Haley Hintze writing a great series tearing apart the awful Ben Mezrich AP/Scott Tom book

[Dan Druff]

http://www.flushdraw.com/news/ben-me...-of-deception/

Right now parts 1-4 are up. It's a 10-part series (!!)

[haleylh]

http://www.flushdraw.com/news/ben-me...-of-deception/

Right now parts 1-4 are up. It's a 10-part series (!!)

Thank you for the kind words, Druff. The Part 5 of that is now up as well, and I think it's a doozy.

For those who are wondering, the Part 4 of this series contains the clearest explanation yet (in 1,000 words or so) of why and how Scott Tom was the primary AP cheater. It's complete with ieSnare screengrabs and other hard proof, all of which Mezrich would dismiss as "paper-thin". It's dynamite stuff. All else in my eventual (*sigh*) book surrounds the events I've summarized in that Part 4, so go read it and know the heart of the AP cheating.

Part 5 is one of the keys to this book's fraud, too, because it shows how Mezrich has intentionally reversed the timeline of events to perpetuate the myth of Scott Tom's innocence. Do not be fooled by Mezrich's claims: Three million dollars vanished in that jet crash, and it was the event that precipitated the worst of the cheating, because Scott Tom needed to get his hands on some replacement money very quick. The POTRIPPER tourney cheating took place immediately after Scott's return from his week-long vacation, and represented his first opportunity to sit down at his laptop and put in the several hours of superuser time needed to steal some serious money.

Jim McManus has rightfully ripped Mezrich a new asshole, and I've heard a well-placed rumor that even as it appears, the WSJ made Jim tone it down some in that review. I've also put up a review on the Amazon listing for Straight Flush, and it could use some love and comments (or hate and ridicule, if you prefer).

[Steve-O]

While we don't always see eye to eye, you are doing good work taking on Mezrich for this shameful book.

[haleylh]

While we don't always see eye to eye, you are doing good work taking on Mezrich for this shameful book.

Thank you, Steve, and maybe we should just bury past confrontations and move on. Also thank you for this nice writeup:

http://pokernewsboy.com/online-poker...ommunity/14030

Now, if you got my Twitter handle right.... :-)

[Crowe Diddly]

Find Haley's review here. http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-...stRecentReview

[haleylh]

One of the odd, funny (not really funny) things about the book is how many names are omitted. Besides the six primary brothers, a seventh (Tom Wenz, briefly mentioned once), Phil Tom, Hilt's father, finance guy Shay, and CJ and Christian from the Korean programming firm, the only other names in the book are either fakes or story props, like Hugh Hefner.

Not mentioned at all: Mark Seif.

Not mentioned at all: Room manager Gian Perroni, who was hired -before- Beckley.

Not mentioned at all: Knowledgable insiders such as Russ Torrison and Willy Griffiths.

Not mentioned at all: The eighth SAE frat brother, who is called "Glenn" and mislocated to California. He actually worked in Costa Rica before leaving the company.

Not mentioned at all: The names of any women, except for made-up whore-handles in the imagination of the frat boys.

[Steve-O]

While we don't always see eye to eye, you are doing good work taking on Mezrich for this shameful book.

Thank you, Steve, and maybe we should just bury past confrontations and move on. Also thank you for this nice writeup:

http://pokernewsboy.com/online-poker...ommunity/14030

Now, if you got my Twitter handle right.... :-)

already buried

[Dan Druff]

LOL @ Ben Mezrich's explanation for this disaster of a book via Twitter:

A guy named Johnny Hartigan tweeted the following to him:

Ben, please stop playing down the cheating scandal. It's a HUGE part of on-line poker history. Also, you can't blame the US govt for UB/AP players losing MILLIONS post-Black Friday. For example, PokerStars refunded ALL American players.

Here's the crap Ben Mezrich responded with:

the AP scandal was important, certainly. The UB scandal was even more so. But there is a much bigger story, UIGEA

yes, black Friday was devastating to players and the industry. Pegging all the blame on the AP founders is scapegoating.

certainly AP and Full Tilt were poorly capitalized at the end and players suffered devastation.

but there are very few companies in the world that could survive a DOJ raid, frozen assets, and shutdown and still pay debts.

it's easy to spew hatred at a group of guys based on very thin evidence; I believe it's fair to hear the story from their pov.

