Drunk Online Poker Player Threatens Poker Site
September 19, 2011
Thirty-five-year-old Michael Gallagher from the UK (Redcar, East Cleveland) reportedly lost somewhere in the neighborhood of £19,000, which is about $30,000 US dollars, at an unnamed online poker site before losing it and giving “going on tilt” a whole new meaning.
Gallagher lost his money between June of 2010 and May 2011 before finally losing his cool on May 25th when he emailed the website’s head office located in the Isle of Man with a threatening message. He wrote that he would be visiting the office with a sawed off shotgun and would shoot as many people as possible unless they paid him £30,000 (or $50K US dollars) for his losses.
The following day, Gallagher followed up with a second email that explained he was drunk when he wrote the email and apologized for his actions. However, the online poker site wasn’t so sure, so they notified the police and Gallagher was later arrested and is now charged with blackmail.
Following the advice of his lawyer, Gallagher plead guilty to conveying a threat via electronic communication. He will be sentenced next month, despite requests by his lawyer for an earlier sentence. The presiding Judge Georg Moorhouse explained he needed more time to decide sentencing, saying, “I think a report is required because of the very nature of the threat.”
Currently out on bail, Gallager awaits his fate.