Stones Gambling Hall Cheating Scandal (aka Postlegate)
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In late September 2019, Stones Gambling Hall, located in Citrus Heights, near
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, came to prominence due to a cheating scandal that became known as Postlegate. Mike Postle was publicly accused of
cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert or disobey rules in order to obtain unfair advantages without being noticed. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given pr ...
in
poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
games he participated in during
livestream Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...
events hosted at Stones Gambling Hall. "Stones Live" livestream poker games utilized
playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...
s with embedded
RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...
sensors that scanned the playing cards and transmitted identifying information (the cards' suits and ranks) into the livestream's technical control room and to play-by-play announcers and
color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...
s; casino management and livestream supervisors also had access to real-time identifying information of otherwise unknown, facedown, cards. The initial public accusation of Postle's alleged cheating was made by poker color commentator, interviewer, and recreational player
Veronica Brill Veronica Brill is a Polish-born Canadian–American television presenter, commentator, recreational poker player and an analytics developer. She has worked as a sideline reporter on NBC's long-running series ''Poker After Dark'' since 2021.. ...
, whose day job of
analytic Analytic or analytical may refer to: Chemistry * Analytical chemistry, the analysis of material samples to learn their chemical composition and structure * Analytical technique, a method that is used to determine the concentration of a chemical ...
for the medical industry was instrumental in her being emboldened to accuse Postle of cheating. Brill's allegations were reported by
Scott Van Pelt Scott Van Pelt (born July 9, 1966) is an American sportscaster and sports talk show host employed by ESPN. He is a long time anchor of key editions of '' SportsCenter'' on ESPN, served as the co-host of '' SVP & Russillo'' alongside Ryen Russi ...
on
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's
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande,  Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
during its October 3, 2019, broadcast. Initially, industry, local, and national media closely followed the evolving story, but interest waned after criminal charges were not brought by law enforcement, and as civil lawsuits were adjudicated, settled, or dismissed (see litigation).


Allegations

In July 2018, Postle went on a prolonged "heater", poker winning streak, of around $250,000 in low-stakes ($1–3 and $2–5) no-limit
Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, community cards ...
games held at Stones Gambling Hall. Postle's "heater" occurred while playing livestream games. In September 2019, Stones Gambling Hall's color commentator Veronica Brill believed her long-held suspicions—that Postle was cheating which she had voiced to Stones' poker and livestream tournament director, Justin Kuraitis, months before—had been confirmed when she again witnessed perplexing and unorthodox poker play, in a crucial situation, that resulted in minimizing Postle's monetary loss. In response to a particular hand played by Postle, during a reoccurring Stones Live livestreamed game, wherein his perpetual unorthodox pattern of play again occurred when his poker hand was considered very strong yet would be a losing hand, he again prevailed by mucking (throwing away) his cards instead of calling a bet, Brill stated: "It doesn't make sense. It's like he knows. It doesn't make sense. It's weird." One week later, Brill posted an 18-minute video showing Postle's most unusual and similar hands that were played opposite of accepted professional poker standards, yet in each poker hand of Brill's video Postle either prevailed as an outright winner or by saving money by mucking a losing but very strong poker hand that, according to professional poker players'
game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...
and conventional wisdom, should have been played. Brill also tweeted out her suspicions. Many people from poker's professional community (players, announcers, bloggers, authors, card room and technical control management) who viewed and commented on archived video footage from Stones Live livestreams echoed Brill's concern that Postle must have had access to real-time information about his opponents' hole cards and hand strength. Numerous well- and lesser-known people from poker's game theory optimal (GTO) community stated that the hands Postle won, or that he saved money on by mucking in key and critical situations, occurred at rates so mathematically improbable they could only have been attained by cheating. During July 2018 to September 2019, when Postle was allegedly cheating, he consistently picked the perfect spots to bluff, call bets when his opponents were bluffing, bet or raise for very thin value when he had a weak hand, that happened to be ahead, make big folds (muck) with very strong hands, and/or just call instead of raising when his opponents had him beat. In addition, archived video shows that Postle repeatedly stared down into his lap, where he mostly kept his cell phone (out of sight from other players), leading to the suspicion that he was receiving information about the other players' hole cards on his cell phone. There were other times he was not looking at his lap while allegedly cheating, and it is theorized that he must have been receiving electronic signals in the brim of his hat. Prior to July 2018 and his suspicious winning streak, Postle usually kept his cell phone on Stones Gambling Hall's poker table's railing, in plain view of his opponents (where other players kept their cell phones). During that timeframe, Postle's poker results ebbed and flowed between winning and losing money, and he was not considered to be an exceptional poker player.


Litigation

On October 9, 2019, 24 poker players filed a $30 million class-action lawsuit against Postle, Stones Gambling Hall and its poker and livestream manager Justin "JRK" Kuraitis. In June 2020, Federal Judge William B. Shubb dismissed the lawsuit against all three defendants, citing a very old California law. The case against Postle was dismissed "
with prejudice ''Prejudice'' is a legal term with different meanings, which depend on whether it is used in criminal, civil, or common law. In legal context, ''prejudice'' differs from the more common use of the word and so the term has specific technical mea ...
", precluding a case from being refiled against him. Three months after the dismissal, 60 of the then 88
plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
s accepted a settlement with King's Casino LLC, which owns Stones Gambling Hall, and Kuraitis. Brill was among the remaining 28 plaintiffs who did not settle. Less than a month afterward, Postle filed a $330 million defamation lawsuit against a dozen individuals, including poker celebrity
Daniel Negreanu Daniel Negreanu (; born July 26, 1974) is a Canadian professional poker player who has won seven World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker ...
, three-time World Series of Poker winner
Phil Galfond Phil Galfond (born January 16, 1985) is an American professional poker player. Galfond won three World Series of Poker bracelets, in the $5,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha with rebuys event in 2008, the $10,000 no-limit 2-7 single draw championshi ...
, and
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
. Postle's attorneys later filed to remove themselves from that case. On December 8, 2020, defendant Todd Witteles filed an
anti-SLAPP Strategic lawsuits against public participation (also known as SLAPP suits or intimidation lawsuits), or strategic litigation against public participation, are lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with ...
motion to dismiss Postle's lawsuit declaring it "frivolous and a violation of Witteles' free-speech rights." On May 13, 2021, the judge ruled against Postle and ordered him to pay $27,000 for Witteles' legal fees and court costs. On January 13, 2021, Brill filed her own "anti-SLAPP" motion. On June 16, 2021, Judge Shama H. Mesiwala ruled in favor of Brill and awarded her $27,000. Postle did not appear at the anti-SLAPP hearings; therefore, the order went into effect immediately. On April 1, 2021, Postle filed a request with Sacramento County Superior Court to drop his defamation lawsuit. In September 2021, Postle filed a motion to avoid involuntary bankruptcy. On January 7, 2022, a confidential agreement was entered into Postle's bankruptcy records which closed the only remaining litigation stemming from Stone Gamblings Hall livestream poker cheating scandal. That turn of events effectively put an end to the official Postlegate saga.


References


External links

"Reality Check: Mike Postle Isn’t the Only Player Cheating on Poker Live-Streams

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stones Gambling Hall cheating scandal Cheating in gambling Poker