Justin Bonomo Joins Team Bodog

Yes, that Justin Bonomo.  “ZeeJustin.”  The guy who isn’t welcome at multiple online poker rooms.  ZeeJustin now joins David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Jean-Robert Bellande and Josh Arieh on Team Bodog. 

Bonomo, an internet poker star, was banned from both Party Poker and PokerStars in 2006 after both rooms found that he had entered tournaments with more than one account at the same time.  Party confiscated Bonomo’s funds, almost $100,000.  Playing on multiple accounts is not only against the terms and conditions of most, if not all, poker rooms, using them simultaneously in a tournament is outright cheating. 

Bonomo went into a sort of internet poker seclusion for a while, obviously needing some time to lick his wounds.  He posted an apology on his blog, although it didn’t go over well with most of the internet poker community.  Months later, he gradually showed up online more frequently, offering further public apologies and getting back to playing at the sites from which he was not banned. 

In the meantime, Justin Bonomo began amassing an impressive live tournament resume.  He made four final tables at the 2006 Five Diamond World Poker Classic, including the championship event.  He placed fourth in a 2007 WSOP event and made the final table of the 2007 Caesars Palace Classic Main Event.  This year, at only 22 years old, he has made final tables at the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open and WSOP Circuit event.   

It is a bit curious that an online poker room would sign a known cheater as a spokesperson, but Bonomo is obviously a top poker talent, and perhaps his failings can be chalked up to youthful indiscretion.  Hopefully, he is truly sorry for what he did and will be a model poker citizen for years to come.