PPA should disassociate itself from scandal ridden CEO Poker tour

[doublejoker]

The PPA should disassociate itself immediately from the CEO Poker Tour. The tour has shown a repeated pattern of misleading marketing and incredibly high fees that do not benefit the poker player rights in any way...

Poker Players Alliance: Press Releases
CEO Poker Tour Partners with Poker Players Alliance
by Maria Gomez, CEO Poker Tour

CEO Poker Tour Partners with Poker Players Alliance

The CEO Poker Tour (www.ceopokertour.com), where executives battle for the title of Chairman of Poker, is partnering with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) (www.pokerplayersalliance.org), which supports poker player rights, by strategically including PPA in the year long poker tour.

(PRWEB) April 25, 2007 -- The CEO Poker Tour (www.ceopokertour.com), where executives battle for the title of Chairman of Poker, is partnering with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) (www.pokerplayersalliance.org), which supports poker player rights, by strategically including PPA in the year long poker tour.

The partnership will include a strong presence at every tournament location to include: placement of PPA items and information in CEO Poker gift bags, poker room banner, CEO Poker website insertion with link to PPA website, logo on direct mail pieces, and more.

"We are excited at the possibility of reaching more potential members through our inclusion in the national CEO Poker Tour," says Michael Bolcerek, President of the Poker Players Alliance. "The Poker Players Alliance is committed to defending the rights of poker players, and we search for opportunities, at strategic poker events through out the country, to further our message of protection of the poker game in the US and globally."

PPA's first strategic marketing presence will be at the CEO Poker Tour, at Trump Taj Mahal, May 19-25, where players will battle over the green felt of the poker table with buy-ins from $500-$5000.

"This is the first time that PPA will be included in a poker tournament kit and will mark an important step in furthering the support of thoughtful legislation to protect the game of poker," says William Peraza Jr. CEO of CEO Poker. "We see this as a long term relationship that will only grow over time."

PPA with over 350,000 members and counting is supporting poker player rights in a variety of ways, including partnerships with companies that believe in the importance of protection of the game.

Poker Players Alliance
The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect poker players' rights

CEO Poker Tour
CEO Poker Tour is an Executive Games company that produces executive games and events, where players network as well as compete for titles, cash and bragging rights. William Peraza, JR., CEO of Executives Games, and Maria Gomez, President of Executive Games, developed the concept of executive entertainment event productions to give players the ability to release stress, have fun and network. Executive Games is the ultimate in player competition.


Author Contact Info: Maria Gomez, CEO Poker Tour

[ericicecream]

Agreed.

Do they know about the situation from the players standpoint?

[doublejoker]

If they dont know about it; i'm sure they will find out soon enough; the PPA an organization designed to protect players rights is supporting a poker tour that does nothing but abuse the rights of players.....

[stephenNUTS]

I hope the PPA has read,or will read, the original 20+ page thread here on 2+2 regarding this CEO fiasco,and take some pro-active measures,for the poker players they represent,and obviously stand up,and look out for.

That ceratinly would be a great start,at stopping BS scams like this now,and in the future!

Does anyone know if the the CEO Tour was endorsed by the WPA as well?

~stephen feraca

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
I hope the PPA has read,or will read, the original 20+ page thread here on 2+2 regarding this CEO fiasco,and take some pro-active measures,for the poker players they represent,and obviously stand up,and look out for.

That ceratinly would be a great start,at stopping BS scams like this now,and in the future!

Does anyone know if the the CEO Tour was endorsed by the WPA as well?

~stephen feraca

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps we should contact the people listed in the PPA endorsement of the CEO Poker Tour and advise thm of what is going on....

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I hope the PPA has read,or will read, the original 20+ page thread here on 2+2 regarding this CEO fiasco,and take some pro-active measures,for the poker players they represent,and obviously stand up,and look out for.

That ceratinly would be a great start,at stopping BS scams like this now,and in the future!

Does anyone know if the the CEO Tour was endorsed by the WPA as well?

~stephen feraca

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps we should contact the people listed in the PPA endorsement of the CEO Poker Tour and advise thm of what is going on....

[/ QUOTE ]

Here is the one to contact...

"We are excited at the possibility of reaching more potential members through our inclusion in the national CEO Poker Tour," says Michael Bolcerek, President of the Poker Players Alliance. "The Poker Players Alliance is committed to defending the rights of poker players, and we search for opportunities, at strategic poker events through out the country, to further our message of protection of the poker game in the US and globally."

[LouKadeez]

Does it matter that the PPA is an impotent organization that has no chance of affecting any change?

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
Does it matter that the PPA is an impotent organization that has no chance of affecting any change?

[/ QUOTE ]

The mere fact that they claim to have membership in the hundreds of thousands leads me to believe that they are not legitimate....

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I hope the PPA has read,or will read, the original 20+ page thread here on 2+2 regarding this CEO fiasco,and take some pro-active measures,for the poker players they represent,and obviously stand up,and look out for.

That ceratinly would be a great start,at stopping BS scams like this now,and in the future!

Does anyone know if the the CEO Tour was endorsed by the WPA as well?

~stephen feraca

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps we should contact the people listed in the PPA endorsement of the CEO Poker Tour and advise thm of what is going on....

[/ QUOTE ]

Here is the one to contact...

"We are excited at the possibility of reaching more potential members through our inclusion in the national CEO Poker Tour," says Michael Bolcerek, President of the Poker Players Alliance. "The Poker Players Alliance is committed to defending the rights of poker players, and we search for opportunities, at strategic poker events through out the country, to further our message of protection of the poker game in the US and globally."

[/ QUOTE ]

Can someone find a way to contact Michael about this....

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Does it matter that the PPA is an impotent organization that has no chance of affecting any change?

[/ QUOTE ]

The mere fact that they actually do have membership in the hundreds of thousands is more than proof that they are legitimate....

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP

They are anything but impotent. The PPA's crack lobbying staff is working everyday behind the scenes to sway Representatives in favor of poker.

They definitely shouldn't be associated with this CEO Tourney SCAM.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Does it matter that the PPA is an impotent organization that has no chance of affecting any change?

[/ QUOTE ]

The mere fact that they actually do have membership in the hundreds of thousands is more than proof that they are legitimate....

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP

They are anything but impotent. The PPA's crack lobbying staff is working everyday behind the scenes to sway Representatives in favor of poker.

They definitely shouldn't be associated with this CEO Tourney SCAM.

[/ QUOTE ]

The PPA should address this issue immediately before they lose respect from the poker community

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Does it matter that the PPA is an impotent organization that has no chance of affecting any change?

[/ QUOTE ]

The mere fact that they actually do have membership in the hundreds of thousands is more than proof that they are legitimate....

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP

They are anything but impotent. The PPA's crack lobbying staff is working everyday behind the scenes to sway Representatives in favor of poker.

They definitely shouldn't be associated with this CEO Tourney SCAM.

[/ QUOTE ]

The PPA should address this issue immediately before they lose respect from the poker community

[/ QUOTE ]

Damn, and I thought my level was good.

[Thanir]

[ QUOTE ]

The PPA should address this issue immediately before they lose respect from the poker community

[/ QUOTE ]
I didn't realize the PPA had a lot of respect in the poker community....where do I sign up with them through 2+2? Oh thats right they don't support the PPA.

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

The PPA should address this issue immediately before they lose respect from the poker community

[/ QUOTE ]
I didn't realize the PPA had a lot of respect in the poker community....where do I sign up with them through 2+2? Oh thats right they don't support the PPA.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can't take S&M's lack of support as anything other than S&M refuse to involve themselves in politics at all.

Mason's last statement on 2+2 and the PPA was that 2+2 was "neutral"

If you are looking to signup, try the PPA website or your favorite online pokersite for a PPA deposit bonus.

[satelliter]

Agreed to boycott CEO. Spread the word.

[Thanir]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are looking to signup, try the PPA website or your favorite online pokersite for a PPA deposit bonus.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks already am a member, but after talking to S I feel my $20 would've been better spent on a pizza

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Hi all,

I am a board member of the PPA. I really didn't know anything about the CEO poker tour before I read the thread here on 2+2 about the fiasco at the Venetian a couple of weeks ago. I was also unaware until I read this thread today that the PPA was working with the CEO Poker Tour in any way. After reading this thread earlier today, I emailed Michael Bolcerek and the rest of the PPA Board, and provided them with links to both threads. I stated that we needed to look into this quickly, and if the negative facts about the CEO Poker Tour were accurate, that we should quickly disassociate ourselves from the CEO Poker Tour.

We are now investigating the situation. If the CEO Poker Tour really did take the huge vig in the Venetian tournament, and did so without adequately informing the consumer, then the PPA will sever all ties. Or, at least, that is the way I'm going to vote as a member of the board.

Responding to other random comments. Yes, the PPA really does have 100s of thousands of members, and we're hoping to reach 1 million members this year. And we are not impotent, as we do have some great lobbyists who are spending time and money getting members of Congress to see our position, and to enact laws that will help poker players everywhere. The more all of you support the PPA, financially and otherwise, the sooner we will be able to remove the burden of the UIGEA, as well as get other things done to benefit poker.

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[Spook]

Greg, thanks for taking initiative and communicating with people outside of this thread.

Unfortunately some people are very interested, but do not have the resources and contacts. Fortunately you do.

Thanks, and thank you to anyone else who uses their contacts to help the poker playing community.

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi all,

I am a board member of the PPA. I really didn't know anything about the CEO poker tour before I read the thread here on 2+2 about the fiasco at the Venetian a couple of weeks ago. I was also unaware until I read this thread today that the PPA was working with the CEO Poker Tour in any way. After reading this thread earlier today, I emailed Michael Bolcerek and the rest of the PPA Board, and provided them with links to both threads. I stated that we needed to look into this quickly, and if the negative facts about the CEO Poker Tour were accurate, that we should quickly disassociate ourselves from the CEO Poker Tour.

We are now investigating the situation. If the CEO Poker Tour really did take the huge vig in the Venetian tournament, and did so without adequately informing the consumer, then the PPA will sever all ties. Or, at least, that is the way I'm going to vote as a member of the board.

Responding to other random comments. Yes, the PPA really does have 100s of thousands of members, and we're hoping to reach 1 million members this year. And we are not impotent, as we do have some great lobbyists who are spending time and money getting members of Congress to see our position, and to enact laws that will help poker players everywhere. The more all of you support the PPA, financially and otherwise, the sooner we will be able to remove the burden of the UIGEA, as well as get other things done to benefit poker.

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[/ QUOTE ]

Greg,

Thanks for responding to the issues that have been raised.

