I would have to have exactly 2,3 or 33, and we would have chopped had I held 44 as well. Of course there are many plausible explanations, misclick, paying 2k for information. But now we have more than just a suspicious call that raises speculation that something else may have been going on. I will tell one more little tidbit. Prior to me losing to TexasLimitKing I had an undefeated record against any oppenent I had played at least 20,000 hands against. Of course today I cannot make that claim as there are many opponents who hold a winning record over me now with 20k+ hands. Over a 6 month period of time or so we had battled many many times logging in quite a large number of hours and hands before I finally was forced to quit him as I no longer had the bankroll to play him anymore.
Now with all that being said I don't recall if it was during our first match or second match, whatever match it was it was near the beginning where he was winning no more than 100k from me when he said something in the chat when looking back chronologically again leads me to believe something was not making sense. This was before the 4 high call when he said in the chat to me verbatim "I will play you everyday until one of us goes broke, I will never ever quit you". Of course not, why would he when he could never lose?

Fast forward over the next few months after he busted me and I gave up. David Benjamine then began 2 tabling him and was getting decimated every single time they played. I watched intently everyday and the continue onslaught that followed was almost surreal. You can see Benjamine very determined and frustrated that he could barely even book a win vs him but yet they kept battling day after day. One day TexasLimitKing decided to show off while he sat down with 1,000,000 on 2 tables of 1k-2k limit holdem as he once again destroyed David. I remember Phil Ivey trying to play him as well but again TexasLimitKing once again prevailed victorious. He also beat Patrick Antonious as well. I remember David being so stubborn and I heard he was talking about how he couldnt believe not one person was able to beat him. I also heard a rumor at one point David wanted to talk to me about TexasLimitKing but by the time I finally saw David at bellagio one day it was too late. TexasLimitKing had already vanished completely from the site. Everyone who lost bewildered how this 19 year old swedish kid who had some previous experience playing on Ub and Crpto prior to dominating at Full tilt. Lots of rumors floating around about how he not only dominated the best in the game at the time but he completely owned their souls. At this point nobody really wanted to talk to me at all about this intriguing situation.

Now lets look at this issue by playing devils advocate. In limit holdem it is very easy to run like god for a short period of time. Another rumor I heard was he was some boy genius with a super sick high IQ, was a member on MENSA and some other things as "proof" of how intelligent he was. Now we all know intelligence is only one of many attributes one needs to be able to be successful in poker. Is it possible he played a fair game, ran hot and dominated the best in the game? Yes, of course. Are my intentions of writing this so I can receive some sort of reimbursement for cheating or compensation...yes of course that would be one of many reasons. I have questioned this many many times when I had very little money or when I had plenty of money, however my financial situation was irrelevant and moot, there is only one answer that I am seeking. And there is a very simple solution to get to that answer. I asked full tilt to review all the hand histories. Full Tilt has informed me several times on several occasions that after a very throrough examination and investigation that it has been concluded that only fair play was involved and that the use of any program or software was not melatiously used as an aid while playing. Thats great! Well if thats true then full tilt should have no problem retrieving those hand histories so that a third party can review them as well, and since they have already reviewed them then they should certainly have them in a file somewhere.

I am not only talking for myself here but for every other player that was beat by TexasLimitKing for any amount of money. In fact all the hand histories for the entire lifetime of the account should be available for the public to see. For the integrity of full tilt poker and online poker I cannot find one single reason to withold such information unless there is something to hide. If everything is on the up and up please release hand histories of my play with him to me directly to my email account. And if other people who played him and lost please contact full tilt now regarding this issue so I can finally be silenced once and for all.

Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf

More info:

To: "eric crain" <xxxxx>
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2009, 10:15 PM


Hello Eric,

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with any additional information.

As previously explained by my colleague, due to the elapsed amount of time from
2006 to 2009, we are actually unable to provide any hands prior to March of
2007. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

We are happy to provide any Hand Histories after March 2007, at your request.

Please understand, any further correspondence regarding this subject will
receive a similar response.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation. If you have any other questions, please
feel free to email us. We're always here to help.

Regards,

Jolan
Full Tilt Poker Support

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
When what hand histories become available? I was told that they would never be
available. Is this the case or will I someday soon be able to get my hand
histories prior to 2007? Do you mean to tell me that you do not have hands prior
to March 2007 on record? Please stop with the generic emails with the company
line and send me a real, informative email.

--- On Fri, 2/20/09, Full Tilt Poker - Support
<support@fulltiltpoker.com> wrote:

From: Full Tilt Poker - Support <support@fulltiltpoker.com>
Subject: Re: hand histories (KMM10549320I15977L0KM)
To: "eric crain" <xxxxxx>
Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 3:45 AM


Hello Eric,

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

As stated in the previous correspondent, with regards to your inquiry, please
note that we are unfortunately not able to
provide you any hands after March of 2007 due to the elapsed amount of time
from 2006 to 2009. We
sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

As previously mentioned, we will send you the requested hand histories once
they become available.

