guy in my cash game last night who will remain nameless, and knows mike said he was pretty convinced he was using the money to play with.
This is a bit in the vein of "bloke down t'pub told me..."
Did the guy tell you what evidence he had that this was the case, or how well he knew Michael? Or was he just bitching, stirring, or guessing?
I can understand why blonde regs are conditioned to assuming the worst in these type of matters, given the recent blatch stuff etc. But a great deal of what has been said on this thread (like the post I quoted) is merely dealing in rumours, speculation, guesses and hearsay. And it's not very fair on Michael. Neither is it very helpful. The thing is, when Greekstein posts this it is going to be read by a lot of people. He is a respected poster here (and from what a lot of people have told me he is a top guy too) so at least some people will assume that Greekstein is personally endorsing what this random guy has said to him, and will make judgements accordingly. When really there is no substance behind what he says, other than just some random bloke telling him "Michael Piper you say? Yes, I know him ... I'll bet he's using that money to play poker with".
I know Michael really well. He is not broke. He has the money and everyone will get paid. He has acted like a complete idiot in this obviously. And he has destroyed his reputation in the process (on 2+2 especially where he was pretty well-respected as a poster, coach and moderator). It's all his own fault of course. He has been lazy, irresponsible, and incompetent. And he's made some serious errors in judgement (for example massagegate was lol really, but it shows how unintentionally clueless and inappropriate he can be). But he has not ripped anyone off, is not going to do so, and he has never had any intention of doing so. He is just one of those people who has a tendency to act in totally inappropriate ways, get carried away, and fuck things up by accident. He is a really nice guy, but he makes a mess of things from time to time just because, well ... he fails a bit at life. I even use the expression "you've done a Michael" when he does this sort of thing. Honestly, he is one of the good guys. He is, however, also a doofus. We all know someone like this I'm sure, and many of us (me included) have a bit of the doofus in us ourselves.
The most important thing is that Michael realises that he has fucked up, and he is doing everything he can to make sure it's all put right as soon as possible. Go easy on him. Instead of slagging him or hating him, think of him like he is your slightly clueless 16 year old brother who keeps fucking things up for himself and others, but whose heart is in the right place, and is learning (slowly) how to deal with life.
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