For those of us who have been playing for awhile and know these “titles” aren’t all that important, it’s not that big of a deal. But I keep thinking about the new(ish) type of player who will see this and feel disenchanted by it all. It’s like an amateur boxer seeing a fighter throw a match. Will that motivate that boxer to try to reach that level of competition or make him realize it’s all for show and doesn’t really matter? That’s my only concern about this. It cheapens the title, the tournament, and tournament poker in general.

SIR.. a WPT title is not that important.. are you kidding?

It’s important to you and Mike Leah, but lots of tournament players don’t care at all.

I once witnessed a chop discussion at an EPT side event where one of the players was like “that trophy looks pretty neat but I am hungry and really don’t want to have to hang out here for another 30 minutes for pictures and interviews”.

Now a WPT title is obviously more important than an EPT side event but I am pretty sure >90% of tournament pros would give up a WPT title in exchange for an additional $10k.

Again Leah and the other guy need to be immediately barred from playing in any further WPT events pending an investigation. This **** makes poker look bad, tournaments look bad and is just overall shady. And it leaves open the question about collusion before heads up play. It's disgusting.

The story has become sensationalized.

Do you know what does the title bring you? You may want to ask the real tournament pros.

My ramblings on the matter
https://www.facebook.com/mike.leah.9...20615451330747

That is certainly the best explanation for buying a win that I have ever read.

Kudos on the victory!!!

So Mike wouldn't agree to a chop unless he was gifted the title?

To me that seems worse then I was originally thinking. Just leave anything in the middle, then to think deserve 1st poy points lol

Nice 100th post! I ain't mad at ya, I think past history of conduct has to play a role in your credibility and while I don't play tourneys, I've never heard a bad thing about Mike Leah - publicly or privately. Your style is a little unorthodox and maniacal at times; seem like the opposite of a nit. You should've swallowed your pride against Colman imo and I'm not being results-oriented lol.

The possibility of colluding against the other players to get HU was mentioned. It's beneficial to look at the worst-case scenario and while plausible, I think past behavior counts for a ton when examining any possible nefarious intentions, for better or worse. I don't know either player other than playing in the same room or table online, but if their reputations are stellar this far, that means something.

The huge issue at hand is the OPTICS of the spot. While doing it so obviously shows you two likely had nothing to hide, media coverage (esp the tv w commentators), suffers. Could this be one of those times when ignorance is bliss had you guys been a little more discreet? I don't know, but it's an interesting piece to the discussion. I'm not sure what perks the WPT provides players for ponying up for the main event (free hotels, added money, hookers, etc), but I imagine it's close to zero. So you don't really owe anybody but the poker community an explanation. You gave it and I'm satisfied. Others may think differently. gl

Subject of thread should be changed to something like "Mike Leah Makes a Deal HU For WPT Title"

I really don't think this is even remotely close to a big deal - but hopefully some good will come from discussing it and the rules will be clarified or changed.

Isn’t the prestige in winning 4 out of 5 Fallsview events, at best, tarnished by winning in this manner?
There is always going to be an asterisk next to this ‘record’.
Winning legitimately would be a proper achievement to be proud of.
I suppose, given time, the asterisk will fade away though and people will admire him for something he never actually did. What a shame.

It reminds me of that Italian bloke who ‘won’ all those tournaments at Caesar’s. Malaguti, I think his name was.
It looked good on Hendon Mob, but ultimately meant nothing.

FWIW my buddy was heads up with Mike in a Fallsview $1100 a few years ago and Mike paid him for the win as well.

Your ramblings are lame. You and this other guy made a mockery of a nice event and it opens up lots of questions about collusion. You and the other guy should be immediately barred from playing in all future WPT events.

Agreed.

Note this was a WPT Main but NOT being taped for TV. That would have created some confusing TV for the recreational fan.

Not sure how this would have turned out if it was being taped for TV.


Totally agree on this. Title is inflammatory and misleading.


Let me guess. You were with your Wife one time and ran across Mike and he didnt say that your wife looked pretty ?

99% of the people complaining will never be hu in a WPT event.

No hate just facts.

Boy that is so funny I almost forgot to laugh. They both were unethical and made a mockery of a WPT tournament when it mattered the most. It also can and should bring up questions about collusion prior to the heads up match. There should be no way Mike Leah gets the 15k seat and he and Ryan should be barred indefinitely from WPT events until an investigation is done.

This garbage is another black eye for poker.

well I seem to recall you have some very strict guidelines on how known pros are supposed to greet you when with your wife. didnt know if we were getting mixed up in that again. my bad.

43 year old guy convinces the 2.3:1 chipleader with a deal to chipdump stack to him any happily poses with the winning cards and the trophy, what a life to live.

also lol.

But he claimed in his facebook rant that he'd never ever done this before. Yeah sure.

You seem furry mad. Are you sure you haven't twisted your panties?

The conversation I mentioned happend in a €50.000 buy-in tournament. I leave it up to you to decide who the real pros are..

There’s nothing like realizing you’re on the same side of ECB in a debate to really make you rethink your position.

Wpt trophies are like women boys.

You always have to pay for it. One way or the other.

Best suggestion so far is to take away the trophy and points. Let them chop the money as they wish. The trophy needs to be played out for. Can't be bargained. Holding it more sanctimonious than money will save WPT's brand imo.