Costa Rican Gaming Industry Exec Claims Poker Player Gave Country Black Eye

A long time friend of the Gambling911.com website and established gambling professional has taken issue with our investigative probe into the mysterious death of gaming media mogul Alex Aron.

More specifically, the executive, who wished to remain anonymous, tells us that the story surrounding one poker pro Steven Thompson was all a ruse.

The Gambling911.com report highlights some of the criminal activity that has permeated the otherwise tranquil Central American nation since the online gambling industry took hold in the late 1990's.  It comes with the territory perhaps.  There is a whole lot of money in gaming and that is bound to attract bad actors.

Recent cases include the kidnapping and murder of 5Dimes founder Sean Creighton.

Our friend, based out of Costa Rica, is intimately involved in the poker world and tells us that Thompson's story simply cannot be relied on as factual.

“I was already hiding after getting hit in the head with a gun and threatened my life. I had to pay the money I owed to a drug dealer, or they were going to harm my family,” Thomson once related to PokerNews. “I decided to turn myself in, they took me to an alley in a very dangerous neighborhood and told me to walk inside a very dark path. The guy that told me to walk had a mask on, and when we got to the end of the alley, he told me to turn around and that's when he shot me. I got hit in my leg and arm, it was a pretty bad injury, but with the right care I was able to heal in about a year.”

Thompson has since written a book about his "trials and tribulations".

The gambling executive we spoke to claims it didn't happen, even suggesting the poker pro makes disgraced serial liar Congressman George Santos look somewhat respectable.  Who knew that was even possible?

"All the info you might have read about Steven Thompson in his book is fake," our friend insists.  "He shot himself the first time so his mother could pay off a $40k debt. Then he got in debt again and tried the same trick but his mother told him to go fuck off."

While Gambling911.com cannot independently verify these claims, we do trust our source here.

"But Costa rica is losing a lot by all of this," our friend states, suggesting these types of stories are tarnishing his beloved country's image.

We reached out to Thompson for comment and await his response.

- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com