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The poker player who got his lawyer to demand a retraction from Gambling911.com for an article written by another website and simply republished on G911 got his just desserts last week–he lost the “Hecklers Week” competition telecast on “Poker After Dark” on NBC. Tom Somach of PokerHelper.com first reported that Iranian-born Shahram “Sean” Sheikhan, a convicted sex offender, caused controversy when he was allowed to participate in the show, which is carried by the same network that brings us "To Catch a Predator". Somach also reported that The U.S. government had tried to deport the native Iranian last year for a 1995 sex crime conviction against a minor, a crime that put Sheikhan behind bars for five months in the 1990s. His initial article referred to Sheikhan as a "rapist", an accusation that Sheikhan's lawyer refuted. Gambling911.com soon determined that charges were for sexual battery and annoyance or molestation of a child, not rape. "Gambling911.com always welcomes responses to articles and both sides of the story," commented Gambling911.com Senior Editor, Payton O'Brien. "This was an article that was reprinted from another website whose writer (Somach) has contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle. He (Somach) is not some 18 year old with a poker affiliate website making false accusations. Gambling911.com exercises extreme caution when reprinting articles. Shahram Sheikhan didn't help his case by having his lawyer try to silence the respected poker press." A representative from "Poker After Dark" went even further, demanding the article be removed. This is not Iran. We don't just remove articles because some poker producer doesn't like it. Ultimate Bet endorser, Phil Hellmuth, incidentally beat out Sheikhan. ---- Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com
Originally published
January 24, 2008
11:45 pm EST
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Poker
Pervert Goes All In
And Loses Against
Phil Hellmuth