Reading the various threads does not show the CEO Poker Tour in the best light, but they also say a story has two sides. Hopefully this will be the case.

Thanks for looking into the issue & bringing the other board members up to speed.

[suzzer99]

[ QUOTE ]
Reading the various threads does not show the CEO Poker Tour in the best light, but they also say a story has two sides. Hopefully this will be the case.


[/ QUOTE ]

Best case scenario is they are completely incompetent about how vig is represented AND believed an 18-19% vig is something standard (is it?).

Worst case scenario is they scammed and hoped no one would notice.

They do seem to be very legitimately associated the the charity though. So they're not complete frauds or anything.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Greg:

I received an email from Maria Gomez the president of the CEO Poker Tour about 90 minutes after you made your post. In it she indicates that tomorrow (7/19/07) the PPA will issue a statement that will address these concerns and

[ QUOTE ]
will hopefully help turn a new page for CEO POKER TOUR, where players regain trust in our company.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'll let you and others comment as to what this might mean.

Best wishes,
Mason

[DoubleDealDecker]

I certainly trust them. As much as I trust the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi all,

I am a board member of the PPA. I really didn't know anything about the CEO poker tour before I read the thread here on 2+2 about the fiasco at the Venetian a couple of weeks ago. I was also unaware until I read this thread today that the PPA was working with the CEO Poker Tour in any way. After reading this thread earlier today, I emailed Michael Bolcerek and the rest of the PPA Board, and provided them with links to both threads. I stated that we needed to look into this quickly, and if the negative facts about the CEO Poker Tour were accurate, that we should quickly disassociate ourselves from the CEO Poker Tour.

We are now investigating the situation. If the CEO Poker Tour really did take the huge vig in the Venetian tournament, and did so without adequately informing the consumer, then the PPA will sever all ties. Or, at least, that is the way I'm going to vote as a member of the board.

Responding to other random comments. Yes, the PPA really does have 100s of thousands of members, and we're hoping to reach 1 million members this year. And we are not impotent, as we do have some great lobbyists who are spending time and money getting members of Congress to see our position, and to enact laws that will help poker players everywhere. The more all of you support the PPA, financially and otherwise, the sooner we will be able to remove the burden of the UIGEA, as well as get other things done to benefit poker.

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[/ QUOTE ]

Greg, thanks for taaking the initiative in this. You are one of the most respected players in the industry, and I'm sure you will do what is in the best interest of the players....

[Cornell Fiji]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Greg:

I received an email from Maria Gomez the president of the CEO Poker Tour about 90 minutes after you made your post. In it she indicates that tomorrow (7/19/07) the PPA will issue a statement that will address these concerns and

[ QUOTE ]
will hopefully help turn a new page for CEO POKER TOUR, where players regain trust in our company.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'll let you and others comment as to what this might mean.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]


Greg,
I implore you that, unless Maria returns the money from the hidden vig to all players who have played in their over raked events, that the PPA takes a stand and disassociates with with CEO Poker Tour.

The CEO Poker Tour's acts have been outright shameful. They stole money from the prize pools and then Maria came on these forums and tried to wave her hands and hope that she could make the issue go away. When that did not work she falsified documents and continued to mislead our community.

I do not care if in the future the tour does not steal money from the prize pool with the use of fine print or invisible ink. They have been in existence for 1 year and have already begun cheating players.

Unless they refund every single ill gotten dollar (that is to say every dollar that was taken from the prizepool beyond the 3% payment to dealers and staff that has become standard) to the players whom they cheated they should not be forgiven. If your organization continues to associate with them after a hand in the cookie jar apology then it would be evidence that we should not have faith in the PPA.

Thank you for your continued presence and activism in these issues that we find important.

All the best,
Steve

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hi Greg:

I received an email from Maria Gomez the president of the CEO Poker Tour about 90 minutes after you made your post. In it she indicates that tomorrow (7/19/07) the PPA will issue a statement that will address these concerns and

[ QUOTE ]
will hopefully help turn a new page for CEO POKER TOUR, where players regain trust in our company.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'll let you and others comment as to what this might mean.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]


Greg,
I implore you that, unless Maria returns the money from the hidden vig to all players who have played in their over raked events, that the PPA takes a stand and disassociates with with CEO Poker Tour.

The CEO Poker Tour's acts have been outright shameful. They stole money from the prize pools and then Maria came on these forums and tried to wave her hands and hope that she could make the issue go away. When that did not work she falsified documents and continued to mislead our community.

I do not care if in the future the tour does not steal money from the prize pool with the use of fine print or invisible ink. They have been in existence for 1 year and have already begun cheating players.

Unless they refund every single ill gotten dollar (that is to say every dollar that was taken from the prizepool beyond the 3% payment to dealers and staff that has become standard) to the players whom they cheated they should not be forgiven. If your organization continues to associate with them after a hand in the cookie jar apology then it would be evidence that we should not have faith in the PPA.

Thank you for your continued presence and activism in these issues that we find important.

All the best,
Steve

[/ QUOTE ]

When is this statement from Maria expected today?

[GaryTheGoat]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hi Greg:

I received an email from Maria Gomez the president of the CEO Poker Tour about 90 minutes after you made your post. In it she indicates that tomorrow (7/19/07) the PPA will issue a statement that will address these concerns and

[ QUOTE ]
will hopefully help turn a new page for CEO POKER TOUR, where players regain trust in our company.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'll let you and others comment as to what this might mean.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]


Greg,
I implore you that, unless Maria returns the money from the hidden vig to all players who have played in their over raked events, that the PPA takes a stand and disassociates with with CEO Poker Tour.

The CEO Poker Tour's acts have been outright shameful. They stole money from the prize pools and then Maria came on these forums and tried to wave her hands and hope that she could make the issue go away. When that did not work she falsified documents and continued to mislead our community.

I do not care if in the future the tour does not steal money from the prize pool with the use of fine print or invisible ink. They have been in existence for 1 year and have already begun cheating players.

Unless they refund every single ill gotten dollar (that is to say every dollar that was taken from the prizepool beyond the 3% payment to dealers and staff that has become standard ) to the players whom they cheated they should not be forgiven. If your organization continues to associate with them after a hand in the cookie jar apology then it would be evidence that we should not have faith in the PPA.

Thank you for your continued presence and activism in these issues that we find important.

All the best,
Steve

[/ QUOTE ]


Great. Now I know that the "industry standard" of the house raping the poker boom has more than started down a "slippery slope". What's next? House charging $2 for a banana!

If pros and CEOs can be "duped" like this, what chance does the necessary fish have? The fish, as always, will only notice when s/he runs out of money, but the money won't be with the pros. It'll be with the house.

Thanks Bobby "We make money on EVERYTHING" Baldwin.

Edit: I guess "tierd"/"name" pros will have money, but it won't be from playing poker. It will be from endorsements, sponsorships, commercials, etc. I guess that's why the player advisory boards, PPA, etc. don't care about the blatant rape of the game itself.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Greg:

I received an email from Maria Gomez the president of the CEO Poker Tour about 90 minutes after you made your post. In it she indicates that tomorrow (7/19/07) the PPA will issue a statement that will address these concerns and

[ QUOTE ]
will hopefully help turn a new page for CEO POKER TOUR, where players regain trust in our company.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'll let you and others comment as to what this might mean.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Still waiting....

[ceopoker1]

CEO POKER STATEMENT
JULY 19, 2007

I wanted to make an official statement regarding the postings on CEO POKER TOUR at the Venetian that have been made on the Two Plus Two forum this last week.

First, let me say that we regret that some of the elements of our tournament have caused such distrust in the CEO POKER TOUR. It was never our intention when we held the tournament at the Venetian Casino with our structure and charity element that we would upset the players. This was the result of inexperience, not malice.

The forum postings, talks with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), and World Poker Association (WPA) to discuss their concerns and suggestions, as well as, player emails we have received, have also made us realize that there are elements of our tournament that we need to change for the benefit of the player and the game.

Please know that we are sincere in our attempt to address and rectify those elements of the tournament that forum members and others have brought to our attention. After speaking to the WPA, we want players to know that we intend to support the WPA professional standards, and want to abide by WPA rules and regulations. To this end, we are addressing player concerns, concessions to players, as well as, changes in CEO POKER mission and policies going forward in this statement.

Many on the forum have suggested that we updated the structure sheet after the event of July 2-10, but I can assure you that the structure sheet was last updated on June 28th, before the event, and after we realized that satellites were not going to be able to be conducted during the tournament week because we would be limited by table space. At that time, we updated the structure sheet and deleted the satellite dates and times, as well as placing more detailed information about the charity connection because we wanted to make it clear to those that decided to register for the main event that there was a charity component. That said, we recognize that we could have done even more to make sure that it was extremely clear to all players that there was a charity component at the main event.

There have also been concerns over the amount of the rake that was on the structure sheet that was downloaded and posted on the site. We do acknowledge and assure players, that even though we did post the rake on the online structure sheet, that the rake was printed for 11 days on the printed materials at the event, and that it was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission, in the future, the rake for any CEO POKER TOUR event will be lowered to a percentage between 3-5%, the norm in the poker industry. At no time will there ever be a higher rake charged for any tournament, for any reason. The CEO POKER company acknowledges that keeping the rake and registration fee to industry standards is necessary and for the good of the player and game.

The guarantee that the rake will also be low for every event we coordinate will not affect the chip stacks or tournament rounds. We will continue to provide minimum $10,000 or more chips for the $500 buy-in, $10,000 or more chips for the $1,000 buy-in, and $15,000 or more chips for the $2,500 buy-in, with rounds of 40-60 minutes, and the same amount of trophies and bracelets. This structure was welcomed by players.

Regarding the charity component of the event, CEO POKER TOUR connected with the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation earlier this year. No one questions the legitimacy of the charity, who has helped many Nevada families. However, many have raised the issue of the percentage going to the charity coming from the prize pool. The percentage to the charity was disclosed in the structure sheets during the 11 day event, as well as various places on the website, but the additional percentage that was taken out of the prize pool to pay the charity turned a positive into a negative, which was never our intention. We also agree that the charity component could have and should have been done in a better way not to affect the prize pool.

In the future, CEO Poker is making a commitment to support charities directly through the company, and never as a percentage of the buy-in/prize pool for the tournament. This is a promise that CEO POKER as a company is making to the players, the WPA, and the PPA.

We understand that at this point trust in CEO POKER is an issue for many of you but I sincerely want you to know that we will be making substantial efforts going forward to prevent these issues from ever happening again at any of our events and we are backing this promise with action.

