High Stakes Poker Players Square Off In Dispute
By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Jun 30, 2017
Civil claim filed by Matthew Kirk against Leon Tsourkernik
Aussie high stakes poker pro Matthew Kirk has filed a civil claim in the Clark County, Nevada Court against Czech poker player and the owner of Kings Casino, Leon Tsoukernik.
According to the civil summons, Kirk reportedly bankrolled Czech player and owner of Kings Casino, Leon Tsoukernik to the tune of $3 million in a series of four personal loans during a high stakes cash game at the Aria on the morning of May 27, 2017.
The claim, which first broke on the twoplustwo forum a couple of days ago via a thread from a newly-created account under the moniker ‘throaway4545’, shows uploaded copies of legal papers relating to the case.
Two loans of $500,000 and another two of $1,000,000 allegedly made by Kirk to Tsourkernik were reportedly agreed on the basis that the full amount would be repaid on conclusion of the game. However, Tsourkernik apparently was unable to honor the debt at the time.
Tsourkernik allegedly repaid Kirk $1 million of the $3 million debt a week after the match but refused to repay the outstanding $2 million.
Another new account on twoplustwo, under the moniker ‘FabRicSing’ fights Tsourkernik’s corner with a statement saying Tsourkernik cannot comment on the thread as the matter is sub-judice, that he will provide a detailed explanation of the dispute upon its final determination and that he looks forward to returning to the US to play in the Poker Players Championship.
The twoplustwo forum threads can be read here: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/leon-tsoukernik-subpoenad-stiffed-aussie-matt-2mil-1672483/?highlight= and http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/leon-tsoukernik-subpoenad-stiffed-aussie-matt-2mil-1672483/index3.html?highlight=#post52424768
Predictably, the poker fraternity is abuzz with speculation and opinion for and against both sides of the table.
Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.
We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.
His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.
Top 5 casinos
