Have I done anything wrong?

[Claw75]

would appreciate some advice here as I've managed to land myself in a spot of grief and can't for the life of me see what I've done wrong, but I know sometimes it's hard to see the wood for the trees - am I way off the mark here?  Please be honest.

As many of you will know, I've been playing the UK women's poker tour this year. The last event was held in Sheffield a few weeks ago.  The morning after the event I bumped into one of the other players at the hotel.  She asked me if I'd heard about some alleged cheating that had taken place the previous night, and told me that someone had witnessed some obvious chip dumping, and that one of the women involved had apparently been banned from one of the bigger casino chains for cheating in the past.  I said I hadn't heard anything, and asked if it had been reported to the TD, as I would have hoped that if it proved to be the case that the player would not be allowed to take part in the final event.  The woman I was speaking to said that, as far as she was aware, it had been reported.

I thought nothing much of it, but did expect some kind of announcement to be made by the tour organisers either to quash the rumours or to confirm that there was nothing to be done.

Anyway, I posted a query on the forum that is sponsoring the tour.  No allegations, I just said that I was aware that there were rumours of cheating circulating, asked if they had been reported and, if so, whether they had been looked into.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Later that day my post is removed and I'm sent a PM saying that the post has been removed while the rumours are investigated.

Once the post has been removed, the chinese whispers start, and it seems people think I have made an allegation of cheating, and people were contacting me about it.  I've just now (more than a week down the line) had a PM from one of the forum top bods.  He opens his message by saying he didn't see my original post (!) and then goes on to say that I should not be posting unfounded rumours, and if I had concerns about cheating I should have reported them to the TD - any bother I have had as a result of my post is entirely my own fault for posting unfounded rumours.

The way I see it is if rumours are circulating, all those who have paid to play in the event should be entitled to know what the actual situation is and to be reassured that cheating will not be tolerated - is there actually anything wrong with that?  Surely it's better than the rumours being swept under the carpet and no one knowing what is going on?

It's a shame because I've really enjoyed the tour, but this whole sorry business has taken the shine off it and i'm not looking forward to the last event now.  I really was just trying to do what I thought was the right thing, but now feel like I've been made into some kind of scapegoat.

I'm thankful for blonde, as I think any post of that nature would be taken in the spirit it was intended.

[kinboshi]

Women...

[charmaine]

I think every forum has there fare share of shit stirrers who are quite happy to have a dig here and there .

Seem's your getting blamed for no reason Claw , i wouldnt bother posting on the said forum anymore .

Goodluck in the final 

[AndrewT]

The way I see it is if rumours are circulating, all those who have paid to play in the event should be entitled to know what the actual situation is and to be reassured that cheating will not be tolerated - is there actually anything wrong with that?  Surely it's better than the rumours being swept under the carpet and no one knowing what is going on?

Whilst I can understand your intentions were genuine, if you'd only heard something third hand (someone told you that someone else had seen a third person cheating) then that isn't exactly a burden of proof, therefore I can see how it could be taken to be stirring. I also can't see why the organisers would need to make a statement about it (they may not even know).

If I made a post on here saying 'Someone told me they heard that someone else had seen someone chip dumping at the last Blonde Bash/APAT event' I'd (quite rightly) be laughed out of town unless I had something a bit better than that. Internet forums love nothing more than unfounded, rampant speculation and it quickly gets out of hand.

[AndrewT]

Internet forums love nothing more than unfounded, rampant speculation and it quickly gets out of hand.

Congratulations once again to Kev and Ginger, BTW.

[kinboshi]

Internet forums love nothing more than unfounded, rampant speculation and it quickly gets out of hand.

Congratulations once again to Kev and Ginger, BTW.

You beat me to it!

[Acidmouse]

You soon find out that its not worth bothering trying to find the truth in cases like this as people often shoot the messenger.

[Claw75]

The way I see it is if rumours are circulating, all those who have paid to play in the event should be entitled to know what the actual situation is and to be reassured that cheating will not be tolerated - is there actually anything wrong with that?  Surely it's better than the rumours being swept under the carpet and no one knowing what is going on?

Whilst I can understand your intentions were genuine, if you'd only heard something third hand (someone told you that someone else had seen a third person cheating) then that isn't exactly a burden of proof, therefore I can see how it could be taken to be stirring. I also can't see why the organisers would need to make a statement about it (they may not even know).

If I made a post on here saying 'Someone told me they heard that someone else had seen someone chip dumping at the last Blonde Bash/APAT event' I'd (quite rightly) be laughed out of town unless I had something a bit better than that. Internet forums love nothing more than unfounded, rampant speculation and it quickly gets out of hand.

I take the point Andrew, and I think that's why it got out of hand.  I was very careful (perhaps not careful enough though) to ensure that my post was worded in such as way as to make clear that i had not witnessed anything personally, but that if rumours were going round it was best to at least have them acknowledged (and quashed if necessary), rather than making it look like allegations might have been reported and ignored.  The trouble is that once my post was deleted, no one could see what I had actually said, and it became 'claire made allegations that there was cheating go on'.

I don't know.  If it were my forum and someone made such a post I'd leave it up, and say something aong the lines of 'no complaints were made to the TD on the day, but rest assured we do not condone or tolerate cheating'

[Graham C]

You soon find out that its not worth bothering trying to find the truth in cases like this as people often shoot the messenger.

  tbh, it's a lot less hassle usually just keeping quiet and mentioning it if someone else brings it up.    Sad but true.

[matt674]

turn up in Birmingham

win tournament

tell them they can stick their tour because its all a load of sexist codswhallop

should do the trick

[Claw75]

You soon find out that its not worth bothering trying to find the truth in cases like this as people often shoot the messenger.

  tbh, it's a lot less hassle usually just keeping quiet and mentioning it if someone else brings it up.    Sad but true.

Agreed.  I even started my post by saying 'i hoped someone else would have mentioned this as I really didn't want to do it!'  I'll be keeping my mouth shut in future (proberly)

[Claw75]

turn up in Birmingham

win tournament

tell them they can stick their tour because its all a load of sexist codswhallop

should do the trick

Good plan to start with, but if i manage step 2 and win the tournament I'm hardly going to move to step 3 and forfeit my seat in the final!  >:?

[matt674]

turn up in Birmingham

win tournament

tell them they can stick their tour because its all a load of sexist codswhallop

should do the trick

Good plan to start with, but if i manage step 2 and win the tournament I'm hardly going to move to step 3 and forfeit my seat in the final!  >:?

Lol, just came back in to edit post to add line of "win £20000 sponsorship deal" into line 3 but you had already beat me too it!!

[Laxie]

To be treated like a chit stirrer and told 'your trouble is your own' after making an enquiry, is obscene.  You have as much right as anyone else to ask questions as your entry fees were paid, same as everyone else there.  And let's be honest...women in general have a reputation (right or wrong) for gossip.  If the organisers had taken the time to 'look outside the lines' they would realise that you were in fact doing them a favour by bringing it to their attention before it turned into another 'scandal'.  Doesn't matter if the story is true or false.  What matters is that they acknowledge it and get to the bottom of it for the integrity of the Tour as a whole.  I'm really sorry you were treated so poorly for merely enquiring.  It's not right.

[kinboshi]

And let's be honest...women in general have a reputation (right or wrong) for gossip.