Dan Bilzerian & Bill Perkins Accuse Jean Robert Bellande Of Cheating
The poker world has been hit with yet another cheating allegation.
The latest cheating saga has erupted in the high-stakes cash games community and the alleged culprit this time around is American poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande who is also a nightclub owner and promoter.
The high-stakes host has taken flak for organizing a private game and staking multiple participants without the knowledge of other players at the table.
The cheating controversy blew up on social media this week when Bellande shared screenshots of his conversations with his friend Dan Bilzerian, who accused him of staking two players in the same game he hosted, without properly informing the other participants.
Bellande, who is known in the poker world both as a host and a player in many of the biggest cash games in Las Vegas, tweeted about having a rough week, losing over $400,000 and his good friend Bilzerian calling him a “cheat“.
loosing 400k+ this week (only 80 in that game) and having my friend, @DanBilzerian turn on me = rough week. funny thing is, i think those guys were only showing off to impress him. i’m super bummed right now. (and would still vouch for that game). #brokeandbummed
— Jean-Robert Bellande (@BrokeLivingJRB) October 5, 2020
Bill Perkins later joined in on the debate and started a poll on whether or not the host of a poker game who receives rake and get pieces of action from multiple players should inform the non-staked participants in the same game about the existing staking agreement with other players. While the hedge fund manager’s tweets were directed at Bellande, he chose not to directly name the alleged cheat.
You're the host of a poker game you get paid time/rake and you also play in the game. You have 50 percent of 2 or more players in a sometimes 8/7/9 player game. As the host should you make non staked players aware of the economics? #Poker
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) October 5, 2020
Not Everyone Supports Perkins
The result of the poll came as a surprise however. While many would expect he’d get the backing of the poker community, over 25% don’t side with him. Other prominent names have also opted to remain neutral on the issue include Shaun Deeb. The four-time WSOP bracelet winner said it’s a normal occurrence in private high-stakes games and he’s surprised Perkins didn’t know about it.
Mike Dentale and Chris Hunichen also don’t see it as a huge deal, though other players like Andreas Froehli thinks it is unethical. Some players called out Perkins for not naming names in his tweets.
Perkins also previously shocked the poker community when he tweeted about a ghosting scandal taking place in online cash games. He did not mention names in his tweet which upset many. The player he was referring to was later identified by Dan Bilzerian and turned out to be Dan “Jungleman” Cates.
Cates eventually issued an apology to Perkins for being caught in the crossfire, but maintained that ghosting was rampant in online poker sites and that he did not cheat.
