Poker players make risky investments all the time. Sometimes they make large wagers with other poker pros and other times they compete at the high stakes tables which can see them lose millions as well as earn millions. One poker pro found out he might need to take better care of his bankroll. Andrew Feldman has found that maybe he should stay away from the stock market and stick to what he knows best, high stakes poker. The Full Tilt Poker pro is currently taking Rabbi Nissim age thirty four to court over spread betting.
Feldman just twenty two years old was talked into letting the rabbi place spread bets for him in the hopes that he would make a profit on the Dow Jones. The rabbi was to place bets for the poker pro and then he would make a profit. However Feldman received a bill for £140,000 instead of earning any profits. The bill was sent to Feldman after the rabbi placed bets in October 2008.
The two are now on the outs as Feldman refuses to pay the bill. Feldman claims that he agreed to pay Nissim for any losses but he did not agree to the volume of bets that the rabbi placed. Feldman states that he sanctioned about five bets per session but the rabbi placed as many as seventy seven bets in just a four hour time period.
Richard Ritchie is representing Nissim and he stated that Feldman lost up to £700,000 playing poker and he was looking to earn back his losses in a hurry when the deal was made. Ritchie claims that Nissim told Feldman of his losses after each session and Feldman told him to continue.
Ritchie stated: “This was obviously because this was not his money that was at risk. Now that the account has come to an end and it is time to pay up, Mr. Feldman is refusing to do so on the basis that Mr. Nissim has somehow cheated him. That is absurd. Why would he wish to cheat Mr. Feldman?”
The case is still ongoing as the initial hearing just recently took place. The pro asked the presiding judge Richard Snowden QC to set aside the amount demanded by the rabbi. A decision was not made by the judge and he stated that he would give his judgment at a later date.
This is not the first time that Feldman has lost a good bit of money. Back a few years ago when he was eighteen he turned just a few dollars into tens of thousands over a year and a half but managed to blow the money in just one day.
Hopefully after this incidence the Full Tilt Poker pro has learned to practice money management and he will take better care of his bankroll.