We will contact the Venetian Casino and request a list of all (234) $2,500 main event players and mail them a $100 refund check from CEO POKER TOUR with a letter explaining in detail the reason for the refund. We will send this letter to the WPA for review before mailing the checks.

We have invited a WPA representative, at our expense, to attend all CEO POKER EVENTS in order to assure players that their rights are being considered and concerns addressed on the casino floor at all times. An objective individual, with no direct connection to CEO POKER, in order to ensure that player’s needs are being taken into consideration during the events.

We also would welcome and invite a few members from the forum to directly participate on a newly established CEO POKER Board, to assure that going forward all that we have promised is done and that we continue to improve all the elements of our tournaments for the benefit of the players. Board members would have access to all player materials, marketing pieces, and structure sheets prior to events. Board members would also have direct input into tournament elements.

As we stated to the WPA and PPA, we are serious about making changes to the company that will earn back the trust of the forum and players.

Many of you do not know me personally, and others are judging me based on personal comments made about me through out the forum. I understand that is the way of a forum, and I would never want to stifle free press, however, I do want to address at least one of the comments.

Many have mentioned that I have another site that encourages those that have lost land in Cuba to reclaim it, as if I where scamming people in some way. Please know that I was born in Miami, Florida from Cuban immigrants who came to the US in the 60's after their land was stripped from them by Castro. My father was forced to move his family to Miami, Florida, when Castro’s soldiers met him at his front door step and told him to get out of his property because it was now owned by the government. My partner’s family faced the same situation when his family business was taken away by Castro’s regime. This is not an unfamiliar story for children of Cuban immigrants and it was the reason I created the portal StateofCuba.com.

The portal was opened to give Cuban Americans the ability to reclaim their land, so if and when there was a change in the Cuban government, the list of individuals that posted, with the details of their claims, would be handed over to the Justice Dept. and the new government of Cuba. There is no charge for this, it is clear, on the site. The Justice Dept currently has a list of companies that want to reclaim land in Cuba, that include names from Palmolive, to Bacardi, but not many individuals even understand that they can try and reclaim land in Cuba. Those that have not experienced having their property simply taken from them by force can not understand the premise of the site. The site is a personal project that is important to my family, partner, and me.

Regardless of the personal comments, I want to make sure that all who read this statement understand my commitment to see CEO POKER TOUR take a course of holding tournaments that maintain low dealer and staff rakes and registrations, and that at no time will add any additional fee for a charity or otherwise, as part of the prize pool.

I ask you to read this statement and give CEO POKER an opportunity to make good on the promises that we have made to address your concerns and coordinate tournaments with WPA involvement that you can be proud to play in.

As a new tournament company on the poker scene, with not enough years under our belts, we acknowledge that there were elements of the event that we could have done better. We want players to know that we understand that players had concerns and we are doing our best to address and learn from them, as we work with the WPA going forward to assure the poker community is satisfied with the outcome.

Believe me that I have read all your posts and understand your concerns. We can and will do better, all we ask is for an opportunity to improve and make the changes I have outlined in this statement.

I do want to thank the WPA and PPA, who have been extremely helpful and have worked on behalf of the players regarding this tournament issue. We also want to acknowledge and thank the Two Plus Two website, that provides poker players the opportunity to voice their concerns and be heard, while being a part of real change.



Regards
Maria Gomez
President
CEO POKER TOUR

[Emperor]

Maria,

I feel that you are probably going to get some harsh followups, and I wanted to interject that in my opinion you have made significant effort to clear the air and make things right. I'm not sure if it will be good enough, but in this one response you have done more than most. Including the PPA.

I wish you continued success.

[Dranoel]

Maria,

I too think that your posting is a big step in the right direction.

Hopefully the dialog that will follow will be civil & will go a long way to make ensure that the CEO Poker Tour will succeed.

I wish you well.

[ceopoker1]

I appreciate the response. Believe me dont always have to agree, but I will do my best to listen and correct issues in the best way possible for the players because in the end I understand that it will benefit our company.

Thank you and please dont stop reviewing what we do, that is how companies get better.

Good luck at the tables.

Maria
CEO POKER

[Synergistic Explosions]

Maria,

Well done!

Good luck in the future tournies.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Everyone:

My specific comments will come later. However, at this time I do want to address one issue. CEO writes:

[ QUOTE ]
As we stated to the WPA and PPA, we are serious about making changes to the company that will earn back the trust of the forum and players.


[/ QUOTE ]

In private email they requested to have a conversation with us concerning all these issues. My response to them was

[ QUOTE ]
It's my policy in matters like this not to communicate with a party such as you or your organization until I have reason to believe that real progress will be made. So before I would be willing to talk to you in any way, you'll need to explain what happened to all the money, why the players who entered your tournaments had no knowledge this much money would be removed from the pool, and what if anything you intend to do to reimbuse players who feel that money was taken from them without their knowledge. You don't need to talk to me to address these issues.

Also, Two Plus Two is completely independent of the PPA, Bluff, or any other poker association. So we have no interest in what you may jointly say with someone else.


[/ QUOTE ]

Best wishes,
Mason

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
CEO POKER STATEMENT
JULY 19, 2007

I wanted to make an official statement regarding the postings on CEO POKER TOUR at the Venetian that have been made on the Two Plus Two forum this last week.

First, let me say that we regret that some of the elements of our tournament have caused such distrust in the CEO POKER TOUR. It was never our intention when we held the tournament at the Venetian Casino with our structure and charity element that we would upset the players. This was the result of inexperience, not malice.

The forum postings, talks with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), and World Poker Association (WPA) to discuss their concerns and suggestions, as well as, player emails we have received, have also made us realize that there are elements of our tournament that we need to change for the benefit of the player and the game.

Please know that we are sincere in our attempt to address and rectify those elements of the tournament that forum members and others have brought to our attention. After speaking to the WPA, we want players to know that we intend to support the WPA professional standards, and want to abide by WPA rules and regulations. To this end, we are addressing player concerns, concessions to players, as well as, changes in CEO POKER mission and policies going forward in this statement.

Many on the forum have suggested that we updated the structure sheet after the event of July 2-10, but I can assure you that the structure sheet was last updated on June 28th, before the event, and after we realized that satellites were not going to be able to be conducted during the tournament week because we would be limited by table space. At that time, we updated the structure sheet and deleted the satellite dates and times, as well as placing more detailed information about the charity connection because we wanted to make it clear to those that decided to register for the main event that there was a charity component. That said, we recognize that we could have done even more to make sure that it was extremely clear to all players that there was a charity component at the main event.

There have also been concerns over the amount of the rake that was on the structure sheet that was downloaded and posted on the site. We do acknowledge and assure players, that even though we did post the rake on the online structure sheet, that the rake was printed for 11 days on the printed materials at the event, and that it was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission, in the future, the rake for any CEO POKER TOUR event will be lowered to a percentage between 3-5%, the norm in the poker industry. At no time will there ever be a higher rake charged for any tournament, for any reason. The CEO POKER company acknowledges that keeping the rake and registration fee to industry standards is necessary and for the good of the player and game.

The guarantee that the rake will also be low for every event we coordinate will not affect the chip stacks or tournament rounds. We will continue to provide minimum $10,000 or more chips for the $500 buy-in, $10,000 or more chips for the $1,000 buy-in, and $15,000 or more chips for the $2,500 buy-in, with rounds of 40-60 minutes, and the same amount of trophies and bracelets. This structure was welcomed by players.

Regarding the charity component of the event, CEO POKER TOUR connected with the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation earlier this year. No one questions the legitimacy of the charity, who has helped many Nevada families. However, many have raised the issue of the percentage going to the charity coming from the prize pool. The percentage to the charity was disclosed in the structure sheets during the 11 day event, as well as various places on the website, but the additional percentage that was taken out of the prize pool to pay the charity turned a positive into a negative, which was never our intention. We also agree that the charity component could have and should have been done in a better way not to affect the prize pool.

In the future, CEO Poker is making a commitment to support charities directly through the company, and never as a percentage of the buy-in/prize pool for the tournament. This is a promise that CEO POKER as a company is making to the players, the WPA, and the PPA.

We understand that at this point trust in CEO POKER is an issue for many of you but I sincerely want you to know that we will be making substantial efforts going forward to prevent these issues from ever happening again at any of our events and we are backing this promise with action.

We will contact the Venetian Casino and request a list of all (234) $2,500 main event players and mail them a $100 refund check from CEO POKER TOUR with a letter explaining in detail the reason for the refund. We will send this letter to the WPA for review before mailing the checks.

We have invited a WPA representative, at our expense, to attend all CEO POKER EVENTS in order to assure players that their rights are being considered and concerns addressed on the casino floor at all times. An objective individual, with no direct connection to CEO POKER, in order to ensure that player’s needs are being taken into consideration during the events.

We also would welcome and invite a few members from the forum to directly participate on a newly established CEO POKER Board, to assure that going forward all that we have promised is done and that we continue to improve all the elements of our tournaments for the benefit of the players. Board members would have access to all player materials, marketing pieces, and structure sheets prior to events. Board members would also have direct input into tournament elements.

As we stated to the WPA and PPA, we are serious about making changes to the company that will earn back the trust of the forum and players.

Many of you do not know me personally, and others are judging me based on personal comments made about me through out the forum. I understand that is the way of a forum, and I would never want to stifle free press, however, I do want to address at least one of the comments.

Many have mentioned that I have another site that encourages those that have lost land in Cuba to reclaim it, as if I where scamming people in some way. Please know that I was born in Miami, Florida from Cuban immigrants who came to the US in the 60's after their land was stripped from them by Castro. My father was forced to move his family to Miami, Florida, when Castro’s soldiers met him at his front door step and told him to get out of his property because it was now owned by the government. My partner’s family faced the same situation when his family business was taken away by Castro’s regime. This is not an unfamiliar story for children of Cuban immigrants and it was the reason I created the portal StateofCuba.com.

The portal was opened to give Cuban Americans the ability to reclaim their land, so if and when there was a change in the Cuban government, the list of individuals that posted, with the details of their claims, would be handed over to the Justice Dept. and the new government of Cuba. There is no charge for this, it is clear, on the site. The Justice Dept currently has a list of companies that want to reclaim land in Cuba, that include names from Palmolive, to Bacardi, but not many individuals even understand that they can try and reclaim land in Cuba. Those that have not experienced having their property simply taken from them by force can not understand the premise of the site. The site is a personal project that is important to my family, partner, and me.

Regardless of the personal comments, I want to make sure that all who read this statement understand my commitment to see CEO POKER TOUR take a course of holding tournaments that maintain low dealer and staff rakes and registrations, and that at no time will add any additional fee for a charity or otherwise, as part of the prize pool.

