PokerStars counter-sues Gordon Vayo for over $300,000 in damages

Gordon Vayo versus PokerStars case has had quite a twist! According to court documents now it's Stars Group (Rational Enterprises) that wants compensation from the poker player. It was other way around and Vayo demanded his cash back in the first place.

A few months ago a scandal broke out when PokerStars confiscated $700,000 won by the poker player in SCOOP 2017 event. The operator said he was playing from the USA using VPN, that is virtual private network. The problem is that it is forbidden to play from United States, unless it's a private state network in New Jersey.

Vayo sued PokerStars. The American was saying he was playing from Canada. He even had a proof of not being in the USA at that time. Additionally he was ready to go to the court in California, not the Isle of Man, where PokerStars has its headquarters. The operator was not convinced. PS had a list of Vayo's internet connections and they knew he played a few thousand hands using VPN while he was in the U.S.

The further development in the case is very interesting. Journalist Haley Hintze was the first to acquire documents according to which Vayo withdrew his lawsuit, and had changed the lawyer who represented him beforehand.

Why has he changed his mind? Vayo was sure of his right back in May when he filed the suit. What has changed then? Anonymous informer told PokerStars that Gordon paid somebody to forge documents to prove he was in Canada in order to extort money from the poker room.
When Vayo's lawyer was informed about it he talked with his client and refused to further represent him. 48 hours later poker player decided he did not want to go to the court anymore.

Forged documents from the bank
PokerStars explained in details how it was all supposed to work. Vayo contacted a forger and asked him to create a VPN, thanks to which he would be able to prove he was in Canada at the time. He also presented other documents. They were also forged and he used them to maintain he was in Canada withdrawing money from an ATM there.

There were at least 5 slips from cash machines in Ottawa in Canada. The problem is that bank has a different history from his account and the balance does not match.

It's obvious that the forger received Gordon's ATM slips from California and changed them to match those from Canada. He was lazy though and only modified a few numbers apart from that.

PokerStars will be demanding at least $300,000 for the losses and court costs.

In the SCOOP event that started it all Vayo defeated in the final heads-up a belgium poker player “girafganger7”. It was this exact grinder who suggested on Twitter that money taken from Vayo should be distributed among other players according to ICM model.

hahaha i hope they get him for 300k if thats all true

what a bad beat

he had to chip dump to friend right away after winning

It's just lawyer fees btw, not damages, court costs just 8k
There's one thing being a scumbag, but to be so dumb to submit forged documents where the amounts don't even balance vs a company that will throw literally hundreds of thousands of dollars into lawyers is just baffling

I disagree I totally see myself doing something foolish like that at some point, playing on VPN and then trying to hold on on 300k cash isn't that crazy to me.