Captured: The JJProdigy Affair

Crime does not pay. Not even online.

A recent $200 buy-in tournament on Partypoker yielded a first prize of $140,000 won by a player named ABlackCar. But the black car never drove off with the money. Partypoker discovered that ABlackCar was just one of the screen names used by online player JJProdigy. Party acted quickly, deciding that ABlackCar would be stripped of his prize entirely, and that players below him on the leader board would each be moved up one place.

This incident quickly became a major focus of discussion online, particularly on the Two Plus Two forum, where JJProdigy attempted to defend himself. He spun a story alleging that the second account was for his grandmother, but it never held water. The truth came out, and he confessed to setting up the second account as well as playing both of them during the tournament.

He also alleged that many other online players do the same thing. Whether he knows this for a fact, or is merely alleging it to deflect and diffuse some of the unwanted attention he’s received isn’t clear. But in the end it doesn’t matter. He’s guilty. We know it. The online sites know it, and his goose appears to be cooked unless he figures some other way to resurface in the future.

Party isn’t the only site that’s canned him, either. When PokerStars got wind of the affair, their own investigation into JJProdigy found enough fire in all the smoke to justify closing him down on their site too.

The JJProdigy affair may be a blessing in disguise, especially if it leads other online sites to redouble their efforts to prevent and apprehend similar scammers.