Moldovan poker player Valeriu Coca has been cleared by the World Series of Poker and the Nevada Gaming Control Board of cheating allegations from this summer’s WSOP and will be awarded his $54,545 winnings from his tenth place finish in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Event.
The controversy surrounding Coca began when he made a deep run in the headliner Heads-Up event, knocking out multiple strong opponents on his way to a fifth place finish. Coca himself was not particularly well-known or accomplished, though that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, as lesser-skilled players can certainly win a series of heads-up matches. What frustrated his opponents was not that he won, but how he won. His actions and his pacing made it seem like he might have been marking cards.
Connor Drinan made the first public accusations of Coca, posting the following on Two Plus Two:
Pratyush Buddiga was the first to lose to him. He is my good friend but seemed pretty tilted so I didn’t ask details until I found out he was my next opponent. I asked for reads and whatnot and he basically told me he was really slow and passive in the beginning and then picked up the pace as the match went on as far as speed of play and aggression. He thought he was stalling in the beginning to give himself a better shot to win at a higher blind level. He said he would stall by rechecking his cards at a bunch of different angles when it was clear he made up his mind to fold already.
He did the same thing in my match. For the first 10 hands or so, he folded to most of my button opens and either limped or folded the button (doing the same obnoxious card checking tactics). I was thinking “man this guy is going to be a breeze.” From that point on I won very few pots the rest of the match. Every time I had a good starting hand he folded. If I had a bad one he raised or re-raised. If I whiffed a flop he attacked my c-bets. If I whiffed and went for a delayed cbet, he blasted turn into me every time. If I hit and bet, he folded. Hit and checked, he checked ect ect ect.
It was later discovered that Coca had been booted from more than one Eastern European casino for marking cards by bending them.
The WSOP decided to withhold Coca’s earnings as it and the Nevada GCB embarked on an investigation of the cheating allegations, an investigation which included an actual forensic examination of some of the cards used during the tournament.
In a statement released last week, WSOP Vice President of Corporate Communications Seth Palansky wrote:
Once issues were brought to our attention, we immediately commenced an investigation and worked cooperatively with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The investigation that was performed has now been completed by all parties. At this time, the matter is considered closed and the 5th place finisher in Event #10 will now have his funds released for payment.