Poker Pro Gordon Vayo Sues PokerStars over Failure to Pay Winnings
American poker professional, Gordan Vayo, has filed a lawsuit against the world’s largest online poker site, PokerStars. Vayo says that the poker site has failed to pay him his prize money for winning the 2017 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) tournament last year. The sum stated in the claim is just under $700 000.
Why PokerStars Refuses to Payout Vayo
Earlier this year, PokerStars sent a statement to Vayo indicating that his winnings would not be paid out due to his geographical location during the tournament. The site’s refusal to pay out Vayo is directly tied to the PokerStars’ legal status in the U.S. Currently, with the exception of the state of New Jersey, the popular poker site is not allowed to operate in the country. Thus, if any player wins a tournament while playing in the US, he or she will not be able to claim their prize.
Vayo has, however, stated that he was not in the US when he won last year’s SCOOP tournament. The poker pro claims that he was actually in Canada when taking part in the tournament and that his VPN malfunctioned, making it appear as if he was logging in from the US. Despite this error, Vayo has said that he has since provided the site with sufficient evidence of his whereabouts at the time.
Not the First Lawsuit Filed Against PokerStars
This is not the first time PokerStars has refused to pay out a tournament winner’s prize. In 2007, the site refused to pay out the winner of their World Championship of Online Poker tournament. At the time, the player was known simply by their screen name, TheV0id. The player was later revealed to be Natalie Teltscher; the sister of poker pro, Mark Teltscher.
PokerStars refused to pay out Teltscher, stating that she had used multiple accounts to use the tournament. Teltscher later filed a lawsuit against PokerStars, in which it was revealed that she had an agent play on her behalf, which had been in itself a violation of the tournament’s rules.
Whether or not Vayo’s lawsuit against PokerStars will be successful, remains to be seen. For more news on this story and more related to PokerStars, remember to keep visiting Sun Vegas Casino.