ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Lodge Card Club has banned two men suspected of marking cards after a poker vlogger recognized them and notified staff.
Anthony Martino spotted Norberto Pardo, 49, and Yaiquel Mosqueda-Perez, 43, in a game at the club. He quickly informed management, who inspected the deck and confirmed the presence of markings. The pair was escorted out and permanently barred from returning.
In a video posted online, Martino described earlier experiences with the two at a Tampa cardroom. He said they consistently tried to occupy seats one and six, sometimes paying other players to trade places so they could sit in those positions.
Pattern of Collaboration
Martino said the men worked together, signaling each other during hands and attempting to set up raises to trap players seated between them. He noted that despite frequently playing marginal or weak hands, their coordinated approach raised suspicions.
He also connected their behavior to reports from Los Angeles’ Commerce Casino, where social media posts described two Cuban players accused of using long pinky nails to mark the edges of cards.
Martino had previously shared his suspicions with the poker manager at a Tampa Greyhound track cardroom, though the initial response was dismissive. Two weeks later, however, staff at that venue caught Pardo and Mosqueda-Perez marking cards and banned them.
The pair is believed by Martino to be based in Miami and is rumored to face bans from poker rooms in Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, as well as locations in Florida and California.
Following the incident at The Lodge, Martino drove to another large cardroom in the area to warn its management about the two players.
“Unfortunately, it seems that they’re still in operation all these years later,” Martino said. “They get banned from rooms, they just move on to the next room.”
Additional Context and Fallout
The Florida Gaming Commission has permanently banned Mosqueda-Perez from all pari-mutuel facilities in the state. That restriction does not apply to casinos operated by the Seminole Tribe, so their status at those venues remains unknown.
After Martino’s video gained attention, Pardo allegedly sent him threatening text messages. One of the messages read: “I’m just telling you, you fat mole, one day you and I will come face to face for slandering me, okay?”
The bans at The Lodge come amid several recent cheating incidents in poker rooms, including an alleged scheme involving NBA players, coaches, and organized crime, as well as a case in Houston where three men were caught using RFID technology on playing cards.
