Bobby Baldwin (pictured) won the WSOP Main Event in 1978, but Leon Tsoukernik says he now sets up whales to be cheated in poker at Aria.

Matthew Kirk poker results, stats, photos, videos, news, magazine columns, blogs, Twitter, and more. Leon Tsoukernik’s lawsuits against poker pro Matt Kirk and the Aria Casino in Las Vegas have sparked a negative reaction from some of the game’s top pros. Yesterday, high stakes poker players and owner of Nottingham's Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club weighed in with his version of events of the Matt Kirk and Leon Tsoukernik $2m debt incident, and his blog.

Leon Tsoukernik’s lawyers filed a motion in court this week asking for a judge to delay action on the requirement Tsoukernik pay Matt Kirk’s legal fees in a counterclaim lawsuit. A Las Vegas judge tossed Leon Tsoukernik’s lawsuit against Aria casino and an Australian poker player in February and ordered the Czech casino owner to pay Kirk’s legal fees.

On Monday, Leon Tsoukernik made new claims in the original trial. His lawyers stated that the Aria, Matt Kirk, and Bobby Baldwin were involved in a “conspiracy” to cheat high rollers like himself.

Monday’s filing suggested that his legal team has learned new evidence since the last hearing about attempts to lure whales into compromising positions, then have poker pros beat them in high stakes card sessions.

In his latest court filings, Leon Tsoukernik, who owns the King’s Casino Europe in Rozvadov in the Czech Republic, claimed once again that the Aria’s staff and Matt Kirk conspired took advantage of him in order to collect $3 million in poker winnings.

Matt Kirk’s $2 Million Lawsuit

Matt Kirk filed the original lawsuit last summer, claiming Leon Tsoukernik owed him $2 million from a high-stakes, heads-up poker game that took place in the Vegas Strip Casino, Aria, in May 2017. In the poker session, Leon Tsoukernik lost $3 million, though witnesses testified to seeing the casino owner pay $1 million.

Later, Tsoukernik refused to pay the remainder of Kirk’s winnings. That led to the Australian poker pro filing a lawsuit in a Las Vegas district court. That suit continues to the present day with no resolution.

Leon Toukernick’s Countersuit

In late-2017, Leon Tsoukernik filed a countersuit against Matt Kirk and Aria. His lawyers claimed Tsoukernik was visibly drunk during the poker session and the Aria’s staff should have protected him from rampant gambling in his condition, as Nevada gaming laws require a casino to do. Eventually, Matt Kirk spotted Leon Tsoukernik millions of dollars in their poker game, then tried to collect on his IOU-backed winnings later.

The court filings claimed that Matt Kirk knew Leon Tsoukernik was inebriated, so he took advantage of his state of drunkeness to steal $3 million from him. He claimed that casino staff and Matt Kirk conspired to ply him with more alcohol, so he could not hold his cards at a point, but was manipulated into continuing play. Tsoukernik’s lawyers further claimed the casino mogul was fatigue from a long flight, further impairing his abilities.

Linda Bell Threw Out Counterclaim

That countersuit was thrown out in February 2018 by Clark County District Court Judge Linda Bell, who ordered Tsoukernik to pay Matt Kirk’s legal fees from the countersuit. Judge Bell noted that the Nevada Gaming Control Board usually handles matters involving like alcohol consumption in casinos’ gaming spaces, so such activity was beyond the purview of her courtroom.

Conspiracy: Matt Kirk, Bobby Baldwin, Aria Casino

In Monday’s court filing, Tsoukernik’s lawyers stated their client should have the “opportunity to amend his counterclaim based on the additional facts he received…along with other facts that may be developed during discovery.”

Tsoukernik’s lawyers allege that a “conspiracy…occurred after the poker game in question” which goes beyond the scope of Nevada’s regulators.

The plaintiff’s lawyers claimed that Bobby Baldwin backs, “[Matt] Kirk and other professional poker players to play against Aria casino ‘whale’ patrons”. Bobby Baldwin was the 1978 WSOP Main Event winner and currently is an executive at MGM Resorts, which owns Aria.

The court documents suggest that Leon Tsoukernik became upset during the settling of the debt and sent a text suggesting he would seek the help of “[Bobby] Baldwin and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte” to redress the wrong. Documents claim Tsoukernik also enlisted the help of Antanas “Tony G” Guoga, as well as UK card room owner Rob Young, in settling the dispute.

Settled Debt for $1 Million

In Tsourkenik’s motion, the casino owner further claimed he and Matt Kirk agreed to settle the debt for $1 million, due to Tsoukernik’s state during the latter stages of the game. He then claimed that someone at the casino, “believed to be Baldwin of the Aria”, convinced Matt Kirk to “renege on the deal”.

Judge Bell has not ruled on the new submissions. It could take months to see if Leon Tsoukernik’s latest filings will work, because the Kirk v. Tsoukernik trial does not get underway until April 2019.

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Dusk ‘Til Dawn casino owner Rob Yong has weighed in on the $multi-million Matt Kirk versus Leon Tsoukernik legal case, offering his version of the events which followed a late night heads-up match between the Aussie pro and the King’s Casino owner.

