Poker Pro Phil Galfond Calls Out Samuel Touil as a ‘Scammer’
Who is Samuel Touil? Apparently he’s a scamming poker player. At least that’s what pro Phil Galfond would lead us to believe, and he has a podium at PokerNews.com to shout this from the mountain.
Touil is a French player who has enjoyed nominal success on the live poker circuit, raking in just over $30,000.
Galfond notes that he occasionally plays in high-stakes live cash games in Vegas, but, based on Galfond’s observations, it doesn’t appear as if Touil has boosted his overall winnings by doing so.
“He was in Vegas playing regularly this past winter, in between baccarat sessions, and I found myself in games with him on occasion. He seemed to be losing far more often than winning, but also to have an endless stream of reloading money.”
Enter Galfond, who says he was approached by Touil (and some other unnamed individuals) about borrowing $250,000, money that Touil would go on to lose.
“Sammy lost the money and left, telling me I'd get my $250,000 the next day. The next day turned into the next week, because "banks were closed for Christmas."
I knew I was in trouble after Sammy attempted two angles during that session. The first was your typical shorting-a-pot trick (putting less money in than he owed and hoping no one noticed).
“In another hand, after shoving, Sammy's opponent said "call" and flipped his hand up. Sammy threw his hand directly into the muck and argued vehemently to the dealer and the floor that his opponent had said "fold."
“When they refused to side with him, Sammy tried to appeal to his opponent's sympathy for some of the pot back. This didn't work either.
“Days later, I was told that another player in the game saw Sammy angle a third time, successfully shorting a pot against me.
“Immediately, I was worried about my chances of being repaid. However, as I said, Sammy clearly had a lot of money. I remained optimistic, as it seemed clear he intended to stick around and play more poker, and that $250,000 wasn't a large sum to him.
“Over the weekend I found out that Sammy was playing at Bellagio. I didn't want to play, but I decided to anyways in hopes that I'd be repaid. After that session, I managed to get back just $50,000.
“If you're wondering why he was playing in a game instead of repaying me, trust me, I was too. He continued to insist that a wire was coming the next week and that he would pay me then. He needed the money he had left to gamble through the weekend.
“‘Don't worry, my friend,’ he repeated again and again.
Think Galfond got paid?
Think again!
“Some other players spoke up on my behalf, asking the Bellagio staff if there was anything they could do. Sammy had more than he owed me sitting on the table. Unfortunately, but not at all surprisingly, their hands were tied.
“After leaving for a short while, Sammy claimed that he had lost the rest of the money at baccarat. I continued to press him that night to repay me. Eventually he got angry and threatened to claim that he lent me $50,000 that night (on camera) and that I owe it to him.
“He left, insisting that I'd see my money on Tuesday.”
Tuesday came and Galfond never saw his money.
Even after giving Touil wire instructions for his bank account, the money never came.
That’s when Galfond resorted to getting his lawyer to go after the Frenchman.
“After receiving a letter from my lawyer, he finally told me he wanted to talk. I called, cautiously optimistic while waiting for him to pick up.
“Sammy answered, then pretended to be confused by my lawyer's letter. He told me that he "borrowed $50,000 and paid me back $50,000," and that we are square. I told him the conversation was pointless and said goodbye.”
Galfond of course has his platform over at PokerNews.com. Touil does not have such a vehicle.
Touil also does not appear to have a Twitter account. Galfond does.
He was quick to jump on the social media giant and tweet to his 81.3K followers:
I hope that Sammy isn't able to scam anyone else, and I hope that I cause at least one other person to tell a story like mine.
Spreading the word about Sammy Touil being a thief is the best way I can create consequences for his actions.
Not everyone is thrilled with Galfond’s attempted recourse.
A member of the TwoPlusTwo.com posting forum writes:
(It’s) easy for the multimillionaire to say we should out people that owe us money, but he didn't out this guy until he had exhausted every last resort including getting his big shot lawyers involved. nope not until he was 1000% sure he wouldn't be getting paid in full did he pen this article
pretty obv phil only wrote this piece in the hopes that if he went public he could shame this sammy fella into paying the other 200k.
Gambling911.com cannot independently confirm Galfond’s accusations.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
