Natalie “TheV0id” Teltscher thought she was seeing a major payday after her account won $1,228,330.50 for first place in PokerStars’ 2007 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event. Her dreams were burned to the ground, however, when PokerStars disqualified her after discovering that she never played in the event herself. What’s a girl to do? Why, deny everything and file suit, of course!

Unfortunately for Natalie, who happens to be the sister of 2005 European Poker Tour winner Mark Teltscher, after being faced with overwhelming evidence of her wrong-doing, she had no choice but to drop the charges. Teltscher admitted during court proceedings that she never played in the online event but instead hired an “agent” to play on her behalf. The agent is said to have used “TheV0id” and several other accounts in an all-out multi-accounting effort to clinch the championship. To add drama and mystery to this already sordid tale, the agent in question was never officially named.

So what happened to the prize money? The full prize was awarded to the runner-up “ka$ino”. The other poker players who made it in the money were also bumped up on the pay scale. Wondering what happens to people who file frivolous law suits and then drop them? You should know that Teltscher wasn’t left unscathed. To make up for the wrong she’s done, she agreed to pay a sum of PokerStars’ legal fees. Well, at least the lawyers are getting a part of the action.

Naturally, PokerStars is pleased with Teltscher’s decision. In a press statement, PokerStars states, “The decision of Ms Teltscher to withdraw her claim fully vindicates
PokerStars’ decision to disqualify her from the tournament and subsequently defend the claim, actions which were taken in order to protect the integrity of the games on offer at PokerStars.”

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Poker Events, Poker Players, Poker Tournaments, Poker Winners, PokerStars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.