I ask you to read this statement and give CEO POKER an opportunity to make good on the promises that we have made to address your concerns and coordinate tournaments with WPA involvement that you can be proud to play in.

As a new tournament company on the poker scene, with not enough years under our belts, we acknowledge that there were elements of the event that we could have done better. We want players to know that we understand that players had concerns and we are doing our best to address and learn from them, as we work with the WPA going forward to assure the poker community is satisfied with the outcome.

Believe me that I have read all your posts and understand your concerns. We can and will do better, all we ask is for an opportunity to improve and make the changes I have outlined in this statement.

I do want to thank the WPA and PPA, who have been extremely helpful and have worked on behalf of the players regarding this tournament issue. We also want to acknowledge and thank the Two Plus Two website, that provides poker players the opportunity to voice their concerns and be heard, while being a part of real change.



Regards
Maria Gomez
President
CEO POKER TOUR

[/ QUOTE ]

I appreciate this gesture fron the CEO Poker Tour.


$100 is a step in the right direction for these 234 players; but this does not address the hundreds of other players who paid juice in excess of 18-20% at the other Venetian events as well as the Palms and Taj Mahal events.....here are a few examples


Palms CEO Event:

wow in that one they collected $55,800 and paid out just over $40,000? this is insane? Why has this not come to light sooner?

CEO Poker Tournament
Event #1 - No Limit Hold'em
October 23, 2006
Palms
Tournament Schedule
Buy-In $1,500 + $300
Prize Pool $40,105
Entries 31



Taj Mahal Main Event:

i found it. Here are the numbers; they collected $225,000 plus juice from 45 players; here is the breakdown...


EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em Championship Event 6
ROUND: N/A BLINDS: N/A ANTE: N/A PLAYERS LEFT: N/A

BUY-IN $5,000
TOTAL PRIZE POOL $155,200
ENTRIES 45
FINAL RESULTS: May.24 VIEW STANDINGS: May.24
PLACE PLAYER PRIZE/CHIPSPOY POINTS
1Michael Santoro$69,8400
2Charles Minter$38,8000
3Bianco Benedetto$23,2800
4John Aglialoro$15,5200
5Angel Modica$7,7600

There is $70,000 missing???? Acually more than $70,000 I beleive the buyin was $5,150 not $5,000.


Venetian $1,000 Event:


I just checked one of the $1,000 tourneys fron Venetian; in this case they charged a staggering amount of juice as well. They collected $1,075 x 174 players ($187,050) and paid out $158,339.


EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em Event 7
BUY-IN $1,000
TOTAL PRIZE POOL $158,339
ENTRIES 174

1Bryan Watkins$49,085408
2Mike Leah$28,818340
3Aaron Krebs$17,417272
4Mohammad Hamid$14,251204
5Giovanni Rigolli$9,500170
6Charles Denton$7,917136
7Darcy McLeod$6,334102

Venetian Main Event:

$2500 buyin

$100 to Venetian
$150 CEO "site fee"
$125 CEO Charity
$75 Venetian staff


234 entries at $2600 ($608,400)

Final prizepool of $503,100

BUY-IN $2,500
TOTAL PRIZE POOL $503,100
ENTRIES 234

The other Venetian CEO $5000 to %$1000 tourneys all were about 18-20% juiced as well.

[Cornell Fiji]

Maria,

I am disappointed by your response.

I don't believe you when you feign ignorance that it was improper to take 18% from the prize pool without making it clear to players that you were taking an excessive rake. If you really didn't realize that what you were doing was wrong then I have no confidence in your ability to run a poker tournament circuit.

Furthermore, you have still not explained where the money that was taken from the prizepool went. In the thread people have claimed that 5% went to charity, 3% went to venetian staff, and 6% went to your organization, and 4% was unaccounted for. Is this breakdown correct? Many posters including Mason Malmuth have made it clear how important it is to us that you explain where these fees went and you have continually sidestepped that issue. You have already lost our trust and when you hold back information we believe that you still have something to hide.

Another problem that I have with your actions is your inaction from your fist posts on this forum until now. Why did it take you so long to address the legitimate concerns that were posted here?

A major problem that I have with your statement is the fact that you are only refunding $100 to every player in the Venetian main event and that you have no plans on refunding other funds that were taken from prize pools in previous events. In my mind, you falsely advertised the rake in all of your events and while it is nice that you are compensating the players from the Venetian main event, your continued lack of remorse or repentance and your unwillingness to offer remuneration to the players in the other tournaments proves that you still do not have the interests of the players at heart.

I did not play in any of those other events but I sincerely encourage those who did to follow through with their complaints to the gaming commission and their state's attorney general. Just because the CEO Poker Tour is partially compensating some people who they deceitfully obtained funds from does not mean that they should be off the hook for funds that they took from you.

I ask that the PPA continues to refuse to do business with this organization until they have compensated all players who they wrongfully obtained money from.

Ms. Gomez, I implore you to explain where the money that you took from prizepools went and I implore you to also compensate all of the other players who you scammed.

Steve

[ericicecream]

Maybe I'm a bit too cynical, but it sounds to me like CEO Poker tried to take much more than their fair share while hiding it from the players, got caught, and are now trying to keep the ship together by making a token reimbursement to players and partially by claiming ignorance of how poker tournaments work.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
Maria,

I am disappointed by your response.

I don't believe you when you feign ignorance that it was improper to take 18% from the prize pool without making it clear to players that you were taking an excessive rake. If you really didn't realize that what you were doing was wrong then I have no confidence in your ability to run a poker tournament circuit.

Furthermore, you have still not explained where the money that was taken from the prizepool went. In the thread people have claimed that 5% went to charity, 3% went to venetian staff, and 6% went to your organization, and 4% was unaccounted for. Is this breakdown correct? Many posters including Mason Malmuth have made it clear how important it is to us that you explain where these fees went and you have continually sidestepped that issue. You have already lost our trust and when you hold back information we believe that you still have something to hide.

Another problem that I have with your actions is your inaction from your fist posts on this forum until now. Why did it take you so long to address the legitimate concerns that were posted here?

A major problem that I have with your statement is the fact that you are only refunding $100 to every player in the Venetian main event and that you have no plans on refunding other funds that were taken from prize pools in previous events. In my mind, you falsely advertised the rake in all of your events and while it is nice that you are compensating the players from the Venetian main event, your continued lack of remorse or repentance and your unwillingness to offer remuneration to the players in the other tournaments proves that you still do not have the interests of the players at heart.

I did not play in any of those other events but I sincerely encourage those who did to follow through with their complaints to the gaming commission and their state's attorney general. Just because the CEO Poker Tour is partially compensating some people who they deceitfully obtained funds from does not mean that they should be off the hook for funds that they took from you.

I ask that the PPA continues to refuse to do business with this organization until they have compensated all players who they wrongfully obtained money from.

Ms. Gomez, I implore you to explain where the money that you took from prizepools went and I implore you to also compensate all of the other players who you scammed.

Steve

[/ QUOTE ]

The other 4% was for the Venetian Casino itself ($2500 + $100)

[Cornell Fiji]

Maria,

Despite the negative comments in my previous post and my utter distrust for you and your organization I would like to say that you are taking a significant step in the right direction with your explanation and by creating a dialog with the players.

You have taken one step in the right direction, unfortunately you have already taken forty steps backwards. You have a long way to go before you make things right but maybe you have reached an inflection point and things will get better from here.

I apprehensively await your response as to the breakdown of the 18% taken from each prizepool and your reasons for only compensating one of the many fields of tournament players whom you deceived.

[pokerdoc101]

Good response. Dont let the forum get you down. I enjoyed your event and look forward to your next event.

PokerDoc101

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
Good response. Dont let the forum get you down. I enjoyed your event and look forward to your next event.

PokerDoc101

[/ QUOTE ]

This is this posters first ever post...... hmmmmmmmmm

[Cornell Fiji]

[ QUOTE ]

The other 4% was for the Venetian Casino itself ($2500 + $100)

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria, can you confirm that of the $2500+100 that:
$100 (4%) went to the Venetian (the +100)

And from the prizepool
$75 (3%) went to tournament staff
$125 (5%) went to charity
$150 (6%) went to the CEO Poker Tour


----------------------------------

Oh, I almost forgot.

Please also address the fact that you lied to Stephen Faraca when you told him that 150 players had preregistered for an event that only had 38 players in it.

Do you believe that such deceit is a responsible business practice?

[ericicecream]

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe I'm a bit too cynical, but it sounds to me like CEO Poker tried to take much more than their fair share while hiding it from the players, got caught, and are now trying to keep the ship together by making a token reimbursement to players and partially by claiming ignorance of how poker tournaments work.

[/ QUOTE ]

And I should add, they did not address this issue when players lodged complaints, but rather only when faced with the possibility of losing the PPA endorsement.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

The other 4% was for the Venetian Casino itself ($2500 + $100)

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria, can you confirm that of the $2500+100 that:
$100 (4%) went to the Venetian (the +100)

And from the prizepool
$75 (3%) went to tournament staff
$125 (5%) went to charity
$150 (6%) went to the CEO Poker Tour


----------------------------------

Oh, I almost forgot.

Please also address the fact that you lied to Stephen Faraca when you told him that 150 players had preregistered for an event that only had 38 players in it.

Do you believe that such deceit is a responsible business practice?

[/ QUOTE ]

Those numbers cannot be disputed. The final prizepool showed over $100,000 missing from 234 players; or about $450 per player.

[Banks2334]

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe I'm a bit too cynical, but it sounds to me like CEO Poker tried to take much more than their fair share while hiding it from the players, got caught, and are now trying to keep the ship together by making a token reimbursement to players and partially by claiming ignorance of how poker tournaments work.

[/ QUOTE ]
Not cynical at all. I'm sure most people who actually read the thread would agree with your take. I do.

[stephenNUTS]

Maria,

Before I even EMBARESS you beyond belief with regard to your first attempt at rectifying the Venetian Main event fiasco with a $100 refund,I will go on record saying that not only is that an INSULT to anyone who played at the MULITIPLE Venetian events,nor the MULITPLE events at the TAJ as well,including a $5000 Main Event that incurred the same 18-20% juice.
It does not cover the MOST important issue of all however.

DECEPTION

On at least FIVE separate occasion's via telephone ,e-mails,PM's,etc,prior to me commiting myself to entering the $5k Main Event at the TAJ.

Without the CEO Tour actually sending me a written guarantee,you told me flat out that there were 150+ CEO's,Pro's,players,etc that had deposited $500 to "lock-up" a seat ,and I better sign up before the event sold out!

