In Denver,  Georgiev said he got involved with several honest players,  whom he described as  “the biggest suckers.”  He said that he offered to run the game,  keep it honest and would win all the money.  Despite getting stuck the first night for $25,000,  he said,  before the night was over he had won $50,000.  “I destroyed Denver in 1985.  Soon I won so much money that I was barred from my own game.”

Having been barred from his game,  Georgiev headed back to Los Angeles.  Here, he had to play smaller stakes games than he was accustomed to,  in the $100-$200 and $150-$300 limit range,  allowing him to stay under the radar,  even though the heat from the cheating story in the LA Times had worn off.  Georgiev also alleges that at this time,  several professional poker players were involved with casino management,  allowing them to pilfer the big games.  Despite that,  Georgiev says he was able to capitalize on the legalization of holdem in California,  because while he had knowledge of the game while nearly every new player at the table was used to draw and lowball.  “It was free money,”  said Georgiev.  “You couldn’t spend it fast enough.”

Going to the Dogs.  Even though he was making a killing playing holdem,  Georgiev’s life was anything but a bed of roses.  In the mid to late 1980s,  he claims he was spending $1,000 per day on cocaine  (he stated he used drugs for about a ten year period,  from 1979 to 1989).  He also suffered the first of four heart attacks in 1989,  which hurt his ability to bluff in a poker game.  Having to look at other opportunities for income,  he took advantage of an opportunity to go to Florida with some individuals who recruited him,  telling him he might be able to find some poker action.  It wasn’t poker that made him money in Florida,  however.  It was here he found out about a dog track betting scam,  which he set up in Vegas.  In 1993,  Georgiev said he made contacts in Miami,  and figured out how to manipulate the odds on dog races there.  “I set it up where you could bet show,  and show would pay two or three times what the win price would.” He got organized with an excellent dog handicapper,  he said,  and made a killing betting on dog races in Florida from Vegas.  After being barred from sportsbooks in Vegas,  Georgiev made his way across the border  --  this time to Mexico  --  where he was able to clean up in sportsbooks right across the border.  It was shortly after this that he had heart surgery,  and got back to the poker tables in California.

Recuperating with Stud 8.  After seeing some nice takes by manipulating tournaments in an Oceanside,  CA,  casino by bringing in extra chips,  Georgiev made his way back to Los Angeles,  playing primarily at the Bicycle Casino.  It was here that he began playing seven card stud eight-or-better,  making easy money while recuperating from heart surgery.  Georgiev felt he had an advantage over his opponents:  “All of a sudden something hit me.  I said,  wait a second, either I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing or these people are clueless.”  He said that he'd see the same people there day in and day out,  players in their 50s and 60s who,  he felt,  one would expect knew what they were doing,  but in fact had no idea how to play the game.

I have now been deemed "crazy." What happened to the drug addict who slept in his car? Did that story get too stale.

Georgiev said he was able to easily make money at the hi-lo stud games at the Bike due to the extremely poor play of his opponents.  Georgiev got his dog betting scam going again,  betting on dog races in Mexico.

Shortly after this, he says that he took his action to the ***** Casino,  where he brought a crew in,  bankrolled them,  and made money via collusion.  Georgiev likened this to the ESPN program Tilt:  he claims he was in with the management the same way the villain of Tilt,  Don “the Matador” Everest,  was in with management at the fictional casino.  Georgiev said that he was actually put on the payroll for a time,  but that management changed a year later and he was laid off the day after the management changed.

Georgiev then returned to the Bike where he played until 2001.  But he no longer plays in casinos, because he feels his life is threatened.

Describing his current situation,  he said:  “I’ve got a lot of problems these days.  A lot of people are not very happy with me.  You don’t know about cheating or the people I’m dealing with.  I’m not exaggerating one iota.  These people would kill me in a heartbeat because of what I’ve exposed.  You know how many people I’ve cost their livelihood?  Two hundred or 300 cheats have vanished from the scene and they are all pissed off.  You have no idea how much heat I’ve put on.”

One of these days, enough of you may see the light. Until then keep reading the "totally biased" literature provided by the casinos.

It’s because of that heat that Georgiev refuses to let people know where he lives,  and refuses to play in casinos.  These days,  he plays online where he states he makes over $500,000 per year.  “I’ve got 50 computers,”  he says.  “I truly believe I may be the biggest online in terms of winnings.”  He claims to play in 100 sit 'n go tournaments each day,  playing high stakes and plays at a legitimate site until it becomes illegitimate.  When he’s not playing online,  he’s working on his website,  www.pokermafia.com,  where he posts more articles on poker and cheating allegations and methods.

Georgiev’s Crusade.  Georgiev claims to make a killing through online play.  And he is relentless in his allegations that cheating flourishes in high-stakes games and in the world of online poker.

In online poker rooms,  Georgiev says many sites have what resembles a stripped deck,  with small cards not showing up in player’s hands.  He also believes that many flops induce action,  with an ace and a king showing up on the board far too frequently.  In his opinion,  you just don’t see hands in casinos all that often where you have the nut hand against the second-nut hand,  particularly in split-pot games.  Thus, what happens is the poor players who stay involved get lucky time and time again,  overcoming what should be poor odds thanks to a fixed poker site.

