California Poker Room and Poker Player Sued for $30 Million
Anytime big money is on the line, the temptation the bend or break the rules escalates. This is especially true in the world of real money gambling. Whether it is a land-based gambling venue or online casino gambling site, cheating the system remains a viable concern. Recently, there has been a poker player accused of alleged fraud. The company is Stones Gambling Hall in California. The player also implicated in this scheme is Mike Postle.
See Why Poker Player Is Sued for $30 Million In California Poker Room
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 24 other poker players. They claim they “have been financially harmed by the alleged scam.” The plaintiffs are seeking $30 million in damages. Postle is also named in the suit as an alleged accomplice. The suit claims he received information about other players’ hole card during a series of Stone Live Poker cash games.
An expert analysis was conducted on Mike Postle’s poker hands on Stones Live Poker. The results revealed that his play was “multiple degrees higher than that achieved by the best poker players in the world.” This was part of the lawsuit’s contention.
The allegations have yet to be proven. However, the ramifications of this suit would be far reaching. It would suggest that a technical member of the Stones Live Poker staff also played a role. At the least, it suggests that someone had access to the back end of the radio frequency identification (RFID). This system reads player’s cards for broadcast.
Cognizantly refraining from making such an allegation against this particular Defendant
Also contained in the lawsuit is the claim that the plaintiffs know who this might be. A statement included add they are: “Cognizantly refraining from making such an allegation against this particular Defendant…until further information can be gleaned through the discovery process.” The cardroom itself is not accused of any wrongdoing. However it is stated that Stones “continually sought to downplay” complaints that the cheating was going on. Stones was also accused of:
“Promoting Mr. Postle as an idiosyncratically gifted individual imbued with poker skills so immense as to be incomprehensible to the average person.” Poker bloggers Joey Ingram, Doug Polk and Matt Berkley have played a prominent role in the “discovery process.” Veronica Brill was a former commentator on the live poker show. She took to Twitter to voice her concerns. This has led to the close scrutiny of actual footage of the shows. The following statement was released on this matter:
Winnings Come Close To $250,000
“Postle did not win every session he played on the streams during a period of a more than a year. But according to the lawsuit, ‘plaintiffs have information and a belief that such sessions correlate to the absence of Mr. Postle’s chief confederate, John Doe 1.’ “
Postle’s overall play was noticeably better in the sessions when his accomplice was present. His overall winnings amounted to nearly $250,000 in these playing sessions.
The suit also made known the fact that Postle only played the Stones Live Poker streams. There are numerous live poker playing options throughout California. Stone’s poker room manager Justin Kuraitis is also part of the suit. He is accused of covering up the situation.