YOU LIED SWEETHEART,through your teeth,and continued to LIE up to and including the start of the TAJ M/E.
As I previously stated that when only 38 bought in(it was actually 41 from other posters confirmations)I was LIVID.

As a former Wall Street CEO,I can tell you one thing that will CRUSH your reputation/company ,and that is mis-representation,and they can send you to jail for corporate FRAUD

Have you ever heard of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act,as it was passed to prevent CEO's,and their respective company officers from [censored] like this.In other words FULL and TRUTHFULL DISCLOSURE by them,or any CEO/officer/company violating the ACT will be prosecuted as such.

http://www.soxlaw.com/

This "FIRST TRY" is unacceptable,and you had better sharpen your pencil abit more dear,as you and William are in uncharted waters here,as are the Venetian and the Taj,both PUBLIC companies,that fall directly under the provisions of this protective act as well.

AFTER the ENRON scandel/implosion unfolded ,this ACT was passed in a heartbeat to protect the consumer...........and that includes us little ole'poker players too!

~stephen feraca

[ceopoker1]

I wanted to respond regarding the Taj Event where you stated that $70,000 was missing. This is not correct and let me explain why.

There was an error in the number of players stated on the website, our apologies.

May 23rd - 62 players, previously stated 77.
May 24th - 32 players, previously state 45.

This can be easily verified by the casino.

We have made the correction and stated on the website that a correction was made, so everyone is aware that the original numbers were not correct.

You can verify this just by looking at the number of players paid. Usually about 10% of the player get paid.

May 23rd - 6 players paid.
May 24th - 5 players paid.

Hope this clears up these tournaments. I will send an email to Card Player and Bluff to update those tournament numbers.

Regards
Maria
CEO POKER

[doublejoker]

Here is a simple solution: It is clearly evident that every CEO Poker Tournament run thus far has taken 18 - 20% from the prizepool. Accepted rake in todays environment is about 8 to 10%. CEO Poker tour should offer ANY entrant with documentation that they entered an event; and proof that at least 18% was taken from the prizepool of that event (for whatever reason site fees etc.) a 10% refund on their entire entry fee. In the taj Mahal exapmle below, these players would be due about $500 each and would still have paid about 10% in assorted juice and fees.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
CEO POKER STATEMENT
JULY 19, 2007

I wanted to make an official statement regarding the postings on CEO POKER TOUR at the Venetian that have been made on the Two Plus Two forum this last week.

First, let me say that we regret that some of the elements of our tournament have caused such distrust in the CEO POKER TOUR. It was never our intention when we held the tournament at the Venetian Casino with our structure and charity element that we would upset the players. This was the result of inexperience, not malice.

The forum postings, talks with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), and World Poker Association (WPA) to discuss their concerns and suggestions, as well as, player emails we have received, have also made us realize that there are elements of our tournament that we need to change for the benefit of the player and the game.

Please know that we are sincere in our attempt to address and rectify those elements of the tournament that forum members and others have brought to our attention. After speaking to the WPA, we want players to know that we intend to support the WPA professional standards, and want to abide by WPA rules and regulations. To this end, we are addressing player concerns, concessions to players, as well as, changes in CEO POKER mission and policies going forward in this statement.

Many on the forum have suggested that we updated the structure sheet after the event of July 2-10, but I can assure you that the structure sheet was last updated on June 28th, before the event, and after we realized that satellites were not going to be able to be conducted during the tournament week because we would be limited by table space. At that time, we updated the structure sheet and deleted the satellite dates and times, as well as placing more detailed information about the charity connection because we wanted to make it clear to those that decided to register for the main event that there was a charity component. That said, we recognize that we could have done even more to make sure that it was extremely clear to all players that there was a charity component at the main event.

There have also been concerns over the amount of the rake that was on the structure sheet that was downloaded and posted on the site. We do acknowledge and assure players, that even though we did post the rake on the online structure sheet, that the rake was printed for 11 days on the printed materials at the event, and that it was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission, in the future, the rake for any CEO POKER TOUR event will be lowered to a percentage between 3-5%, the norm in the poker industry. At no time will there ever be a higher rake charged for any tournament, for any reason. The CEO POKER company acknowledges that keeping the rake and registration fee to industry standards is necessary and for the good of the player and game.

The guarantee that the rake will also be low for every event we coordinate will not affect the chip stacks or tournament rounds. We will continue to provide minimum $10,000 or more chips for the $500 buy-in, $10,000 or more chips for the $1,000 buy-in, and $15,000 or more chips for the $2,500 buy-in, with rounds of 40-60 minutes, and the same amount of trophies and bracelets. This structure was welcomed by players.

Regarding the charity component of the event, CEO POKER TOUR connected with the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation earlier this year. No one questions the legitimacy of the charity, who has helped many Nevada families. However, many have raised the issue of the percentage going to the charity coming from the prize pool. The percentage to the charity was disclosed in the structure sheets during the 11 day event, as well as various places on the website, but the additional percentage that was taken out of the prize pool to pay the charity turned a positive into a negative, which was never our intention. We also agree that the charity component could have and should have been done in a better way not to affect the prize pool.

In the future, CEO Poker is making a commitment to support charities directly through the company, and never as a percentage of the buy-in/prize pool for the tournament. This is a promise that CEO POKER as a company is making to the players, the WPA, and the PPA.

We understand that at this point trust in CEO POKER is an issue for many of you but I sincerely want you to know that we will be making substantial efforts going forward to prevent these issues from ever happening again at any of our events and we are backing this promise with action.

We will contact the Venetian Casino and request a list of all (234) $2,500 main event players and mail them a $100 refund check from CEO POKER TOUR with a letter explaining in detail the reason for the refund. We will send this letter to the WPA for review before mailing the checks.

We have invited a WPA representative, at our expense, to attend all CEO POKER EVENTS in order to assure players that their rights are being considered and concerns addressed on the casino floor at all times. An objective individual, with no direct connection to CEO POKER, in order to ensure that player’s needs are being taken into consideration during the events.

We also would welcome and invite a few members from the forum to directly participate on a newly established CEO POKER Board, to assure that going forward all that we have promised is done and that we continue to improve all the elements of our tournaments for the benefit of the players. Board members would have access to all player materials, marketing pieces, and structure sheets prior to events. Board members would also have direct input into tournament elements.

As we stated to the WPA and PPA, we are serious about making changes to the company that will earn back the trust of the forum and players.

Many of you do not know me personally, and others are judging me based on personal comments made about me through out the forum. I understand that is the way of a forum, and I would never want to stifle free press, however, I do want to address at least one of the comments.

Many have mentioned that I have another site that encourages those that have lost land in Cuba to reclaim it, as if I where scamming people in some way. Please know that I was born in Miami, Florida from Cuban immigrants who came to the US in the 60's after their land was stripped from them by Castro. My father was forced to move his family to Miami, Florida, when Castro’s soldiers met him at his front door step and told him to get out of his property because it was now owned by the government. My partner’s family faced the same situation when his family business was taken away by Castro’s regime. This is not an unfamiliar story for children of Cuban immigrants and it was the reason I created the portal StateofCuba.com.

The portal was opened to give Cuban Americans the ability to reclaim their land, so if and when there was a change in the Cuban government, the list of individuals that posted, with the details of their claims, would be handed over to the Justice Dept. and the new government of Cuba. There is no charge for this, it is clear, on the site. The Justice Dept currently has a list of companies that want to reclaim land in Cuba, that include names from Palmolive, to Bacardi, but not many individuals even understand that they can try and reclaim land in Cuba. Those that have not experienced having their property simply taken from them by force can not understand the premise of the site. The site is a personal project that is important to my family, partner, and me.

Regardless of the personal comments, I want to make sure that all who read this statement understand my commitment to see CEO POKER TOUR take a course of holding tournaments that maintain low dealer and staff rakes and registrations, and that at no time will add any additional fee for a charity or otherwise, as part of the prize pool.

I ask you to read this statement and give CEO POKER an opportunity to make good on the promises that we have made to address your concerns and coordinate tournaments with WPA involvement that you can be proud to play in.

As a new tournament company on the poker scene, with not enough years under our belts, we acknowledge that there were elements of the event that we could have done better. We want players to know that we understand that players had concerns and we are doing our best to address and learn from them, as we work with the WPA going forward to assure the poker community is satisfied with the outcome.

Believe me that I have read all your posts and understand your concerns. We can and will do better, all we ask is for an opportunity to improve and make the changes I have outlined in this statement.

I do want to thank the WPA and PPA, who have been extremely helpful and have worked on behalf of the players regarding this tournament issue. We also want to acknowledge and thank the Two Plus Two website, that provides poker players the opportunity to voice their concerns and be heard, while being a part of real change.



Regards
Maria Gomez
President
CEO POKER TOUR

[/ QUOTE ]

I appreciate this gesture fron the CEO Poker Tour.


$100 is a step in the right direction for these 234 players; but this does not address the hundreds of other players who paid juice in excess of 18-20% at the other Venetian events as well as the Palms and Taj Mahal events.....here are a few examples


Palms CEO Event:

wow in that one they collected $55,800 and paid out just over $40,000? this is insane? Why has this not come to light sooner?

CEO Poker Tournament
Event #1 - No Limit Hold'em
October 23, 2006
Palms
Tournament Schedule
Buy-In $1,500 + $300
Prize Pool $40,105
Entries 31



Taj Mahal Main Event:

i found it. Here are the numbers; they collected $225,000 plus juice from 45 players; here is the breakdown...


EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em Championship Event 6
ROUND: N/A BLINDS: N/A ANTE: N/A PLAYERS LEFT: N/A

BUY-IN $5,000
TOTAL PRIZE POOL $155,200
ENTRIES 45
FINAL RESULTS: May.24 VIEW STANDINGS: May.24
PLACE PLAYER PRIZE/CHIPSPOY POINTS
1Michael Santoro$69,8400
2Charles Minter$38,8000
3Bianco Benedetto$23,2800
4John Aglialoro$15,5200
5Angel Modica$7,7600

There is $70,000 missing???? Acually more than $70,000 I beleive the buyin was $5,150 not $5,000.


Venetian $1,000 Event:


I just checked one of the $1,000 tourneys fron Venetian; in this case they charged a staggering amount of juice as well. They collected $1,075 x 174 players ($187,050) and paid out $158,339.


EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em Event 7
BUY-IN $1,000
TOTAL PRIZE POOL $158,339
ENTRIES 174

1Bryan Watkins$49,085408
2Mike Leah$28,818340
3Aaron Krebs$17,417272
4Mohammad Hamid$14,251204
5Giovanni Rigolli$9,500170
6Charles Denton$7,917136
7Darcy McLeod$6,334102

Venetian Main Event:

$2500 buyin

$100 to Venetian
$150 CEO "site fee"
$125 CEO Charity
$75 Venetian staff


234 entries at $2600 ($608,400)

Final prizepool of $503,100

BUY-IN $2,500
TOTAL PRIZE POOL $503,100
ENTRIES 234

The other Venetian CEO $5000 to %$1000 tourneys all were about 18-20% juiced as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ceopoker1]

Stephen,

First I did tell you that we had over 150 registries, which we did for the $500 event at the Taj. You were there, you should know, you played in those events, and were extremely happy with the turn out, as you stated to us on the first and second day.

May 19th - 258 players
May 20th - 163 players
May 21 - 138 players

Based on the numbers that we had for the first few days we estimated the rest of the days, just like any other tournament.

We did have the number we stated to you for the $500.

We are trying from our end to work with the players, you may not want to believe it and that is your choice. You played in the Venetian event because you were satisfied with the overall turn out of the Taj.


Maria
CEO POKER

[BeaucoupFish]

[ QUOTE ]
That said, we recognize that we could have done even more to make sure that it was extremely clear to all players that there was a charity component at the main event.

[/ QUOTE ]

Such as a tax receipt given to every entrant for the donation amount?

This amount should be refunded to every player who unknowingly made such a contribution.

[ceopoker1]

What 18% did we take at the Taj? At this point that is not true. The rake was not 18% at the Taj. We didnt even have a charity component.

And as I explained in the thread above the numbers above proove we didnt have an 18% or 20% juice. Please look at the pay outs.

My statement I believe addresses what type of action we are ready to take to address the concerns of the players and the forum.

Maria
CEO POKER

[stephenNUTS]

[ QUOTE ]
Stephen,

First I did tell you that we had over 150 registries, which we did for the $500 event at the Taj. You were there, you should know, you played in those events, and were extremely happy with the turn out, as you stated to us on the first and second day.

May 19th - 258 players
May 20th - 163 players
May 21 - 138 players

Based on the numbers that we had for the first few days we estimated the rest of the days, just like any other tournament.

We did have the number we stated to you for the $500.

We are trying from our end to work with the players, you may not want to believe it and that is your choice. You played in the Venetian event because you were satisfied with the overall turn out of the Taj.


Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria,

Before we get into a he said/she said,I normally wouldnt have even played in your pre-lim events,as I SPECIFICALLY asked about the Main Event #s....not the $500,not the $1500,not the Sat.s.As you just stated I played in good faith in just about ALL of them,giving your new company my support,and with the exception of the first Saturdays event,the player turnout was a complete BUST.
At that time I didnt even have a hint about this being a "charity" based tournament and the juice involved,and as I have stated numerous times before,I give to charites of MY own choice,and even if they are not on my list,I think I am entitled to the right to know about the particular charity in detail(as are EVERY other participant) BEFORE I plunk down $5k,where 20% of the prize pool,of the non-existant players anyway is taken out by its officers.

I WILL find out just how much your company profited,how much YOU and WILLIAM recieved ,the amount of the check written out to the charity was,and the amount the respective casino's "charged" you for usage during the tournaments for staff/fees/etc!

I sure hope you dotted all your I's and crossed your T's,as this is NO joke.Based on your Cuba rant ,maybe this is commonplace down there,but it aint going to fly up here.
All I know is I payed the CEO Tour series at the TAJ,as well as ONE event(the $1k at the Venetian)almost $9000,of which a much smaller dollar amount entered the prize pool,than I was led to beleive

Out of curiosity,how do you plan on dealing with each persons individual charitable donation from an IRS standpoint?

My accountants were asking me that specific question today in fact,as this whole thing falls under a completly different set of laws in the IRS's eyes as charities,donations,fraud,P&L statements,etc., as when issues such as these arise,they can get quite complicated,esp. on your end!

~stephen feraca

[stephenNUTS]

[ QUOTE ]
What 18% did we take at the Taj? At this point that is not true. The rake was not 18% at the Taj. We didnt even have a charity component.

And as I explained in the thread above the numbers above proove we didnt have an 18% or 20% juice. Please look at the pay outs.

My statement I believe addresses what type of action we are ready to take to address the concerns of the players and the forum.

Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that until you can go cover all your bases real quick?

I am going to give you ONE word of advice/caution........in todays world of technology/computers there is ALWAYS a papertrail........remember Martha's changed intra-office e-mail?

She only did a mere 6 months for that little blunder!

[ceopoker1]

What are you talking about?

Anyone can verify how many players played at the Taj. And the pay outs can also assist you in determning the number of players. Look at the pay outs for the $500s, an average of 10% got paid.

So the head counts that I stated above are correct based on the pay outs for each event that were always on the website.

Maria
CEO POKER

[PITTM]

am i the only one who hasnt bought pretty much anything this maria person says? she still doesnt seem to understand:

a) general business ethics
b) a standard poker tournament rake structure
c) why people would be upset when you take far more money than you advertise that youre taking.

I think the PPA needs to step in here quick. The whole point of the PPA is to protect players. Showing an organization that their incredibly unethical behavior is unacceptable seems like a natural first step in that progression.

[pokerdoc101]

I read her response and she seemed to address all those issues you mentioned. I also played in her tournament, was treated well, and will give her and the company an opportunity to make right.


Pokerdoc101

[Admo]

[ QUOTE ]
I read her response and she seemed to address all those issues you mentioned.

[/ QUOTE ]

I read your response and thought I'd mention that you and her seem to live at the same address.

[David LoPan]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I read her response and she seemed to address all those issues you mentioned.

[/ QUOTE ]

I read your response and thought I'd mention that you and her seem to live at the same address.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I read her response and she seemed to address all those issues you mentioned.

[/ QUOTE ]

I read your response and thought I'd mention that you and her seem to live at the same address.

[/ QUOTE ]

How do you say...

Game. Set. Match.


/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I read her response and she seemed to address all those issues you mentioned.

[/ QUOTE ]

I read your response and thought I'd mention that you and her seem to live at the same address.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

They don't have to ping. IP number is usually recorded when you post- it's just not displayed for us (the normal users).

[brendanb438]

If a MOD can verify those are the same IP address then CEO needs to be blacklisted by the 2+2 community. Also we can get people to get word published in some of the major mags out there.

-Brendan

[ceopoker1]

I have tried to respond to questions, concerns, made an official statement, and am not hiding from the forum.

I encourage you to join the CEO Board and actually see for yourself how we are changing from the inside, not just what is stated in blogs and forums.

I am sincere when I tell you that CEO POKER is going to do everything it stated in its statement.

Give us an opportunity.

Maria
CEO POKER

[RR]

[ QUOTE ]
What are you talking about?

Anyone can verify how many players played at the Taj. And the pay outs can also assist you in determning the number of players. Look at the pay outs for the $500s, an average of 10% got paid.

So the head counts that I stated above are correct based on the pay outs for each event that were always on the website.

Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Were the chips counted after the tournament in plain view of anyone that wanted to watch? This is the one procedure that any tournament can add so they can show the players they didn't cheat them.

[David LoPan]

paging a Mod

[La Brujita]

The statement is completely inadequate.

As a lawyer and poker player my gut feeling is you are in more trouble than you realize.

[satelliter]

Ditto.

But please don't ban her from the forum. Better to keep her talking.

[Mason Malmuth]

[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[Cornell Fiji]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Mason,

This is one of the few times I have truly laughed out loud at a post on twoplustwo.

The deceit and arrogance showed by Maria is just shocking. Thankfully she has proven time and time again that she is not smart enough to cover her tracks.

I can't wait for your response to her letter.

Steve

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Ouch.

Well, that's a Public Relations Snafu.

[frommagio]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

This is totally precious! When David LoPan posted that semi-accusation, I thought "no way could it be true - nobody could be that clueless."

Now I'm sitting here laughing harder than I can remember. This is going to get uglier and uglier for CEO Poker.

[David LoPan]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

This is totally precious! When David LoPan posted that semi-accusation, I thought "no way could it be true - nobody could be that clueless."

Now I'm sitting here laughing harder than I can remember. This is going to get uglier and uglier for CEO Poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

<---------- went with his read /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[brendanb438]

/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ibluffoldladies]

so busted.

[David LoPan]

[ QUOTE ]
so busted.

[/ QUOTE ]

LawL

[brendanb438]

There's no place for this in a serious discussion like this.

[David LoPan]

D-

we can still keep this civil brendan, even with a few smoking guns...also wtf about that cuba property company? i just read that on the other thread, what is the meaning of this nonsense?

[stickdude]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

So much for giving them a second chance...

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

BOOM! HeadSHOT!


I retract everything I said earlier Maria. I hope stephen sues you for everything including the land in cuba.

I still don't think either account should be banned, but we need to get idi the nigerian to translate the scam language for us.

Also, since this is in the PPA thread, the PPA REALLY need to cut CEO Tourney loose.

[brendanb438]

Maria using a SAF to respond to herself and give herself praise and help her keep the faith? No reason to keep this civil anymore. Move this to BBV4L and let them have fun with Maria and CEO Poker. She has done ruined CEO Poker in the 2+2 community. I don't know her position in the company but if she doesn't get fired over this ASAP then even more props to that wonderfully ran company.

[deleted]

-Brendan

[stickdude]

[ QUOTE ]
Also, since this is in the PPA thread, the PPA REALLY need to cut CEO Tourney loose.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT

[frommagio]

[ QUOTE ]
I read her response and she seemed to address all those issues you mentioned. I also played in her tournament, was treated well, and will give her and the company an opportunity to make right.


Pokerdoc101

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria - It was a good move to proofread your response before posting, and I'm glad to hear that you are treating yourself well.

[stickdude]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I read her response and she seemed to address all those issues you mentioned. I also played in her tournament, was treated well, and will give her and the company an opportunity to make right.


Pokerdoc101

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria - It was a good move to proofread your response before posting, and I'm glad to hear that you are treating yourself well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wouldn't playing in a tournament you are organizing be a wee bit of a conflict of interest?

[David LoPan]

[ QUOTE ]
Maria using a SAF to respond to herself and give herself praise and help her keep the faith? No reason to keep this civil anymore. Move this to BBV4L and let them have fun with Maria and CEO Poker. She has done ruined CEO Poker in the 2+2 community. I don't know her position in the company but if she doesn't get fired over this ASAP then even more props to that wonderfully ran company.

Oh yeah, she probably is a pink sock type of woman.

