CHEATING DETECTED AT COBRAM HOTEL DURING NYE POKER EVENT
A cheating incident was identified and dealt with swiftly during the New Year’s Eve poker tournament held at The Grand Central Hotel in Cobram, Victoria on 31 December 2025.
The event was operated by Poker With Fred, a regional independent poker operator that has been running local tournaments in the area since at least 2017.
According to organiser Fred Braybon, irregularities were detected early in the tournament during routine oversight.
“Early in the game, I discovered extra chips, surplus to starting stacks, on one of the tables. A check of the security camera showed us a player adding several chips to their stack from their pocket.”
Further investigation confirmed the misconduct. Security footage was reviewed, and standard post event chip reconciliation procedures were applied. During the final chip up, when all round denomination chips were replaced with plaques, six additional large denomination chips were discovered. These chips matched the pattern and colour of the tournament’s official chip set.
Poker With Fred confirmed that chip count cross checks and balancing procedures have been conducted after every event for more than seven years. On this occasion, those controls corroborated what had been witnessed on camera.
As a result, the player involved has been banned immediately and indefinitely from all Poker With Fred tournaments.
Australian Poker Schedule commends the organiser for the professionalism shown in detecting the issue, applying established procedures, and taking decisive action to protect the integrity of the game.
Incidents such as this highlight the importance of experienced tournament directors, strong operational controls, and clear post event reconciliation processes. Australian Poker Schedule strongly encourages tournament directors and operators nationwide to continue communicating through appropriate industry channels to ensure player misconduct is identified and addressed promptly.
Based on the procedures demonstrated and the manner in which this incident was handled, Australian Poker Schedule confidently recommends Poker With Fred events as being run with a strong commitment to fairness and integrity.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/249803298799362/
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