Stones Gambling Hall poker room manager Kuraitis vocal on social media in wake of court settlement
Our news writers reached out to Justin Kuraitis Friday, but Kuraitis has yet to respond as of Monday afternoon PDT. The Stones Gambling Hall Poker Room Manager has said plenty on Twitter over the weekend, however.
The poker community continues to react to the court settlement that resulted in 61 of 88 plaintiffs taking a payment. The $30 million lawsuit stemmed from cheating allegations against poker player Mike Postle in live-streamed poker games that took place at Stones Gambling Hall in 2018 and 2019.
Postle, the casino, and Stones poker room manager were the defendants in the lawsuit. The list of plaintiffs in the case was comprised of 88 players who played against Postle in those live-streamed games, in which Postle won at an improbable rate and took home more than $250,000 in profit according to some estimates.
The case was settled earlier this month, however, with most of that list of plaintiffs opting to take the settlement. The terms of the settlement included a statement from plaintiffs' counsel Mac VerStandig, who stated that Kuraitis and Stones Gambling Hall weren't guilty of any cheating or other unfair practices.
Kuraitis broke a months-long silence after the settlement announcement, taking to Twitter to express his vindication.
Kuraitis goes at it with the poker community on Twitter
The pinned tweet on Kuraitis' account contends that Postle's winnings over the alleged cheating sessions were far smaller than $250,000.
"I want to be clear that my statements towards poker twitter ARE NOT intended as an apology," Kuraitis writes in the tweet. "I don't care what you think of me. Your comments amuse me. You guys inflated stats by six figures, cherry pick a few 100 hands out of 8,000 & cast conviction based on commentary."
The Poker.org interview request to Kuraitis remains unanswered. Kuraitis tweeted that the only poker podcast he'd be willing to go on is Joey Ingram's Poker Life show, but only for a hefty fee of $20,000 per hour.
"The only poker podcast I'd consider doing is @Joeingram1," says the tweet. "My rate is $10k per half hour/1 hour min."
"My conditions -Must be 100% live -No edits post production -I get to ask Joey one question for every question he asks me -Payment up front in cash -Face to face in Sacramento."
Critics of those interview demands include PokerGO and WSOP television host Ali Nejad, who pointed out that Kuraitis appears to be trying to profit from the aftermath of a poker cheating court case, which alleges that Kuraitis profited from assisting Postle in cash game cheating.
"I've been working professionally in the entertainment industry for 25 years (plenty outside of poker) and never been paid $20k an hour," Nejad writes. "I get you're angry, but attempting to profit from a controversy that alleges profiteering doesn't do much to exonerate or ingratiate oneself."
Others chiming in on that Twitter thread include Shaun Deeb, Matt Glantz, Norman Chad, and Jason Strasser. The majority of replies in the thread don't empathize with Kuraitis' interview payment conditions.
Phil Galfond offers to compile a database of hands involving Postle
Kuraitis weekend Twitter threads include continued back and forth between him and Veronica Brill, the Stones player and commentator who originally brought forth the cheating allegations against Postle. Bart Hanson, Jaman Burton, and several other notable players also chimed in, with most still doubting Postle's innocence.
Phil Galfond offered to compile a database of all hands involving Postle from the alleged cheating period, which took place from July 2018-September 2019.
"I'm a busy guy. I probably wasn't ever going to think about Postle again, but @JFKPokerTD & @StonesGamblingresponded to a legal "victory" by taunting the victims. If we get all HHs into PT or a spreadsheet, I'll create a detailed report with proof (or lack thereof) myself," said Galfond in a tweet.
Matt Berkey and Haralabos Voulgaris are among the high-stakes players interested in what findings an extensive database of hand history from the Stones live-streamed sessions would reveal.
Kuraitis welcomes such a project, starting as much in a Tweeted response to Burton.
"If it was the numbers that convinced you Jaman, just wait until you see how much they were inflated by. The real numbers were the same thing that convinced me. I'm excited for @haralabob and @berkey11 to put their findings out," said Kuraitis in the tweet.
Deeb, among several others, doesn't think that any kind of database analysis can clear Postle's name.
"You realize based on play style mannerism money won is irrelevant to him cheating it would just mean he’s even dumber than he looks staring at his crotch on stream whole damn time. There’s so much more evidence then just $ won that he was cheating," Deeb says in the tweet.
The court case might be over for now, but it's clear than many in the poker community still find the defendants guilty in one of the biggest cheating scandals in poker history.
Poker.org could not reach Postle for comments on the aftermath of the settlement. Brill recently agreed to an interview with Poker.org author Jon Pill, which can be read here.
Featured image source: Twitter
