Player Focus: ZeeJustin

ZeeJustin suffered one of the most spectacular falls of graces seen in the world of online poker earlier this year.

Justin Bonomo aka "ZeeJustin" - one of the top young players on the net - was caught playing multiple entries in tournaments on PartyPoker. The site, not surprisingly, hit him hard.

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"A total of six accounts, all with different biographical information, were making multiple entries into the same tournament from the same IP system," reportedly read the statement, posted on an online mesage board back in February.

"This is in direct violation of our Terms and Conditions and the six accounts have been permanently closed and the player barred from our site.

"We have placed a substantial amount of money, from all the accounts, on hold."

ZeeJustin's behaviour and ban prompted fierce debate among the online community. Nearly all those who aired their views condemned him for what he did, and his refusal to offer an outright apology merely fuelled their fury.

While some dissenting voices suggested the site's decision to withhold all his money (upwards of $100k) - some of which, surely, had been won fairly - was a tad harsh, the general opinion was that ZeeJustin had been caught red-handed and the punishment fitted the crime.

The man at the centre of the storm eventually showed a change of attitude. After taking time out from the game to consider his actions, he admitted on the forums he'd done wrong and asked the community to accept him back. It marked the start of his journey back into the world of online poker.

He may no longer play under the name "ZeeJustin", but via his blog site www.zeejustin.com it's possible to keep abreast of his performances. To say he's lost none of his poker lustre would be an understatement - he clinched a $137,000 win in the PokerStars Sunday Million and walked off with $110,000 for finishing second in PartyPoker's $600 $40 tourney.

But then, such rich pickings come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the online scene for the past couple of years. This is a player who, though barely out of his teens, collected $173,114 in winnings on PokerStars alone in 2005. From reading his blog, it's clear he's a player keen to further develop his game and carry on winning big prizes. And now he's operating anonymously online - it's still unclear what his new poker moniker is - it will be more difficult for opponents to either try to take him out or avoid him.

The fall-out from the scandal will ensure ZeeJustin will find it hard to shake off the "cheat" tag for a good while yet. As a sign of the impact the scandal had, you can find players registered under the names "ZeeJustinCheater" and "zeejustinisacheater" on PartyPoker. But he's learned his lesson and is back with a new attitude. If other players let him move on, it's hoped ZeeJustin will eventually be remembered as a damn good poker player.

Now that he's old enough to play in US casinos we can expect to see him playing more live events too. If you find yourself sitting next to him make sure the cards aren't market three hands in!


View ZeeJustin's PVi Profile here


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