In a blog post entitled ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas [NOT]’, Yong recounts the aftermath of the match which saw Kirk win $3million from Tsoukernik, which the Australian followed up by raising a legal action claiming the Czech high-roller was refusing to pay his debts.

‘Articles referencing my involvement in brokering a deal between Matt Kirk and Leon Tsoukernik have some inaccuracies, so I will tell the poker community the stone cold facts,’ wrote Yong, two days after Tsoukernik launched a counterclaim in a Nevada court, seeking more than $10million in damages and naming the Aria Casino as a third party litigant.

‘I was sound asleep when the Leon Matty game happened,’ Yong states, having himself been playing in the Ivey Room at the Aria until the early hours of May 27th this year, but later that morning he says ‘Matty came over and told me that he had won $3M heads-up off Leon last night and was worried about being paid.’

Kirk then explained to Yong that he ‘didn’t want to hit and run Leon’ and was ‘heavily pressured by Leon to continue’ after the Czech casino mogul got extremely drunk, Tsoukernik blaming staff at the Aria for his condition and claiming that their role in the match rendered the ‘unfair, dishonest and non-competitive’.

What is not in dispute is the fact that Kirk loaned Tsoukernik $3m, although Yong ‘didn’t understand why Leon would loan (sic: borrow) money to play’ as he had ‘$4M + on deposit from roulette winnings’.

Yong continued:

‘Matty asked me what he should do. I replied, ‘I am sure Leon will pay you in full but if you feel a bit bad, and want to give him a small discount as a goodwill gesture that would also be okay’. Matty asked me what discount. I replied after some consideration, ‘Maybe $2M cash and play heads-up for the $1M.’

Backing up Tsoukernik’s claim this week that Kirk agreed to a settlement deal, Yong says:

‘Matty agreed and asked me to propose this settlement to Leon. Matty wanted to settle today before playing Leon again as this was a large sum of money.’

According to Yong, Tsoukernik told him:

‘Tell Matty not to worry, I don’t remember much but whatever I lost I will pay today’ and when Yong explained the offer Leon replied ‘fine, whatever Matty wants’.’ Yong adds that he ‘shouted Matty over and Leon and Matty hugged and shook hands on this $2M + $1M heads up deal.’

The story gets really interesting at this point, touching on something which Tsoukernik has mentioned several times in his legal counter-claim – namely that someone was behind Kirk’s bankroll and his decision to renege on the deal Yong claims to have brokered.

Yong says that:

‘20 minutes later Matty called me over … he was on the phone to someone. Matty told me ‘There is no deal, Leon has to pay the full $3M’. I asked why and he told me the person on the phone has said ‘no deal’ and it was ‘out of his hands’.

Tsoukernik apparently was enraged at this turn of events, telling Yong:

‘This is ridiculous, you get me out of bed after 2 hours sleep, I don’t remember anything but I agree to everything, I even offer to get the money brought here now, I shake hands and now you tell me this!’

Writing, ‘I was wishing I had never got involved: Leon was happy to pay the $3M, Matty was a total gentlemen offering Leon a discount, and somehow this had all gone wrong. I will never get a job in politics’, Yong returned to the UK, but was called a few days later.

‘My phone rang and it was Leon and Matty on speakerphone. Leon said ‘Myself and Matt are here at the Rio Cage, we have agreed a settlement and we would like you to be a witness to it. I am giving Matt $1M and he accepts this as a full and final settlement for the game.’

A surprised Yong replied: 'Eh, $1M, are you serious! Matty, WTF’ but Kirk assured him, ‘Yes, it’s fine, we are all settled, I want to move on’.

Matt Kirk Poker Twitter Hack

‘I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but at the end of the day, they just wanted me to witness the settlement and I was sick of being involved so I just said ‘fine, I have witnessed it’, says Yong.

Matt Kirk Poker Twitter Rant

Later that same night the Australian Skyped Yong and was ‘absolutely fuming’, telling the Dusk Til Dawn man ‘he didn’t care about the money now and he was going to use the $1M to ruin Leon’s reputation in the poker world’ - furious with Leon who apparently told him:

‘This is a lesson for you, you shouldn’t loan money to drunk people’.

Matt Kirk Poker Twitter Bot

After Leon’s own legal claims were made public, Yong says he messaged Kirk who ‘told me his lawyer had told him that he could no longer speak to me.’

Matt Kirk Poker Twitter Live

In closing his blog revelations, Yong states of his role:

Matt Kirk Poker Twitter Site

‘I have sought advice from close friends in the poker world whose opinions I respect. I am comfortable with the advice that I gave Matty at Liquid and have confirmation from persons present in Ivey’s Room that Leon’s condition had deteriorated to such an extent that at one point he folded the winning hand, however I was not present while the game took place so all I could do was suggest a solution based on the facts presented to me with no bias towards either party and I would be happy to appear in court in Nevada and repeat this word for word under oath on behalf of either Matt’s or Leon’s attorney.’