Sometimes I come across a character in the poker community who is so stupid, so out of touch and such a bumbler that I am compelled to introduce the fool to readers of “Six Toed Pete”.
Todd Witteles, the Inspector Clouseau of Poker Frauds, is today’s buffoon. Let’s examine what Todd has been up to recently.
Witteles, aka Dan Druff has taken a well deserved pounding for his role in not detecting John Sepulveda’s scams and frauds perpetrated on Poker Fraud Alert and Vegas Poker Radio.
Todd vouched for and enthusiastically pushed and promoted every project and scheme Johnny Sep dreamed up. Not once before this blew up did the owner of “Poker Fraud Alert” alert anyone about his forum friend and podcast co-host Jasep’s criminal history or dirty deeds.
Why not? Well for the simple reason that Todd refused to vet Sepulveda before approving and championing each scam including the fraudulent Ironman Podcast for the 22Q Foundation Charity.
As a result, John Sepulveda stole thousands of dollars while Todd Witteles and Poker Fraud Alert became a laughingstock in the poker community.
The name “Poker Fraud Alert” is unsuitable for Todd’s poker forum. It’s incongruous with what actually occurs there.
We know Witteles is a failure as a poker fraud sleuth but surely he must ban PFA scam artists and thieves once their guilt is obvious. Incredibly and unfortunately, he doesn’t.
Todd Witteles’ hypocrisy is well documented but his treatment of PFA members who have scammed and defrauded just compounds his dishonesty.
John Sepulveda, aka Jasep on PFA who stole @ $15,000 is still welcomed on Poker Fraud Alert. Another member, 408Mike, who has admitted stealing from a PFA member, has not been banned. PFA’s Weissman, who reportedly stole from Tommyboy and USC, is still a PFA member in good standing and Templar, another PFA scammer is still approved.
Todd’s podcast co-host FckVwls rolled ICFishies for a large sum of cash yet Witteles refuses to ban her. Inequitably another member Jsearles, who was involved in a disagreement with Vegas1369 over a small amount of money, was banned from posting on PFA.
I could go on and on but it’s crystal clear…Todd Wittles does little to nothing to warn the poker community about fraud. His poker forum, Poker Fraud Alert, has promoted poker fraud that could have been avoided had Todd been more careful, more diligent!
Remember Todd is the one who vigorously vouched for convicted thief and notorious conman Peter Falcone, aka PeterDC. Recently Witteles went on record at PFA to praise one of his members who bragged about stealing @ $1,100 from Poker Stars!
As Azzclown, Anal_Hershiser recently posted on PFA:
“We got lots of scammers. One is banned. I don’t particularly care for the guy either, but it is what it is.”
When PFA member Lannister recently inquired:
“…I am curious why some scammers are allowed to post here??”
Poker Fraud Alert member Needless2say gave this honest, accurate reply:
“cuz this is where all the frauds kick-it.”
Thankfully the poker community can sleep easy knowing Todd Witteles is protecting them from poker fraud.
Here’s another example of Todd Witteles’ sharp mind in action as he tries to determine if he’s being hustled by two prostitutes in a Las Vegas casino bar.
He actually started a thread on his forum wondering if two women seated next to him at a bar might have been genuinely interested in him?! This occurred @ 5am in a Caesars Palace watering hole.
Todd was so excited about the attention he received from these “ladies” that he published a poll in the PFA thread hoping his members would verify and validate his feelings that these were not prostitutes but just attractive women interested in him.
It was not tongue-in-cheek. Druff was truly hopeful these two women authentically desired him, an awkward, overweight, socially inept man.
If this clueless guy can’t spot two casino bar “Weekend Warriors” sizing him up as a trick how can he protect the poker community from fraud?
N.B. After reading this article I wonder how long it will take Dan Druff to post in his thread that he was only kidding and knew they were hookers all along? Sure Druff…we believe you.
SixToedPete, thank you for writing about this stuff, it is refreshing to see someone tell it like it is instead of all the lies being perpetrated on PokerFraudAlert. Here are some of my thoughts on the matter. Even though I am echoing much of your sentiment, I am writing this to assure people that what is being written here is true and not just the actions of someone with a vendetta.
