Nacho Best Run, Barbero
ACR Poker's prominent Argentinian brand representative axed after on-stream gaffe about site's pursuit of RTA cheaters.
Nacho Barbero’s firing as a brand representative for ACR Poker this week after his inexplicable comments about using solvers in real time on that and other sites, while playing in a live-streamed US Poker Open event beggar explanation and understanding.
Did he want to get fired, as one site posited? Was he making some sort of extended, flippant joke? Was it a total brain cramp? Was he still being the “loveable goofball” ACR framed his as just weeks ago after posting content that appeared to show him using the GTO Solver real-time assistance (RTA) software in, yes, real time?
As brand ambassasorships go, Barbero had a fairly easy gig. Barbero, one of South America’s most famed and decorated poker players, had plenty of value to ACR Poker as a well-known star from a region bringing plenty of online growth to the fame. But it’s all over now, save for the remeniscing.
Barbero and Ike Haxtn were seated next to one another at a USPO table when the topic of RTA use and ACR’s investigations into its team pros — such as Barbero and Ebony Kenney — came up.
“This thing about GTO Wizard, bro," Barbero told Haxton. "I should have never posted it. How they gonna know? I should never have posted it online.”
"I’m surprised ACR didn’t just catch it automatically, to be honest," Haxton replied
"I use it []." Barbero admitted, with the implication being that he did use it while playing, rather than just studying a spot from a previous hand, as both he and Kenney had claimed in their separate situations.
"You can just have GTO Wizard open on your computer while you’re playing and ACR doesn’t even know?” Haxton continued. “Are they even trying?”
Barbero, laughing, replied, “I don’t think they’re trying.” Here’s a link to the clip of the exchange, as posted on Twixter.
Company line once, but not twice?
As I said, inexplicable. Barbero was smart enough to use the easy out about studying an earlier hand, which gave ACR Poker plenty of room to do whatever investigation it conducted (seriously or not), before sweeping it all under the rug in very public view. That’s been the way ACR has consistently handled these matters in rrecent years, and it really isn’t fooling anyone.
We sll know, Mr. Nagy, and after the embarrassing episode about offering to pay for proof of online botting on ACR, you no longer get the benefit of the doubt. Instead, invest properly in the good fight against RTA and botting, or just do a Bovada imitation and ignore all the cheating utterly. But just denying shit that’s in plain view doesn’t cut it.
That still doesn’t explain Nacho’s Folly, however. Maybe ACR doesn’t pay as much to its pros as one might think.
Anyhow, a story anout ACR works here for another reason as well. Leading up to the first of several pieces about my adventures with Poker.org, I’ll ask this: Would you believe I once worked for ACR for several months without knowing it? Next time out, I’ll tell that tale.