Cyril Mouly, born September 1, 1975, is becoming somewhat of a legend in our poker world. Cyril, known as “Cyril the Frenchman” or “Frenchman Cyril”, has made a name for himself playing high stakes poker. Cyril regularly appeared in one of the most famous, and expensive, poker rooms in the world, Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas where the reserve money to play must exceed one million dollars. In addition, in September 2009, Mouly played in Full Tilt Poker’s Million Dollar Cash Game whose all-star cast of the world’s best poker players must not only receive a special invitation to participate in the event, but also put up $100,000 of their own money to participate. In the midst of these high stakes games, a thread began on the 2+2 forums by a visitor asking information on a “Cyril” French businessman frequenting the well-known Bobby’s Room in Vegas. Over 1500 posts later (and still increasing), “the Frenchman Cyril” and his mysteriousness has become a 2+2 forum sensation.
Until recently, it was assumed Cyril was a wealthy French businessman whose income was legitimate (well, as legitimate as any other successful businessman). However, that assumption has been called into question as he is currently on the run from the Interpol for allegedly swindling more than 10 million euros from several companies, in addition to money laundering for organized crime.
Long story short…Cyril Mouly founded the company, IT Dealing, in 2005. The company specialized in selling advertisements from administrative directories and trade journals. They did all of their business via telephone. Now it appears the company was a cover for a huge scam that stole millions of euros from a number of successful European companies. It has been reported that all of his business partners, 35 in total, have been arrested and he’s the only one that hasn’t been found. At one point during the investigation, he was said to have handed out thousands of euros in an effort to repay some of the debt. Those efforts didn’t last long and good ol’ Frenchman Cyril decided to take the money and run.
During the investigation, Mouly played more than $4 million at the casino between 2007 & 2008. Needless to say, the money played is presumed to be stolen money from his scams. An interesting part of this story is the fact that this highly wanted man was a well-known, routine visitor to Bobby’s room in Vegas and he appeared on television during the Full Tilt’s Million Dollar Cash Game but yet he still wasn’t caught?? Yes, perhaps the series was taped some time prior to the airing of the show, but still. It’s not like Mouly was hiding in a cave desperately trying to blend in with the world. In fact, it’s almost exactly the opposite. So now, he’s gone into hiding. The search went cold after he escaped to British customs. Perhaps it’s time for some new investigators??
For now, we’ll indulge on the little bits of information we get regarding which casinos he may have been spotted (with pics as proof, of course) and the never-ending, hilarious Photoshop pics popping up all over the internet until the next big scandal hits the forums.
