Lol. Honestly, what benefit do you think it is of his to be a mod of 2+2? "Zmog! What will my folks think of me if I lose my volunteer job position at 2+2? Oh the horror... I better quickly whip something up before they demote me."

having a green name obv

it doesn't matter what value we put on it, what matter is what value ike & shaun put on it.

and he did not "whip anything up". that confession is worded in a very,very specific & careful way. have another looksie.

Fair enough. I guess I just assumed that his contract precluded him from commenting on it during the investigation somehow. Maybe Ike can clarify this.

I said nothing about the ethics of him not reporting it, not sure why you're putting words in my mouth. My post was simply an acknowledgment of how reasonable I took his explanation of why he didn't post earlier.

I do think it is good the Ike admitted he should have acted differently and will in the future, didnt Chicago Joey say in his podcast that this stuff happens and it just is how it is at the high stakes levels and that he wouldnt tell on a friend if knew about this kind of thing happening ?

It is definitely an issue that Ike knew about this and played in the games knowing BH was playing on the account.. I doubt he did it for an edge but he definitely did it to get action he wouldnt have otherwise got

No ****, but since you think he only responded because "his modship is in question" than what do you suppose that value is?

You said he had no interest until you put heat on his modship 72 hours ago, lol, so that's him whipping something up, apparently.

wasn't my doing, it was everybody who posted in both threads and some of the posts got some particular people's attention.

i'm surprised you don't see how carefully he worded that post. you do realize stars may have had to approve it. stars was not going to let him lie to make himself look better. you know the post is actually quite vague. he never explicitly stated he asked stars to "allow" him to comment, but they took a long time in responding & that is why there was a delay on his part. he never said that. re-reread the post.

yeah, i think the mod stuff matters to ike & to shaun. they have been site for years & years. i think they still value it or value not being de-modded.

Why do you guys think anyone at the table thought he was a fish by the time Ike knew? The account had been going for months..... pretty sure anyone with a brain (or a HUD) figured out it wasn't NH in a few sessions. Prob didn't think it was Brian, but had to know it wasn't a fish. The numbers don't lie.

I read his post; I read how it was worded. I can also appreciate why you'd feel it would be a difficult task to write a post in the manner he did. Regardless, none of that is the real issue at hand, so why not place your efforts toward something actually relevant to the situation?

You may be misunderstanding at least one of the pertinent questions regarding Isaac Haxtons moderator status. One is more about 2+2's role and decisions in helping obtain accountability, help in providing and demanding ethics which will ensure a safe and productive community and helping preserve or obtain integrity of the games in the poker industry from which they derive their existence.

2+2 allowing someone that colluded with a cheat and deliberately allowed colleagues(other Poker Stars Pros) Customers of the company he was employed by and reportedly friends to be cheated to continue a form of official representation does not appear to put the communities best interest first. It is symbolic. If symbolism did not have relevance Isaac Haxton would not be in this situation because he would not be employed by Poker Stars.
col·lude (kə-lo͞od′)
intr.v. col·lud·ed, col·lud·ing, col·ludes
To act together, often in secret, to achieve an illegal or improper purpose:

wow!

you got game, sir

Citanul when was the last time you were involved in playing online poker?

It sounds like not for a long time.

If im wrong I guess you're a high stakes pro given what appears to be your line of reasoning/flapping.

losing his modship could be the first domino going down. For someone who appeals to aspiring grinders, regs, serious players foremost (but doesnt really appeal to the rec player imo) losing his green on the biggest poker forum in the world because his credibility is in question could be quite detrimental. not to mention every poker outlet would report on him losing his modship for 'involvement' with cheating.

so he might wanna try to defend that domino from falling.

What % did you swap?

Yes, let's see. Oops, I'm a bit too slow, as usual. He responded, so I'll just stfu and let him speak for himself.

Id be surprised if he cared even a lil bit about losing his modship, and if so it probably really isnt much

So everything i said checks out regarding Ike responding ONLY when you have been caught with your hand in the cookie jar (like your Buddy Bonomo). Do you understand that some of us play/invest serious money in online poker in hope of winning on a level playing field? I personally have lost fairly big amounts of money playing/backing others against the NH acc and you KNEW it wasn't a "whale" but in fact one of the best players in the world BH when you're an ambassador for Stars..AND sit in the same game playing like everything is cool!!?? WTF man, are you serious!!?? I accept that i won't get a F---ing penny back but have some balls and resign from Stars at least. You're nobodys ****ing ambassador anymore.

Ike could you tell us why you didnt tell Stars about your knowledge in early May?Any reasons behind it?
Also,your relationship with stars is restraining you to say what you think in your posts,right?I know that no one rejects free money,but would you just consider leaving stars as a pro not because of the Multiaccounting scandal-just because you can say wha you want-or the money they give you as a pro is too sweet so you will be censured no matter what?Just an example-look at Vicky Coren-she left without any scandal to occur-she was just not pleased with some new ''innovations''-that is how a normal person should react-but I know that you wont,will you?
I am just asking questions,not attacking you.

What are Pokerstars reviewing/investigating about the Noel Hays account?

