Chris Moneymaker has promised he’s still gunning for PayPal and is bringing “hell” along with him for the ride despite the payments site bowing to legal pressure and returning the funds “stolen” from the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion…
well @paypal I messaged you and told you what was coming and you choose to do nothing. I got no response sooo….. https://t.co/a0YdbPjpnY
— Chris Moneymaker ⭕ (@CMONEYMAKER) June 16, 2021
As we revealed just a few weeks ago, Moneymaker was disgusted with PayPal after they froze his account and eventually seized the $12,228 balance.
“So @PayPal @AskPayPal froze my account last year and said I could access my money in 180 days. Well they straight up stole the money!!!! Money out of my account,” tweeted Moneymaker in late May.
Chris Moneymaker was holding the funds as a prize pool for a season-long fantasy football league and was so furious at the situation he launched legal action.
He lawyered up with Eric Bensamochan (who has been representing Todd Witteles in the Postlegate saga) and issued a press release.
“This is straight-up theft and Paypal is a payments bully”
“I’ll leave to my lawyers to determine what the law says, but I think this is straight-up theft and Paypal is a payments bully,” stated Moneymaker. “This is less about the money – though $12,000 is a lot of money – it’s about the principle of stealing other people’s money and hiding behind thousands of words of legal mumbo jumbo that no one reads.”
That seems to have done the trick regarding Moneymaker’s funds, a second tweet yesterday showing that he’d been repaid the “stolen money”…
2/3 I guess @paypal chickened out and gave me my money back when they heard about the lawsuit and backlash. Unfortunately, for @paypal I have been contact by over 50 people that you have done this too. The lawsuit I am filing will continue!! pic.twitter.com/wUYOzsVyRy
— Chris Moneymaker ⭕ (@CMONEYMAKER) June 16, 2021
…but that was far from enough to placate the man who is credited with sparking the poker boom when he went from satellite buy-in to Main Event champion back in 2003.
“Hell is still coming PayPal”
Promising “hell is still coming paypal”, Moneymaker will do his best to help others who found themselves on the same situation…
3/3 I will not be a plaintiff in the lawsuit anymore but an advisor and facilitator to get people that do not have a big platform their money back. I gave you a shot but Hell is still coming @paypal
— Chris Moneymaker ⭕ (@CMONEYMAKER) June 16, 2021
PayPal has come under fire from the gambling community for some years now, one of the world’s biggest payment solution providers regularly using its anti-gambling stance to seize funds.
Mike Matusow was among those affected, though he claimed the legal route was a non-starter…
My attorney told me if you read fine print they are allowed to steal our money. It’s criminal but we can’t do anything. https://t.co/FUNqPC5dh9
— Mike Matusow (@themouthmatusow) May 18, 2021
Moneymaker rejected that advice and said: “Somebody has to stand up to these guys. I’m going to continue to use my status and my social media channels to expose these immoral and illegal practices, and ask others to join my lawsuit against PayPal.”
That approach has borne fruit for the man himself, and now many others might find themselves in for a surprise windfall if his class-action lawsuit works as hoped.
He certainly had the support of fellow players and fans, double WSOP bracelet holder Kevin McPhee among them…
Holding a company to this level of accountability is an aspiration of mine
Well done & good luck 👏
— Kevin MacPhee (@KevinMacphee) June 17, 2021
“I quit using them because of shit like this”
…while other poker fans didn’t mince their words in condemnation of PayPal’s business practices…
I quit using them because of shit like this. And makes you wonder if it’s why eBay stopped using them as well.
— Kevin Ace (@KevinAceInVegas) June 16, 2021
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