Jerermy Ausmus called out Jared Strauss for suspicious win of $7777 WSOP online event, and now says that he found out WSOP banned Strauss right after

[Dan Druff]

Remember back in October, when Jeremy Ausmus finished second in the $7,777 WSOP online bracelet event to an unknown player named "JStrizza"?

Ausmus was immediately suspicious, especially when he saw that JStrizza, whose real name is Jared Strauss, had recently been playing $60 events.

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https://twitter.com/jeremyausmus/status/1580255402800820224


Some people responded negatively, and assumed Ausmus was just being a sore loser:

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https://twitter.com/loch_bryan/status/1580700608142938113

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https://twitter.com/FlynnandO/status/1580692222110240768

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https://twitter.com/betbrett/status/1580257799304450048

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https://twitter.com/butterthedoge/status/1580293123787587584



Here's Jared's Hendonmob: https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/pla...p?a=r&n=406455


Note that he was mainly entering $500-$1500 events from 2015 through mid-2020. However, he clearly fell upon hard times in late 2020, entering $60 tournaments repeatedly (so it wasn't just a one-off with him entering for fun).

Suddenly in 2022 he started playing high-4-figure buyin events, and one of those was the tough $7,777 WSOP online event which he won.

I agreed that this looked suspicious, but not enough to say definitively that there was any kind of cheating or multi-accounting. Since Jared had been playing low-4-figure events for years prior to mid-2020, it's possible he ran it up in some other way in 2021 (maybe from those blackjack wins stated by his friend above), and then took shots at bigger events. It's also possible that Jared found backing of some kind, which would be completely fine.

I did think it was bad form to hassle Jeremy about his suspicions. He definitely had a right to question the matter.

I criticized WSOP's lack of visible management, who wouldn't clarify what they had done to make sure this win was legit.

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https://twitter.com/Joeingram1/status/1580662266868822016

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https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1580664728308760578



Well... I have an update for you. See next post.

[Dan Druff]

Turns out Jeremy was possibly right.

Jared Strauss was banned from WSOP, due to some abnormality going on with his account. It was not stated that it had to do with this particular event, but I'm guessing it was. They did not take the prize money BACK (probably very difficult due to Nevada regulations), but he was banned within days of this bracelet win, according to Jeremy.

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https://twitter.com/jeremyausmus/status/1610833921536819200

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https://twitter.com/jeremyausmus/status/1610833930038677504

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https://twitter.com/jeremyausmus/status/1610869249870008321


If Strauss was really caught cheating, maybe WSOP can vacate Strauss' title and ban him from playing future live WSOP events as well?

If that's the case, they should also award the bracelet to Ausmus, but I'm guessing they don't want to do that because it will make the brand look bad if this makes news.

[Dan Druff]

I have a few updates. The plot thickens.

First off, Dylan Linde claims he had a similar experience:

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https://twitter.com/jeremyausmus/status/1610852865291210752

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https://twitter.com/DylanLinde/status/1610861304939679744


Second, Jeremy directed me to the explanation posted by Jared Strauss himself, back in late October. Strauss revealed that his account was banned, and that WSOP wouldn't give him a reason. He blames Ausmus and his high stakes friends for using their influence to unfairly ban him:

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586257519386628097

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586258208389099520

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586258704113885185

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586259095517945856

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586259612155510786

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586260226507829248

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586261326023651328

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586261657717657600

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586262112321478657

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https://twitter.com/Jstrizza/status/1586262716926132225


Since these tweets, Jared Strauss has cashed in events ranging from $500-$1600, but it's not clear what else he might have played and not cashed.

[Dan Druff]

This one isn't as simple as I first thought. Is it possible that WSOP could have unfairly banned him simply due to complaints from popular players?

I suppose.

Recall that WSOP even banned their points leader Mike Holtz over unjustified suspicion of money laundering, and took awhile to undo his Caesars properties ban over it, even after he was cleared. In Holtz's case, it took a lot of social media shaming (including an appearance on Poker Fraud Alert Radio) to get this rectified.

However, would WSOP really ban an innocent bracelet winner just because the second place finisher made unsubstantiated ghosting allegations? That's a bit hard to believe, but maybe possible.

I also don't really buy his claim that he dropped down to $60 events simply because it was "during peak COVID" and nothing else was available.

Matt Salsberg verified that Venetian was running normal events in January 2021:

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https://twitter.com/msalsberg/status/1610893579937017856


Strauss cashed in several $60 South Point events from August 2020 to February 2021, but did not cash in a bigger event until June 2022, when he made the money in the opening WSOP $500 event. Additionally, recall that the entire 2021 WSOP took place in October/November 2021. We do not see a single cash there. We also see a shitload of cashes in WSOP online events (including high rollers) between June and October 2022, but only two live cashes -- the aforementioned WSOP Housewarming $500, and an August cash at a $5k at The Bike.

A person who played a live event in 2022 with Strauss told me that he played well, and that they believe he has enough skill to succeed at these online events without being ghosted. However, if we learned anything from 2022, it's that otherwise good (and even great) players will sometimes cheat if the opportunity is given to them. Think of Jake Schindler, Ali Imsirovic, and Bryn Kenney's stable (which included several skilled players who apparently multi-accounted and ghosted).

