In October of 2007, a relative amateur online poker player won two significant tournaments-the Full Tilt $750,000 Sunday tournament where first prize was $197,984 and the PokerStars Sunday Million which awarded a first prize of $240,633. But the winner of the events was no stranger to poker. His name was Chris Vaughn, and he was the managing editor of Bluff Magazine.
Vaughn spent a little more than a year working his way up from an internship at the magazine to a high ranking position that afforded him many opportunities to meet and befriend poker players. For some time, he had been backed in tournaments by some of his online pro friends, and the experience he gained seemed to be paying off.
After his two victories, he was interviewed on various news websites as well as on the PokerRoad radio show called Big Poker Sundays. One of the hosts of the show, Haralabos Voulgaris, blatantly asked Vaughn if he had ever been accused of ghosting-allowing another player to provide assistance. "I've been accused of that," Vaughn replied haughtily. "My backer's a good player; he's helped me play poker a lot and taught me a lot... But as far as having someone take over, that's ridiculous."
Rumors had been floating around the forums that something was amiss. Finally, in late November, confirmation surfaced from Soren Kongsgaard, the player who finished second to Vaughn in the Full Tilt tournament. He published a post that included a letter from Full Tilt stating that "BluffMagCV"-Vaughn's online name-had been disqualified and Kongsgaard would be awarded the first place money.
What would later be revealed was that as Vaughn progressed in the Full Tilt tournament, he was in contact with famed online pro Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi. Mizzi offered to buy the account from Vaughn when only a few tables remained in the event, Vaughn sold it, and Mizzi went on to win it under Vaughn's name.
Seat selling is against the rules of most online poker sites, and Mizzi and Vaughn clearly broke them. It is not known if Full Tilt initiated the investigation that led to the disqualification based on a tip or upon its own suspicions, but Full Tilt not only disqualified Vaughn and withdrew the nearly $200,000 from his account, but the site banned Vaughn and Mizzi from ever playing there again.
Both players granted an exclusive interview with PokerNews to discuss the events that had taken place. They admitted to seat selling, tried to explain the reasons for their decisions, and awkwardly apologized to the poker public.
Bluff Media, while initially releasing a statement conveying its disappointment in Vaughn's actions, stated that there were no plans for termination. However, after numerous negative reactions to the PokerNews interview, Bluff changed its mind and fired him. The new statement read, in part: "In light of Chris' involvement, recently admitted facts and the feedback obtained from industry professionals, it became apparent that the credibility required to perform the job functions of managing editor of Bluff Magazine at our company's level of standards have become severely diminished."
Of all the people in poker, Vaughn should have been aware of other cheating situations in online poker of late and known the risk involved. In addition, he used the name of his employer in his online moniker and bragged about his position with the magazine in interviews about his online victories. The actions of Mizzi and Vaughn couldn't have been a more flagrant abuse of status and ego.
Note: Whether PokerStars conducted an investigation similar to that of Full Tilt's is unclear, but neither player was disqualified or banned from PokerStars.
