Gossip Column: Charlie Carrel’s Tweet Reopens Old Wounds Between JNandez & Doug Polk in Upswing Poker Dispute

Three professional poker players are currently engaged in a heated exchange of words on Twitter. The primary point of contention is Fernando “Jnandez” Habegger‘s legal battles with UpSwing Poker, owned by Doug Polk. These legal issues date back five years and have resulted in significant tension between the parties involved.

This old controversy was reignited following a tweet from poker pro Charlie Carrel, who took a jab at Polk, causing a chain reaction of responses. The Twitter war has since escalated, with all three players fiercely defending their positions.

Before we get to why Carrel reignited the dispute, here’s the history behind what happened.

About five years ago, Upswing Poker and Jnandez had a major falling out, resulting in the poker pro leaving the online coaching platform under adverse circumstances. Jnandez accused Upswing Poker management of underpaying him and removing him from a private Facebook group without notice. The poker coaching platform`s owner, Polk, retaliated by claiming that Jnandez attempted to steal customers. This led to an irreparable rift in their relationship, and they engaged in a prolonged legal battle with claims and counter-claims.

Jnandez asserts that he successfully obtained a favorable outcome in the dispute over his unpaid commissions. He received a payout of five figures and approximately $150,000 in legal fees. However, Habegger was slapped with a defamation counter-claim from Polk, further contributing to the already significant financial burden of the US legal system.

This thread summarizes the absurd claims @UpswingPoker brought against me in a lawsuit in 2018.

It took these clowns over 3 years, more than 9000 pages of discovery, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, just to realize that they should have folded pre. pic.twitter.com/oxghx4ChIi

— JNandez (@JNandezPoker) April 22, 2023

Carrel recently revealed some details about the case to his followers, prompting Polk to launch a vicious attack on JNandez. In response, Carrel released a three-minute video criticizing Polk’s behavior and accused him of intentionally publishing SEO content to damage JNandez’s reputation online. Carrel’s video also highlighted Polk’s aggressive tactics towards JNandez for legally breaking their contract.

It’s time to tell the tale of an angry keyboard warrior @DougPolkVids and his arch nemesis, the courts of justice.

The word allegedly is behind all of this, just in case Douglas’ litigious side comes out again.

And the long form conversation offer is still open. pic.twitter.com/dNRSTuidnX

— Charlie Carrel (@Charlie_Carrel) April 18, 2023

Carrel stated that JNandez believed taking legal action against Polk was necessary to both receive the money owed to him and protect his reputation. As things panned out, Upswing Poker lost the case and was required to pay JNandez a six-figure settlement.

However, Polk contested this narrative and clarified that he initiated the legal proceedings.

‘Look here, we stole $150,000, but were stupid enough to go to court and forced to pay it back’.

— Charlie Carrel (@Charlie_Carrel) April 18, 2023

Oh wait, you haven’t told people that one. My bad, Dougy.

Probably best I don’t mention you tried to make counter claims saying the play and explain format of poker was yours to own.

— Charlie Carrel (@Charlie_Carrel) April 18, 2023

One of Polk’s more remarkable claims was that Habegger had stolen the ‘Play and Explain’ poker video format from Upswing Poker.

That will be news to 99% of the poker community, who have enjoyed similar content almost since poker and the internet met two decades ago.

It appears that Polk’s mathematical calculations were challenged and deemed insufficient in court. The court found that the amount owed to Habegger by Upswing Poker was significantly more than what Polk claimed.

Habegger shared numerous tweets about his experience working with Upswing Poker and the subsequent fallout, offering a vastly different perspective from Polk’s version of events.

(2) That I had to take down and turn over my YouTube videos because they qualified as “work” for Upswing, who had hired me to produce specific content as a freelancer. They encouraged me to grow my socials. In fact, I hired Mike Brady, then Upswing’s community manager. pic.twitter.com/CQKelUig4G

— JNandez (@JNandezPoker) April 22, 2023

(3) Upswing essentially claimed they owned everything I did related to PLO, even unrelated content created before any agreement with Upswing, including my preflop charts.

— JNandez (@JNandezPoker) April 22, 2023

When I started working with Upswing, I decided on my own accord to share these charts with Upswing before any agreement was in place. We decided to include them in the products I’ve created (PLO University and PLO Lab). pic.twitter.com/WpGrn0GYES

— JNandez (@JNandezPoker) April 22, 2023

(4) Upswing claimed that I hadn’t been able to do any other work other than for UpswingPoker, knowing full well I was a freelancer, they pushed my 1-on-1 coaching offer, my website, and encouraged me to grow my brand on Twitch and YouTube. pic.twitter.com/104Ms65EZK

— JNandez (@JNandezPoker) April 22, 2023

(5) Upswing claimed that unbeknownst to them, I had subcontractors working in the PLO Lab, even though they had marketed the product as me and my “team of PLO pros”, and I had written to Upswing’s President that I had partner, Filip, that was getting a % of the product. pic.twitter.com/NbczcC4g1s

— JNandez (@JNandezPoker) April 22, 2023

In the following days, I will address the Twoplustwo and Reddit posts that UpswingPoker, the PLO Matrix trolls, and Filip, the scarf guy, orchestrated. pic.twitter.com/MCUIKbC5YV

— JNandez (@JNandezPoker) April 22, 2023

Recently, Habegger appeared on Matt Berkey‘s Only Friends podcast, discussing the entire feud and the aftermath of Polk’s highly publicized criticism of him.

Polk is yet to respond after Habegger’s podcast interview, and things can only get steamier once he does!

This is a developing story, so keep following PokerGuru for more updates!