Poker Vlogger Has $130k Seized by Ignition for Winning on Someone Else’s Account

Poker vlogger and TwitchTV streamer Matt Vaughan had his $130k tournament prizemoney seized and redistributed to fellow players recently after he streamed himself winning the tournament while playing on a friend’s account...

Playing on someone else’s account is against the T&C’s of almost every reputable online cardroom, but the Maryland amateur thought he could circumvent the rules on the unregulated Ignition network.

Taking down the $1million GTD “Monthly Milly” on February 21st this year had Vaughan celebrating – turning his $535 buy-in into a monster $136,686 score.

Two months later, and Vaughan was back with a tale of self-inflicted woe, starting with the epic statement:

“I lost it all.”

He then relates how he had previously been caught playing against the site’s terms of service, which disallows play from Maryland, Vaughan’s previous home location. He was allowed to cash out a $16k win, but had his account closed.

After moving to Nevada, Vaughan decides to “circumvent” the rules by playing on a friend’s account, as many others were doing according to Vaughan.

“It seemed pretty common, and not a huge deal,” he told viewers in his vlog, admitting it was “still obviously breaking the TOS but it was just sort of a known thing.”

In an attempt to justify his actions, Vaughan then explains how Ignition operates “anonymous” player policy – no names, just random numbers for each player, that change each time you sit down. That way, he says, he was gaining no advantage by playing under a friend’s account.

Upon winning the event, however, his friend was stopped when trying to cash out, Ignition having discovered it was Vaughan behind the play – which he could hardly deny having streamed the entire final table.

Vaughan was rather optimistic about what would happen next:

“I expected at the time that the same thing would happen as when I lived in Maryland. I would be paid out, the account would be closed and I’d just go back to being someone who can’t play on Ignition – just, a little bit richer than before.”

That’s not what happened though, Ignition informing Vaughan that he was “technically multi-accounting” and his winnings would be re-distributed to the other players.

What happened next was astonishing, Vaughan revealing that his heads-up opponent, California pro Tom Braband, paid him the share of the chop they had agreed on during play.

Vaughan has only praise for Braband, almost in tears as he explains how the entire thing played out, claiming:

“My faith in humanity is officially restored!”

There has been a downside, though, apart from the huge amount of money “lost” by Vaughan, with the “haters” on his case for what he did...

Vaughan is far from the only player to look for a way around the USA’s often ridiculous rules and regulations regarding online poker, but few have gone to the lengths that Gordon Vayo did in 2018.

Having scooped $692,000 from a $1k event during the previous year’s Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), Vayo was denied his winnings by PokerStars, who claimed Vayo was not in Canada, but rather the US when he played.

Vayo launched legal action against the site, but when faced with evidence he had hired a forger to fake receipts and other documents, Vayo quickly dropped the case.

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