On Friday we found out what, Matthew “ADZ124” Marafioti has done with all those millions he’s earned playing poker.
Was there anything about Marafioti’s game that he was not happy about last week?
“There were a few spots where I was a little nitty pre-flop. I could have made some more calls, flopped some hands and made some more money. I think when I am up a certain amount I tend to hover around it too much. This makes me less inclined to play the right way. It’s the wrong attitude to have because you should play each hand for maximum value and it’s one of the reasons I love playing when I am behind. When I am behind I have to make the right calls and gamble a bit more and this aspect of the game is important.”
Something tells me that it may be difficult for Marafioti to get through a week without someone stepping on his toes. So did he have any significant issues this week?
“The main issue has been the allegations of hacking on the forums. It’s a shame that I can’t discuss that right now, for legal reasons, but I just want to say that the allegations are false. Anyone with half a brain will understand that those allegations are false. I have not been happy with Tony Dunst or Jon Aguiar this week. The two people are different because I like Tony and don’t like Jon. I worked on Season X ‘The Ones to Watch on the World Poker Tour’ and it was a lot of fun. I got to know Tony and I really liked him. Then when all of these allegations came out about hacking Dunst went onto Twitter and basically said, “I am glad William Reynolds outed the lying cheating scum that Adzizzy is.”
At least the situation has shown me who my true friends are. It hurt me that he could go on Twitter and says that just weeks after we were in the same room together laughing and talking. At least have the common courtesy to ring me and ask me if I did it! What he did. Friends are not supposed to do. But Dunst is an easy target. I mean wearing a suit to a poker tournament is probably why he never wins. He must be so uncomfortable with what he is wearing. He has played a million WPT’s and has only final tabled one, has $300,000 of make-up and starts on me?”
So that’s Dunst out of the way, what about the alleged brawl with Aguiar?
“Jon Aguiar is backed by Durrr and has between $500,000 and $600,000 of make-up. He finds himself in the middle of every poker argument known to man. He engulfs himself in it. This guy must have the lowest self-esteem because he cannot make any money in poker. Seriously I think the guy should just quit. But he is good at stirring the pot and creating arguments. The guy badgers me constantly. I told him during the WSOP that he was on his way towards really annoying me. At the WPT I went up to him and told him to stop publicly insulting me because some one had shown me a tweet he had sent out whilst I was in the same room as him. He was saying I should be banned from every poker room in the country. What is this idiot talking about?
Luckily nobody values his opinion and he has the intelligence of a monkey. As I walked away from him I shoved him a little and he started screaming for security. I mean come on the guy is like 6ft 5 or something. Then he was complaining that I had a bodyguard. I am in Long Beach with $100,000 in my pocket; there are gang bangers everywhere. That’s why I have a bodyguard, not for the likes of Jon Aguiar.”
So that’s Aguiar and Dunst. Anyone else get on your nerves this week?
“Yevgeniy Timoshenko got on my nerves in the private game in Beverley Hills. I had around $70,000 in front of me and he sits down on my left with around $5,000. It’s such a big game I have no idea why he only has $5,000 in front of him. There is a $400 button straddle; I make it $1,200 every hand and he is playing like a super nit. He’s basically rat holing the game. Anyway I am crushing so I decide to get up and go for a swim. My friends start making a few jokes and Yevgeniy says, “one piece or two.” Now I have a little bit of history with him over a girl. I can’t take a joke from him. So I said, “How about you get up right now and stand over there and I will mess you up” as in beat the hell out of him. He was just staring at me before saying, “why would I want to fight with you?” I mean he is a nerdy guy. I had to take a few minutes break so I didn’t knock him out right there. I am not going to listen to some random nerd with $5,000 showing up in my game.“
Lee Davy is a writer from Ogmore Vale in South Wales. You can follow his views and opinions through his blog or on Twitter @Chingster23