If there's anything else we can help you with in the meantime, please feel
free to ask. We're always here to help.

Regards,

Shijun
Full Tilt Poker Support

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
When what hand histories become available? I was told that they would never be
available. Is this the case or will I someday soon be able to get my hand
histories prior to 2007? Do you mean to tell me that you do not have hands prior
to March 2007 on record? Please stop with the generic emails with the company
line and send me a real, informative email.

--- On Fri, 2/20/09, Full Tilt Poker - Support
<support@fulltiltpoker.com> wrote:

From: Full Tilt Poker - Support <support@fulltiltpoker.com>
Subject: Re: hand histories (KMM10549320I15977L0KM)
To: "eric crain" <xxxxxx>
Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 3:45 AM


Hello Eric,

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

As stated in the previous correspondent, with regards to your inquiry, please
note that we are unfortunately not able to
provide you any hands after March of 2007 due to the elapsed amount of time
from 2006 to 2009. We
sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

As previously mentioned, we will send you the requested hand histories once
they become available.

If there's anything else we can help you with in the meantime, please feel
free to ask. We're always here to help.

Regards,

Shijun
Full Tilt Poker Support


Original Message Follows: ------------------------

But why? It seems that a a pokersite of your size would have the capacity to
provide hand histories as far back as I wanted. Pokerstars recently provided me
with hand histories dating back to 2005, while Absolute gave me hand histories
back to 2004. All I am looking for are hand histories from June 2006 on. Most
notably of those played at the $500-1000 or $1000-2000 level of limit holdem or
limit omaha hi/lo split. Playing these big stakes, it seems that these hands
would be archived, and thus available to me - somebody who is considered a high
stakes player and an appreciated customer on your site. It makes no sense that
these hand histories would be unavailable. Sites have huge databases backing up
and saving all virtual hands that are played on the sites. This is done in
order
to assure the safest, most respected play possible. Even if it isn't the
case, it would appear that you have something to hide by NOT providing me with
the hand histories. Please explain this further to me. If your response
isn't sufficient, I will share this information with the rest of the poker
playing community via forums such as 2+2 and PocketFives. I'm sure they
would be interested to know that Full Tilt Poker will not give out old hand
histories, even when it is obviously clear that these hands have not magically
'disappeared'. Thank you and have a nice day.

--- On Thu, 2/19/09, Full Tilt Poker - Support
<support@fulltiltpoker.com> wrote:

From: Full Tilt Poker - Support <support@fulltiltpoker.com>
Subject: Re: hand histories (KMM10527515I15977L0KM)
To: "eric crain" <xxxxxx>
Date: Thursday, February 19, 2009, 2:30 PM


Hello Eric,

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

I would like to apologize for the huge mis understanding regarding your Hand
History request made on January 1, 2009.

Due to the elapsed amount of time from 2006 to 2009, we are actually unable to
provide any hands after March of 2007. I would like to extend my apologies for
this mis information and any inconvenience this has caused.

We are happy to provide any Hand Histories after March 2007, at your request.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation. If you have any other questions, please
feel free to email us. We're always here to help.

Regards,

Sherri
Full Tilt Poker Support

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember never to give out your password or enter
account details over the Internet. Full Tilt Poker staff will
never ask you for your password. For your security, always
keep this information a secret.

Learn, Chat, and Play with the Pros at Full Tilt Poker
----------------------------------------------------------------------




Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Can you give out these hand histories yet? Any why wouldn't you be able to?

--- On Thu, 1/15/09, Full Tilt Poker - Support
<support@fulltiltpoker.com> wrote:

From: Full Tilt Poker - Support <support@fulltiltpoker.com>
Subject: Re: hand histories (KMM9940717I15977L0KM)
To: "eric crain" <xxxxx>
Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009, 10:38 AM


Hello Eric,

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

With regards to your inquiry, please note that we are unfortunately not able to
provide you an estimated time frame on when this service will be available. We
sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

As previously mentioned, we will send you the requested hand histories once
they become available.

If there's anything else we can help you with in the meantime, please feel
free to ask. We're always here to help.

Regards,

Calvin
Full Tilt Poker Support

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember never to give out your password or enter
account details over the Internet. Full Tilt Poker staff will
never ask you for your password. For your security, always
keep this information a secret.

Learn, Chat, and Play with the Pros at Full Tilt Poker
----------------------------------------------------------------------




Original Message Follows: ------------------------

when will they be available?

--- On Thu, 1/15/09, Full Tilt Poker - Support
<support@fulltiltpoker.com> wrote:

From: Full Tilt Poker - Support <support@fulltiltpoker.com>
Subject: Re: hand histories (KMM9923125I15977L0KM)
To: "eric crain" <xxxxxxx>
Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009, 2:31 AM


Hello Eric,

Thanks for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

Unfortunately, the hand histories you've requested are unavailable at this
time. We're sorry for any inconvenience.

