In a significant move, PokerStars has restored the account of the 23-year pro Justin ‘ZeeJustin’ Bonomo right in time to enable him to participate in the first Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) – the most sought-after poker room globally. A Bodog sponsored player, Bonomo initially got entangled in a controversy on PartyPoker in 2006 when it was open for participation by all US gamers. At that time, Bonomo operated numerous accounts simultaneously and pursued the same policy with other gaming sites resulting to his exclusion from these virtual poker rooms.
The illegal methods adopted by Bonomo became public soon after it was divulged that another pro Josh ‘JJProdigy’ Field too had employed numerous screen names while playing at PartyPoker and one of these included ‘ABlackCar’. The frauds by Field and Bonomo alerted PartyPoker and it beefed up the site’s protective measures. In turn, Cake Poker Network banned Field from participating in the Bluff Online Poker Challenge in March for violating rules and permitting a wager player to exploit his account.
It is worth mentioning here that Bonomo employed as many as six accounts simultaneously at PartyPoker and there were times when all these six accounts were used in the same online poker tourney. When the fraud became public, his prize money from a tournament with a buyin worth $640 from PartyPoker Sunday tournament was withdrawn and Bonomo lied low to pass up the media fury. Former PokerStars poker room manager Lee Jones burst the bubble on February 26, 2006, when he publicized on ‘TwoPlusTwo’ that Bonomo was also guilty of using several accounts in different tourneys at PokerStars. Soon after this announcement, PokerStars withdrew money from Bonomo’s account to compensate the players who suffered owing to the young player’s unlawful activities in those competitions.
Two years later, in 2008, Bonomo became an associate of Team Bodog banding together with ‘Survivor: China’ discards Evelyn Ng., Jean-Robert Bellande and David Williams. In 2007, Bonomo suddenly appeared on the live poker field winning a second place in a $3,000 buy-in HORSE competition with total prize money worth $40,000 and organized as a section of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit celebrations at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Bonomo made it to the final table of the 2007 WSOP and came fourth in a $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em completion gaining $156,000. In the following year, he came a close second in a $5,000 Mixed Hold’em competition winning $230,000.
Bomono performed an inflated speculation at the 2006 Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the six-handed final table that was televised live ending up seventh with a winning of $152,000. During 2007, Bonomo finished 11th at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Competition and 35th in the World Poker Tour gaining $154,000 from both the competitions. Next, Bonomo joined Eric Morris and Parvis at the maiden Dream Team Poker tourney held at the Hard Rocks Casino in Las Vegas being a member of ‘Team Bluff’. Presently, Bonomo is all set to compete at PokerStars SCOOP beginning from Friday next.
Commenting on Bonomo’s joining the Bodog’s selected group of poker pros in May 2008, Mohawk Gaming Group CEO Alwyn Morris remarked that the company was delighted to officially have Bonomo, an accomplished as well as dreaded poker pro, among its outstanding poker pros. Stating that Bonomo was a perfect match for Bodog and he expected the young player to do wonders for Team Bodog this season beginning with SCOOP.
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