Legendary commentator and former Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Gordon is back in the discourse after Dan 'Jungleman' Cates surfaced an old debt dispute with WSOP bracelet winner Dan Heimiller.
Cates, who may have suffered a traumatic brain injury last week after what he called a "sucker punch" in a celebrity boxing match, has been arbitrating debt disputes on X for some time now. His latest case is that of Heimiller and Gordon, who appear to have old beef over the proceeds from a contest that they won together in 2009. Heimiller won his third WSOP bracelet at last summer's WSOP, but we haven't heard much from Gordon in more than a decade.
'Gambled too much'
Jungleman's screenshots date back to November of 2016, and they appear to be private messages between Heimiller and Gordon on X/Twitter. Gordon reached out to mention that he was "going through some old papers" when he came across a partnership with Heimiller from a Wynn player auction.
The details of the player auction aren't clear, but Heimiller offered a candid response at the time.
"Gambled too much. Had to barrow[sic] money over the last 18 months. An[sic] still in debt although I've paid back 70K"
Gordon's response was amicable at that point. "Understand that. Sorry to hear it. Let me know when you make your way back (inevitable I'm sure)."
The tone shifts
The debt was seven years old, and it was the first time Gordon had thought about it since, so he didn't consider it a big deal. Fast forward to August of 2017, when Gordon popped in again after Heimiller apparently bet $1,000,000 on the Mayweather/McGregor fight.
"If you can make $1m bet on a fight why can't you pay the very small amt you've owed for 7 years? Curious, really."
There's no telling if there was any interaction outside of Twitter during the time between the messages, but the tone's shift was obvious. The screenshots then jump another seven years to February of 2024, shortly after the death of Perry Friedman. Gordon says he will be in Las Vegas on March 3 for the celebration of life, and he'd like to settle up.
Almost two weeks later, Heimiller responded with a long message.
"I had about the same amount in my Full-tilt account that I would have paid you. Plus Full-tilt ripped me off on a $500 tournament where I was blinded off in 25 minutes due to Full-tilt starting procedure where 6 handed was played with two and three seats open."
Heimiller went on to say that Gordon profited from a company that cost him money, so he won't pay him. He supported his claim with the opinion of four anonymous poker players, two of whom were "unsure" and two that said he was right. One of them was a lawyer and a "temporary judge." The screenshot cuts off the rest of the message.
'Congrats'
The next screenshot jumps to January 18 of this year, when Heimiller won an event at Wynn for over $50K. Gordon messaged again. "Congrats! Now maybe you'd consider paying me what you have owed for 15 years. Or even a token portion. You know - to "do the right thing"
Heimiller didn't respond, but he won his third WSOP bracelet on June 1. Gordon was back again to congratulate him.
"Congrats to an old school legend. A legend that doesn't pay 15 year old 8k debts and stole the money from a "friend" and feels good about doing so."
Finally, in September, Heimiller replied to a message that was not included in the screenshots. It seems to have referred to Gordon hiring a lawyer, to which Heimiller responded. "I feel great about it. You planned to be a thief. Disobeyed many US laws. And you accomplished your goal! I just read your message. Nothing new."
It's clear that the screenshots do leave out some part of the story, so it's difficult to paint a full picture. Jungleman's initial tweet also adds confusion to the matter:
The dispute spilled into the comments with Heimiller responding to the claim. The screenshots say $8,000, Jungleman states $15,000, but Heimiller says it was much less.
"Money wasn't borrowed. It was a contest that we won. Phil went into hiding and contacted me after the deadline to get Full Tilt money back was over. I attempted to pay him immediately after the contest. He had left the country. It was about $3500."
Heimiller also doubled down on the Full Tilt out.
"I did lose $3500 in my Full Tilt account and was cheated out of a $500 buyin. That was more than the contest money that Phil wanted. I have no regrets except that Phil and the DOJ should pay me some compensation."
Gordon has yet to spring up to respond to the current discourse, and we have not heard much from him since his glory days. Jungleman did not follow up yet with a response to Heimiller's comments.
Is Heimiller's Full Tilt excuse valid? Maybe, maybe not. Will Gordon ever see the money? Seems like a hard no at this point.
