The fall of Tamon Nakamura is a story in four tweets. On Tuesday, Adam Hendrix made the first of these tweets that Nakamura had scammed him.
According to Hendrix, Nakamura borrowed $2,500 from him on the pretext of selling action for the 2022 WSOP $50,000 8-game Poker Player's Championship. However, Nakamura never bought into the event.
"Unfortunately poker is a cruel world," wrote Hendrix. "Tamon last week asked if I wanted any action in the 50K PPC, I gave him cash Saturday and he never showed up to play for day 1. I asked him and attached is his response and since then mute. He has scammed me and others."
Prior to this, Nakamura seemed to be having a good 2022. He won two of the mixed game events at the USPO in March and already has four cashes at this year's WSOP, including a final table in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Off the back of his high-profile successes, he landed a gig repping GGPoker Japan. In the wake of Hendrix's tweet, he no longer has that gig.
The second of the four tweets was from GGPoker Japan, writing a note on Wednesday afternoon. The caption in Japanese above the note read, "Notice of termination of Tamon Nakamura's contract."
GGPoker Japan is really showing up how poorly the main GGPoker brand handles its scandals (cf. Dan Bilzerian and Henri Bühler).
The hazards of poker
Some of the online commentary surrounding Hendrix's tweet has suggested Hendrix should have got his elbows a little greasier doing due diligence on Nakamura.
That might be a harsh assessment. But, sure enough, if he could read Japanese, Hendrix might have found the posts on Nakamura's own Twitter profile apologizing for some financial legerdemain at a poker club he ran.
Google translate offers this translation of the historical tweet: "I haven't said it before, but I've lost a lot of money online and overseas in high-rate cash games and tournaments and I've also tampered with the money I've received from people outside of poker, so I'm currently in a lot of debt."
There is a kind of happy ending. Perhaps not for Nakamura, whose troubles appear to be ongoing. But it looks like Hendrix did at least get his money back. Though it seems to have come out of pocket from GGPoker Japan.
"Tamon has paid me back in person via GGPokerJapan," Hendrix writes in the fourth and final tweet in the tale.
With the money back in his pocket, his empathetic instincts clearly have a little more room to maneuver.
Hendrix continues, giving us a fitting coda: "He showed a bunch of sympathy and I hurt for him in a way I can't explain. I know he is a good guy but it is hard to see it right now. Please have compassion and look at the mental health aspect of the situation."
Nakamura appears to be suffering from a gambling addiction and is hopefully seeking and receiving help with that.
Featured image source: PokerGO
