Stones Gambling Hall asks court to toss lawsuit over alleged cheating by poker player

Sometimes, a poker player just gets dealt a losing hand.

That is the essence of a court filing late Wednesday seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit against Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights, which was sued in October by poker players alleging they were cheated out of thousands of dollars by card player Mike Postle while playing in Stones’ poker games.

“This lawsuit reflects the oldest complaint of gamblers — that their lack of success means they were cheated,” a motion for dismissal by Stones’ parent company, Kings Casino LLC, declares.

The motion asks a federal judge in Sacramento to toss out the lawsuit, saying Stones should not be held liable because “Postle won too many hands of poker from them.”

“Stones had no stake in who won money or lost money in the poker games,” the motion states. “All Stones did was to provide a venue for the poker game.

“Plaintiffs decided whether they wanted to play, for how long, how much to bet, and in which hands to participate.”

The court filing stems from a $30 million lawsuit filed in October in federal court in Sacramento on behalf of 25 plaintiffs who say they lost money while playing in poker games with Postle.

The suit – filed by Potomac, Maryland, lawyer Maurice “Mac” VerStandig – alleges that in at least 68 poker games from July 18, 2018, through Sept. 21, 2019, Postle was aided by unnamed co-conspirators during online broadcasts of the games and won $250,000.

“While playing in Stones Live Poker games, Mr. Postle has won more money than any other participant, in total, and had oftentimes been the winningest player on the show on any given night in which he is a participant,” the lawsuit claims.

“Mr. Postle’s winnings on the Stones Live Poker broadcast, and his correlative play of poker, have been so exceptionally outstanding as to lead the commentator to note his seemingly mystical abilities on numerous occasions, and to lead Stones (Live) Poker to produce various graphics portraying Mr. Postle as a deity-like individual imbued with omniscient powers (with one such graphic conflating an image of Mr. Postle and an image of Jesus Christ).”

The suit alleged Postle used a communications device hidden in his ball cap and his cellphone held under the poker table to somehow determine what his opponents’ hole cards were during games broadcast over the web on a delayed basis.

Stones suspended its online poker games once the allegations surfaced and announced an investigation into the claims.

“We have found no evidence that indicates there was cheating in the games in question,” Stones said in a statement Wednesday. “Stones is confident that it will prevail in this unwarranted lawsuit.”

VerStandig said early Thursday that he planned to oppose the effort to toss out the lawsuit.

“I find it regrettable that they have elected to portray my clients as sore or otherwise frustrated losers,” he said. “But we look forward to responding to their legal contentions through the judicial process and will do so in due course.”

The controversy has created an international controversy in online poker forums and on social media.

One gaming website, cardschat.com, called the scandal the “poker story of the year.” Another, pokernews.com, called it one of the top 10 poker stories of 2019.

Postle apparently dropped from sight after the allegations surfaced. He has not responded to requests from The Bee for comment, although Sacramento criminal defense attorney William Portanova, who briefly represented him, said Postle denied wrongdoing.

Court files say Postle is now representing himself.

Court documents also indicate the plaintiffs had a great deal of difficulty in serving Postle with the lawsuit at homes in Rancho Cordova and Antelope after it was filed in October, with seven unsuccessful attempts in December and early January.

The first attempt came Dec. 16 at a Rancho Cordova address at 8:50 p.m., according to a statement by a process server who wrote that he knocked but got no answer.

“I could hear voices, so I continued knocking repeatedly,” process server Demian Ross wrote. “A black male in his late 40s came to the window next to the front door and asked who I was. I said I was looking for Michael Postle. He said Michael moved away 3 years ago.

“I asked his name and he said it was Russell. As I walked away from the residence he yelled that I better not come back to his house again.”

Ross wrote that he made six more attempts from Dec. 19 through Jan. 2 at an Antelope home without success.

The next day, VerStandig tried himself, arriving at the Antelope home at 9:21 p.m. and knocking on the door, ringing the doorbell and announcing his presence for eight minutes while he saw lights on inside and heard noises.

“After approximately eight (8) minutes, I retreated across the street to my personal vehicle, in which I remained with all lights turned off, and the engine turned off, so as to monitor activity in the House through its windows,” the lawyer wrote in a January 5 court filing. “I then saw a male, meeting the description of the Defendant (whose description I know from viewing myriad photographs, viewing dozens of video recordings, and one personal meeting prior to this litigation), inside the House, standing atop the stairwell.

“At this juncture, I returned to the door of the House, commenced to knock on the door and ring the doorbell interchangeably once again so as to announce my presence, and I witnessed movements through a window curtain and noises drawing nearer to the door upon which I was knocking.”

Finally, VerStandig wrote, he left the summons and copy of the lawsuit at the front door and later mailed a copy, as well.

Since then, the plaintiffs and Postle have agreed that Postle will not have to file his response to the lawsuit until March 24.

Stones’ lawyers are asking for an April 16 hearing on their dismissal motion, which says claims in the the lawsuit are speculative and unsupported by California law, which does not allow for damages to be awarded over gambling losses.

The motion also notes that Stones is not accused of gaining anything from Postle’s alleged scheme

“Plaintiffs do not allege that Stones benefited from Mr. Postle’s alleged cheating,” the motion states. “No ill-gotten profits or sinister motivations are imputed to Stones.

“Plaintiffs even tacitly concede that cheating by players harms Stones’ business and reputation. It is confounding that Plaintiffs now sue Stones rather than seeking its assistance in their shared goal of preventing cheating in poker.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 8:22 AM.