Twittertainment: Knives Out for Bryn Kenney As Podcast Appearance Looms

Vitriol often goes viral and, on this week’s Twittertainment, alleged cheater Bryn Kenney is back in the spotlight thanks to Joey Ingram. 

Poker pro and podcaster Ingram tweeted on Wednesday that he had scheduled an interview with Kenney. With more than $57 million in live tournament earnings and a résumé to make any player envious, Kenney’s voice is one poker fans should be interested in hearing. 

However, despite his impressive run of results and obvious penchant for poker, members of the community want Ingram to press Kenney on other topics. Specifically, people want to know if recent claims that collusion is rife within his stable is true. 

Cheating Accusations Won’t Go Away

The lingering accusations initially came from former team member and World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Martin Zamani. 

Zamani tweeted in April that players backed by Kenney were “forced to collude” on GGPoker, especially in satellites in order to “do what’s best for the team.” 

Zamani’s tweet went viral on poker Twitter. He doubled down on the claims soon after when he appeared on Doug Polk’s podcast (see video below). 

Kenney eventually responded by talking to Pokernews. In an interview that lasted over an hour, he gave some clear and some not-so-clear responses to Zamani’s accusations. 

He denied the claim that his team of players uses real-time assistance (RTA) software. He also rebuked the accusation that he used TeamViewer to watch his horses and offer advice. Kenney did say that some players had worked in unison and ghosted (watched) each other, but this only happened on a few occasions. 

In Kenney’s mind, the interview addressed the cheating allegations and that was the end of it. For others, it raised more questions than it answered. That became apparent on Wednesday when Ingram told the community he’ll be interviewing Kenney. 

New Interview to Reopen Old Wounds

Jennifer Newell was one of the first to respond. The veteran poker journalist urged Ingram to quiz Kenney on each specific allegation and not allow him to offer a “blanket denial.” 

Indeed, the main criticism from the previous interview is that Kenney was able to get through it by saying “some” of the accusations were false. 

Twitter user Seahwk33 was concerned that Kenney is paying to be on Ingram’s podcast. Ingram said that’s not true and isn’t sure where that rumor came from. 

Others in the now-viral Twitter thread echoed the sentiment about addressing specific allegations, but Ingram cautioned that, without evidence, proving guilt would be tough. 

Multiple-time WSOP bracelet winner Josh Arieh questioned whether or not Kenney could be trusted to give truthful answers. That tweet caught the accused’s attention and sparked a sub-thread. 

Kenney defended himself and asked Arieh to give examples of the “shady” things he’s being accused of. Arieh hit back by asking if Zamani and another accuser, Lauren Roberts, were lying. To that, Kenney said Zamani is willfully lying and Roberts owes him “millions of dollars.”

Cheating Allegations Continue to Scar Online Poker

Kenney went on to state categorically that he has never “endorsed colluding in any way or been a part of it.” 

That statement might be enough for some but not for others. The onus is now on Ingram to deliver a podcast that burrows down into the details of the scandal and its origins. 

Proving anything beyond a reasonable doubt without evidence will be almost impossible. Kenney has stated his position and many people have already made up their minds. An interview with Ingram probably won’t sway people from their current positions. 

What it might do, however, is unearth some extra information or, potentially, bring some clarity to the latest cheating scandal in poker. 

And, if nothing else, it will keep the discussion going and force all online poker sites, from GGPoker to PokerStars, to up their games when it comes to stopping cheats.