Poker player’s $340,000 win after suing former friends for comments they posted on Facebook

Yahoo news wrote:

Nicholas Polias took Tobin Ryall, Andy Hun Wei Lee, Sandy Jan and Rhys Gould to court after comments were made on the social networking site implying he was a thief.

In awarding Mr Polias damages in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Stephen Rothman said although the post reached only a small number of readers, its significance was great.

"In some respects, the confined nature of the readership made the hurt and distress (and the need for vindication) even greater than would be case if it were a publication at large and not to persons who knew and dealt with (Mr Polias) on a regular basis.

"I am satisfied that the plaintiff suffered significant damage to his reputation and felt significantly distressed."

The court heard the comments surfaced after a poker tournament in mid-2012 in Las Vegas, where Mr Polias and Mr Ryall were sharing a room.

Following a misunderstanding about $2000, Mr Ryall published a post implying Mr Polias was a thief.

Later at The Star casino in Sydney, Mr Polias was involved in a high-stakes game in which he mistakenly short-changed the winner, before immediately rectifying the error.

Mr Lee, who was at The Star game, saw this and said nothing but later republished Mr Ryall's defamatory Facebook statement.

Despite knowing nothing of the circumstances, Justice Rothman said Ms Jan then repeated the defamatory accusation during a conversation at a restaurant at The Star.

Justice Rothman ordered Mr Ryall pay $125,000 in damages, Mr Lee $130,000, Ms Jan $50,000 and Mr Gould $35,000.

He also ordered that the post, which remains on Facebook, be removed.