6 Jun
New York poker pro Nicky Palma was on the receiving end of both barrels yesterday, a Twitter shitstorm erupting after he was firstly accused of scamming backers by fellow pro Tim Reilly, and then publicly accused of sexual assault and battery by poker-playing ex-girlfriend Stephanie Hubbard – Palma responding on Twitter with a string of fierce denials against both…
Reilly claims that he started backing and buying Palma’s action about a year ago “out of compassion” – but things quickly went awry in their poker relationship – Reilly eventually discovering, he claims, that Palma had “massive debts with past backers and investors that he hadn’t paid”, the numbers allegedly running to six figures.
Another pro, Alex Foxen, backed up Reilly’s claims and apologised for not going public with his own story…
…but the alleged scam story took a more sinister twist when one of Palma’s ex-girlfriends, Stephanie Hubbard made some extremely serious claims against him, involving sexual assault, battery and robbery…
Palma’s apparently current girlfriend immediately jumped to his defence, the entire sordid story being played out on Twitter…
…with Nicky Palma himself eventually joining in to defend himself firstly against Hubbard…
…and then with a series of defensive posts aimed at Reilly, some containing threats and hints of violence…
Palma’s denials aside, the poker-backing website YouStake took prompt action to protect their community…
…and in a story that may or may not grow into something much worse, Tim Reilly found himself facing the modern version of the cold-shoulder treatment by Palma on Twitter…
