When YouTubers and poker mix, drama ensues as Cat Valdes aka Catrific found out after taking part in the wrong World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) event.
About half a day after CardsChat News reported on Valdes’ WSOPC appearance and subsequent social media hubbub, the 29-year-old YouTube influencer and admitted poker newbie has taken a step back from her tale of a confusing tournament mishap at Bally’s in Las Vegas.
Catrific: Sorry for WSOPC Mishap
Issuing an update via her YouTube channel (see video below), Catrific said she should have taken more responsibility for her actions.
“I want to completely acknowledge that I did mess up and I did the wrong thing and I totally own that,” the novice poker player said on April 1.
Prior to releasing her latest statement, Valdes had given her take on the WSOPC debacle during an 11-minute vlog. Now removed, the video goes into detail about how she bought in for a $400 side event but found herself in the $1,700 main event.
Although the initial oversights weren’t her fault, the source of contention for some was the revelation that she knew she was in the wrong tournament. After almost two hours at the wrong table, she reasoned that keeping quiet was the best course of action.
“In my head, I was thinking I could go tell somebody but if I tell someone it will cause all this chaos. I was like, what if they stop the clock and people are mad at me,” Catrific said in her March 31 video.
The situation was finally resolved after she was removed from the WSOPC main event in Las Vegas and given a spot in the $400 side event.
Video Backlash Surprises Valdes
Despite shedding light on the situation, Valdes wasn’t prepared for such a harsh backlash from the poker social media community. With cheating a touchy subject in the poker, it seems she didn’t account for such a perception, nor the potential impact it may have had on other players.
Not wanting to incur any further abuse while mourning the death of her grandmother, the YouTuber has set her Twitter account to private. In tandem with closing the door on further comments, her latest video is the “final word” on the matter.
In concluding her explanation, she reiterated that she didn’t realize her actions affected the equity of other players. What’s more, she said that cheating was never her intention and the only thing she’s guilty of is being “naïve.”
“If I was intentionally trying to cheat and do all these things maliciously,” she says, “why would I ever post that online?”
As with other tournament scandals, the Valdes/WSOPC saga will soon find its way into the muck. However, if nothing else, the incident has given the social media figure some extra drama for her YouTube channel.
