Poker Tournament in TO

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  • mattykies wrote: »
    Fellas Ive been on the phone for the past day with lawyers, unfortunetly it did not help. I am very sorry for the inconvience and realize most of you people will not come down, and for that I am really sorry. But we are sending all of your cheques out today so hopefully they get to you soon.
    If you think this is a scam, so be it but we lost quite a bit of money in this delay not to mention time and effort. The government involvement in our tournament is completely asinine, we were hoping to give over 15K to charities and they still shut it down.
    Anyways for those of you with some compassion I figured i would say thanks for sticking by us and for those of you with the snippy comments let me know the next tourney you'll be at :)
    Compuease- I appreciate your patients and rational thinking, I guess it will be a couple of years before the young guys think before they write.

    matty kies

    Still no explanition as to why everyone didn't get the email or even more important that Al the TD didn't find out until he read the board yesterday.
  • we sent out over 1000 emails yesturday, perhaps it is in your junk mail
  • mattykies wrote: »
    we sent out over 1000 emails yesturday, perhaps it is in your junk mail


    There you have it AL, it is in your junk mail, no phone call, PM here on the forum, or a personal email, it is in your junk box.
  • actually i did PM Al, thanks though for your concern Prophet
  • mattykies wrote: »
    actually i did PM Al, thanks though for your concern Prophet
    DataMn wrote: »
    Thanks for posting that TiMSuM....

    I'm so happy that they decided to not inform me, and I had to find out here

    (yeah right...)

    Al

    ********************************
  • FYI, I got the email at 5:22 yesterday.... And maybe Matty didn't explain it right but do check your junk mail folder or make sure 1deal has your correct email. He (or anyone else) can't be held responsible if your junk mail filter is set too high. As far as Al's situation, I would rather wait to see what he has to say.
  • OK, I'll explain this in a couple of points

    1) After seeing the message on the board, I did not see any PM or any message in my e-mail (yes I checked the junk mail), but Matty and I have spoken and worked it out.

    2) People need to calm down

    Yes, it is disappointing that this tournament cannot be run. I fully believe that Matty et al wanted it to run, but the government shut it down. I still think that people should calm down and lend more support though - if it becomes that tournaments like this CAN be run in Ontario it is only a good thing for the poker playing public in Ontario. If one company can get it so that it is fully legal in ALL eyes, then it opens the doors for others to be able to do this also.

    I am not saying this just because I was supposed to be the TD, but I think your support would help. If you can't give that, then a 'wait and see' attitude would probably be better than a 'rain on the parade' attitude.

    I understand that people will be upset for a variety of reasons, but let's see what Matty et al can come up with for September. They lost a lot of money with this decision yesterday, and they will be heavily invested to get it running in 4 weeks too.

    Al
  • Matty:

    I know you are feeling under attack here, but I do have a few comments as a casual observer. Let me say that I do think that you have good intentions, but I don't think that you are taking the honest concerns that some people have into account. That may be because of the way people are expressing their concerns.

    I played in the tournament in Waterloo and considered playing in the Toronto tournament. I don't play much online, so the deal to get in for free didn't apply to me. I decided to volunteer to be a dealer at the tournament to see how things went in Toronto because I did have my concerns about some of the organization of the Waterloo. The quality of the dealers was generally poor and the tournament definitely needed a good director. It seemed that you cleared up the director concern by getting Al on board which I did think was a step in the right direction.

    However, overall the tournament felt disorganized to me. You advertised two big prizes and thought that should be enough to satisfy the potential players, and I don't think that is reasonable. Of course we all hope and expect to win a poker tournament when we enter it, but the reality is that most people don't win the whole thing and they want some idea about what they are investing their time and money (rebuy, gas money, parking, and possibly buy-in). I also have concerns about the amount that is going to charity - this should be transparent.

    This last setback seems to be a symptom of the general lack of organization of the event. As I mentioned, I signed up to be a dealer and was told that I was accepted and would receive an email with details one week before the event. That was two weeks ago and I have not heard anything since - including the fact that the event has been cancelled. If I had not been a forum member, I would not know what was going on at all. I know that you were not directly in charge of the volunteers, but this is another symptom.

