War of Words between Poker Trillion and Boss Media

There are all sorts of controversies in the poker world: who was behind the superuser accounts? Who really played as TheV0id? But the latest controversy is a rather unusual one: is there or is there not a court ruling regarding the Poker Trillion vs. Boss network case?

In April of this year Poker Trillion left the Boss network, and soon afterward filed a lawsuit against Boss media and its payment processor WebDollar for “alleged fraudulent and potential criminal activities by various personnel.” At the time, Boss Media dismissed this suit and Poker Trillions’ comments, stating “Poker Trillion is a former customer of Boss Media who was terminated because of rake back violations. They have since then repeatedly tried to disrupt the Boss Media business through the dissemination of groundless rumors.”

A few months on, legal proceedings have advanced. But is there a ruling?

According to Poker Trillion CEO Andy Pyrah, there is, and it is in their favor: “Today’s decision will in effect bring down Boss Media’s operation in their licensed jurisdiction of Malta on September 18, and any partner still on the International Poker Network at this stage will see their service closed down too.” A recent Poker Trillion press release affirms that Judge Gino Camilleri from the First Hall Civil Court in Malta issued a ruling that authorizes Poker trillion to seize Boss Media’s servers, as well as freezing Boss funds for 20 million Euros. On top of this, Poker Trillion affirm that the Maltese Court denied Boss Media the right to appeal. Poker Trillion’s own Pyrah made a triumphant statement regarding this court victory: “It should also be noted that despite appeals from Boss Media, we’ve been successful in every one of our applications that we’ve filed with the courts in Malta and this includes having our initial garnishee order increased from Euro 5million to Euro 20 million earlier this month. This in turn means that there is now a Euro 20 million freezing order on all Boss Media’s assets within this jurisdiction, and in accordance with European law we will be applying for this to be executed all over Europe.”

Interestingly, Boss Media has a completely different version: there is no ruling. Boss swiftly put out a response to Poker Trillion’s release, which they call “groundless,” “reckless” and “false.” According to Boss Media, “While there has been no hearing on the merits of the Poker Trillion suit, there have been preliminary hearings on the matter.” This means that, according to Boss Media, the ruling that Poker Trillion is enthusing about is not definitive. Boss Media added an explanation to put its customers at ease:  “Poker Trillion’s recent comments are a reckless attempt to support a legal action that is without merit and initiated as retribution for their dismissal from the Boss Media network. To be clear, player funds are not affected by the current proceedings. All players’ funds are held separately under the control of the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority and cannot be seized by any court.”

It remains unclear whether there is in fact a ruling or not – all we have been able to unearth at the moment is a duel of press releases and very little evidence. We will keep you updated on any new developments on this case.