PFA has been in business almost a year now and it didn’t take long for the floodgates to be opened to scammers, thieves and other assorted miscreants. While Todd Witteles tries to portray himself as a do-gooder versus evil, it really goes to show where his true ethics lie in that the people he surrounds himself with are mostly criminals and/or people who get off harassing others.
Early in PFA’s existence, it was decided that user “The Templar” would help run the poker league and collect players money. Needless to say, The Templar turned out to be a thief that pocketed the cash and eventually vanished. I believe Jasep then took over and tried to sort things out. As many of you now know, Jasep is the one who befriended Todd Witteles and used his site to help steal thousands of dollars from other users and promote a scandalous charity drive.
If you are currently following that saga, you’ll notice that none of the people involved have shown any remorse for not only being involved in a fraudulent fund raiser but also for aiding and abetting a career scammer, John Sepulveda. Instead, in true Todd Witteles fashion, they are too busy pointing fingers in an effort to lay all the blame elsewhere. None of these people took the time to make sure the funds were sent to charity. Hell, none of these people even took the time to google Jasep’s name to make sure he was on the up and up. Instead, they all blindly helped promote a fraud that swindled thousands from many unsuspecting donators. Todd Witteles (and others) had freely given Jasep the credibility he needed to pull off these scams.
While this is no laughing matter, it is humorous to some of us that have followed the forums over the years that Todd tries to portray himself as a detective. With all his bumblings, however, he has managed to make Hong Kong Phooey look like
Sherlock Holmes in comparison. Yes, he is the only forum member to ever give a glowing endorsement to career criminal PeterDC when he unequivocally vouched for him. Also funny, the person who was vilified for not sponsoring the fraudulent charity drive, is now the one making an actual donation. Yep, Mason Malmuth, who was smart enough not to be involved in the fraud is now making the donation while Todd Witteles is still busy pointing fingers.
Here is a short list of other members of Todd’s forum and a brief explanation of how they fit the PFA mold:
yebsite- committed identity theft which caused a 5 figure settlement against his “friend”. Also known to brag about stealing from poker sites.
WillieMcFML- admitted colluder and chip dumper with yebsite. Willie has always been a staunch supporter of Jasep and would even frequent ghost towned sites to berate someone for calling Jasep’s site a “failsite” and so on. He also has befriended and always has great things to say about another member of the forums who has scammed 5 figures, a user now known as “JustifiedHomicide.”
JustifiedHomicide- scammed many members of the community and still owes 5 figures. He shows little remorse and “justifies” his scams by saying his backers made money and were only trying to abuse him. He now wants his own radio show on PFA
and it appears Todd may oblige.
vwls- Todd originally outed her as someone that stole approximately 12-13K from his friend. Restitution was never made and it appears the victim may have just given up collecting anything and let her off the hook. Todd has conveniently swept this
issue under the rug and has employed vwls to be a cohost on most of his radio shows.
PLOL- recently boasted about stealing $1,200 from pokerstars. Todd praised this thief for his efforts and used the excuse that it was a good thing because of some indiscretions in dealing with pokerstars in the past.
badguy23- known to brag and post about how to steal from sportsbetting and poker sites. Also lkes to threaten people with bodily harm if they don’t conform to his wants. Obviously, his style fits right in with the PFA motto and is a forum
favorite.
This is just a short list but I can assure you that there are several other small time grifters and scumbags that frequent Todd’s site. Some are known, some are unknown. Personally. I have no axes to grind and no vendetta with anyone on the
forums. This is just my unbiased opinion on things versus all the convoluted thoughts of people with an agenda and the people who blindly support them.
Cheers
As you correctly pointed out, Todd Witteles’ forum Poker Fraud Alert is rife with scam artists, thieves, criminals and fraudsters. Witteles also encourages and participates in the harassment of people he disagrees with, including posting private personal information consisting of photographs, work history, family members, copyright protected content, locations and more. These kinds of behaviors are widespread on Poker Fraud Alert.
It has evolved into such an ugly situation that honest PFA members who were duped by Witteles are now leaving PFA and reputable members of the poker community avoid that cesspool of scams like the plague. IMO, Todd’s reputation, which is in the toilet, has stained PFA forever.
Interestingly Poker Fraud Alert’s symbol or avatar is the skull and crossbones…an emblem warning of danger, used to indicate the presence of toxic or poisonous material.
Six Toed Pete