Although he is still embroiled in the aftermath of the online poker cheating scandal, high-stakes professional Bryn Kenney is preparing to launch his new online poker site.
The 35-year-old Kenny, who is fighting Justin Bonomo for the top spot on the all-time money list, is an ambassador and investor for the upcoming real money site 4poker.
The timing isn’t good for the New York boy, who was accused by former horse Martin Zamani last April of committing a slew of transgressions, including multiple accounting, ghosting and even abusing players in his stable. come kenny WSOP . World Series of Poker This summer, he received the cold shoulder or even hostility from his peers alongside fellow accused Ali Emserovic and Jake Schindler.
Kenney admitted to some small infractions, but refuted most of the allegations in an interview with PokerNews. However, his refusal to answer directly some tough questions, along with some malicious text messages provided by Zamani, made most of the poker community think he was guilty and deserved a ban from GGPoker two years ago.
The ban on him has since been lifted, and he was most recently seen playing on the site in late July. Poker Integrity Council member Jason Koon explained that some players will eventually be invited back after they have served their time, depending on the severity of the violation.
Standing in Kenney’s corner, 4Poker’s chief operating officer and former PokerStars director Heath Cram notes that Zamani’s allegations were “a very desperate outburst from a disgruntled former colleague.”
“I’m going to make my own judgment on people,” Cram told Poker.org. “I honestly haven’t spent time with someone who has the same passion for poker and people since I worked with the founding owners of PokerStars.”
An online poker product designed by former PokerStars employees looks promising, but confidence becomes an immediate concern after linking their wagon to star Kenney. Although some have suggested that Kenny would be uniquely qualified to detect and possibly prevent fraud on the new site, most reactions to the announcement have been negative.
“Is it called 4poker because that’s the maximum number of accounts players are allowed to have?” asked Ondra Machalek on Twitter.
“It’s called 4poker because Brin gets all four of your cards during ultra usage,” Veronica Brill joked.
“Why would anyone want to play on a site that is represented by a cheater?” Shawn Bitzer asked.
4poker is expected to launch later this year, and will host a major tournament series sometime in early 2023.