It is very possible that Strauss is part of a stable now, and that would explain why he suddenly had the funds to enter these big buyin events after being relegated to $60 tournaments in 2021. That by itself is no problem, but the question is if that might have something to do with his ban -- and his online success.

[tbuck27]

While I agree Jared's result and explanation raises an eyebrow, I think his story is plausible. Without more explanation or proof from either side of the argument, everything would just be speculation at this point.

I think we can agree that it's well within Caesar's range to ban this player based on the accusations alone, and without being privy to the exact reason for his ban, it would be irresponsible to say what definitively happened here.

Also, why wouldn't Jeremy share the entirety of the email he supposedly received from WSOP.com ? I think he has a good reputation within the poker community and I'm not a hater, but it seems like maybe Jeremy got a bit butt-hurt when he didn't receive the sympathy he was anticipating from his original allegation, and now he is posting this as some sort of proof of vindication.

Great poker gossips, but I think everyone needs to stop there, shrug and move on.

[SinglesHitter]

Based solely on info provided in this thread, there’s definitely not enough of a case to go so far as to ban him and/or rescind his bracelet and prize money.

Just the fact that he cashed a live 5k and isn’t a drooled, apparently, is enough data to require a whole lot more evidence to ban him imo

[Dan Druff]

Based solely on info provided in this thread, there’s definitely not enough of a case to go so far as to ban him and/or rescind his bracelet and prize money.

Just the fact that he cashed a live 5k and isn’t a drooled, apparently, is enough data to require a whole lot more evidence to ban him imo

I analyzed this a bit more prior to radio, and I am now of the belief that he was almost certainly backed. Whether the backing also involved ghosting if, of course, anyone's guess. However, the fact that he got banned by WSOP obviously looks very suspicious.

The key comes from looking at his Hendon Mob: https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/pla...p?a=r&n=406455

Everyone's been focusing upon his $60 tournament cashes in 2020, but that's not the most telling part. The two issues I have with his Hendon Mob are:

1) He dropped down to $60-$130 tournaments in August 2020, and didn't go back to playing higher until June 2022. He blames this on COVID, but does not explain why he didn't cash in a single tournament over $130 for that entire 22-month period. The COVID closures were FAR shorter than that, and he had well over a year to play again normally, which he didn't. He also apparently did not play in the fall 2021 WSOP. Why?

2) During the 2022 WSOP, he actually left the Series to go play $240 events at the South Point, and this was in between WSOP entries for $5300 and $7777! Do you know anyone who would play a $5300 WSOP event, and then leave the middle of the WSOP to go play a $240 at South Point? And then do it a second time, right after the $7777? I don't, either.


I believe the $240 events in summer 2022 were entered on his own dime, while his WSOP play was backed. He probably doesn't want to admit this, because he's afraid it will fuel more talk of ghosting. If we are going to accept this guy's story that he didn't cheat, he's going to need to start telling the truth. Clearly "COVID" isn't a good excuse for this weird pattern of play.

[SinglesHitter]

Yeah upon first glance at his Hendon mob, what strikes me as odd is that he has many online cashes in fields that are presumably MUCH tougher than live fields at the same price point - which is impressive. But the live resume w that lone 5k live cash and a bunch of micro live mtts is weak does not indicate he is a great player. Sure, variance and all, but it looks suspect that he can cash frequently in some of the tougher ROW online events but that type of success in much weaker live fields has eluded him.

As usual, it would really help to find out WHY he was banned. At this point in online poker, is it beneficial to the community to continue to obscure the reasons players are banned? Was it ever beneficial? Somewhat of a different topic but it certainly overlaps with this particular issue, most likely. Gun to my head, I think he had an unfair advantage. But I’m speculating as a dude on the internet, without the authority to determine whether he’s branded a cheater or not.

[Dan Druff]

Yeah upon first glance at his Hendon mob, what strikes me as odd is that he has many online cashes in fields that are presumably MUCH tougher than live fields at the same price point - which is impressive. But the live resume w that lone 5k live cash and a bunch of micro live mtts is weak does not indicate he is a great player. Sure, variance and all, but it looks suspect that he can cash frequently in some of the tougher ROW online events but that type of success in much weaker live fields has eluded him.

As usual, it would really help to find out WHY he was banned. At this point in online poker, is it beneficial to the community to continue to obscure the reasons players are banned? Was it ever beneficial? Somewhat of a different topic but it certainly overlaps with this particular issue, most likely. Gun to my head, I think he had an unfair advantage. But I’m speculating as a dude on the internet, without the authority to determine whether he’s branded a cheater or not.

They can't state why he is banned because of privacy reasons, since it's a regular site. I agree it would be great if we could know.

His story was that he was banned because Jeremy Ausmus put pressure on WSOP officials to do it, but I don't really believe that's why it happened. Possible, but unlikely. I think they found something they thought was suspicious. It is likely Jeremy complained to support, but I doubt that would be enough to get him banned if he had done nothing wrong, unless Jeremy had some kind of juice with someone who worked at WSOP.