Some of the plaintiffs in a $30 million civil lawsuit that stemmed from a massive cheating scandal at Stones Gambling Hall have agreed to a settlement.
Noted gaming lawyer Maurice “Mac” VerStandig confirmed on September 14, that a number of his clients entered into an “amicable” settlement with the California poker room. He also made a shocking statement when he admitted that they found no evidence linking Stones and Justin Kuraitis to the alleged cheating allegations. But the whistleblower in the case, poker player and former Stones commentator Veronica Brill refused to settle, and pledged to “continue to tell the truth”.
All parties did not disclose the amount involved in the settlement, though a source from Stones Gambling Hall said it was “nominal” and was done as an act of “good will”. Richard Pachter, lawyer for Kuraitis, said he’d consider the settlement as “complete vindication”.
Postle To Prove Innocence in Explosive Documentary
There was no mention of Mike Postle, the player at the center of the cheating scandal, when the lawyers issued their comments on the settlement, but the American poker pro recently broke his silence on the controversy and promised to prove his innocence in an explosive new documentary.
This was the first time that Postle issued a statement about the cheating scandal since appearing on Mike Matusow’s “The Mouthpiece” back in October, 2019. Postle allegedly cheated during livestreamed cash games at Stones, defrauding other players out of six figures. The plaintiffs accused him of using electronic communication to carry out his act which was allegedly done with the knowledge of some key personnel at Stones.
Mike Postle went into hiding for several months, declining interviews and evading court summons. The charges against him and his co-defendants were eventually dropped by a federal judge in June. In a recent text message to The Sacramento Bee, the poker pro revealed the reason why he has remained tightlipped all this time.
Since the scandal broke out, almost everyone in the poker community concluded that Postle is a cheat, with extraordinary win rates that even the best players in the world couldn’t achieve. His impossible winning streak was put into question, leading many to believe that indeed he was doing something unscrupulous to gain an illicit advantage over his opponents.
Postle said his side of the story will be told in a forthcoming documentary that will “shock” the world. It will be handled by Dave Broome at 25/Productions, producer of the popular hit TV weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser.
Postle addressed his “detractors and “accusers”, saying all of their questions will be answered in this explosive documentary.
Kuraitis Attacks James Ingram, Brill For Peddling False Stories
Meanwhile, Kuraitis, who was accused of aiding Postle in carrying out the alleged cheating, also penned a lengthy, controversial letter, denying all the accusations and hitting out at all of the people behind a propaganda machine that destroyed his name. Kuraitis said the false allegations greatly impacted him, and the “pain and unfairness” of all the accusations still linger.
He attacked those who came up with their own analysis of the games in question and who concluded that cheating indeed happened, ignoring relevant information that did not fit their “theories”. He accused Joey Ingram of peddling false statistics and simply cherry picking hands that would back up his claims. Kuraitis said they’re nothing short of a “confirmation bias” wherein he was painted as the bad person.
Kuraitis also went on to attack Brill, who he claimed never presented evidence that Postle cheated. He slammed the poker community for riding along these false allegations, causing social media outrage and internet bullying which brought some real life consequences to him.
But there was no sign of remorse within the poker community, with Doug Polk labeling Kuraitis’ statement as “complete nonsense”. Polk claimed the defendants were only able to escape liability simply because the legal system “is not fit” to determine acts of cheating in poker. The vast majority in the community share a similar view.