18 Jan 2026 Beginner This material is for beginner players Two poker players with a long history of cheating were caught again last week. This time it was at a card room in Texas. A sharp-eyed poker vlogger was quick to spot their scheme and stop them before they scammed more players, and he posted all the details on his YouTube channel. The incident happened at The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, Texas, during a cash game of pot-limit Omaha. Once the news became public, the poker community raised concerns about serial cheaters hopping from one poker room to another. Familiar Faces Raise Red Flags in Texas Yaiquel Mosqueda-Perez, 43, and Norberto Pardo, 49, were the two players involved in the scam. The duo have criminal records in Florida and are known within the poker circles. Poker vlogger Anthony Martino recognised the cheaters while they were playing at a nearby table. Martino had encountered the two before and was aware of their cheating history for several years. He informed the card room staff that the duo had already been banned and blocked from other poker rooms because of cheating. Upon receiving this information, the staff promptly took action. The dealer took the deck out of the game, which was a $1/$2/$5 pot-limit Omaha table. Upon examining the cards, the staff confirmed the cards were marked. Subsequently, the Lodge Card Club permanently banned both players for marking cards. A Cheating Pattern That Goes Back Years Martino pointed out that this wasn't the first cheating incident. He first met the same two cheaters in 2020 at the Tampa Greyhound Track in Florida, where they received a lifetime ban. According to Martino, the two players used the same setup. They would sit at the table, one in Seat 1 and the other in Seat 6. The pair would pay money to anyone occupying those seats to move to different seats. The cheating pair worked together by sending signals and putting pressure on players at the table, as per Martino. He started to notice an odd pattern that seemed strange after some time. Martino described his understanding as a "lightbulb moment" similar to the time professional poker player Garrett Adelstein said an opponent was cheating on a live stream in 2022. Some of Martino's fans who watched the video confirmed that the same notorious scammers had been banned in Illinois poker rooms for doing the same thing. Furthermore, Martino presented evidence that bestbet Jacksonville had banned the two poker cheaters. Bestbet Jacksonville is a big poker room that hosts World Poker Tour events regularly. Threatening Messages After Exposure Things took a dark twist after Martino revealed what had transpired. Pardo sent him threatening text messages after the video became public. One message that Pardo sent to Martino stated that the two would eventually meet and accused Martino of slander. Court records indicate that authorities arrested Pardo in Miami-Dade County in 2022 on theft and controlled substance charges. Mosqueda-Perez had an even longer list of penalties. In July 2025, the Florida Gaming Control Board held a public hearing, and they banned Perez from setting foot in any Florida casinos. An individual lodged an administrative complaint against him a few months ago. Players who are worried about the pair claim these recent developments make their case stronger for not letting them into any more poker rooms. Yaiquel Mosqueda-Perez (left) and Norberto Pardo (right). (Image courtesy of Mugshots.zone) A Warning to the Poker Community Martino has a simple request. According to Martino, poker rooms and players must know these individuals so as to keep the games secure. Poker cheaters move from one poker room to another once they are banned and repeat the same pattern several times to continue defrauding other unsuspecting players. Even though The Lodge Card Club took immediate action, poker rooms should be in consistent communication to prevent such cases. Cheating affects the game in a negative way and breaks trust while pushing amateur players away. These recent episodes should be a wake-up call for poker rooms, players and the entire poker community. Here are a few reactions from the poker community: FlatFootFreddie: Comment byu/MartinoMods from discussion inpoker MartinoMods: Comment byu/MartinoMods from discussion inpoker JhonnyLawEsquire: Comment byu/MartinoMods from discussion inpoker socool111: Comment byu/MartinoMods from discussion inpoker