The hand histories you requested will be sent to you once they become
available.

We appreciate your patience, and if there's anything else we can assist you
with, please let us know.

Regards,

Anthony
Full Tilt Poker Support

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember never to give out your password or enter
account details over the Internet. Full Tilt Poker staff will
never ask you for your password. For your security, always
keep this information a secret.

Learn, Chat, and Play with the Pros at Full Tilt Poker
----------------------------------------------------------------------




Original Message Follows: ------------------------

Wow. Why not? When will my hand histories be available?

--- On Wed, 1/14/09, Full Tilt Poker - Support
<support@fulltiltpoker.com> wrote:

From: Full Tilt Poker - Support <support@fulltiltpoker.com>
Subject: Re: hand histories (KMM9877710I15977L0KM)
To: "eric crain" <xxxxxxx>
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 10:37 AM


Hello Eric,

Thank you for writing to Full Tilt Poker Support.

Unfortunately, we're currently unable to provide you with any hand
histories prior to March 17, 2007. We hope to provide this service in the near
future and we apologize for any inconvenience.

If there's anything else we can help you with, please feel free to ask.
We're always here to help.

Regards,

Ken
Full Tilt Poker Support

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember never to give out your password or enter
account details over the Internet. Full Tilt Poker staff will
never ask you for your password. For your security, always
keep this information a secret.

Learn, Chat, and Play with the Pros at Full Tilt Poker
----------------------------------------------------------------------




Original Message Follows:
------------------------
I am looking for some old hand histories. In 2006, I played a lot of 500-1000
and 1000-2000 omaha hi/lo split. I would like all of my 2006 hand histories for
these particular games. Thank you very much. I am Eric Crain, jakz101poker

always thought it was odd Texaslimitking won a ton of money and went south to never be seen again on FTP!

while playing some $100/$200 HORSE at The Rio during the WSOP two summers ago, a guy--who seemed very certain of his source--mentioned that FTP had caught TLK superusering or the like and cut a deal with him that he could keep the money if he disappeared, hence eliminating the potential bad press... always thought it was bs, which is why i never posted it, but i guess now is a good time to mention it.

cliff notes:

- TexasLimitKing runs insanely well on HU LHE
- TLK beats all previous HS winners (eg Benyamine, Ivey, et al) on FT heads up
- High limit player (Neverwin) attempts in vain to retrive hh from FT from 06 (FT can only provide from March 07 onwards), even after repeated requests
- TLK is never to be seen again

Since there doesn't seem to be much point in speaking to Full Tilt again maybe you should try the Alderney Gambling Control Commission who should have jurisdiction over the matter. One of their puposes is "Investigating complaints by aggrieved players".

http://www.gamblingcontrol.org/index.php?page=5

1) absolute domination
2) impossible call
3) over the top boast
4) swede
5) vanishes without trace

= hello another scandal!

Not sure why the post shows Eric Crain requesting Hand histories instead of Neverwin.

But all the information seems rather intriguing.

FT really can't provide HHs prior to 07??

I propose OP asks exactly what happens to histories prior to the date they give. Whether they are deleted, archived in storage etc. If the answer is anything other than deleted (and I'd be amazed if they delete them) FT need to give a reason for having that rule, because it seems to make no sense at all.

I don't think he beat Ivey actually, I have almost 10,000 hands on TLK where he broke even playing mainly against Ivey who he was down money to. I believe he was also down $300k to PA. Here's the graph.



I very much doubt he was cheating, just think he had a pretty big edge on neverwin and Benyamine. As I remember it he beat everyone for months until Ivey started playing him heads up every day, he found he couldn't beat Ivey and stopped playing so much soon after.

I did ask where the hand histories were. They gave me another vague, company line telling me they were simply unavailable. Then told me that I would recieve a similar email if I asked about it again. You are right though - it doesn't make any sense at all. Why wouldn't the provide me with the hand histories unless there was something to hide?

what happened at ftp on march 17, 2007? that is literally the day before i started playing there

http://www.team.asteriapoker.com/profile/user/147758/

Yawn. TLK actually lost quite a bit back after going on his huge runup. He cashed out the rest and now owns a factory in Greece.

I'm surprised there's still any question about the 44 hand. The board double paired on the river and the two guys like to play at lightning speed. It's not hard to plan to call any river several hours into a HU match.

There are a lot of strong HU LHE players out there these days. TLK is one of them. He enjoyed quite a bit of success on crypto as well, although he lost to Erik and Lager HU for a while before finally doing well against them.

Going to take a stab in the dark and say that you aren't flush with cash right now.

Protecting a player's privacy would be a strong reason not to provide the hand histories to any sore loser thinking online poker is rigged. I'm only a low-limit donk, so I don't care, but I image if I were a nosebleeds player, I would strongly object to my poker site publicising my hand histories.
But then that's not what FTP is saying in these e-mails, which is sort of strange.