[Dan Druff]

Also, LOL @ people on 2+2 saying "Mezrich always fictionalizes and sensationalizes stories, so don't be surprised or mad at him for doing what he needs to make his books sell."

You're totally missing the point.

Let's say I win the WSOP Main Event this year after getting down to 2000 in chips early on, then start dating a 35-year-old ex-stripper and start snorting cocaine on occasion recreationally. I also donate $250,000 of my winnings to charity.

Mezrich then writes a book about me, where his account includes me being down to a single $25 chip and winning the Main Event, dating a 21-year-old current stripper and starting to have issues with her job, and regularly attending wild Vegas coke parties. He also writes about me donating $3 million of my winnings to charity.

Is this fictionalizing? Yes. Does it substantially change the story as to what really occurred? Yes. But is this a big deal? No. Because it's only a story about one person (me), and none of it is a complete fabrication. It just sensationalizes and modifies some real situations. Simply put, such a book doesn't hurt anyone or unjustifiably glorify bad people.

This is different.

The AP frat boys -- Tom, Beckley, Hilt-Tatum -- are transformed from greedy, cold-hearted criminals into fun-loving, risk-taking entrepreneurs who ultimately find themselves victimized by overaggressive government policy. In this book, Scott Tom is a flawed hero, not a heartless thief of countless millions of dollars.

That's more than just stretching or fictionalizing the truth. That's completely turning it on its ear, and changing the true story into something completely opposite.

F Mezrich, and F this book.

[Hockey Guy]

As I stated in an earlier thread about Ben Mezrich, I couldn't get through the first chapter of Bringing Down the House back in 2004/05 because his writing style rminds me of a drunk chimpanzee on ADHD medication. Even if it was sold as a pure fiction, I wouldn't buy anything from this overrated/clown author.

Considering it's being sold as a true recollection of the events surrounding AP & it's founders I'll definitely give this a pass since I know better. Anybody with half a brain should know better.

[haleylh]

There, if you now check my Twitter account (@Haley_Hintze), or search under the "all" function of Mezrich's acct (@benmezrich), you can now find direct links to two key images I've uploaded. Combined, they show $150,000 being moved AP from the confirmed cheating GRAYCAT account into Scott Tom's own "SPTOM" ePassporte account, via an override by Tom himself.

The "operations manager" (AJ Green) story? It's either total bullshit, or only true in the sense that AJ was actively working with Tom. If you look at the one image, AJ also temporarily BLOCKED a transfer, unlikely behavior for a cheat acting alone. It's conclusive proof that the AP execs worked together as a cheating group.

I'll for damn sure make sure those two images get into this series I'm working on.

[Steve-O]

Also, LOL @ people on 2+2 saying "Mezrich always fictionalizes and sensationalizes stories, so don't be surprised or mad at him for doing what he needs to make his books sell."

You're totally missing the point.

Let's say I win the WSOP Main Event this year after getting down to 2000 in chips early on, then start dating a 35-year-old ex-stripper and start snorting cocaine on occasion recreationally. I also donate $250,000 of my winnings to charity.

Mezrich then writes a book about me, where his account includes me being down to a single $25 chip and winning the Main Event, dating a 21-year-old current stripper and starting to have issues with her job, and regularly attending wild Vegas coke parties. He also writes about me donating $3 million of my winnings to charity.

Is this fictionalizing? Yes. Does it substantially change the story as to what really occurred? Yes. But is this a big deal? No. Because it's only a story about one person (me), and none of it is a complete fabrication. It just sensationalizes and modifies some real situations. Simply put, such a book doesn't hurt anyone or unjustifiably glorify bad people.

This is different.

The AP frat boys -- Tom, Beckley, Hilt-Tatum -- are transformed from greedy, cold-hearted criminals into fun-loving, risk-taking entrepreneurs who ultimately find themselves victimized by overaggressive government policy. In this book, Scott Tom is a flawed hero, not a heartless thief of countless millions of dollars.

That's more than just stretching or fictionalizing the truth. That's completely turning it on its ear, and changing the true story into something completely opposite.

