Gossip Column: Settlement Accepted by 60 Plaintiffs in the Postlegate Lawsuit, Jonathan Little Banned by ACR 

The Mike Postle cheating saga seems to be nearing an end, at least in Nevada, where 60 of the 88 plaintiffs have accepted a settlement. The remaining non-settling plaintiffs have until October 1 to file something relevant to the court to further pursue the case.

A recent controversy broke out when poker pro and coach Jonathan Little got banned from online poker site Americas Cardroom (ACR) as confirmed by the company’s CEO Phillip Nagy. Apparently, the WPT Season VI Player of the Year award winner had been bad-mouthing the site, resulting in the ban.

Settlement Accepted by 60 Plaintiffs in the Postlegate Scandal

About a month ago, the Mike Postle cheating saga that had been ongoing for almost a year, finally entered what was being viewed as its closing chapter. According to reports, the former commentator at Stones Live Poker, Veronica Brill, and 87 other plaintiffs who had filed a suit against Postle, former Stones Live production manager Justin Kuraitis, and King’s Casino (parent company to Stones Gambling Hall), had agreed to a settlement in principle. They had requested time to work out the details. It seems now that the majority of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have accepted a settlement.

In a September 9 court filing, it was revealed that 60 of the 88 plaintiffs will be accepting an undisclosed settlement. Judge William B. Shubb of the Eastern District of California filed a notice of the partial settlement and stipulation to set a date for the motion to withdraw and extend the time to file a second amended complaint.

“First, in the above-captioned case, Defendants King’s Casino and Kuraitis have settled with the plaintiffs set forth in Exhibit A,” wrote Shubb. “The Settlement Agreement has been executed by the settling parties.”

While it seems that the Nevada part of the Postlegate proceedings has nearly ended, there are still a few defendants who have not agreed to the settlement. The court documents state that some non-settling plaintiffs have been unreachable.

If the non-settling plaintiffs decide not to agree to the settlement, they will have to proceed without the counsel of lawyer Mac VerStandig. The document states he’ll be withdrawing from the case no later than September 11.

VerStandig requested an extension on filing an amended complaint about the remaining parties in the case. If granted, those parties will have until October 1 to file something relevant with the court to pursue a legal remedy in the matter.

Jonathan Little Banned From ACR For Bad-Mouthing the Site

Former WPT champion Jonathan Little has a habit of running his mouth. While many think that his criticism is just his way of having fun and joking around, it seems like he has crossed a line with online poker site Americas Cardroom (ACR). The poker pro has been banned from the online poker portal, as confirmed by ACR CEO Phillip Nagy.

Little had tweeted Nagy on September 10, asking him why he couldn’t access his account.

Hi Phil, It seems my account has suddenly been banned. I was not told why I was banned. I tried to log in to cash out my funds but it is not letting me. Is it because I said ACR is not as safe as a bank? I always spoke highly of your game volume and marketing skills. https://t.co/sRTCYds8xN

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) September 9, 2020

It seems that Little’s triage of criticism was too much for Nagy to bear, and he decided to hit back by booting Little from ACR.

If I said, john is the best of your shit choices in coaching; there’s no world you could call that an endorsement whether I felt that way or not, nor would I expected him to put up with it.

— Phillip Nagy (@WPN_CEO) September 10, 2020

Little went on to clarify his stand on Twitter.

I got banned from ACR for making my students aware of the potential risks of playing on an unlicensed/unregulated site. 1/3

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) September 10, 2020

While I would obviously love to continue playing on a site that has a lot of soft tournaments, know that I will always do my best to speak the truth, even if it is not good for me personally. 2/3

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) September 10, 2020

My job is to help my students make more money (and not get scammed out of their money) from poker and I will continue doing my best to help my students. 3/3

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) September 10, 2020

Despite me frequently speaking critically about ACR (which is now a ban-worthy offense), they cashed out the $19,000 that was in my account. Thanks for not robbing me! 4/?

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) September 10, 2020

Being a hugely popular figure in the poker community, Little received a lot of support from friends and fans.

But what you said was facts. Not opinions.
Whats gonna happen when ACR gets shut down because it IS unlicensed and unregulated. Phil will shrug his shoulders and tell us we all knew what we were getting into.

— Chris Collum (@CCollum) September 10, 2020

You’re absolutely right. I’ve read a number of your articles, and have been playing on ACR recently. Only because they gave me some free cash, but honestly everything you’re saying is true, and confirmed true.

— Daniel Khan (@dk2852) September 10, 2020

If only they put that much effort into banning bots and cheaters.

— AdamHuey (@AdamJaredHuey) September 10, 2020

However, Nagy found some support as well.

Just one small example of the negativity. Constantly dogging ACR and anyone who supports them in that smug, nasty tone. This obviously isn’t why he got banned so CTFO but if you never watched his stream it was literally this every 3 minutes. pic.twitter.com/Sbs6P3CAzh

— max_vv_ (@max_vv_) September 9, 2020

Did Jonathan scam you guys for 250K like he did his old employers FULL TILT? Amazing that he came back from that to become the bad strategy book slinging con-artist we all know and hate today. #cancelFieryJustice

— FrankMillerPoker (@poker_frank) September 9, 2020

.If you bad mouth company’s to an audience they have every right to refuse your business.
. You also subtly insinuate that the shillers always seem to hit more flops/ run better than you.
. Fair play to Phil, knows his site will be bad mouthed but went for Little anyway.

— CryptoPoker (@pfcdunny) September 10, 2020

I understand the sentiment and not surprised of ACR’s decision. But Jonathan’s streams did draw thousands watching him play on ACR … many of whom probably joined as a result. Kind of upset that we won’t get to see the Sunday schedule streams anymore.

— Sam Alagha (@AlaghaSam) September 9, 2020

Nagy has a reputation of being one of the most outspoken of all the big online poker room CEOs. At the same time, Little also has a colorful history involving ‘scamming’ allegations leveled by Full Tilt.

With both individuals being such confrontation characters, there is a pretty good chance that there will be more updates on this story.