Real or staged? Obscure Michigan poker pro George Janssen found with hands ziptied, claims kidnapping/extortion attempt

https://www.poker.org/fbi-believed-t...t-ring-winner/

According to the article above by Haley Hintze, George Janssen was found on the road with his hands ziptied, claiming he escpaed a house in Toledo, Ohio where he was held for the past 5 weeks.

He has 4 Michigan Online WSOP Circuit rings, including two scores of around $80k each over the past 3 months.

The FBI is reportedly investigating.

Some are theorizing that Janssen had backers and either chunked off the money owed to them, or simply didn't want to pay it (perhaps using it to pay others). It is possible that Janssen faked the kidnapping in order to explain where the money went.

He was found in Meade Townsip, MI -- 175 miles from Toledo. He claimed to have been brought back to Michigan to retrieve money he had at home.

It is much easier to zip tie your own hands behind your back than it is to tie them with a rope. One could simply put their hands into a closed but very loose ziptie, and then use one of the hands to pull it tight.

His Hendon mob shows $440k total cashes.

What do you think? Real or fake?

My opinion is fake, and the FBI will eventually conclude he is the Jussie Smollett of poker.

Here's another article: https://www.abc12.com/news/crime/fbi...5e2e7bad9.html

This one mentions that Janssen's abandoned car had $50 bills on the floor (lol).

It also says he owned a car dealership which closed this year.

Janssen claimed he had been the "target of extortion for the past 2 years".

I find all of this very unlikely. The $50 bills on the floor is a detail you might see in a movie for dramatic effect, but extortion never really works that way. The car dealership closing indicates likely financial distress. The repeated targeting of extortion seems unlikely for a guy struggling financially. It's not like he just won the WSOP Main Event. Why wouldn't these extortionists target actual rich guys in the area?

Huge bullshit stench on this one.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Here's another article: https://www.abc12.com/news/crime/fbi...5e2e7bad9.html

This one mentions that Janssen's abandoned car had $50 bills on the floor (lol).

It also says he owned a car dealership which closed this year.

Janssen claimed he had been the "target of extortion for the past 2 years".

I find all of this very unlikely. The $50 bills on the floor is a detail you might see in a movie for dramatic effect, but extortion never really works that way. The car dealership closing indicates likely financial distress. The repeated targeting of extortion seems unlikely for a guy struggling financially. It's not like he just won the WSOP Main Event. Why wouldn't these extortionists target actual rich guys in the area?

Huge bullshit stench on this one.

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$50s are bad luck, and no one pays out in $50s anyhow….sounds fake.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was so broke that he used $50s instead of $100s because he couldn't afford to leave $100s on the floor of the vehicle AND hide out for awhile.

I would love to know where he really was all this time. I'm guessing in some weekly motel a few towns over, where he didn't have to show ID.

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Originally Posted by Texter

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Here's another article: https://www.abc12.com/news/crime/fbi...5e2e7bad9.html

This one mentions that Janssen's abandoned car had $50 bills on the floor (lol).

It also says he owned a car dealership which closed this year.

Janssen claimed he had been the "target of extortion for the past 2 years".

I find all of this very unlikely. The $50 bills on the floor is a detail you might see in a movie for dramatic effect, but extortion never really works that way. The car dealership closing indicates likely financial distress. The repeated targeting of extortion seems unlikely for a guy struggling financially. It's not like he just won the WSOP Main Event. Why wouldn't these extortionists target actual rich guys in the area?

Huge bullshit stench on this one.

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$50s are bad luck, and no one pays out in $50s anyhow….sounds fake.

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Never understood this claim. Especially among gamblers, anyone know where or why it started?

Some guy at Commerce didn’t want to play 200/400 limit with $50 chips.

I asked him, “If they’re unlucky, how can everyone at a poker table be unlucky?”

He couldn’t answer that.

The actual answer would be, “We will all lose to the rake.”

Reminds me of the Forensics File episode where the killer was traced because he gambled with his player’s card inserted. FBI should get his gambling history from as many casinos/Apps ASAP and they will get a good idea. May not take too many man hours to wrap this one up.

It’s 99 percent bullshit. Seems way to elaborate a story. Guess dude didn’t have the coin and/or stones to fly to a non extradition country. This will make things much worse for him. But he could have owed the wrong people the money and it may just save his life. Maybe he was fucked either way.

I do hope somehow it’s true. But just can’t get myself there. Probably just panicked and thought up this half ass scenario.

BTW when the report says “treated for minor injuries”….that basically means he was healthy as a horse. Doesn’t look good. 35 days in captivity in his forties and requires basically no treatment? Escaped while ziptied? He would be in rough rough shape.

Thank God he isn’t female lol.

Obviously fake. He owes, either blew it in the pits or is being greedy.

