Gossip Column: Tampa Bay Settles PPC Poker Tour Case; Galfond Lines Up ‘ActionFreak’ HU Match For April 27

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  • Namita Ghosh April 20, 2020
  • 3 Minutes Read

Another poker dispute might be close to a legal settlement. The PPC Poker Tour scam was one of the shocking controversies that erupted in 2017. Bringing the Ponzi scheme to light were the top five finishers of the 2016 Players Poker Championship (PPC) Poker Tour Main Event. The group was to be paid nearly $300K between them as prize money. Apparently, they were each given $10K after the tournament with the promise that the remaining amount would be directly credited to their bank accounts. As it turns out, the money never came, and this led to the players grouping together to file a civil lawsuit against the tour owners Sandy Swartzbaugh and Bryan Oulton.

Recent reports indicate that the players may have finally received some sort of settlement. While Oulton (who declared bankruptcy) and Swartzbaugh are paying out a part of the dues to the players in installments, the tour`s venue Tampa Bay Downs that was named as a party in the lawsuit has reached a settlement with the plaintiffs to settle the matter for $80,000.

The Galfond Challenge has been the go-to gossip for us during the lockdown, and it looks like Phil Galfond is raring to go. After his legendary comeback in the first challenge against Venividi1993, all it took him were two days to move on to challenger no.2, Bill Perkins. After booking a small loss to Perkins in the first session, Galfond surprised many by announcing that he will be taking on the online phenom ‘ActionFreak’ in a 15,000-hand challenge starting April 27.

Is Perkins busy? We are not sure, but with a €150,000 side bet riding on the outcome of this challenge with ‘ActionFreak,’ we are looking forward to seeing fireworks on the virtual felts!

 

PPC Poker Tour Lawsuit Close to Being Settled

The poker industry was rocked by a major controversy in 2017 when the top five finishers of the 2016 Players Poker Championship (PPC) Poker Tour Main Event charged that the tour was being run as a Ponzi scheme. They were apparently paid only $50K ($10K each) of the almost $300K that was due to them in prizes after the tourney with the assurance that the remaining prize money would be credited to their bank accounts shortly.

The money was never deposited and left with no better alternative; the players dragged the PPC Tour owners Sandy Swartzbaugh and Bryan Oulton to court. The tour’s official host venue, Tampa Bay Downs, was also named as a party in the lawsuit.

Three years down the line, it seems that the matter is finally close to being settled. While Swartzbaugh had reached a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs back in 2017, Oulton, who had filed for bankruptcy, completed the process early this month.

Reports indicate that the other co-accused, Tampa Bay Downs, has also reached an agreement with the five plaintiffs. According to a January judgment, the casino will be paying the five players $80,000 in damages to bring the curtains down on this long-pending legal tussle.

 

The PPC Poker Tour – What Went Wrong?

Back in November 2016, Stephen Deutsch had won the PPC Poker Tour Main Event for $133,687. The tournament was to pay nearly $300,000 to the top five finishers, Deutsch and the four others, namely, James Beadnell (2nd for $90,906), Michael Lerner (3th for $48,126), John Ott (4th for $32,085), and Joan Sandoval (5th for $21,390). However, Swartzbaugh and Oulton paid the five players only $10,000 in cash, promising that the rest of their winnings would be deposited into their bank accounts. This never happened, and between the five players, a total of $291,794 was left unpaid.

By December 2016, a lot of content began to disappear from the PPC website, and the players were emailed that funds were not yet available. With their backs on the wall, the five players filed a civil lawsuit against Swartzbaugh and Oulton and hired the services of legal eagle Maurice VerStandig to represent them.

The players charged that Swartzbaugh and Oulton had indulged in fraud and run the PPC as a Ponzi scheme. They also alleged that the owners couldn’t segregate PPC’s funds and utilized the money they took from one creditor to pay another.

Initially, both Oulton and Swartzbaugh went into hiding, deleted their social media accounts, and dismantled the PPC website. Later, Oulton applied for bankruptcy while Swartzbaugh eventually chose to settle with the players. As part of the settlement, both he and Oulton agreed to pay $120,000 to the players via monthly installments of $400 spread over 50 months.

 

Tampa Bay Downs Settles With Players

While the tour`s host venue, Tampa Bay Downs, initially denied any role in the alleged cheating, the card room has reportedly chosen to reach a settlement.

The agreement was formalized on January 6, under the purview of Judge John K. Olson. Part of the agreement reads – “Not only will the Settlement justly bring an end to the instant litigation, but, nearly three years after the collapse of PPC, it will finally allow the majority of the scheme’s victims to recover monies.”

 

Phil Galfond to Start Match Against ‘ActionFreak’ on April 27

It was last Thursday when we discussed how Run It Once (RIO) Poker founder Phil Galfond had moved on to his second challenger in the Galfond Challenge – entrepreneur Bill Perkins.

Phil Galfond

 

Galfond, who made a remarkable bounce-back in his first heads-up PLO match against ‘VeniVidi1993’, got off on a slightly slow start in the second match, booking a loss of $1,561.86 in the first session.

Despite the marginal setback, Galfond certainly seems to be in the mood for an adventurous detour. Going by his latest tweets, Galfond is moving on to his third Heads-Up Challenges, ‘ActionFreak’!!

It seems that the Galfond vs. ‘ActionFreak’ match will be kicking off on April 27 from 3 PM (UTC) onwards. ‘ActionFreak’ is considered one of the best online pros in the world and plays primarily on PokerStars. He seems to be just as formidable an opponent as ‘VeniVidi1993’, so it sounded kinda cheeky for Galfond to call him “softer competition” while announcing the match.

The two will be playing 15,000 hands of €150/ €PLO. As the tweet explains, this match will go on for five hours a day, five times a week. At the end of it, the loser also stands to lose a side bet of €150,000.

The question we’re asking here is, what happened to Galfond’s ongoing match against Perkins? We haven’t seen any more live-stream after their first session, and like us, a lot of other fans must be wondering the same. Some even made outlandish guesses.

Since there’s been no formal announcement on when the Galfond vs. Perkins match will resume, we can only assume that Perkins is busy right now, and the match will take off when both players are available.

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