Brian Townsend’s Full Tilt Poker Status Suspended for Isildur1 Controversy

In the wake of the arrival of Swedish high-stakes online poker player Isildur1, Brian “sbrugby” Townsend, a CardRunners instructor, has had his Full Tilt Poker Red Pro status suspended for one month.

According to PokerTableRatings.com, which has seen its traffic explode as a result of Isildur1 playing nosebleed stakes against the likes of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, and Patrik Antonius, Townsend took nearly $1.6 million off Isildur1 over 17,725 tracked hands. He ranks as Isildur1’s fourth “Worst Enemy” behind fellow CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings, Ivey, and Antonius.

The allegations of possible collusion against Isildur1 stemmed from an interview with Hastings posted by Gary Wise on ESPN.com. On his $3 million day against Isilaur1 that took place earlier this month, Hastings told Wise, “Obviously I’m happy and I’ll take it, but Brian [Townsend] did a ton of work. The three of us discussed a ton of hands and the reports that Brian made, so I’m very thankful to him and to Cole as well.” Hastings’ comments, as benign as they may seem, ignited a firestorm of controversy around the industry as players cried foul on behalf of Isildur1.

Full Tilt Poker’s Terms of Service states, “Players are not permitted to use the hand histories for hands that they have not personally participated in.” Accordingly, poker software such as Poker-Edge, Poker Crusher, and IdleMiner are strictly prohibited because they give players an unfair leg up in the game. Examples of shunned practices in the Terms and Services also include “exchanging hand histories with a friend.”

In a blog posted on CardRunners.com, Townsend admitted to acquiring a total of 30,000 hands on Isildur1 to supplement his own chest of 20,000. The poker training instructor noted, “This is against the T&C of Full Tilt Poker and because of this violation I am going to have my red pro status suspended for one month.” CardRunners instructors are sponsored pros of the site as part of an agreement forged in March of 2008. The group also includes Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby, Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron, Andrew “muddywater” Wiggins, and 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Ryan “Daut44” Daut.

Townsend defended his actions, saying, “[Hastings, Cole South, and I] never shared hands where mucked hands were shown besides a few hands I posted on weaktight.org, and in fact all the information I received could be taken from watching the game.” Isildur1 has been notably quiet on the virtual felts after storming the high-stakes online poker scene last month. According to PokerTableRatings.com, of the eight largest pots in the history of online poker, Isildur1 has been involved in every single one, winning half of them. Antonius scooped the largest pot ever seen in the industry, which registered at $1.3 million.

This isn’t Townsend’s first run-in with Full Tilt Poker authorities. In September of 2008, his Red Pro status was revoked for six months after the pro engaged in multi-accounting. Townsend played under two monikers on the world’s second largest online poker site, “Stellarnebula” and “Brian Townsend,” resulting in the disciplinary action. Townsend donated $25,000 to charity to help make up for his transgressions, commenting at the time, “This is by no means me making my actions correct, but I hope that it shows some good faith towards those that I work closely with.”

In his most recent admission of violating Full Tilt’s Terms of Service, Townsend noted that he has never played on South’s or Hastings’ online poker accounts. He commented, “I analyzed the database I put together, and the three of us chatted about my analysis, and optimal strategy against Isildur.”

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