Pair of Alleged Poker Cheaters Reportedly Criss-Crossing Country, Racking Up Bans

A pair of alleged poker cheats are traveling the country targeting various rooms, accruing bans as they go, according to a Texas-based vlogger.

Anthony Martino, who said he’s playing poker in Austin these days, released a video on YouTube warning fellow players about the situation. He posted the content to TwoPlusTwo and Reddit in an attempt to spread the word about the alleged cheating scheme.

“Five years ago, I encountered some cheaters in the Tampa market,” he said. “They were just found here in Austin as well last night. They were able to catch them and ban them from the room.”

Martino identified the pair as Norberto Pardo and Yaiquel Mosqueda. Several other posters corroborated the stories of their poker cheating, citing various instances in locales across the country. Martino said they sometimes use fake names, and multiple players reported that one is easily identifiable via a “UFC” tattoo on the back of his head.

They’ve reportedly been banned at rooms from New Hampshire to Florida to Texas. Players said they’ve seen the two playing both pot-limit Omaha and no-limit hold’em cash games.

“They get banned from rooms, they move on to the next room,” Martino said.

How Alleged Poker Cheating Scheme Worked

Martino said the pair has used a pretty consistent modus operandi. Card-marking is at the center of the scheme.

The players allegedly maneuver to Seats 1 and 6. Sometimes, they would even pay other players at the table in exchange for the seats.

Then, they would engage in some garden-variety collusion, trapping players in between for multiple bets at times.

However, the pair have also been accused of marking the sides of cards. Martino said they marked the high cards near the corners, mid-valued cards in the middle, and the low cards not at all. Thus, they’d have an idea of whether high, low, or middle cards were going to hit the board. By having a spotter in Seat 1, they could estimate the values of the flop by reading the deck stub in the dealer’s hand.

“This seems most advantageous in PLO where they have eight cards between them and can know to fold premium hands likely to miss the board or play garbage hands likely to hit,” Martino wrote.

Cheating Scheme Reported in Five States

Martino and various other players reported seeing the pair throughout the state of Florida, and in four other states. Some rooms have banned them, but others may not have, and Martino said he hopes his content will publicize their faces and their scheme so that players in other rooms aren’t caught unaware.

Here’s a list of cities and/or rooms where players have reported seeing the pair:

• Tampa, Florida (Seminole Hard Rock)
• Austin, Texas (The Lodge, Texas Card House)
• Los Angeles, California (Commerce)
• Salem, New Hampshire (Chasers)
• Jacksonville, Florida (bestbet)
• Houston, Texas (Legends, Spades, Capri)
• Port Saint Lucie, Florida
• Melbourne, Florida (Club 52)
• Pompano Beach, Florida (Harrah’s)
• Miami, Florida (Miccosukee)

One poker results tracking site also lists a cash by a Norberto Pardo at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood in the Miami area. It’s unclear if this is the same player. Poker tournaments are obviously not conducive to the alleged scheme since the players can’t choose their seats.