F Mezrich, and F this book.

Spot on description. He tries to turn them into the prototypical Greek hero like Achilles, Hercules or Theseus -- flawed but well meaning. Apparently Mezrich is of the belief that if it sold in Athens in 800 BCE it will sell now, and he's right

[haleylh]

That part 6 showing the visual evidence of Scott Tom's transfers off-site is now up. I shuffled my series sequence a bit this morning to get them out there (again) right now.

http://www.flushdraw.com/news/ben-me...funds-transfe/

Seriously, I'm going to need help pushing this into the mainstream to make sure someone picks up the story of Mezrich's literary fraud.

[Deal]

That part 6 showing the visual evidence of Scott Tom's transfers off-site is now up. I shuffled my series sequence a bit this morning to get them out there (again) right now.

http://www.flushdraw.com/news/ben-me...funds-transfe/

Seriously, I'm going to need help pushing this into the mainstream to make sure someone picks up the story of Mezrich's literary fraud.

The problem as I see it is that Mezrich only needs to get the word out that he has a new book, the mainstream buyers of the book don't care if it's fact or fiction they just like something to get their mind off of their mundane life. Any attempt at discrediting him in the mainstream will probably only result in more sales for him.

I like your work and you easily convinced me not to buy the book. I just don't think you can have the desired impact on his overall sales because there are only hundreds of people that fall into my category and the mainstream won't help find many of us at all.

[haleylh]

The problem as I see it is that Mezrich only needs to get the word out that he has a new book, the mainstream buyers of the book don't care if it's fact or fiction they just like something to get their mind off of their mundane life. Any attempt at discrediting him in the mainstream will probably only result in more sales for him.

I like your work and you easily convinced me not to buy the book. I just don't think you can have the desired impact on his overall sales because there are only hundreds of people that fall into my category and the mainstream won't help find many of us at all.

I totally agree with your assessment. What I want to do is see a mainstream outlet report on the fact the Mezrich is himself a giant fraud, and thereby discredit him in the manner he deserves. All of his books are similarly bogus; it's just that we as poker people are particularly attuned to the lies in this one.

[JimmyG_415]

This is a pretty funny #, or thread or whatever you call it.

#benmezrichsnextbook





.@AdventuresPoker @ikepoker The Accidental Racists: The True Story of the Fun-Loving Frat Boys Who Started the KKK. #BenMezrichsNextBook

[JimmyG_415]

I see PFA is contributing to this hashtag.

#benmezrichsnextbook

That is funny Steve, I was trying to think of one for OJ, myself.
I like the Enron one at the bottom.

[JimmyG_415]

Here is a good article about how one of his previous books, bringing down the house, was essentially based on no facts, just him putting 2 and 2 together and making things up.

I've heard 2 interviews w/people that book was based on, Jeff Ma, and one other, (I want to say Mike Appointe, not 100 %), but both of the people said the book was maybe 50 % real, but the movie was 100 % fiction.

1 thing is for sure, he has heard everything the poker world has thrown at him, before.
His motto must be "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/20...house-a-fraud/



“Mezrich appears to have worked more as a collage artist, drawing some facts from interviews, inventing certain others, and then recombining these into novel scenes that didn’t happen and characters who never lived.”

The kind of liberties Mezrich seems to have taken, Gay Talese told the Globe, are “unacceptable” and “dishonest,” adding “I have little respect for people who do it.”

“It’s lying,” said Sebastian Junger, whom Mezrich cites as one of his “idols.” “Nonfiction is reporting the world as it is, and when you combine characters and change chronology, that’s not the world as it is; that’s something else.”

[Steve-O]

Go to Amazon page for the book and click reviews: the first 10 or so are all 1 star. As slacker-filled and dispassionate as the poker world is... hell hath no fury like a poker player scorned

http://www.amazon.com/Straight-Flush.../dp/0062240099

[Deal]

Go to Amazon page for the book and click reviews: the first 10 or so are all 1 star. As slacker-filled and dispassionate as the poker world is... hell hath no fury like a poker player scorned

True, but many of them would probably still lineup for a photoshoot and autograph with the same folks they spew digital venom at from the comforts of their mother's basement...