-Brendan

[/ QUOTE ]

hint hint trying to get them to continue posting for more potential trainwrecks...

[ibluffoldladies]

It seems like Maria just check raised herself...

Will she call?

[kyleb]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[David LoPan]

[ QUOTE ]
It seems like Maria just check raised herself...

Will she call?

[/ QUOTE ]

actually it moreso reminds me of those donks who are first to act after the flop and say "RAISE" rather than "BET"

[stickdude]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It seems like Maria just check raised herself...

Will she call?

[/ QUOTE ]

actually it moreso reminds me of those donks who are first to act after the flop and say "RAISE" rather than "BET"

[/ QUOTE ]

She would have been much better off to be one of those donks that just open-fold.

[frommagio]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for checking up on that Mason guy, you can't trust any of these CEOs anymore.

Can anybody verify that kyleb and Mason's posts were from different IP addresses?

[Dranoel]

Paging Greg Raymer...

Board Member of the PPA & one of us (minus the ME Bracelet /images/graemlins/smile.gif)

What's the next move in handling the CEO Poker Tour fiasco?

[FatalError]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

ceo poker tour + multiaccounting

sounds like an amazing scandal

[Banks2334]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]
Put it on the board.......yessssssssss!
/images/graemlins/heart.gifMason

[Cuba_Libre]

I would like to say that you guys should give Maria a second chance. I met her when I played in the CEO Poker Tour event at the Venetian (which was an extremely well run event) and she was nothing but honest and kind.

You all should really believe that she would never try to deceive anyone and that her ethics are top notch.

I hope to see you in the next CEO Poker Tournament.

Good Luck!

Juan

[kipin]

I am amazed at how LOL hilarious this entire situation is.

Who plans on calling the feds to investigate?

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
What 18% did we take at the Taj? At this point that is not true. The rake was not 18% at the Taj. We didnt even have a charity component.

And as I explained in the thread above the numbers above proove we didnt have an 18% or 20% juice. Please look at the pay outs.

My statement I believe addresses what type of action we are ready to take to address the concerns of the players and the forum.

Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria you have really pinned yourself in a corner. You claim the Taj Mahal entrants were not overcharged. Here are the exact numbers form the prliminary events at the Taj. They follow a similar pattern of excessive juice.



Here are the numbers for the events you claimed werent overcharged.

BUY-IN $550

Prizepool $116,100
Entires: 258

258 x $450 = $116,100
FINAL RESULTS: May.19 VIEW STANDINGS: May.19

$450 of each players $550 went into the Prizepool.

Each Player paid $450 + $100


May 20th 163 entires at $550

Total Prizepool $73,350

163 x $450 = $73,350

Again the players were charged $450 + $100


May 21 138 entries at $550

Total Prizepool $62,100

Guess what

138 x 450 = $62,100

Three tournaments where players paid $450 plus $100 juice

Next was the $1625 buyin

77 Entries

Prizepool of $85,250

This tourney was a staggering $1107 + $518 juice.



Can you dispute these exact numbers?

Every CEO tourney from the Taj, Palms and Venetian all have the same pattern. An entry fee that shows 8-10% juice but an actual 18-20% taken out.

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
I would like to say that you guys should give Maria a second chance. I met her when I played in the CEO Poker Tour event at the Venetian (which was an extremely well run event) and she was nothing but honest and kind.

You all should really believe that she would never try to deceive anyone and that her ethics are top notch.

I hope to see you in the next CEO Poker Tournament.

Good Luck!

Juan

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh teh noes! It is attack of the gimmicks!

[daryn]

R
O
F
L
M
A
O

[daryn]

i really hope someone goes to jail over this blahahaha

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Mason, are you seriously stating that these nice comments about the CEO Poker tour came from Marias own IP address? This is bordering on outrageous.....

[OvrTheTop111]

lol, this thread has become a joke...

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
I would like to say that you guys should give Maria a second chance. I met her when I played in the CEO Poker Tour event at the Venetian (which was an extremely well run event) and she was nothing but honest and kind.

You all should really believe that she would never try to deceive anyone and that her ethics are top notch.

I hope to see you in the next CEO Poker Tournament.

Good Luck!

Juan

[/ QUOTE ]

Just when I thought this thread couldn't get any better. Keep em coming Maria.

[BeaucoupFish]

[ QUOTE ]
Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109974&Number=11141805& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1) and twisterpoker (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109997&Number=11144504& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1) as being shills.

[kipin]

Hint: I think that's a gimmick account.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
What are you talking about?

Anyone can verify how many players played at the Taj. And the pay outs can also assist you in determning the number of players. Look at the pay outs for the $500s, an average of 10% got paid.

So the head counts that I stated above are correct based on the pay outs for each event that were always on the website.

Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]




Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What 18% did we take at the Taj? At this point that is not true. The rake was not 18% at the Taj. We didnt even have a charity component.

And as I explained in the thread above the numbers above proove we didnt have an 18% or 20% juice. Please look at the pay outs.

My statement I believe addresses what type of action we are ready to take to address the concerns of the players and the forum.

Maria
CEO POKER


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Maria you have really pinned yourself in a corner. You claim the Taj Mahal entrants were not overcharged. Here are the exact numbers form the prliminary events at the Taj. They follow a similar pattern of excessive juice.



Here are the numbers for the events you claimed werent overcharged.

BUY-IN $550

Prizepool $116,100
Entires: 258

258 x $450 = $116,100
FINAL RESULTS: May.19 VIEW STANDINGS: May.19

$450 of each players $550 went into the Prizepool.

Each Player paid $450 + $100


May 20th 163 entires at $550

Total Prizepool $73,350

163 x $450 = $73,350

Again the players were charged $450 + $100


May 21 138 entries at $550

Total Prizepool $62,100

Guess what

138 x 450 = $62,100

Three tournaments where players paid $450 plus $100 juice

Next was the $1625 buyin

77 Entries

Prizepool of $85,250

This tourney was a staggering $1107 + $518 juice.



Can you dispute these exact numbers?

Every CEO tourney from the Taj, Palms and Venetian all have the same pattern. An entry fee that shows 8-10% juice but an actual 18-20% taken out.

Post Extras

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
i really hope someone goes to jail over this blahahaha

[/ QUOTE ]


Edit: I mean...

I think stephen contacted his lawyer a couple days ago when this broke..

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]

...Before we get into a he said/she said,I normally wouldnt have even played in your pre-lim events,as I SPECIFICALLY asked about the Main Event #s....not the $500,not the $1500,not the Sat.s.As you just stated I played in good faith in just about ALL of them,giving your new company my support,and with the exception of the first Saturdays event,the player turnout was a complete BUST.
At that time I didnt even have a hint about this being a "charity" based tournament and the juice involved,and as I have stated numerous times before,I give to charites of MY own choice,and even if they are not on my list,I think I am entitled to the right to know about the particular charity in detail(as are EVERY other participant) BEFORE I plunk down $5k,where 20% of the prize pool,of the non-existant players anyway is taken out by its officers...

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Stephen,

I appreciate your concern at being played by Maria to enter this 5k tourney but honestly, the bigger picture for this thread is that the CEO Poker Tour can't explain the missing prize pool money and before that it was the 18% vig and the deceitful way they took most of that out of the players' pocket by hiding it in the fine print, and the way they turned part of it into a charity event without letting the players know in advance. If you got played then that's bad but in the greater scheme of things it's not that big a deal for everyone else- you still played in the event and had a chance to win some money.

RS

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109974&Number=11141805& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1) and twisterpoker (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109997&Number=11144504& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1) as being shills.

[/ QUOTE ]

these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[Mr. Francis]

My friends,

It gives me great pleasure to announce the CEO POKER TOUR - LAGOS ok...featuring a wondrous $50,000 + $1 event from which you must surely benefit greatly...advance registration encouraged, 10% discount if Western Union is used, my friends.

Please PM with questions, I will make all of your dreams come true.

Mr. Francis

[David LoPan]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109974&Number=11141805& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1) and twisterpoker (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109997&Number=11144504& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1) as being shills.

[/ QUOTE ]

these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[/ QUOTE ]

whoa...plot thickens

http://www.impossiblefunky.com/images/archives/issue_9/hack1.jpg

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109974&Number=11141805& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1) and twisterpoker (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109997&Number=11144504& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1) as being shills.

[/ QUOTE ]

these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[/ QUOTE ]

[x] This thread delivers


Plot thickens.

[Mason Malmuth]

[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 and twisterpoker as being shills.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not what I show. They each have the same IP address but it's not the same as Ceopoker.

Best wishes,
Mason

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109974&Number=11141805& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1) and twisterpoker (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109997&Number=11144504& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1) as being shills.

[/ QUOTE ]

these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doesn't she realize that the people on 2p2 are incredible at researching this stuff?

First they find the changed internet documents; now they find that CEO Poker tour has posted self praise under 4 or more aliases....

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109974&Number=11141805& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1) and twisterpoker (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=109997&Number=11144504& Board=WSOP&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1) as being shills.

[/ QUOTE ]

these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="blue">whoa...plot thickens</font>

http://www.impossiblefunky.com/images/archives/issue_9/hack1.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]

David... are we sharing the same brain cell?

[frommagio]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=109974&amp;Number=11141805&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=all&amp;vc=1) and twisterpoker (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=109997&amp;Number=11144504&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=1&amp;vc=1) as being shills.

[/ QUOTE ]

these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[/ QUOTE ]

Could this be the ring of robots playing on Full Tilt!??

[5_year_old_bully]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]


Congratulations Maria Gomez:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f141/stangon18s/retard_prize.jpg

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

...Before we get into a he said/she said,I normally wouldnt have even played in your pre-lim events,as I SPECIFICALLY asked about the Main Event #s....not the $500,not the $1500,not the Sat.s.As you just stated I played in good faith in just about ALL of them,giving your new company my support,and with the exception of the first Saturdays event,the player turnout was a complete BUST.
At that time I didnt even have a hint about this being a "charity" based tournament and the juice involved,and as I have stated numerous times before,I give to charites of MY own choice,and even if they are not on my list,I think I am entitled to the right to know about the particular charity in detail(as are EVERY other participant) BEFORE I plunk down $5k,where 20% of the prize pool,of the non-existant players anyway is taken out by its officers...

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Stephen,

I appreciate your concern at being played by Maria to enter this 5k tourney but honestly, the bigger picture for this thread is that the CEO Poker Tour can't explain the missing prize pool money and before that it was the 18% vig and the deceitful way they took most of that out of the players' pocket by hiding it in the fine print, and the way they turned part of it into a charity event without letting the players know in advance. If you got played then that's bad but in the greater scheme of things it's not that big a deal for everyone else- you still played in the event and had a chance to win some money.

