Unfortunately, there is no way to prove or disprove (or even investigate) Laliberté's claims currently since no specific players or dates were named in the original article. The allegations imply that Laliberté's opponents at the time in question had access to reload their account infinitely without any risk basically enjoying a “freeroll” situation against the Cirque du Soleil CEO. What’s more, he claims that his opponents had access to “unlimited funds” via their cozy relationship with Full Tilt Poker (hence the assumption that the players he is referring to were professional representatives of the site at the time) instantly reloading their accounts as they squeezed him with frequent bets/raises from all sides of the virtual table(s). Competing Against Colluding Opponents?Īccording to Laliberté, he doesn’t play online poker anymore because of actions taken by (assumingly) Full Tilt Poker pro players during an undisclosed time frame.Īt some point in his online career, Laliberté says he was competing against 2 or 3 players who were constantly forcing the action with multiple raises in an alleged collusion ring in which the competitors had previously agreed to split any eventual winnings taken from the entrepreneur. Guy Laliberté is known worldwide for his role as Co-Founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, his brief stint as a space tourist and his philanthropic efforts.Īside from all that, he has found time over the years to participate in high stakes live and online poker games as well as organize the “Big One,” a $1 million buy-in poker tournament during the WSOP in which much of the proceeds are donated to his One Drop Foundation.ĭue to his high-profile stature at and away from the felts, many heads turned when an interest piece published by Le Journal de Montréal Wednesday quoted the billionaire as saying he was the victim of collusion while playing high stakes games at Full Tilt Poker.Ī thread started on the popular 2+2 News, Views, and Gossip forum earlier this week contains quite a few opinions along with a detailed translation of Laliberté's exact words that were quoted on the French language website. Fellow Canadian and well respected poker player Haralabos Voulgaris stated that the billionaire’s claims are “a case of someone with an ego being embarrassed that he lost a fortune playing online poker and now attempting to save face.”.Laliberté says he was competing against 2 or 3 players who were constantly forcing the action with multiple raises in an alleged collusion ring in which the competitors had previously agreed to split any eventual winnings taken from the entrepreneur.

Made a fortune playing online poker