It may seem to many that the allegations regarding disgraced poker player Mike Postle and the beleaguered Stones Gambling Hall have quietly gone by the wayside. It hasn’t been because there hasn’t been extensive action on the legal fronts, however. In fact, recent moves by attorneys involved in the case have forced Postle into having to answer to civil charges by the end of February.
All the Makings of a Spy Thriller
What has been the delay in the prosecution of the civil case against Postle? According to Cardplayer.com’s Steve Schutt, the attorney in that case, Mac VerStandig, had been trying for some time to get the first step of the process complete – the serving of the legal documents, which would force the defendant (Postle) to have to respond to the charges. VerStandig tried to go through the normal route of a hired process server to deliver the paperwork but, at several points, that server reported back that he was unable to contact Postle.
Stymied, VerStandig debated his next actions. In recounting the story to The Rake podcast from Jaime Kerstetter and Marie Cordeiro, VerStandig himself went to what was Postle’s reported address and, at each point when VerStandig presented himself, he was told that Postle was not home. As a result of this inability to catch up with Postle, VerStandig took it upon himself to do an old-fashioned stakeout.
VerStandig, after hours of sitting in his car, deduced that Postle was, in fact, at the property, which forced VerStandig’s hand. Utilizing the law regarding serving procedures, VerStandig went through the process of delivering the documents (as the attorney prosecuting the suit, he had legal standing to serve as his own document server), announcing that they had been served, and immediately filed motions indicating that the documents had been delivered to Postle. The courts have to agree that VerStandig’s actions constitute serving but it is unlikely they are to rule against the actions, meaning that Postle has approximately four weeks to answer in court in the proceedings.
Postle is now in a difficult spot. According to VerStandig, it appears that Postle doesn’t have any legal representation in the civil matter. His criminal attorney has blatantly made it clear he is only representing his client in any potential criminal matters, not those in the civil arena where the 88 clients of VerStandig have a $33 million suit that the papers being served addressed. The case is set for Postle to appear – with or without an attorney – on February 26.
Sordid Case Now Approaching A Year of Activity
For those who might have missed the saga that is the Mike Postle/Stones Gambling Hall, we have to go back to late 2018. Attempting to garner the same attention as The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles has with its Live At the Bike streaming program, Stones Gambling Hall started Stones Live. The program featured cash game play at their casino, albeit at a much lower level ($1/$3 No Limit Hold’em) that what the Bike broadcasts normally featured.
For approximately a year, Postle became the star of the Stones Live broadcasts. Making simply unbelievable moves and massive laydowns when it called for it, Postle went on to earn over $300,000 during these broadcasts. But it raised the suspicions of many in the poker community, even one of the commentators on the Stones Live broadcasts, Veronica Brill, who eventually would publicize her concerns about the show and Postle.
This brought more eyeballs to the archived video from the Stones Live broadcasts. Noted podcaster/poker player Joey Ingraham was one of the first to study the videos intently, noticing that Postle often glanced in his lap at something (thought to be a cellphone or another electronic device) while in play on a hand. This has led many to believe (including this writer) that Postle was using the video that Stones Gambling Hall was capturing from the live play in making his decisions before the video would go out to the streaming audience for their consumption.
Investigation from law enforcement has been rather slow with charging either Postle or Stones Gambling Hall with any criminal counts, but VerStandig didn’t hold back in issuing the civil case when enough of the former players and personnel behind the Stones Live broadcasts began voicing their suspicions. The civil lawsuit has been active since October, but VerStandig says he has used the time spent in trying to run down Postle for serving of the documents to make sure he has an airtight case.
The next chapter in the drama will come at the end of the month. There is no word on whether Postle, who hasn’t been seen near a poker room since the accusations arose, will bring an attorney with him on February 26, but there is one thing that is sure…he will be in a courtroom and will, for the first time, actually be responding to the accusations that have been alleged.