02 Dec
Twitter saw a battle between some of poker’s most controversial players this week, with “serial scammer” Nicky Palma calling Kristen Bicknell a “dumb bitch” while dragging up Alex Foxen’s alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency scam, after slagging off Allen Kessler to start the entire shitshow!
https://twitter.com/nicholas_palma/status/1465083666120548353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The tirade was sparked by a mark-up argument with Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, more of which later, but it quickly got the attention of Alex Foxen.
Bicknell’s fiancé, Foxen, was named in a $500,000 cryptocurrency-based lawsuit brought by South African pro Rohit Chamani, though Foxen refuted these claims in reply to Palma’s tweet.
Foxen says lawsuit was “complete nonsense”
“None of it is true,” claimed Foxen. “A lawsuit was filed against a company that I co-founded. I wasn’t named in the suit. The plaintiffs were reprimanded by the judge for filing such a frivolous suit before immediately dismissing it. It was complete nonsense. The company was 100% legit.”
Foxen added in a follow-up tweet:
“Bringing up something he knows that he knows nothing about is just some pathetic attempt to grasp at relevance so that he can keep trying to scam the poker community. I tried hard to be helpful, but he’s beyond help.”
As we reported at the time, Foxen apparently was named in the lawsuit, at least in initial filings, which claimed that it was Alex Foxen who “personally solicited Ms. Chamani’s investment, relying on his personal relationship with her and his goodwill in the poker community.”
In addition, it was claimed:
“Mr. Foxen vouched for the entity’s other executives and offered assurances he would be working on Quasar alongside them.”
The company went bust quite quickly, with recriminations over the behaviour of Foxen’s partners in the venture, Paul Tyree and Nicholas Gubitosi, the latter a close friend of Foxen.
The scheme attracted close to $2million in investments from at least 17 investors, but was aborted in early 2019, leaving Chamani and others out of pocket.
The lawsuit, filed by Postlegate lawyer Mac Verstandig on behalf of Chamani, alleged that Tyree and Gubitosi were guilty of ‘unjust enrichment, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty’ among other charges.
Palma the Scammer?
Nicky Palma has seen more than his fair share of controversy over the years, ranging from fistfights over other people’s scams, to public humiliation over his own alleged wrongdoings, and even a very serious allegation of sexual assault and robbery.
https://twitter.com/StephHub31/status/1003411963429474304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The scamming allegations come from a variety of sources, with Tim Reilly claiming in 2018 that he initially started buying Palma’s action “out of compassion”.
However, he soon found out that Palma had “massive debts with past backers and investors that he hadn’t paid”, the numbers allegedly running to six figures.
Alex Foxen backed Reilly up, claiming:
“Sad to say I was another victim of this. Thought it was a one-off event and warned those whom I knew did business w him. Apologies to any who got got because I didn’t say anything publicly. I still like to think that Nicky p was never malicious in his actions but may be naïve.”
Bicknell describes Palma as “sad case”
This week’s rehash of old allegations and wounds saw Kristen Bicknell fight her own corner as well, stating:
“He is one very sad case. Puts zero effort to make things right, even with friends who have tried to help him for years. Can confirm he doesn’t pay when cashes or years later!”
Bicknell herself has been much in the headlines this year over her anti-vaxx stance on the Covid-19 issue, missing out on the WSOP along with her fiancé Foxen because of the vaccine mandate.
https://twitter.com/krissyb24poker/status/1431323867369259010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
And what sparked the latest Twitter spat? That would be because Palma attacked Allen Kessler’s SHRPO mark-up charge, to which “Chainsaw” replied with a brutal slapdown:
“How does long time known thief and scammer @nicholas_palma have the nerve to ever accuse me of doing the same? Especially when I’m considered one of the most honest players in the industry. At least if I cash, people will get paid. And I actually play the events!”