Courtesy of Cardplayer.com
Jared Bleznick is a fixture at the Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars high-stakes tables, particularly PLO.
He started playing high-stakes online poker under the name “Harrington25” on Full Tilt site and “Harrington10” on PokerStars. According to High Stakes Database, Harrington25 is currently ranked 34th with total cash game profits of nearly $2 million, and Harrington10 has won $252,371.
Born in Roslyn, New York, the now-30-year-old Bleznick first ventured into online poker in 2007, where he had a rather poor start and found himself nearly $20,000 in the hole. Soon thereafter, his winnings rose to an impressive $541,000. By the end of 2010, he was enjoying a $2.35 million profit on the site.
Then, like many other online players, Bleznick transitioned to playing live tournaments. He also recently made his television debut on Poker After Dark. Take a look at this hand from Season 4 (at 10:35) in which Samantha Abernathy shows him who’s boss.
Here’s another hand from the same game, in which Bleznick got lucky against Joe McKeehen. Fast-forward to 14:40.
Many people’s first exposure to Jared Bleznick occurred at the 2016 WSOP. He did quite well in the Main Event, finishing in an impressive 16th place. Instead of being proud of his accomplishment, however, the overachieving Bleznick was only focused on the win—or at least being a member of the November Nine.
He said he doesn’t play to cash. He plays to win. This narrow focus on winning spells trouble for most players, and Bleznick is no exception.
During the $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw Event, he busted out in 14th place and, after a few choice words to his opponent Andrey Zaichenko and the floor staff, proceeded to crumple up and throw his cards, thus leading to his being banned for life from future WSOP events at the Rio. However, Phil Hellmuth, who is no stranger to outbursts and tantrums, came to his aid and had a word with WSOP bigwigs. This was not Bleznick’s first outburst, though. On several previous occasions WSOP tournament staff warned Bleznick to tone down his behavior.
A few days later, it was as if the ban had never happened. Hellmuth also announced to the world, via Twitter, that he would be coaching Bleznick through the Main Event. For his efforts, Hellmuth received considerable backlash.
Bleznick’s 2017 WSOP also went well. Of the four events he played, Bleznick came in 3rd in the $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, 5th in the $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw event, and 5th in the $2,500 Limit Mixed Triple Draw Lowball event. In total, he walked away with around $135,000.
Prior to his bad behavior at the WSOP, Jared Bleznick was no stranger to controversy. Back in 2013, Bluff Europe Magazine reported he was at the center of a multi-accounting scandal.
Multi-accounting—or “MA-ing”—occurs when a player uses multiple accounts to play on a single poker single. The advantage to the MA-er—particularly in high-stakes games—is knowledge of opponents’ playing styles based on past encounters. Those opponents, however, think they are playing a different player.
Complaints about this practice have only intensified over the years. For Bleznick, it culminated with British pro Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz accusing him of multi-accounting on PokerStars. Schwartz alleged that in addition to his usual handle, Bleznick was also playing under “longerpig,” “nypogadi11,” “setokaiba1,” “crain85,” and “gozoboro.”
According to the PokerStars terms of service, users are prohibited from opening multiple accounts, and anyone caught doing so is subject to having their funds frozen.
Some players don’t see multi-accounting as cheating. For example, Tom “durrr” Dwan claims the multi-accounting rule is flawed and that multi-accounting is akin to angle shooting in live games: it is simply a breach of etiquette and not true rule-breaking behavior. Other players argue that good players have no choice but to multi-account. Otherwise they wouldn’t find any action. Dan “Jungleman” Cates added that multi-accounting is simply “a matter of technicality.”
Other players disagree, citing that multi-accounting isn’t just one person playing occasionally on another’s account. They claim it is a deliberate and malicious attempt to disguise oneself from identification by other players. For more detailed arguments for and against multi-accounting, check out this (one of several) Jared Bleznick TwoPlusTwo discussion forum.
Amid his 2016 WSOP and online controversies, Jared Bleznick doesn’t understand why people don’t like him. During an ESPN interview, Bleznick admitted, “Honestly, I don’t like a lot of the people that are involved in poker … you know, poker is a … it’s a very selfish game and I would say a lot of the people I don’t really get along great with because everyone’s just about themselves … but for the most part, I like a lot about the game.”
What do you think about the whole Jared Bleznick drama?
Until next time.
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