Jonathan Little recently made disparaging remarks about Winning Poker Network CEO Phil Nagy's poker site, Americas Cardroom. As a result, the poker pro was banned from ACR, causing a nasty feud on Twitter. Many are up in arms about the banning of the popular poker player.
It all started when Little advised his poker training students to beware of the risks associated with playing on sites like ACR. Online poker is only legal in four states in the U.S., and Americas Cardroom isn't among the technically licensed operators. Still, the poker site caters to Americans, and according to Little, that means U.S. poker players are taking a risk when choosing ACR.
Little has since been banned from the site. Nagy fired off a series of tweets directed at the former WPT champion in defense of decisions. It seems the exec takes exception to Little for warning fans away from a site while continuing to win money there himself.
"It’s one thing if you’re going to treat WPN like some side chick. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to give you the privilege of getting to f**k me on the daily if you’re going to punch me in the head while doing it," Nagy wrote.
Poker pro fires back
Little wasn't just going to sit back and take it. He's used to fighting over big pots, and this time he fought over his ability to speak his mind. The poker coach explained his reasoning for publicly criticizing ACR in a series of tweets.
Little argues his job as a poker coach is to "help my students make more money" and protect them from getting scammed. Americas Cardroom is considered one of the top poker sites available to U.S. players. Little admits he makes money there himself, but argues that it's not a good fit for those who learn from him.
Nagy banned Little from the site but ensured his former customer that his account balance would be refunded. The poker site executive then explained his side of the story after being criticized by members of the poker community for banning a player based on an opinion.
"I'm OK to agree to disagree. I think it would better not to have an influencer saying what John is saying than doing what he's doing. No hard feelings. There are lots of marketing avenues I choose not to take. Playing ACR is a privilege, not a right," Nagy wrote.
High stakes pro and WSOP bracelet winner Chris George came to Little's defense. He used the incident to encourage others to play on other sites instead of ACR.
Of course, what George fails to mention in his tweet is that those sites aren't available to American players. So, Americas Cardroom fills an otherwise unmet need for U.S. poker players.
One Twitter user who defended Nagy brought up Little's questionable Full Tilt Poker past. In his younger days, Little was banned from FTP after the site discovered multiple players were playing under his account. He's apologized for his actions numerous times over the years, and did so again on Twitter.
"I did because I was a young, stupid kid 14 years ago. They banned me, took the 250k in my account, I apologized, they unbanned me, and they let me play there again with no problems," Little responded.
Little has now been banned from two poker sites.
Meanwhile, Americas Cardroom defended its right to ban players who encourage others not to play there in another tweet.
"We reserve the right in our T's and C's to refuse business at our discretion," the site said.
Featured image source: Flickr
