Alex Dreyfus In Hot Water After Late Loan Repayment

Alex Dreyfus, founder of the Global Poker League, is usually held up by the poker community as one of the game’s greatest advocates as he relentlessly pursues his crusade to sportify poker and bring it to a new generation of players. Last week, however, the French entrepreneur attracted some uncharacteristically bad press after a number of poker pros, including Germany’s Fedor Holz, pulled him up for failing to pay back money he borrowed from them on time.
The fact that Dreyfus had to borrow any money in the first place was surprising enough, but to have actually approached Holz, who is a participant in the GPL itself, raised further eyebrows. Details of the occurrence was made known during a lively discussion on Two Plus Two, however, Holz was not the only player tapped for a loan as apparently Dreyfus organized a similar arrangement with at least two other well-known poker pros.
According to the Two Plus Two thread, Dreyfus originally asked the players for a currency swap during the 2016 WSOP in Las Vegas, but more than a month later none of the players had received the money they were promised. Apparently, Dreyfus needed the money because of unanticipated costs associated with running the GPL, leading some to speculate that the inaugural season of the GPL doesn’t seem to be working out quite as planned. Further evidence is suggested by delays and subsequent location changes involving the GPL Playoffs and the GPL World Championship.
On the plus side, Alex Dreyfus appears to have now paid back the money he borrowed with interest, and dismissed the whole incident as just a simple oversight and error. Meanwhile, Holz has stressed the need for Dreyfus to demonstrate a higher level of professionalism considering his standing in the poker community, and as the German pro subsequently wrote:
“He represents poker to the outside (world), so he represents us as a community to the outside. I think the story above is very questionable as a serious entrepreneur and a showing of missing integrity. I really do hope that this was a single misstep.”