Stones Gambling Hall, a popular poker room in Northern California is at the center of recent cheating allegations made against Mike Postle. Stones has suspended all of its poker livestreams with immediate effect to thoroughly investigate the cheating claims.
Postle, considered one of the world’s most successful cash game players, has been embroiled in a cheating scandal initially exposed by Veronica Brill aka “Angry_Polak” who posted a series of tweets on 28 September indicating Postle’s misconduct. Brill occasionally commentates on the streamed games at the venue.
Postle In Hot Water
Postle is a regular on the Stones Live cash game show, playing stakes of $1/$3 and $5/$5. For most of his sessions, he always takes the top prize and rarely loses. He is popular for playing livestreamed cash games, but many in the poker community now claim that he does not actually play as much and is less successful in games that are not streamed from Stones.
The accusations stunned the poker community, prompting some of the game’s most prominent names to conduct their own investigation. Joey Ingram was among those who reviewed hours of livestreamed footage to gather evidence. He shared his findings via a five-hour video, highlighting a number of “suspicious” hands, one of which involved Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker.
Poker Community Not Convinced with Postle’s Defense
In response to the allegations, Postle said his accomplishments both live and online in his 16-year poker career, speak the truth. The poker pro said he has been a winning player with very good instincts. He claims those raising allegations against him were only doing it out of “jealousy”. Postle also backed up his statements with a series of hands showing his impressive skills.
However, majority of the poker community are not buying Postle’s story, with some now combing through footages themselves to find the truth. Many poker players have also noticed that Postle has now deleted some of his posts on his social media accounts in the wake of the cheating scandal.
Stones Urged To Appoint Different Team of Investigators
While Stones initially defended its name, tweeting that there was no truth to the recent allegations, the venue now said it will conduct an investigation with outside experts and will release the findings as soon as they are available. The poker room previously revealed that a cheating accusation came to their attention earlier this year, however, the team found no evidence of the claims after conducting a full investigation.
Ingram has now requested the venue to appoint a different set of investigators in these latest cheating allegations. The poker player and content creator said he found possible evidence of cheating within 20 minutes of reviewing game footage. Ingram suggested that investigators can specifically examine what unfolded on June 17 and who among the members of the livestream team was absent when Postle was running like a normal player.
New Name Linked to Cheating
Stones’ tournament director and social media manager Justin Kuraitis has now been dragged into the picture, with some accusing him of involvement in the alleged cheating. Certain members of the Two Plus Two forum have linked Kuraitis to the cheating scandal, saying Postle didn’t play that much on streams when Kuraitis was absent. The poker room director sometimes commentates on livestreamed games.
Probably one of the most shocking developments coming out from this controversy is the possibility that Postle actually cheated on Kevin “Racks” Roster, a terminally-ill poker fan whose last wish was to play poker before ending his suffering through medical-assisted death on July 26. Poster’s session with Roster was among those reviewed by Ingram in his third live stream regarding the cheating allegations.
Poker Community Continues Their Own Investigation
Another poker pro who is not convinced with Postle’s side of the story is Twitch streamer and content creator Doug Polk. His own investigation found that Postle’s winning rate of approximately $1,400 per hour (or $56 per hand) is quite impossible to have for the stakes he’s playing.
Some members of the poker community have also posted screenshots of Postle’s suspicious actions, such as apparently hiding something in his hat. Ryan Feldman of Live at the Bike also raised doubts over Stones’ RFID technology, given his knowledge and experience with the technology’s technicalities.
The scandal continues to make the rounds online, with memes referring to Mike Postle now filling online poker threads. The poker community will have to wait for Stones to release te findings of its investigation.