Home / Poker News August 2008 / Did Brian Townsend use multiple accounts at the poker rooms where he played?
Did Brian Townsend use multiple accounts at the poker rooms where he played?
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2008-08-31 17:50
Apparently, he did. In a blog post written a few days ago, Brian “shrugby” Townsend came clean about having used multiple poker accounts both at
Full Tilt Poker and
PokerStars. Known for being a red pro at Full Tilt and one of the main names behind the poker instruction site Cardrunners.com, Townsend had been accepted as a true authority on poker, therefore his confession carries a lot of weight indeed. Full Tilt Poker was quick to announce that they removed Townsend’s “red” status as a direct consequence of his breaching one of the site’s basic rules. PokerStars hasn’t come up with a sanction for “shrugby” yet.
This rather unexpected turn of events does raise a few questions in the minds of all online poker players. First of all, if Townsend got away clean with playing on multiple accounts, what guarantees are there that other in-house professionals are not doing the same to milk the advantage offered by anonymity?
Are those who use multiple accounts indeed using them only to enjoy a relative anonymity or are there more shady purposes being pursued? Does this mean that all those people the vast majority of online poker players look up to, are basically hustlers looking to prey on the innocent? Following a spurt of online media attention regarding his activities at the above mentioned two poker sites, Brian Townsend felt compelled to make the public apology. The question here is, would he have arrived to this same decision had the media not turned the spotlight of suspicion on him? Hard to tell…
In his statement, Townsend specified that all he’d sought through his multiple accounts was anonymity, the thought of using his accounts for collusion and/or chip dumping or similar practices had never crossed his mind.
At Full Tilt Poker, in addition to his regular “red” account (“Brian Townsend”), he also played under the name “Stellarnebula”. At PokerStars, he used “aba20” and “Makersmark66”. Even though Townsend’s public apology sounds heartfelt and sincere enough, one can’t help wondering: could he still be playing under other accounts than the ones he admitted to be the owner of?
