The major Poker.com network moved with commendable speed over the
weekend in addressing the failure of one of the Ongame Network member
sites, Check 'n Raise Poker, to meet it's WSOP sponsorship promises
to players.
Late last week InfoPowa reported on the unusual case of poker site
Check 'n Raise.com reneging on a promise to 10 winning players to
sponsor them to the next World Series Of Poker final.
Several players were fortunate enough to win tickets to WSOP events
through a series of promotions run by Check 'n Raise. But the exhilaration
and thrill of winning such a prize was short-lived when Check 'n Raise
reneged on their part of the deal, sending the unfortunate players
an email informing them that the operator was unable to meet the cost
because: "....our cash flow did not allow us to set aside sufficient
funds from the time that you won your seat in March."
One disgruntled player posted on the issue at the Casinomeister portal,
which was picked up and an InfoPowa report on the incident soon appeared
on several news sites.
In a masterly piece of PR one-upmanship as the weekend ended, a Poker.com
staffer spotted the report on the news pages at portal Online-Casinos.com
and contacted the owner, Jan Balslev, informing him that Poker.com
would look after the players so regrettably disappointed by Check
'n Raise and for that matter its Ongame Network.
Good to his word, Poker.com then posted the following on the Casinomeister
and Online-Casinos.com sites:
QUOTE:
Poker.com, has generously offered to provide the WSOP packages won
by ten ChecknRaisePoker.com members who have been told that ChecknRaisePoker.com
is unable to fund their World Series of Poker prize packages as previously
won through their website promotions.
According to various reports surfacing on online gaming news sites,
ten ChecknRaisePoker.com members that had won World Series of Poker
seats have been informed that their prize packages are not to be honored.
Via an email from ChecknRaise management they have instead been offered
a series of small payments over the coming months.
Poker.com has attempted to contact ChecknRaisePoker.com management
by email and telephone to confirm this situation and offer to cover
the prize costs, but as yet have been unable to get a response.
Both the tournament entry fee and spending money according to the
terms of each promotion will be provided by Poker.com if any of the
affected players come forward.
Poker.com Director of Gaming, Paul Cherry said, "I don't want
to comment too much at this time, as we are yet to obtain confirmation
that the reported situation is accurate. But if the story is accurate,
we are happy to help these players however possible."
"From most players' perspective, this is a chance of a lifetime,
and I can't think of anything more upsetting than to be told you are
not going to Vegas, after having already won the prize. It's only
a few weeks away and the players may have already planned and paid
for their travel arrangements."
"Our own players are like family to us and we'd hate to see these
ChecknRaise players miss out due to no fault of their own. That's
why we are offering to help them get to Vegas as a part of the Poker.com
family and enjoy the trip they have won and earned. A trip that includes
the chance to win a World Series of Poker bracelet!"
"I know that at Poker.com we keep all guaranteed tournament prizes
and player funds in escrow, separate from operational funds to avoid
such a situation ever occurring." Mr Cherry said.
Poker.com has released this information in an attempt to resurrect
the WSOP dreams of the ten players affected. If you have contact information
for any of these players, please forward this offer to them and ask
them to contact marketing@poker.com to arrange their compensation
package. Spread the word to help us make sure that these players get
the World Series of Poker experience that they deserve. UNQUOTE
The admission by Check 'n Raise that it was unable to meet its obligations
due to cash flow inadequacies will cause many potential poker players
to take a cautious approach to this operation, and Poker.com deserves
applause for quickly and adroitly stepping in to look after the players
prejudiced by the Check 'n Raise failure.