Gossip Column: Has Bryn Kenney Been Running a Cheating Ring on GGPoker? Martin Zamani Reveals Gruesome Details on Doug Polk’s Podcast

A storm of accusations has been blowing through the poker community ever since Alex Foxen outed Ali Imsirovic for cheating on April 18. Three days later, the focus shifted to an even bigger target.

Things took a nastier turn on Thursday when Martin Zamani accused the #1 ranked player on the All-Time Money List, Bryn Kenney, of running a cheating ring on GGPoker.

Zamani, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and WSOPC ring holder dished out a series of damning accusations on Twitter. After that, on a podcast with Doug Polk, he spilled out sordid details about Kenney’s alleged cheating operations that got our heads spinning. Talks of shamans, frog poison, psychics, cult leader behavior, and much more honestly make the cheating allegations look relatively tame in comparison.

Before we get to the crux of what went down in the podcast, let us recap how the cheating controversy has snowballed over the past few days.

Alex Foxen Accuses Ali Imsirovic of Cheating

It all started when Alex Foxen took to Twitter to accuse Bosnian-American Ali Imsirovic of cheating during the recent PokerGO Super High Roller Bowl Europe in North Cyprus. Foxen also claimed that Imsirovic had been banned from GGPoker for employing Real-Time Assistance and using other unfair means to benefit his horses.

Justin Bonomo Joins the Chorus Claiming to Have Lost Over $1 Million on GGPoker

Just days after Foxen’s accusations stirred the poker community, Justin Bonomo joined the cheating chatter claiming he had been hoodwinked out of over $1 Million while playing on GGPoker.

In a series of tweets posted on April 18, Bonomo talked about the infamous banning of accounts by GGPoker back in September 2020 and how he believes he lost his money to an online poker cheat in that scandal. Though he did not explicitly reveal who the cheat was, he strongly hinted at Jake Schindler being the infamous ‘Ja’ – one of the biggest cheats in the scandal.

Martin Zamani Makes Damning Accusations of Bryn Kenney Running a Cheating Ring on GGPoker

The biggest revelation (yet) of this cheating scandal came on Thursday when Martin Zamani, in a series of tweets, accused Bryn Kenney of running a large-scale cheating operation on GGPoker.

There was a specific time me and his horse were on a same table in a 10K plo 6 max on party and he played both accounts. Any type of arguing with Bryn would be faced with gaslighting that I’m not open minded and he’s trying to help us. That’s why he sent me to a shaman.

— Martin Zamani (@martin_zamani) April 21, 2022

The last time I got ft of something on GG I torched it and BK told me I had to text Sergi my downstairs neighbor/coach for my fts. Guy is the most insane and runs a bigger ghosting operation then anyone. All his coaches were coached by Giraf and Mark Herm.

— Martin Zamani (@martin_zamani) April 21, 2022

A month later after realizing sergi wouldn’t pay, he goes your back on the team get to salving away. He doesn’t even give you immediate chops when your winning. If you wins $25k /; 500K+ in ur stake but a 50K is coming, you gotta risk your stake profit and if you say nty. Welp gl

— Martin Zamani (@martin_zamani) April 21, 2022

Mark Herm was to ghost everyone of any Fts of anyone he coached.If you’ve been playing on GG you’ve been getting cheated in more ways then you can imagine.On top of it all this piece of shit Bryn is making a poker site and asking his friends to take mortgages out to invest in it

— Martin Zamani (@martin_zamani) April 21, 2022

Guy could legit not be a bigger piece of shit. If you had an agency with Bryn you probably had it stolen from you and had to say nothing. I know 10s+ of people who Bryn said sign ppl up, they did. Then all of a sudden hey man you don’t have enough whales I’m taking your agency.

— Martin Zamani (@martin_zamani) April 21, 2022

Ftr I’ve alway been a horse who tries to help my backers. I won a 215 on stars for $65k off stake while 200k in makeup and just gave it to him/ toward my stake as a sign of good will while I was totally busto. You let me know any other toxic people who have done that before.

— Martin Zamani (@martin_zamani) April 21, 2022

There was so much to unpack in Zamani’s tweets that a Twitter user asked Doug Polk to make a video on it. Never one to back away from controversies, in less than 24 hours, Polk posted a YouTube video on his channel with Zamani.

The podcast is over an hour long, and Zamani talks about several things. He starts by explaining that he met Kenney through WPT champion Dennis Blieden, who is now serving 6.5 years in prison for perpetrating a $2.7 Million embezzlement scheme.

