That’s right, the infamous Mike Postle is back in the poker world and has been spotted at the final table of the Million Dollar Heater Main Event in Beau Rivage. Mike was accused of cheating on the Stones Livestream back in 2019 and, after denying the allegations, has not been seen at a public poker event since.
Who’s Mike Postle?
For those of you who aren’t in the loop, Mike Postle was a regular player on the Stones Casino Livestream and was one of their biggest winners. In fact, he crushed the game, with fan-tracking accounts estimating that he had won around $250,000 playing on the stream in a couple of years. Mike was famous for getting into crazy spots and always making the right decision, whether it was hero calling with close to nothing or bluffing in the most ridiculous spots.
In 2019, former Stones Casino commentator and player Veronica Brill accused Mike Postle of cheating on the live stream. This launched a deep dive from the poker community, including multiple 12-hour+ live streams from Chicago Joey, to see if these claims had any credibility. While the public consensus is that Mike cheated, likely by getting hole card information through his phone, Postle has vehemently denied the claims and has not been convicted of or charged with any crimes.
In early 2020, a group of poker players filed a lawsuit against Mike Postle and Stones Casino, levying a number of charges, including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, negligence per se, fraud, unjust enrichment, and fraud again – amongst others. The damages in this suit would total $10 million, something that even the hottest win streak wouldn’t cover! While Postle was accused of dodging court summons, he fired back with his own countersuit in March 2020, wanting $330 million from a number of parties who he considers to have committed libel with their cheating allegations.
Neither lawsuit went very far, with the initial case being brought before a judge but only recouping paid rake, as California has banned the recovery of gambling losses, citing a law from the early 1800s, and the Postle case was withdrawn in April 2021.
Since then, the Postle story went cold, and everyone went about their lives without thinking about it.
Sudden Reappearance
That is, until recently.
On Monday, 16th of January, 2023, Angela Jordison posted a photo and a text that she received from her friend, Maxwell Young, to her Twitter account. It said, “Unreal just played with Mike Postle he was using an alias floor confirmed it was him,” [sic] and came with an accompanying picture of Postle at the table.
Obviously, this went viral within the poker community as people scrambled to confirm whether or not this could really be him. Other people at the event confirmed that it was, in fact, Postle using his middle name as an alias so as not to be identified as easily. Many players were outraged, as they believed that enough evidence had come to light that Postle could be considered a cheater, and the fact that he is allowed to play in live events just rubs salt into the wounds of those he was accused of cheating.
No matter what side of the debate you’re on, the facts remain that Postle has never been found guilty of what he’s been accused of, nor has he been found guilty in a court of law. However, given the almost unanimous agreement amongst the poker community that something fishy was going on (compared to something like the Robbie incident), Mike should expect to get a frosty reception wherever he decides to play from now on.
What Happened?
This story broke just before the final table of the Main Event was due to take place, with over $200,000 for first place and Mike sitting with around an average stack. It goes without saying that many people were rooting against Mike, hoping that he would bust as early as possible.
While he didn’t quite do that, many poker fans got the next best thing.
Mike was eliminated in 7th place for around $32,000, but was slowrolled in his final hand by a player holding top set. Just to really stick it to Mike, the player in question said, “That’s for all the cheating that you do,” as Mike left the table. There’s even a video of the event, which has been posted to the Gulf Coast Poker Facebook page for anyone who wants to revel in the schadenfreude of the slowroll.
However, the cherry on top of the cake is the fact that Mike may not be able to keep the $32,000 prize that he won from the event, and it stems back to the $330 million lawsuit he filed back in 2020.
This is because Veronica Brill and Todd Witteles both initiated garnishment orders in an attempt to recoup legal fees that were spent defending themselves in that lawsuit. Veronica confirmed that the amount of money she was looking to recoup was $27,785, nearly all of Postle’s winnings from the tournament. With Witteles filing a similar order, it’s not a long shot to assume that Mike may not see any of those winnings.
While it’s rather poetic that Postle’s greed in bringing the $330 million lawsuit would eventually lead to him losing a significant amount of money down the line, we’ve yet to receive confirmation that the winnings have been reappropriated.
With all the twists and turns we’ve seen in the Postle story, who knows which way it will turn next? If you want to keep up to date with all the latest goings on in the poker world, make sure to subscribe to the PokerDeals YouTube channel, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
