poker player jailed for murder threats
Bad Loser

A UK online poker player was jailed after threatening to murder staff of online poker room unless he was compensated for loses plus a little extra.

According to casino gambling news, a 35 year old unemployed online poker player, Michael Gallagher, was jailed for six months for threatening to ‘blow the f-ing brains out of every single person who crosses my path’ at the online poker room company headquarters.

The incident began in June 2010 when Mr. Gallagher joined an online poker site (not named) and promptly lost between £15,000 and £20,000 ($30,000). Mr. Gallagher accused the poker site of dealing him weak cards and he became dissatisfied with the answers and explanations provided to him by the poker room.

After stewing for close to a year, in the early hours of May 25, 2011, Mr. Gallagher emailed the poker site (while completely drunk) to hand over £33,000 ($50,000) or else he would commit a massacre using firearms at online poker company headquarters.

Things always look better in the morning…

The next morning, the now sobered up Brit realized what he has done and promptly sent a new email apologizing for his drunken tirade, asking to disregard his previous email.

The online poker company, to play it on the safe side, decided to report the threats and the extortion attempt to the police which promptly arrested the apologetic online poker player.

Very wisely, Mr. Gallagher decided to plead guilty to a lesser charge, after the court heard evidence that the massacre was planned for six months and the losing poker player would gladly serve ‘a life sentence for it.’

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox expressed shock that the defendant was allowed to plead guilty to using ‘electronic communication to convey a threat’, for which he was sentenced to six months in jail, rather than to blackmail for which the top sentence is 14 years in prison.

Partial text of Mr. Gallagher’s Email to Online Poker Room

“I hope you take me seriously because I swear to God I’m going to do it. I will have my vengeance. I have planned this for six months. It’s what makes me sleep a night. Drifting off to sleep, thinking about what I am going to do, knowing full well that the butchering I do will get you exposed for what you are… I will gladly take a life sentence for that. Believe me, it will be my finest hour… $50,000 in my account, or believe me, you will all be dead.”