    I hope that things work out for you eventually with this tournament, but I do think that you should read some of the comments forum members have made here and take them into consideration as you move forward.
  • Nice posts, Al and waltsfriend. I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy my Haterade and pop tarts.
  • Well I can no longer say they haven't contacted me. I got a phonecall from a woman named Olivia from allinforthecure.ca. She informed me of the following:

    1) Tomorrows tourney has been cancelled due to legal issues involving AGCO.

    2) It has been re scheduled to September 23 as we have heard on here

    3) If I can't attend the rescheduled date they are planning on hosting more of these and my seat can be transfered to another tourney at a later date.

    4) She apologized for the inconvience and for my lack of getting an e mail.
  • Good points Waltsfriend. I also believe Matt does not intend to scam us and I agree that the problem is a lack of organization. It seems the people running this are quite inexperienced and I'm guessing this is a part time gig. I'd also like to know how much of this is going to charity as it is part of the reason why I signed up. If they did lose money on this, I'm concerned if any is going to charity.

    Also,
    DataMn wrote: »
    2) People need to calm down

    I am not saying this just because I was supposed to be the TD, but I think your support would help. If you can't give that, then a 'wait and see' attitude would probably be better than a 'rain on the parade' attitude.

    I understand that people will be upset for a variety of reasons, but let's see what Matty et al can come up with for September. They lost a lot of money with this decision yesterday, and they will be heavily invested to get it running in 4 weeks too.

    Al
    DataMn wrote: »
    Thanks for posting that TiMSuM....

    I'm so happy that they decided to not inform me, and I had to find out here

    (yeah right...)

    Al

    Is it just me or did everyone else find this slightly humourous? It seems you changed from a 'rain on the parade' attitude to a 'wait and see' attitude within a day. It wasn't meant to be a personal attack but I just think it's a bit contradicting coming from you. After all, you should be angry. I think a lot of the people here were in the 'wait and see' mentality for the Aug. 23 tournament and obviously that didn't work out.

    Again, I don't if it's just me but if I had a part in running this, the very first thing that comes to mind is 'Would it be legal to run something like this with the poker and the gambling?'. I'd certainly make sure it is, read up on what can and can't be done, and take all the necessary legal procedures before even announcing and organizing such a tournament.

    By the way, I did receive the e-mail yesterday and I did receive a phone call today concerning the cancellation though 1 to 2 days before the tournament is cutting it a bit close.
  • Joe, you should have asked Olivia to your tournament on Saturday. Based on her bio, she would have been a welcome addition to your tournament :)
  • I also don't like receiving unsolicited spam about these tournaments. I don't know who you got my email address from but I don't appreciate it.
  • We obviously looked into the legal aspects. We found out last minute from All in for the Cure that one of the charities didn't have a gaming licence. It had expired about a month prior.
    I guess they should have been more careful with those deceiving charities ehh
  • compuease wrote: »
    Well I'm going to reserve judgement for the moment. While not telling Al in advance of sending out the email or posting it on their website is a rather large error in judgement this hardly seems to be Matty's fault. As I understand it Matty is part of 1Deal which is just partnering in some way with the Charity to gain them players. The postponement, (perhaps also to gain additional players) is hardly earth shattering, after all it's not a cancellation. I know nothing of the details or reasoning behind the changes but we have hardly invested any money out of our own pockets. Up to this point 1Deal has come through with the cheques as promised and the 1st tournament was held as scheduled, albeit with some flaws, but other than perhaps being a little more upfront dealing with Al, what's the big issue?

