Mike Postle, the poker pro who became the focus of the biggest cheating scandal for the past several years, filed defamation lawsuit October 1. Postle is seeking $330 million in damages he sustained to his poker career and reputation due to the allegations that he somehow cheated his opponents at Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights, California.
The case against Mike Postle and his mysterious way to see his opponents’ cards during livestreamed cash games from the gambling hall was mostly considered to be solved, when in September the majority of the plaintiffs reached an agreement for settlement with King’s Casino, the operator of Stones Gambling Hall, and the third defendant, the casino’s poker room manager Justin Kuraitis.
Veronica Brill, the poker pro who prompted the poker community to look into how Postle played certain hands, deviating from modern poker theory and achieving out of scale success ratio, did not agree to a settlement and the poker community largely expected a second lawsuit against Postle from her.
Postle Had His Poker Career and Reputation Damaged
Instead, Postle is looking for damages from Brill, as well as from Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu, from Haralabos Voulgaris, a former professional gambler now director of quantitative research and development for Dallas Mavericks, and from the poker training company Run It Once, founded by another poker pro Phil Galfond, who launched a project to analyze thousands of hands from Postle’s hand history. ESPN is also within the crosshairs of the defamation lawsuit filed by Postle for airing a SportsCenter segment about the poker cheating scandal in October 2019.
Postle seeks $330 million claiming that he was a victim of a conspiracy, as his accusers were lying when they accused him of cheating, having no reasonable basis to believe in these statements, even knew them to be false, Postle’s complaint notes. As a result of the allegations, Mike Postle claims he suffered a total loss of his poker career and the severe pressure piled on him rendered him barely able to leave his house.
Veronica Brill’s Character Will Be Targeted
The complaint throws some light into possible explanations as to why Postle was constantly looking for his mobile. Postle claims he used the phone to check his sports bets, and only when he started receiving inappropriate messages or pictures from women he was frequenting with at the time, he chose to place his phone between his legs. Regarding Veronica Brill, Postle’s complaint states that she “has a history of wild accusations against multiple people over the years, none of which have ever been substantiated.”
Among the defendants, only Veronica Brill is taking the allegations seriously, as she feared Postle might seek legal action against her from the very beginning. She branded the lawsuit an “aggressive scare tactic” aimed at everyone who dares to reveal possible cheating behavior at the table, now and in the future.
Yet, Brill started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for her defense, having collected in excess of $26,000 so far, claiming she has several donors who encourage her to accept the lawsuit and move forward with discovery and they will cover the expenses.