Poker Pro Luke Vrabel Banned from Twitter in GoFundMe Cancer Row

08:55
24 Feb

One of the most offensive people on poker Twitter, Luke “SlayAbides” Vrabel, has had his account locked after multiple vitriolic attacks on women, including poker journalist Jennifer Newell.

Much of Twitter’s poker community has spent the last week either attacking or defending Jami Lafay, who recently set up a GoFundMe drive to raise $50,000 for cancer treatment.

When Poker Fraud Alert founder, Todd Witteles, started to question the accuracy of some of Lafay’s claims, things were awkward enough, but when Vrabel got involved they descended to the nut-low...

It wasn’t limited to Newell however, with Vrabel also laying into other Twitter females, even those supposedly meant to be friends...

“In the last hour he's called me an "asshole", a "fucking joke," an "utter bullshit artist," and told me to "fuck right off." That's just what I can still see in my cache bc I am now re-blocked. But let him go off about how tragically offensive it was to be called a grifter,” tweeted @thegroupie”.

The basic premise of the ‘debate’ that stirred up Vrabel’s often misogynistic attacks surrounded whether or not Jami Lafay’s GFM to pay for cancer treatment was legitimate or not.

Todd Witteles was adamant that it needed looking into, claiming that Lafay’s story didn’t bear up to scrutiny.

“If someone creates a gofundme asking the poker community for big $, and lies about several major things while doing so, I will point it out,” tweeted Witteles. “That's what I have done, and will continue in the future. Everyone should have the info to make informed decisions with their own money.”

However, Witteles’ constant digging for proof, or “dirt” as many saw it, while Lafay was clearly suffering from some form of medical issue had a chunk of poker Twitter seriously unhappy with him.

“Bro, I know you wanted to do your job that is inform people. But it went out of hand.The girl is sick, you shouldn’t attack a sick woman with cancer suffering and fighting, even if she is lying with minimal details. You would be a hero if you just apologize for being 0 sensitive,” wrote Eduardo Palacio.

Others incensed with the mixture of insensitivity and outright vitriol on display took the easier option...

Poker pro Nadya Magnus, however, decided to confront Witteles and his supporters head-on with some investigating of her own, the results supporting Lafay’s medical claims

Back to Vrabel, and having already offended several people who considered him a friend of sorts, he tried to involve Ike Haxton in the debate. That didn’t work out too well:

“I think you should stop insulting everyone and pissing off even the people who like you. It's been a bit much lately. Find some zen and check back in a week,” wrote Haxton.

Vrabel isn’t entirely unused to being censured for his behaviour, serving a five-year WSOP ban after being involved in several altercations with fans and staff during the 2017 Colossus event.

That ban ended last summer after a friend of Vrabel’s – the equally obnoxious and multiple-accused poker scammer – Nicholas “Nicky P” Palma.

Whatever the rights and wrongs and specifics of this week’s poker Twitter focus, the toxicity that some bring to it has gone beyond the pale. Let us know in our social media channels what you think about poker Twitter’s current status.