The massive $250,000 buy-in Aria Super High Roller Cash Game has been a rotating carousel of elite No-Limit Hold’em talent… and Australian Matt Kirk.

Leon got wasted gambled millions on loan from Matt Kirk probably because Kirk knew the casino won't give him the loan being he was drunk (Leon won millions in roulette so I don't see how the casino won't loan him 2 million unless he was drunk). Leon was willing to settle for less, Kirk said I want it all.

• Kirk, who resides in Australia and is known in poker circles by the nickname “Aussie Matt,” says he hounded Tsoukernik for a week and was eventually paid $1 million.
• Last year, Australian poker pro Matt Kirk accused Kings Casino Rozvadov owner Leon Tsoukernik of failing to pay up on a $2 million poker debt. Tsoukernik allegedly borrowed $2 million during a high-stakes duel with Kirk and lost the money. He then refused to pay back the loan afterward. Kirk filed a lawsuit against Tsoukernik in pursuit of the.

The unheralded poker pro from Perth was the biggest loser on Day 1 of the cash game dropping hundreds of thousands to players like Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Ivey.

The 28 year old, who’s known simply as “Aussie Matt” at the tables, was unperturbed by his bad fortune.

“I’ve played bigger games than this,” he said. Kirk is a Pot-Limit Omaha specialist and admitted No-Limit Hold’em is hardly his strongest game.

“I shouldn’t really be playing,” he said. “I’m just bored, there were no PLO games running.”

Matt Kirk: Cut His Teeth in Private Poker Game

Kirk maintains he’s purely a live player and unlike much of his competition he doesn’t play online poker at all.

The Perth native was 18 years old when he started playing poker. He started at the casino and transitioned to a private game.

Despite being one of the lesser known players, Kirk had no problem mixing it up with the established TV pros.

Poker legend Doyle Brunson, who was one of the game’s biggest winners on Day 1, called Kirk “a bit of a maniac” while on break.

“I’m just having fun,” he said. “I’m not expected to win. They are all pros. It’s a terrible lineup. There’s no real soft spots.”

On Day 2 Kirk was joined by Doug Polk, Scott Seiver, Dan Colman, Paul Newey and Sam Trickett.

Kirk said he has some experience playing with Seiver and Trickett in PLO but the other players were new to him.

Kirk: I Would Pay Good Money to Switch Aria Game to PLO

There was also a rumor going around that Kirk has been playing a massive heads-up PLO game against Phil Ivey this summer.

For the time being Kirk is enjoying his time in the spotlight and trading blows with some of the best players in the world.

He’ll have two more days of action to try and dig himself out of the hole.

“I would pay a lot of money to change this game to PLO right now,” said Kirk.

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.

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.

Matt Kirk Poker Twitter Posts

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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