Chris Skinner steps down as brand ambassador of Southern Poker Tour after cheating scandal

A popular Australian poker player has taken to social media to apologize after cheating at a recent event, with the Southern Poker Tour also confirming he is no longer a brand ambassador.

Chris Skinner, who took part at the Poker with Fred New Years Eve game in Cobram, Victoria, did put out a statement on a Facebook profile, but this has now been made private. Within the statement, he said “I cheated, I brought chips into play that I had no right to bring into the game. No matter the amount or the result, it was wrong. There is no excuse for it.”

He went on to say he will be apologizing in person to the players involved and says he’s offered a contribution toward a future local tournament as a gesture of accountability.

The issue has caused many in the community to share comments of disappointments and shock. On January 7, the Southern Poker Tour (SPT) also released a statement to firstly say Happy New Year to their followers, before stating this wasn’t the way they wanted to start the year.

“Like the rest of the poker community, we were deeply shocked and extremely disappointed to hear about the incident that took place at the POKER WITH FRED New Years Eve game in Cobram, Victoria,” the sports league said.

Southern Poker Tour issues public statement on cheating scandal

They went on to confirm that SPT and Chris have parted ways and Chris will no longer be the brand ambassador for the league. The poker player was the first brand ambassador for the league, having signed on in May 2022. At the time, he was described as being a huge supporter of the SPT and a regular at events.

The man has also been banned from participating in any SPT tournaments. “SPT pride itself on providing fair and ethical events and in no way will condone these sorts of actions. We would like to commend Fred Braybon on his management and transparency of this incident,” the league stated in the post.

They have made additional points on record too, for further transparency, with these stating that “Chris has only ever transported poker tables for SPT with our first two years of operation. SPT have since managed all of our own transportation.”

They continued: “SPT chips are transported to and from our venues by only either SPT owners or our highest ranked staff members, and are stored securely after each series. As part of our SPT series host venue agreements, the venue needs to provide us with a secure room for us to sort and store chips throughout each series. Only staff have access to these rooms.”

Featured Image: Via Southern Poker Tour Facebook statement

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