Ivan Deyra Banned after Multi-Account Cheating Incident

Ivan Deyra Banned after Multi-Account Cheating Incident (Image Source: images.unsplash.com)

French poker player Ivan Deyra was terminated as an ambassador for Winamax when he was exposed to for cheating in the latest Winamax Series by using duplicate accounts.

This is an incredible revelation because anyone that plays online casino games or online poker knows that only 1 account is allowed per IP or household. If you risk playing from more than 1 account, the casino or online poker room has the right to ban your account for life. 

Deyra, who was awarded his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2019, won a total of €83,300 on the recent €2,000 Super High Roller. However, speculations quickly arose in a thread in the poker forum Club Poker after the event was over. 

Forum members noted that Deyra had not accessed games from his personal account since January 6th. More inquisitive members noted the largest give-away; a clue that seemed surprisingly obvious for a poker player of his talent. The username of the player that won  – “MATIVANAO” – that was found to be a pseudonym composed of the Christian first names of Deyra’s sisters and brothers. 

Unable to deny the evidence, Deyra confessed in a statement that he had indeed won the Super High Roller by using two accounts, using his father’s account on Day 2 to secure his win. Winamax put a ban on both the accounts, as well as an immediate end to his contract, which had a June expiry date. The sum of his winnings was paid back and distributed amongst the players.  

In his statement, Deyra offered an explanation for his actions, beginning from the realization that he wasn’t earning any money since becoming part of the Winamax Team Pro group, which featured other winners of the WSOP bracelet. 

He justified that when players changed their nicknames, he would lose collected information about them, putting him at a disadvantage over players who recognized his consistent nickname. His cheating attempt during this recent event was an experiment to see if players would recognize his play under a different username. 

Deyra offered an extended apology to his fellow players, his employers at Winamax and the poker community on the whole for tarnishing the image of the poker game that so many enjoy and love. Whilst noting the over-severity of his punishment, he accepted the logical reasoning for it.  

After accumulating $1.4 million in live tournament earnings throughout his career, this incident could be a real blow for Deyra’s reputation. However, he expressed that despite his shame over this incident, he remains hopeful that he will continue to thrive in his poker calling, and pledged to learn from this embarrassing incident.