Zenith Poker has made the headlines recently but for all the wrong reasons. Zenith Poker started getting attention after the site’s founder, Thomas Pinnock was accused of allegedly stealing material from rival poker coaching sites when he reviewed and blasted their pre-flop range charts on Zenith Poker’s YouTube channel.
“Horrible” Move
One of the owners of the stolen material, Alvin Lau of AlvinTeachesPoker, took to Twitter to express his disappointment at what he described as a “super, super fucked” and “horrible” move by Pinnock.
The lengthy review, which lasted for almost one and a half hours, also tackled PFR charts from other training sites including Upswing Poker, Ranger Converter, and BluffTheSpot.
In the video, Pinnock put those PFRs under the microscope, showing clips of the charts and criticizing some aspects. PFRs are generally a paid content, therefore it is unethical to steal those material and show them for the world to see without due permission from the owners, unless you actually paid for them.
When Lau confronted Pinnock through a comment on the actual video, the Zenith Poker founder only posted a short reply, a Wikipedia link to the “Fair use” doctrine. With that, he was trying to justify his move, but that didn’t sit well with a lot of players.
Contradicting Statements from Pinnock
In the video, Pinnock said that the charts were sent to him by some players. He even sort of encouraged his followers to send him more ranges to review. However when one commenter asked him to drop the names of his sources, Pinnock said he “bought” the charts with the intention of reviewing them.
Lau said he’d love to see the receipt if Pinnock did pay for it.
Pinnock’s contradicting statements added fuel to the fire, making him the subject of a thread on 2plus2. One user pointed out that some people may have given him access to the charts for free through Discord, meaning he really did not pay for them as opposed to his claim.
Pinnock’s critique of his competitors’ ranges was also described by some players as merely an “ad” for his own coaching site Zenith Poker which also offers PFRs behind paywalls.
Others supported Pinnock though, saying he’s actually doing a service to the poker community by posting free reviews and other poker content that guide players on their journey to becoming a successful pro. Some said the PFRs that Pinnock reviewed come with expensive fees and are not really worth the price.
Ironically, Zenith Poker promotes itself as an online platform providing elite poker training for free. The site gives players free access to a wide range of poker lessons that they need to learn to take their game to the next level.
Just Like Doing A Movie Review
One of Pinnock’s allies also came to his defense, saying he really doesn’t have any issues with the review. First, it did not share the ranges in full, and only showed a small portion of them. The video also did not provide links to pirated versions of the paid content. The method is just the same as doing a movie review; you use clips from the movie to make a critique.
Legal Action Unlikely
In a bid to gain support, Lau called the attention of the other affected sites in his Twitter posts. He tagged BluffTheSpot in a tweet showing a stolen version of the site’s ranges which Pinnock used in his channel.
The recent controversy raises a lot of questions especially in relation to the subject of fair use. The poker community wants to know if it’s within the law to steal paid content for the same purpose, or was Pinnock just being unethical when he stole and blasted his rivals’ material to promote his own?
Everyone wants an answer, but the chances of this controversy escalating to the courts are very slim. For one, it lacks any clear legal argument. Maybe the best thing that all parties can do is to move on and learn from their mistakes.