For those of you who missed my initial news item (click here to read), then you'll be dismayed to learn that the money in your online account isn't quite as secure as you first thought, as displayed by Pokerroom just a week or two ago.
To summarise:
- Pokerroom advertised a $19k guaranteed multi in their tournament lobby which clearly displayed the payout as awarding both monetary prizes and merchandise to the winners.
- Only 265 players signed up and the $19k overlay was not covered.
- After the event was completed, Pokeroom paid out all advertised prizes and merchandise.
- A couple of days later, Pokerroom removed all prizes from the players’ accounts, later claiming that the winners had been overpaid and that the competition was only meant to award merchandise.
- Members of the Pokerroom forum, ‘Pokah!’ demanded that the money be reimbursed.
- Pokeroom payed $122 to all the finalists, $10 to all other players and later $2,000 of the winner's $3,829.81 first prize.
- Rejecting the offer, many members removed funds from their account and abandoned the site.
And so, with the forum thread reaching in excess of 100 pages, Pokerroom remain deafening in their silence, clearly hoping that the matter will simply vanish into thin air. However, the players have stood firm, both keeping the thread alive and threatening legal action to combat what they see as a complete injustice. In this sense, people power is very much alive, and if Pokerroom thought that voices would gradually fade out, then they have been proved mistaken, and emphatically so!
Although many posts are mere tirades or ultimately useless ambushes on the Pokerroom brand, many players have come forward with some cracking posts...
djdaddio: "I called out the mods on dereliction of duty when you all disappeared during the US ban and I'm doing it now. Once again, you have all gone silent as yet another Pokerroom fiasco blows up in your collective faces and again shows what little clientele you have left due to the gross disrespect of completely ignoring them. In the meantime, Pocket Fives has dropped your advertising and I suspect that zander (the winner of the comp) is hard at work getting Card Player to do the same. At what point does candor and/or communication become cost-effective for you and your bosses? Basic human decency and common business sense says that once again, PR has failed."
dompuxty: "Any company that puts a few dollars profit before moral fibre and decency does not deserve my, or any of our business. I've been playing here for 6/7 years and for a while there was nothing near this site in terms of quality. Now the competition is so fierce with 95% of Pokerroom's competitors offering much better rewards for playing there tables. You would think that with the demise of the American market they would bend over backwards to try and keep the loyal players."
ctmason: "My wife hates poker but she knows a little something about customer service and how to retain a client base."
iceman za3: "If we make a a mistake by clicking the fold button opposed to the raise button, we don't go running to PR shouting "Mistake Mistake", we do not hold them responsible for our actions, why should we be for theirs?"
So whilst there is no real news or updates to report, as a journalist who believes in the rights of players I feel obliged to do my bit by ensuring that this issue receives the negative publicity it warrants. The key point here is that the scandal is still in the air and that the issue is NOT going to go away anytime soon. So keep your eyes peeled and watch this space for any further developments.
[Ed Note: The title of this article, 'Pokerroom.con' are not my words, but in fact those of a Pokerroom member]