Georgiev states that he can prove that online poker is fixed based on the experience he has had with his numerous accounts.  In a post to a newsgroup from May 2003,  Georgiev stated:  “I have accounts that have never won.  Quite a feat,  when I have accounts that have never lost.  I have one account who has never cashed in the money in a tournament in over 6 months,  yet I have won more tournaments than most could possibly imagine online.  Don't get the wrong idea,  I WIN,  I win BIG.  I just don't win the right way.  Some accounts never miss a key draw,  while others never make one.  Some accounts keep having the hands stand up,  while others keep getting sucked out on all the time,  by hands that shouldn't be played,  let alone shouldn't win.  Does it make sense,  putting equal time into most accounts,  that some are large winners over the year,  while other are good losers?  Should account A be able to win 60K,  while account B loses 30K?”  He went on:  “The randomness or whatever you care to call the way the cards come off the deck,  is something out of a horror movie.  Recently in a week's period I had Kings full,  holding KK beaten 6 times in a week.  That same week I had Aces full cracked twice,  with AA.”  He is of the opinion that a few people do indeed win online  (himself being one of them),  but that for every one that wins,  a hundred end up losing.

He also alleges that many online poker rooms are able to make money through the use of  “bots,”  or robotic players who are able to play for the card room.  Proof of this,  according to Georgiev, is how many games online will have long waiting lists,  but when you get on it you are able to get a seat quickly.  He states that some sites use  “losing bots,”  that are programmed to lose a dollar or two an hour,  but that these end up bringing in a ton of cash for the online card room when the human player is dealt a solid hand,  and the “bot” stays in,  being programmed to play like a sucker.  With more money going into the pot,  the maximum rake is able to be taken more often,  and the site is able to make more money,  according to Georgiev.

He also alleges that big stakes games in casinos are still corrupt,  and if you are looking for a legitimate game your best bet is lower and middle stakes limits,  as there is no incentive to cheat these games due to the small amount of money that would be made.

Vindication?  Spending his time online,  Georgiev believes he is also getting his revenge.  He says that with the so-called poker boom,  one might think that games would be easy to find at the high stakes.  Not so,  says Georgiev.  “The truth has gotten out there; why do you think there are no more games?  I’ve really fucked them up.  90% of the scammers aren’t playing anymore or can’t find a game or have to play tournaments;  that’s why they go broke.  I’ve severed the big games.”  He said that while one would think the poker boom would bring many new players with money wanting to play high stakes poker like the pros on TV, in reality most of the money has gone to lower limit games and players have stayed away from the big money games because they are aware of the cheating that goes on.

Georgiev believes that sometime soon the truth will be fully exposed about the cheating,  and the big games will continue to dry up thanks to his exposing  “the truth.”  As for Georgiev himself,  one might think he’d miss not being on the televised tournaments or just becoming a popular player.  While his future plans are to keep playing poker online and continue to make a killing,  ironically,  Georgiev says he hates the game.  “I hate poker.  I’ve hated poker for probably 35 years.  I’m not good at it,  I’m great at it.  I don’t need the money,  but I like it too much.”

Impressions.  Do a simple search of Russ Georgiev online,  or on the poker newsgroup he frequents,  and you’ll find a wide array of opinions.  Some claim he gives them food for thought;  others seem to truly despise him.  Others suggest he is one of the best players they have ever seen;  some say his tales of wins are hugely exaggerated.  I can’t say whether or not Georgiev is,  as he claims to be,  among the best  if not THE best)  players in the world, but I am convinced that he is a very knowledgeable player who has indeed done very well in poker games over the years,  both through legitimate and not-so-legitimate means.

Personally, I find collusion or any form of cheating despicable and degrading to the game of poker.  However,  most who cheat would not want to publicize what they do.  Georgiev admits to what he has done and makes no apologies.  But if he is such a fantastic player without cheating,  why cheat at all?  Even if he were cheated in games in the past,  and felt cheating was the only way he could make money at poker for a time,  why not just play legitimate poker entirely,  and use his knowledge of cheating to recognize collusion and other forms of cheating when he plays legitimately?

Georgiev also is clearly convinced he is correct in his assessment of online poker rooms being fixed.  Where there is money,  anything is possible;  I’m sure every baseball fan in 1919 thought there was no way the American pastime could have been rigged.  As for me,  I continue to play  --  at one of the online rooms he alleges are crooked  --  just about every day,  which I’m sure would make me a sucker in his book.

Poker is now the third most popular televised sport.  Clearly,  there could be money made with cheating.  But business decisions  (and poker decisions)  always must include a risk/reward question.  I just can’t picture the online poker industry wanting to roll the dice with fixing games when there is plenty of money coming in due to the rake.  If it were proven that online card rooms were fixed,  people would leave in droves,  and return to home games or the free games on Yahoo.  As I look at my records, my online game has ups and downs that mirror my experiences at the brick-and-mortar poker rooms.  There isn't enough there to convince me that online poker is rigged.  It’s easy to think so and blame a site if you have a bad beat,  but it’s a part of poker.

While others have warned me to take what Georgiev claims with a grain of salt,  one thing I can say is that after talking to him,  I still find he is one of the most fascinating individuals I have had a conversation with.~~