    More than likely they are the same company. 1deal and allinforthecure
  • actyper wrote: »
    More than likely they are the same company. 1deal and allinforthecure
    Duh. Netfirms, Inc.

    http://whois.org/whois_new.cgi?d=1deal&tld=ca

    http://whois.org/whois_new.cgi?d=allinforthecure&tld=ca

    /g2
  • mattykies wrote: »
    We obviously looked into the legal aspects. We found out last minute from All in for the Cure that one of the charities didn't have a gaming licence. It had expired about a month prior.
    I guess they should have been more careful with those deceiving charities ehh

    So they only found this out a few days before the tournament...? Don't know who's at fault here, but it seems like both parties. If the charity is at fault, then couldn't you have just have cut them off as one of the charities and allocate their portion to the other charities and carry on with the tournament? It seems like you are cancelling the whole tournament (with roughly 300 participants, sponsors, and so forth) due to their irresponsibility.
  • As I mentioned, I signed up to be a dealer and was told that I was accepted and would receive an email with details one week before the event. That was two weeks ago and I have not heard anything since - including the fact that the event has been cancelled. If I had not been a forum member, I would not know what was going on at all. I know that you were not directly in charge of the volunteers, but this is another symptom.

    Update: As a volunteer, I received an email at 1:30 today telling me that the tournament was cancelled for tomorrow.
  • g2 wrote: »

    Netfirms is the company supplying the domain name. That doesn't really mean much. However, the fact that they both chose Netfirms as the domain name supplier, may mean that they have a connection.
  • valid point but it was that situation that raised flags for the AGCO and they are the ones that said not to have the tourney
  • Netfirms is the company supplying the domain name. That doesn't really mean much. However, the fact that they both chose Netfirms as the domain name supplier, may mean that they have a connection.
    Haha what a terrible nerd I am. Back to not playing computer games I go.

    /g2
  • DataMn wrote: »
    2) People need to calm down

    Yes, it is disappointing that this tournament cannot be run. I fully believe that Matty et al wanted it to run, but the government shut it down. I still think that people should calm down and lend more support though - if it becomes that tournaments like this CAN be run in Ontario it is only a good thing for the poker playing public in Ontario. If one company can get it so that it is fully legal in ALL eyes, then it opens the doors for others to be able to do this also.
    Al

    Well said Al, I echo your sentiments. Folks, if we keep bashing everyone who trys something new pretty soon we won't have anyone left here but several bashers. And at least some are trying to change peoples (ie governments) perception of poker and poker tournaments. Give it a chance, it's not like it's costing us anything more than time... Jeesh, grow up!
  • OK Jeff, I'll add some good news:

    I have a cheque in my hand :)
  • AcidJoe wrote: »
    OK Jeff, I'll add some good news:

    I have a cheque in my hand :)

    maybe we can play for cheques on Saturday? although, with the US dollar, we will be a little short.
  • pokerJAH wrote: »
    maybe we can play for cheques on Saturday? although, with the US dollar, we will be a little short.

    LOL mine's in the bank getting ready to be wired to moneybookers.
  • Due to legalalities there will be no add ons at the Sept 23rd Tournament, i expect this to make some of you very happy. We just couldnt get the gov't to buge on this issue, anyway looks like you can spend the extra add on money on drinks instead,lol
  • Just for everyones info, I received my cheque from 1Deal today for the Pacific deal. $30. US. So I deposited $30, ran it up to $70. and get the entry into the tournament. I can't see how I can lose... And no I am not a shill for 1Deal... lol
  • Will you be upping the starting stack since there are no add ons anymore? (Please say yes, I'd like to play this tournament)
  • got my cheque yesterday as well; one follow-up question, since this is now an 'appreciation' tournament, will it still cost us $25US to attend?
  • If this "$100,000 Free Charity Poker Tournament" gets approved by the AGCO, are you going to hire any AGCO-certified Gaming Assistants or dealers?

    I second Kristy_Sea's suggestion of having a higher starting stack than 2500. Given the much earlier starting time of 1 PM, a better blind structure can be designed while still finishing the tournament by the deadline.
    mattykies wrote: »
    Due to legalalities there will be no add ons at the Sept 23rd Tournament, i expect this to make some of you very happy. We just couldnt get the gov't to buge on this issue
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