Since the Aussie Millions a few weeks back, rumours have been circulating that, in the bluntest of terms, Phil Ivey hustled fellow poker players Marc Goodwin, Ram Vaswani (left) and Erik Sagstrom out of over one million dollars.
The most infamous splashing of such gossip came in the form of a thread on an American forum, and commenced with the following line: Heard the following the other day from a friend of Ram Vaswani, who plays golf regularly with Phil Ivey in Vegas.
The post then went on to claim that Phil Ivey lied about his handicap, feigning weakness when in fact (according to the source), he had 'spent the last few months practising around 3 hours a day and getting the best coaching.'
Finally, the account suggested that the three infuriated players lost the round emphatically and ended up owing a combined total of 1.8 million, Ram Vaswani owing the most due to being the only player who completed the course.
Of course, what ensued was the usual hogwash of who paid up, who is still friends with who and, most crucially, did Phil Ivey indeed deceive his firends.
Well, no longer do we need to listen to the tomfoolery of forum guesswork, as today one of the individuals involved responded directly to the thread, subsequently posting their own account of what happened.
So, with that, I present to you Marc 'MrCool' Goodwin's version of events...
"On the basis that the original post begins self-indulgent, semi-successful, boastful etc, don't ask me how but I had an idea how his post may go, in poker terms he gave his hand away. If he had read I was the cause of climate control and poverty in the Third World I guess he would have just jumped in and slagged me off. Sorry I digress, but I feel better!!
It is difficult to know where to start as the original post is so factually incorrect: I last saw Eric Sagstrom (below-left) in Vegas in April 2006, so he never walked off after 9 holes and he may deserve an apology on the basis that "he had no intention of paying" for a game he never attended.
At the start of the game, we said to Phil that as we haven't played for 3 months and he must have improved we need to adjust the handicaps. We could not agree and we were doomed to no game until Ram said, "Does Eric Lingdren still give you 10 shots" to which Phil replied "yes"!! On that piece of information we had a game.
As we always bitch about handicaps throughout the match, Phil suggested that we agree to play 18 holes with no adjustment and then adjust for the next series of games. We agreed. I had 7 pars and a birdie back nine (even though i stormed off after 7 holes in a rage) and we lost 8 holes as they were 9 under for the last 7 holes.
As anyone who plays golf would know, when playing better ball doubles it is very hard to win by 3 or more holes, they finished 14 up lol. We have had the better of Phil in golf games over the last year but our biggest victory was 3 up. We had been spanked but arranged a new revised game later that week. We went out together that night (even though we have severed ties and have all this supposed ill feeling).
Later on we met Eric who informed us that he gives Phil NO SHOTS. We therefore felt aggrieved and Ram asked Phil for an apology. As to whether we pay or not will be discussed in Vegas in April when we next meet.
Let me put this question to you all. If I had turned up with a pro golfer, said we get 10 shots off Erik, before playing and winning, should he pay even a penny? If you think that he has been hustled not cheated and it's just unlucky then you must be of the opinion that we should pay. In saying that, if when we meet and we cant agree we will probably pay and sever ties. To gain an edge, yes, to win at all costs, no thank you. I will let you all know the outcome this April."
MrCool
The poker world awaits the conclusion of this debacle with baited breath...
