The cheating scandal that ripped the poker world apart (and five other stories for your weekend)

Mike Postle won hundreds of thousands of dollars whenever he played poker at Stones, a gambling palace in northern California. He could definitely use the money after his wife lied about a deadly brain tumour and dragged him into court to fight over their daughter’s custody for years. Other poker players admired Postle’s insight into the game, but one commentator felt there was something off about him.

Veronica Brill, an IT expert who, like Postle, was struggling with personal problems (her three-year-old son died of cancer), suggested that Postle somehow sensed the cards he was dealt were either better or worse than those of his rival players. Mathematically speaking, his 86% win rate was close to impossible. A battle of words followed on Twitter and YouTube; Postle and the casino were indicted; images of Postle’s cap with a curious lump underneath it were carefully analysed in hundreds of pages of forum threads.

Did Postle cheat, or is he so brilliant that the best poker manuals simply haven’t yet figured out his unorthodox moves?

Riffy, general editor at De Correspondent

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