They can't be investigating whether a VPN was used as they can't detect that.
Sure, some people will say that there are ways that it can be detected, but if Stars admit that they can detect it then they are therefore admitting that they have been negligent all this time.
Hardly good for a regulated company.

Does this whole scenario not cast a hell of alot more doubt over Hastings vs Isildur

Sure, everyone knows there was a datamining, but potential multiaccounting or 2 or 3 players vs Isildur?

Ultimately Hastings is a cheater.

Wait, so I'm supposed to get 2+2 books for modding?

Silver linings.

"Similarly: Ike doesn't owe 2p2 an explanation. He doesn't owe "the community" an explanation.

He's a high stakes professional sponsored player with potentially large swings in his future earnings on the line in this investigation. You're, by and large, a bunch of witch hunting micro stakes players or US locked out players, who don't know the facts from his point of view. What you want is, and should be, pretty irrelevant to him (and possibly to the whole universe). "

Your ignorance is likely incurable that you thought it okay to post the above and then come back with a long winded defense of the same. You absolutely are stuck in a bubble and clearly incapable of logic or fairness on this.

Ike is intelligent, Ike is fantastic, Ike is a HS reg, Ike is a 2+2 mod like me and we are smart and logical and low post counts and micro players are below us no matter what. I love Ike. I love Ike. I love Ike. I think I'm a bit like Ike. I hope Ike thinks the same. I love Ike. These things are your hard on. These things are also irrelevant in the discussion of this whole scandal so stop letting them cloud your views.

He is 100% answerable and culpable and if he has any special status it is that he is more answerable and culpable than everyone else, especially to those outside the HS community.

Yes, I agree with this.

He deserves credit for speaking and showing remorse etc. It was the 1st positive step from anyone involved in this whole disgusting affair. He still has a lot to answer though and any cred given will obviously be removed if he & PS think he can just continue being a pro as before having admitted condoning and turning a blind eye to cheating that he himself was also in a position to benefit from.

I think it will happen though. I think he will answer everything and continue to do everything to distance himself and accept responsibility going forward. I believe he is capable of it and deserves the chance to do this. If PS are not as forthcoming then that will be the Q for any sponsored pros who truly want to clean the game up to leave them behind.

The first thing anyone who gets caught does is show remorse.

Apart from Hastings.

How about I make my POV a bit clearer:

Hastings owes this thread, and 2p2, no explanation. He also does not owe an explanation to anyone who has been, is, or will be, a paying customer of any service he has sold or chooses to sell in the future.

Does that make it clearer for you?

We don't live in some tribunal law society. They have responsibilities to the law, their professional agreements, various communities, and to their consciences (as well any responsibility to themselves to continue to be able to make money). But some of those responsibilities are more pressing, more forced, and will win out when there is a conflict.

My belief about Ike is that when he was able to post, he would. Not because (lol) he would stand to lose his glorious mod-ship if he did not. But because over many years of posting he has proven that he is not one to avoid commenting on sticky situations. I don't want to put words in Ike's mouth since he is capable of talking to his motives himself, but I believe he frequently acts in ways that prove he is not purely driven by self-interest.

My belief about Stinger is not similar. I believe that by and large he acts driven by self-interest first, even when that interest is at conflict with the law or professional agreements.

Regarding mod-ship: that's a decision for the management of 2p2, and ike, to make. But, I think it's pretty hilarious seeing comments with things like "every poker media outlet will pick up the story of Ike losing his moderator status!" Like, first off, no? But second off, which of those do you think matter? I'm assuming we can agree there's not going to be a portion of November 9 broadcast where they break down all the scandals of the past year's online poker. Does Bluff or Cardplayer print edition still exist? Do you think (if they do) that they'd run even a 1 paragraph story about that? Seems unlikely, to me.

Regarding collusion: that's something for Stars, and any concerned legal entities, to work out. When they are done working it out, it's very unlikely they would make a comment on it (from historic evidence of similar non-comment). I'm assuming that at some point, Ike would be able to comment on such an investigation, but I don't know.

Regarding the mob/witch hunt: this insult is easily supported by the fact that the people driving the discussion in this thread seamlessly went from "omg he's not talking, must be guilty if he's ducking commenting!" to "now that you've admitted wrongdoing, we'll without evidence start accusing you of having swaps and/or pieces of Hastings' play when you believed him to have an unfair advantage!"

I've also realized I might have been missing a valid point: that the community in conjunction with the management of 2p2 could in fact say "if Ike doesn't comment on this situation when legally/contractually allowed, he shouldn't be allowed to 'represent' 2p2," as opposed to what many people seem to be implying which is "as a 'famous' person we have access to, and feel some ownership over, Ike owes us an explanation," (which would hold for Stinger, though the first would not). That's not totally unreasonable, but is basically up to 2p2.

Final note: the distinction between "relationship" and "contract" when Ike talks about Stars. What other relationship do you think he has? He's obviously talking about being a sponsored pro and the requirements/obligations of same. He's not like, PokerStars's brother in law.

Edit to add: UWantMyGame -- you make clear and coherent points. I think you and I disagree on which pieces of symbolism add up to why a poker site might want to sponsor a player, and what tradeoffs they would be willing to make, but otherwise, I agree with you. Similarly, with 2p2 and mod stuff.