Why The Poker Community Should Fight Mike Postle To The Bitter End
I have read (and carefully considered) George Rice's compelling argument in reply 12172 of this thread:
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/s...ostcount=12172
George argues that Joey Ingram, Daniel Negreanu, Doug Polk, Phil Galfond, Bart Hanson, et al. should accept their lawyers advice and settle with Postle - along with a stipulation that all discussion of this case (and terms of the settlement) cease once the agreement is signed.
George makes a good (a strong) argument, but this is the one case where the poker community should fight. If Mike Postle and Justin Kuraitis are allowed to get away with this relatively unscathed, it sends a message to all the other cheaters (as well as poker room operators like Stones) that they can do their cheating - and turn a blind eye to same - with impunity. If Postle, Kuraitis (and Stones) get away with this, it sends a message to all the other California card rooms that it's open season on poker players. Knowing they can't be held accountable and will pay a miserly pittance for a settlement in the rare cases when somebody like Postle is exposed, cheaters (and their accomplices) will continue plying their trade.
This case graphically illustrates the "big problem" with poker - as opposed to all the other forms of gambling that card rooms and casino operators offer. Unlike blackjack, slots, and all the other table games like craps, baccarat, and roulette; the operators have approximately zero percent incentive to stop player cheating. Poker is the one [casino] game where the operators really don't give a poop if somebody like Mike Postle is cheating his opponents - it's no sweat off their balls if Mike Postle is stealing other players' money.
If Mike Postle had devised a clever scheme - possibly with inside help - to steal money from the blackjack tables, you only need watch the movie "Casino" to see how card rooms used to deal with blackjack cheaters. For the games where their own money is at risk, casino operators watch those games like a hawk. In the "old days," somebody like Mike Postle trying to cheat at blackjack would have been 86'd - at a minimum.
If there was any doubt, this Stones/Postle case has made it crystal clear to poker cheats - especially California poker cheats - that they can practice their craft with relative impunity. From the cheaters perspective, the only "mistake" MP made was getting too greedy. If he had throttled his greed with an [occasional] spectacular bad call, (or had an occasional "losing" session), he would probably still be making a nice living plying his cheating trade. Because the operators will not police the poker games, (as their only incentive is in collecting the rake), it is up to us players to flush out (and expose) cheaters like Postle. (If we don't do it, nobody else will.)
This is easy for me to say as I'm not one of the defendants and I'm not paying for the cost of litigation. (I do intend to send small donations - maybe $100 each - to Veronica Brill and Todd Witteles once I find their mailing addresses, but otherwise I don't have a dog in this fight - I wasn't one of the 20+ defendants who have been sued by Postle.)
For what he has [allegedly] done, Mike Postle should be nailed to the wall. After the dust has settled and all the courtroom jousting is over, he should be left bankrupt and penniless. (Since what he has done is not a "criminal" offense under California law, we can't look forward to seeing him imprisoned, but that would be just punishment for his deeds.) This is the one case where we need to make an example of Mike Postle - he must be forced to pay a high price for the damage he has inflicted on the poker community. (Postle deciding to sue Veronica, Polk, Ingram, Negreanu, Galfond, Witteles, et al. for "defamation" is equivalent to pouring salt in the wound - as if he's laughing and gloating while holding up his middle finger.)
If we, the collective poker community, allow Postle, Kuraitis, and card room operators like Stones to get away with such blatant cheating; we will have only ourselves to blame when the games become impossible to [honestly] beat. By filing his lawsuit, Postle has declared war - he is in effect declaring that he has a right to cheat and steal from his fellow poker players. This is a fight we can't back down from. We can't let Postle and Kuraitis do **** like this and get away with it.
Veronica Brill and Bill Perkins are the true heroes in this - along with all the other defendants who have stated that they intend to fight. (It is especially grating that Veronica is being made to suffer as Postle would probably still be pulling his crap if Veronica had chosen to remain quite. It took real courage for her to do the right thing.)
If we truly love the game of poker and want it to be a game of skill rather than a cesspool of cheating, we have a moral obligation to join them in the defense of our beloved game.
P.S. I agree with chopstick's suggestion that strangers should not be allowed to post in this thread.
Last edited by Former DJ; 10-09-2020 at 05:09 PM.