Zamani shared that Kenney forced his ‘horses’ (players who were staked to enter tournaments) to collude in satellites, ghosting, and use real-time assistance (RTA), mostly while playing on GGPoker and occasionally on partypoker. It is interesting to note that Kenney was a brand ambassador for GGPoker from 2018 to 2020.

As the interview progressed, Zamani, who was clearly high during the podcast, talked about Kenney forcing him to go to a shaman’s house to have a ritual known as ‘Kambo’ performed on him. He claimed that Kenney wanted to create an image of a cult leader. He said that Kenney wanted his stable members to follow a lifestyle that he approved of, including eating a Vegan diet and obeying Kenney’s demands.

Kenney’s stable, which Zamani claimed included notable players like Sergi Reixach and David Miscikowski, allegedly used RTAs, that are banned on GGPoker, and apparently colluded in thousands of online tournaments.

While Zamani made numerous outrageous claims, he barely had any proof for his statements. According to PokerNews, which reached out to a player who Kenney had staked in the past, Zamani’s allegations are true. The player confirmed as much on the condition of anonymity.

Kenney is yet to respond to these allegations.

Chance Kornuth Backs Foxen’s Demand for a Poker Blacklist

The three-time WSOP bracelet winner Chance Kornuth on April 21, backed Foxen’s demand for a poker blacklist. In a Twitter thread, he asked for the community and poker sites to blacklist those caught cheating.

When a poker site decides conclusively someone is cheating, they ban them, keep their identity a secret, and disperse the money as they see fit. The current system that’s in place is inadequate and unacceptable. We need a Poker Blacklist.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

What if you are playing them heads-up on a diff site and unbeknownst to you they are using RTA? What about playing with them live and being friendly or even actual “friends” without knowing they have cheated you online?

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

@rob_yong_ made a good point, what about those who you find out later weren’t actually cheating? I have heard from reliable sources that GGPoker has the ability to record our screen during sessions, so the evidence they have of these transgressors is beyond a reasonable doubt.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

Both are idolized by countless people in our space, from young pros just trying to make it to recreational players who just wish they could be as good as these guys.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

To those of you who say “show me the hardcore evidence of these accusations being true”, I shouldn’t have to just use your brain. If these accusations about being banned for this weren’t true Jake and Ali would just refute the claims and show proof.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

It’s heroic to be the first person to be public about this @WAFoxen, props to you. I also applaud @berkey11, @JustinBonomo, @ROFLshove, and many more for quickly being outspoken and backing up Alex’s accusations.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

That is just the straw that broke the camel’s back. RTA usage and MAing have been a dirty little secret of the high-stakes community for too long and light is finally being shed on a public forum.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

…but mostly because he is one of the biggest names in poker, owns arguably the highest integrity poker site, and has rightfully been looked up to by many including myself since I started playing over 15 years ago. When Phil talks, the poker community listens.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

IMHO I’d like to see @GGPoker and their ambassador @JasonKoon, who was brought on specifically to serve a major role in game integrity take the lead because GG is the only site that I believe with zero doubt in my mind has 100% irrefutable evidence.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

…of this for a long time and stayed quiet because we are non-confrontational and typically leaning towards the introverted side of the spectrum. But now that it’s out in the open I hope and believe more and more people like myself will have the courage to come forward.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

…they see their rake declining. For that reason, I won’t play another hand on these sites until I feel an acceptable effort has been made. I encourage pros and recs alike to join me in this #OnlinePokerBoycott.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022

The Chip Leader Coaching founder then made bold accusations against some specific players. He wrote that he’s seen “multiple sources” tell him hundreds of players are on GGPoker’s banned list, “but the only two that I know for sure are Jake Schindler and Ali Imsirovic.”

According to PokerNews, GGPoker provided the following statement after being asked to comment on the matter:

“GGPoker cannot comment with regard to any individual player, due to the usual privacy concerns. GGPoker treats all matters relating to game integrity with the utmost seriousness, and our Security Team works constantly to maintain the integrity of all of our games. A variety of security measures, including the permanent banning of player accounts and the confiscation and redistribution of funds, are employed by GGPoker on a regular basis.”

It’s like a can of worms has been opened with this cheating scandal, and in all honesty, it will probably be months before things die down. Something tells us that the coming days have quite a few more interesting (if not shocking) revelations in store for us.

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates on this story!