Drugs are involved; he thought going big with zip ties adds credibility but just seems clunky.

Im gonna set the line at -250 he's full of shit and set the whole thing up himself.
+300 He legitimately was hiding from backers or some folks he owed money to
+650 He actually was kidnapped and held for weeks and they finally realized they couldnt get money from him but even less if they killed him it would advance to a federal Capital crime worth the DP potentially.

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Originally Posted by Ryback_feed_me_more

Im gonna set the line at -250 he's full of shit and set the whole thing up himself.
+300 He legitimately was hiding from backers or some folks he owed money to
+650 He actually was kidnapped and held for weeks and they finally realized they couldnt get money from him but even less if they killed him it would advance to a federal Capital crime worth the DP potentially.

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Way higher than -250

More like -10000 full of shit.

WAY too many things are suspect, as I explained above in my posts. The fact that he only received "minor injuries" adds yet even more to the bullshit pile.

So crime figures in Michigan skip targeting really rich guys for extortion, and instead go after low-end poker pros for 2 years? And they kidnap the guy AFTER he apparently has gone broke?

Who was that guy who was dating Annette15 that claimed he was robbed in the bathroom….his story was just about as believable.

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Originally Posted by Texter

Who was that guy who was dating Annette15 that claimed he was robbed in the bathroom….his story was just about as believable.

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Scott Montgomery.

Also very bullshitty story, as you said.

Still in poker, though he was gone for about 4 years between 2019 and mid-2023.

Only plays $300-$1k tournies now, from what I can see.

11:10

https://youtu.be/C8EyRtlLkwE?si=Puth9bSu7eFisIaz

"Booth was last seen on July 13 leaving the Grand Sierra Resort in his truck. He told his roommate he was going camping, but took minimal items which would only sustain him for a day or two, according to NamUs, a national information and resource centre for missing, unidentified and unclaimed person cases in the U.S."

'Amazingly' Brad was found alive. His disappearance did not come that far after this confession:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7F54isQdEQ


There is less than a 5% chance this subject in this kidnapping ever happened. These fucking guys get sideways with their debtors and the scams begin.

The old WSOP was top top.

Yes you saw less hands but it was so much better production wise.

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Originally Posted by Texter

The old WSOP was top top.

Yes you saw less hands but it was so much better production wise.

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When you look at the winners and final table in the main event for the last decade or so it’s almost all pros. That Qui Nyguen baccarat degen was the only exception. These tournament pros are just pretty boring and there isn’t much that these production crews have to work with.

If you look at the final table for the Wynn event the dream of a “semi-pro” or “recreational” player winning one of these long structured 10Ks is pretty much dead. The good news is there will be guys with no real shot to win ponying up for these events for the foreseeable future.

The long structure makes the recs feel like they have a chance. But in actuality the longer and slower the structure the more the variance levels out and lets these killers really have time to realize their advantage. That’s why these Triton stops have much shorter structures to increase variance and decrease the time commitment for the whales.

Nowadays we either get near perfect boring tournament poker or awful cash games which just feel like rich guys passing around money. I do think they could do a better job with trying to tell stories like in the good old days. But it will never be the same.

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Originally Posted by JeffDime

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Originally Posted by Texter

The old WSOP was top top.

Yes you saw less hands but it was so much better production wise.

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When you look at the winners and final table in the main event for the last decade or so it’s almost all pros. That Qui Nyguen baccarat degen was the only exception. These tournament pros are just pretty boring and there isn’t much that these production crews have to work with.

If you look at the final table for the Wynn event the dream of a “semi-pro” or “recreational” player winning one of these long structured 10Ks is pretty much dead. The good news is there will be guys with no real shot to win ponying up for these events for the foreseeable future.

The long structure makes the recs feel like they have a chance. But in actuality the longer and slower the structure the more the variance levels out and lets these killers really have time to realize their advantage. That’s why these Triton stops have much shorter structures to increase variance and decrease the time commitment for the whales.

Nowadays we either get near perfect boring tournament poker or awful cash games which just feel like rich guys passing around money. I do think they could do a better job with trying to tell stories like in the good old days. But it will never be the same.

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They could still find some interesting stories and people for us to root for even if they get grindered down in the last 100 etc….

I believe him

Not sure what people find suspicious about this story

Poor guy was targeted by criminals, glad to see he’s ok

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Originally Posted by NickyPipes

I believe him

Not sure what people find suspicious about this story

Poor guy was targeted by criminals, glad to see he’s ok

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Brother it's as credible as when Druff fell ill with LPR from hot dog consumption right at the time when the integrity of the fraud detective was called into question over his involvement in Cmoney's death hoax.

The subsequent magical cure of 'mouth rinse' makes perfect sense and I'm sure Brother George has an equally credible explanation for all of this.