After a week under the severe analysis of the poker industry Mike Postle went from being under scrutiny from poker players and fans to being under investigation by an ‘independent investigation 
team’ as the Stones Gambling Hall closed their streaming game ‘Stones Live’ for the foreseeable future.
In case you missed our article earlier this week on Mike Postle’s behaviour at the Stones Gambling Hall, the cash game player was accused of cheating on live streams, knowing the cards other players had by receiving messages either by mobile phone or by bone conducting messages sent to a device tucked under his baseball cap.
Several players have nailed their colours to their masts in hilarious fashion.
Gonna start a private game and only invite people who think Postle didn’t cheat.
— TonyDunstTV (@tonydunsttv) October 2, 2019
Having initially claimed any accusations of cheating were spurious in their nature and 100% false, the Stones Gambling Hall have back-tracked considerably on that stance. In fact, they’re bringing in the independent investigators many players clamoured for in the aftermath of Joey Ingram’s personal ‘investigation’ into the Postle hands.
Here’s the Stones Gambling Hall statement in full:
“Stones Gambling Hall is committed to the integrity of our games. We have been alarmed by allegations of unfair play occurring during the streamed broadcasts of our “Stones Live” games and have acted quickly to investigate. Yesterday, we temporarily halted all broadcasts from Stones. We have also, as a result, halted the use of RFID playing cards. We have taken these steps proactively while we conduct a multifaceted and thorough investigation into every element of these games. To that end, we are today announcing the creation of an independent investigation team. The team will be led by Michael Lipman, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, and Chief of that office’s fraud unit. He is assembling other members who will be announced in due course. Stones intends to conduct this investigation and share outcomes with transparency. We will provide updates as appropriate.”
Following this statement, and a cessation of Twitter engagement from Postle, a couple of days went by without anyone hearing from the man at the centre of a poker storm. However, that was before Mike Matusow put in his two cents in a couple of video podcasts on his YouTube channel.
Here’s Part 1 of the interview:
And part 2 of the interview is here:
While the interview itself is quite the coup from Matusow, the tone of the interview itself will concern many poker fans who stand behind both the original whistleblowers on Postle’s alleged crimes, and Joey Ingram, who continues to pursue his quarry with vigour.
If Postle really wanted an open engagement with the poker community on the subject of his alleged cheating – which he continues to refute – he would engage with the whistleblowers or, better yet, Ingram, upon whose platform he would be guaranteed maximum attention.
While most players, such as TV writer Matt Salsberg and former PokerStars Team Pro Daniel Negreau – in an ‘homage’ to Salsberg – believe that Postle was cheating, those defending Postle have shrunk into the background of the argument.
Matusow’s podcast featuring Postle may not be judged in a wholly positive light in the years to come, while Joey Ingram may just have made the video series that sets himself up for life. Postle himself? There’s much speculation that while Postle would have to have been the ‘hat-man’ of the alleged operation, others must surely be involved too.
When will it end? We don’t even know the team investigating Postle’s activities at Stones Gambling Hall yet, but while that team is formed, the poker community seems to close ranks with every passing day, as the spotlight narrows in on Mike Postle and the ramifications for the future with regard to streaming and RFID tables.
The question that obviously arises is easy to guess. Just… keep it under your hat.
Scandals like this Postle dude makes me wonder: What about the “sophisticated cheaters” we have not been able to catch yet because they actually are good at cheating? Seems unlikely to me that he’s the only guy in the world doing this.
— Henrik Hecklen (@hhecklen) October 3, 2019
