Stones Poker
The latest tweets from @StonesLivePoker. Stones Gambling Hall offers two separate California licensed gaming establishments. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. GEGE-001336, 001337. Mike Postle has been accused of cheating on the Stones Live Poker stream, we will review one of his sessions to see what we can find. Tonight is the 4th nigh. Sacramento poker player Mike Postle and Stones Gambling Hall are named in a $30 million lawsuit accusing him of cheating in online poker games streamed by the Citrus Heights casino. The suit claims.
Former Stones Live Commentator Veronica Brill, who was the whistle blower on the Mike Postle cheating allegations, along with 24 other poker players who were affected by playing with Postle, are taking their case to court.
According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday afternoon by Mac VerStandig and his legal team, which also includes poker pro and lawyer Kelly Minkin, those 25 poker players are seeking damages of more than $30 million from Postle, King’s Casino, the owner of Stones Gambling Hall, Tournament Director and Stones Live Poker Production Manager Justin Kuraitis, and any unnamed co-conspirators in the alleged scam.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California. It accuses the defendants of nine counts of racketeering, fraud, negligence and libel.
In the suit, VerStandig and his team detail the findings from the collective investigative work done by the poker community.
It highlights Postle’s absurdly high win rate, which is more than six times what some of the top players expect to earn, and resulted in more than $300,000 in estimated profit. The infrequency and timing of his losses, the supposed RFID malfunctions on the stream, and the peculiar body language Postle displayed while constantly checking his phone is also mentioned.
While laying out the case that he cheated, VerStandig’s legal team made it clear that statistically, these results were more than just a heater, as Postle’s apologists have claimed.
“Analytical observation reveals Mr. Postle’s exponential winnings cannot be explained through finely-honed abilities to ‘read’ opponents, as myriad optimal plays made by Mr. Postle required not merely an analysis of his opponent’s self-perceived strength or weakness in a poker hand, but rather the precise composition of such hand; while such may be anecdotally attributed to guess work in a vacuum, Mr. Postle was continuously correct in making such assessments over a period of time in excess of a full year,” the lawsuit read.
The document went on to allege that Postle also likely committed wire fraud if it is his cell phone that allowed him access to the hole cards of the other players.
The suit also accuses Tournament Director Kuraitis, who runs the live stream, of aiding in an initial cover up of the alleged cheating. Individuals approached Kuraitis about the situation as early as March, but Kuraitis brushed off all the concerns brought to his attention, and even cleared Postle of any wrongdoing after an apparent internal investigation.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages of $10 million from Postle for fraud, another $10 million from Stones Gambling Hall for being negligent in their duty to ensure a fair game, and $10 million from Kuraitis on a fraud count for his potential cover up of the situation.
Veronica Brill is seeking an additional $1,000 on a libel count against Stones after they tweeted that the allegations she brought to light were “completely fabricated.”
Shortly after the suit was filed, poker pro Matt Berkey, who owns RFID technology and was one of the first to bring to light that those RFID errors were not possible, released a YouTube video detailing how one person with access to the stream, could send the hole cards of the other players to a single player in real time.
The video showed a blue screen that could be sent from the production area to a cell phone.
Ok, I may have stumbled onto something HUGE!!! Just made a quick video demonstrating just how easy it would be to have perfect real time info with the help of someone from the control room. This may also explain the crotch staring & stuffed hat. https://t.co/sVYIjdaMDn
— Matt Berkey (@berkey11) October 8, 2019
In response to this video, one member of a poker forum tweeted a link to a picture of Postle holding his phone on the broadcast. The phone’s screen was also blue.
It is important to note that the photos posted on the forum have not been verified, and that Berkey’s video was not the reason the lawsuit was filed.
Postle has not responded publicly since appearing on a podcast over the weekend and challenging Doug Polk to a heads-up match.
If these pics can be authenticated, this may be the smoking gun https://t.co/XYPzogc1R7
— Matt Berkey (@berkey11) October 8, 2019
Dollar amounts were “nominal”
Stones Gambling Hall has agreed to a settlement with 61 of the 88 plaintiffs in the lawsuit revolving around charges of alleged cheating by poker player Mike Postle. In June, a judge dismissed charges against Postle, Stones, and Stones Live livestream production manager Justin Kuraitis, though some complaints could have been amended and brought back to court. The settlement was originally announced in August, but it was not until this week that terms were finalized.
It’s an amicable settlement that we’re happy to enter into.”
Maurice “Mac” VerStandig, attorney for the 88 plaintiffs, told The Sacramento Bee Monday that “It’s an amicable settlement that we’re happy to enter into.”
Financial terms have not been made public, but a Stones source told the Bee that the payouts were “nominal” and were really just a way to “show good will.” Richard Pachter, Kuraitis’s attorney, called the settlement “a complete vindication.”
Interestingly, Mac VerStandig issued a statement as part of the settlement, saying that neither Stones nor Kuraitis were involved in any alleged cheating. “My co-counsel and I have found no forensic evidence that there was cheating at Stones or that Stones, Mr Kuraitis, the Stones Live team, or any dealers were involved in any cheating scheme,” VerStandig said.
“…we are satisfied that Stones and Mr Kuraitis were not involved in any cheating that may have occurred,” he added, noticeably leaving out Mike Postle’s name.
Justin Kuraitis relieved, but furious
Kuraitis spoke out for the first time on Monday, expressing his happiness with the settlement. He also lashed out at the poker community and poker media outlets who “falsely accused me of being a knowing participant in what was allegedly the ‘biggest poker cheating scandal in history.’”
He added that, although the allegations against him were untrue, he willingly cooperated with the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Gambling Control. Kuraitis said that not only was he innocent, but that Mike Postle did not cheat either.
Among others, Kuraitis specifically pointed out popular poker vlogger Joey Ingram, claiming he “was peddling false statistics, cherry-picking hands to fit his theories and ignoring data that did not fit his version of the story.”
Kuraitis explained that the “propaganda machine” was so effective that he actually started wondering if he really did miss signs of cheating.
Those close to me know that I would never stand for or be involved in anything close to what I was accused of.”
“In the last year I have seen a community that I considered family turn against me,” wrote Kuraitis in his three and a half page statement. “Those close to me know that I would never stand for or be involved in anything close to what I was accused of. Many of the people that joined the lawsuit and spoke out against me were people that I once called friends. Some of them, I even considered family.”
Stones Casino Poker Scandal
Postle will tell his story
Stones Poker Room Sacramento
The Postle case dates back a year, when Veronica Brill tweeted that she suspected someone of cheating in Stones Live games, low-stakes cash games streamed live from Stones Gambling Hall. The poker community proceeded to comb through Postle’s stats and videos from his streamed sessions, concluding that he profited about $130,000 in 34 streamed cash game sessions of $1/$3 and $5/$5 No-Limit Hold’em.
Postle texted the Bee on Monday, saying: “As much as I’d like to say, all I can really say right now is that I have my side of this entire fiasco to tell. It won’t just shock the poker and gambling industries, but the entire world.”
He added that he is telling “an entire incredible 17-year story”, which includes this saga, to a production team who is putting together a documentary film.