Nicholas Maderia Accused of Defrauding Poker Players and Running a Ponzi Scheme


HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, USA (Poker Uncensored) – Poker Uncensored has learned that Nicholas Maderia is accused of stealing money and defrauding multiple poker players. Mr. Maderia, who also uses the name “Nick Medar,” is alleged to have stolen thousands of dollars from people who used him as their agent to play in online poker clubs including PokerBros and ClubGG.

In July 2024, <redacted> made allegations against Mr. Maderia, stating in a Facebook post[1] that Mr. Maderia stole $7,300 from him. Mr. Maderia, when asked about the money, then blocked communications from <redacted>.

One source, who requested to remain anonymous, told Poker Uncensored that Mr. Maderia owed someone approximately $4,000. A person who reached out to Mr. Maderia to advise him to “settle up asap [as soon as possible]” with people he owed money to posted on Facebook that they were blocked by Mr. Maderia after providing that advice.

 One club that Mr. Maderia is known to operate is the HYPERNOVA poker club, with Club ID #818250 on ClubGG. In the past, Mr. Maderia ran clubs on PokerBros called “NEPTUNE” and “COSMIC,” but these clubs have allegedly closed down.

 Mr. Maderia has been involved with live poker games. From May 2019 to December 2019, Mr. Maderia owned and operated Patriot Poker, LLC, a company which ran bar poker tournaments in bars and restaurants in Central Massachusetts. Mr. Maderia started working with the Eastern Poker Tour in December 2019 with his LinkedIn profile[2] indicating his role as a Regional Manager for the Central Massachusetts region. While Mr. Maderia never updated his LinkedIn profile to indicate his departure, he no longer works with the Eastern Poker Tour according to multiple people. No allegations of stealing player’s money have been made against Mr. Maderia with regards to his work in live poker.

 On August 21, 2024, <redacted> publicly made allegations that Mr. Maderia is holding her money.  In a post[3] on Facebook, she wrote: “Last night I asked him to send another portion [of my balance]. He said he would send it this morning.  I asked him several times today.  He ignored all my requests.  When he did respond I asked him for my full balance… He blocked me on Venmo. He kicked me out of his club. He blocked me on Facebook.” <redacted> provided evidence that she had a balance of over $339 in the HYPERNOVA poker club.
Some players who have been defrauded by Mr. Maderia have considered reporting him to Federal authorities as they suspect that he is not paying proper taxes on the money that he has stolen from them and taken in rake from his online poker clubs. Additionally, by taking a rake from the games he runs, he may be in violation of additional Federal laws or regulations.

Another source, who asked to be kept off the record, described Mr. Maderia as a “con artist,” saying that he was running a Ponzi scheme by using player deposits to cover payouts. Made famous by Italian swindler Charles Ponzi, a Ponzi scheme enriches the schemer because they steal money invested or deposited for themselves while using future incoming investments or deposits to pay out others. The source indicated that Mr. Maderia would delay payouts to players so he could wait for deposits to come in to cover the payouts. In effect, Mr. Maderia is said to be stealing player’s money to use for his own purposes rather than keeping player funds safe and segregated. Ponzi schemes ultimately fail when the outflows exceed the inflows, and the runner of the scheme can no longer pay people out.

 It has been alleged, though Poker Uncensored is unable to verify this, that Mr. Maderia owes upwards of $30,000 to members of the global poker community. Poker Uncensored attempted to contact Mr. Maderia on August 21, 2024 to ask for his side of the story around the allegations that have been made against him. Mr. Maderia did not answer our call to provide comment. Another attempt was made to speak with Mr. Maderia on August 22, 2024, but once again Mr. Maderia did not answer our call and proceeded to block Poker Uncensored from reaching him on Facebook Messenger. Mr. Maderia was called by telephone to request comment and a voicemail was left for him, which he did not respond to by the time of this publication.
[1] https://www.facebook.com/groups/614482015625621/?multi_permalinks=1751241105283034
[2] https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-maderia-65172b160
[3] https://www.facebook.com/groups/pokeruncensored/posts/1645695029329689/

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