RS

[/ QUOTE ]

um wait.. Its horrible he got screwed, but its not that bad?

The only person with a chance to "win money" was the house. DUCY?

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 and twisterpoker as being shills.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not what I show. They each have the same IP address but it's not the same as Ceopoker.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

their IPs are the same as ceopoker1's registration IP. fwiw all you have to do is look at the email address that ceopoker1 is registered from and I think its pretty doubtful that ceopoker is actually someone named Maria and President of CEO Poker. I would suggest doing an IP search for all users with either the reg or last post IP from ceopoker1.

[David LoPan]

[censored], we all got leveled?

sucks

[flavio321]

i've just emailed my lawyer. do you think it's worth suing them? can we get a class action suit?

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not that you need more proof, but I checked as well and they are identical.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 and twisterpoker as being shills.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



these two along with apokermaniac also share an IP with ceopoker.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not what I show. They each have the same IP address but it's not the same as Ceopoker.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

their IPs are the same as ceopoker1's registration IP. fwiw all you have to do is look at the email address that ceopoker1 is registered from and I think its pretty doubtful that ceopoker is actually someone named Maria and President of CEO Poker. I would suggest doing an IP search for all users with either the reg or last post IP from ceopoker1.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are either of the IP's related to the Cuban lost land URL?

Can you search 2+2 user IP's and find out if a person with 14732 posts is actually posting as ceopoker1 for fun?

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]


Are either of the IP's related to the Cuban lost land URL?



[/ QUOTE ]

I am clueless what this refers to.

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

...Before we get into a he said/she said,I normally wouldnt have even played in your pre-lim events,as I SPECIFICALLY asked about the Main Event #s....not the $500,not the $1500,not the Sat.s.As you just stated I played in good faith in just about ALL of them,giving your new company my support,and with the exception of the first Saturdays event,the player turnout was a complete BUST.
At that time I didnt even have a hint about this being a "charity" based tournament and the juice involved,and as I have stated numerous times before,I give to charites of MY own choice,and even if they are not on my list,I think I am entitled to the right to know about the particular charity in detail(as are EVERY other participant) BEFORE I plunk down $5k,where 20% of the prize pool,of the non-existant players anyway is taken out by its officers...

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Stephen,

I appreciate your concern at being played by Maria to enter this 5k tourney but honestly, the bigger picture for this thread is that the CEO Poker Tour can't explain the missing prize pool money and before that it was the 18% vig and the deceitful way they took most of that out of the players' pocket by hiding it in the fine print, and the way they turned part of it into a charity event without letting the players know in advance. If you got played then that's bad but in the greater scheme of things it's not that big a deal for everyone else- you still played in the event and had a chance to win some money.

RS

[/ QUOTE ]

um wait.. Its horrible he got screwed, but its not that bad?

The only person with a chance to "win money" was the house. DUCY?

[/ QUOTE ]

You think he got screwed? He entered the event that had 41 players who each put up the 5k so he had a chance to win money. Don't confuse this issue with the large vig which is a different issue entirely. I feel bad for him but my point is that this thread is about much larger issues with CEO Poker Tour than one player who says that he was mislead as to the number of people who were going to be entered.

[ibluffoldladies]

it has to be the real CEO poker rep. It was confirmed by the PPA spokesperson...

[David LoPan]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

...Before we get into a he said/she said,I normally wouldnt have even played in your pre-lim events,as I SPECIFICALLY asked about the Main Event #s....not the $500,not the $1500,not the Sat.s.As you just stated I played in good faith in just about ALL of them,giving your new company my support,and with the exception of the first Saturdays event,the player turnout was a complete BUST.
At that time I didnt even have a hint about this being a "charity" based tournament and the juice involved,and as I have stated numerous times before,I give to charites of MY own choice,and even if they are not on my list,I think I am entitled to the right to know about the particular charity in detail(as are EVERY other participant) BEFORE I plunk down $5k,where 20% of the prize pool,of the non-existant players anyway is taken out by its officers...

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Stephen,

I appreciate your concern at being played by Maria to enter this 5k tourney but honestly, the bigger picture for this thread is that the CEO Poker Tour can't explain the missing prize pool money and before that it was the 18% vig and the deceitful way they took most of that out of the players' pocket by hiding it in the fine print, and the way they turned part of it into a charity event without letting the players know in advance. If you got played then that's bad but in the greater scheme of things it's not that big a deal for everyone else- you still played in the event and had a chance to win some money.

RS

[/ QUOTE ]

um wait.. Its horrible he got screwed, but its not that bad?

The only person with a chance to "win money" was the house. DUCY?

[/ QUOTE ]

You think he got screwed? He entered the event that had 41 players who each put up the 5k so he had a chance to win money. Don't confuse this issue with the large vig which is a different issue entirely. I feel bad for him but my point is that this thread is about much larger issues with CEO Poker Tour than one player who says that he was mislead as to the number of people who were going to be entered.

[/ QUOTE ]

from the other thread you can see that Stephen only has unselfish intentions, he advocates everyone being righted by CEO

anyway, my work here is done, lurking from now on

-David

[Cornell Fiji]

When the story first broke I spoke to Maria via email. She is ceopoker1... and apparently she is pokerdoc101, thepokerace1 and twisterpoker too.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What 18% did we take at the Taj? At this point that is not true. The rake was not 18% at the Taj. We didnt even have a charity component.

And as I explained in the thread above the numbers above proove we didnt have an 18% or 20% juice. Please look at the pay outs.

My statement I believe addresses what type of action we are ready to take to address the concerns of the players and the forum.

Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria you have really pinned yourself in a corner. You claim the Taj Mahal entrants were not overcharged. Here are the exact numbers form the prliminary events at the Taj. They follow a similar pattern of excessive juice.



Here are the numbers for the events you claimed werent overcharged.

BUY-IN $550

Prizepool $116,100
Entires: 258

258 x $450 = $116,100
FINAL RESULTS: May.19 VIEW STANDINGS: May.19

$450 of each players $550 went into the Prizepool.

Each Player paid $450 + $100


May 20th 163 entires at $550

Total Prizepool $73,350

163 x $450 = $73,350

Again the players were charged $450 + $100


May 21 138 entries at $550

Total Prizepool $62,100

Guess what

138 x 450 = $62,100

Three tournaments where players paid $450 plus $100 juice

Next was the $1625 buyin

77 Entries

Prizepool of $85,250

This tourney was a staggering $1107 + $518 juice.



Can you dispute these exact numbers?

Every CEO tourney from the Taj, Palms and Venetian all have the same pattern. An entry fee that shows 8-10% juice but an actual 18-20% taken out.

[/ QUOTE ]

Will wait for someone from CEO to dispute these exact numbers....

[MattSuspect]

Maria,

Was this a full time job? If so, what will you do now?

Best,
Matt

[5_year_old_bully]

I found this on their website, you might find it interesting:

[ QUOTE ]

<u>Administrative Board</u>
President: Maria Gomez
CEO: William Peraza, Jr.
Public Relations Officer: Justin Bonomo
Outside Accountant: Arthur Anderson

[/ QUOTE ]

[ridonkulous]

This is one of the all time great threads.

[kipin]

[ QUOTE ]
I found this on their website, you might find it interesting:

[ QUOTE ]

<u>Administrative Board</u>
President: Maria Gomez
CEO: William Peraza, Jr.
Public Relations Officer: Justin Bonomo
Outside Accountant: Arthur Anderson

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

LOOOLOLOLOL

[frommagio]

[ QUOTE ]
Maria,

Was this a full time job? If so, what will you do now?

Best,
Matt

[/ QUOTE ]

[Emperor]

http://www.crazedfanboy.com/nolansnewsstand02/images/chaingang1.jpg

[BeaucoupFish]

Incidentally, did anyone check this one, just for completeness:

Jeff Gordon (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=110398&amp;Number=11187497&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=all&amp;vc=1)
President/CEO
Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
“Embrace the Life of a Child”

[stephenNUTS]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

...Before we get into a he said/she said,I normally wouldnt have even played in your pre-lim events,as I SPECIFICALLY asked about the Main Event #s....not the $500,not the $1500,not the Sat.s.As you just stated I played in good faith in just about ALL of them,giving your new company my support,and with the exception of the first Saturdays event,the player turnout was a complete BUST.
At that time I didnt even have a hint about this being a "charity" based tournament and the juice involved,and as I have stated numerous times before,I give to charites of MY own choice,and even if they are not on my list,I think I am entitled to the right to know about the particular charity in detail(as are EVERY other participant) BEFORE I plunk down $5k,where 20% of the prize pool,of the non-existant players anyway is taken out by its officers...

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Stephen,

I appreciate your concern at being played by Maria to enter this 5k tourney but honestly, the bigger picture for this thread is that the CEO Poker Tour can't explain the missing prize pool money and before that it was the 18% vig and the deceitful way they took most of that out of the players' pocket by hiding it in the fine print, and the way they turned part of it into a charity event without letting the players know in advance. If you got played then that's bad but in the greater scheme of things it's not that big a deal for everyone else- you still played in the event and had a chance to win some money.

RS

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey RS,

I agree 1000%,that I was played like a fine violin by Maria(and feel like a JACKASS no less),but I am NOT,nor want to be the center of of this mess.I am TRYING to put my first hand knowledge to use due to the fact that I was one of the FIRST CEO guinea pigs.I am in no way in this only for ME,as my $9k investmnet did have a "chance" of making some money,but so did everyones else who entered any of the events.The fact is there are OBVIOUSLY monies still unaccounted for from the collected entries/prize pool ratio,and I would venture to say CEO,Maria,and William had a nice payday with those "missing prize pool funds" after each event ,no matter how small the fields were.All I know os WE got cheated and were completely scammed into this underhanded method of running a tournament.I hope the TAJ,and Venetian are prepared for the onslaught to come,as them being only hosts,does not make them the innocent "we didnt know what was going on" victims as well.I cant believe between the casinos themselves ,the NGC,etc that NO-ONE questioned this highly unethical way of creating a fictitious prize pool?

They STILL havnt even addressed that part,and its making make sick!

I am taking this to the mat,because I WILL NOT stand for liers,cheats,scams,etc.in poker or any other thing I decide to venture into.I am on the ENTIRE poker scenes side,and its actually going to "COST" me money in the hope,I see some justice/recoverd fess/funds for all involved,but I feel it is worth evry [censored] penny!

The biggest joke is, I have directly caught her in 10 different lies,and she is back-peddling bigtime each time,and I only want to see EVERONE get what they are fairly entitled to down the road.That would be a COMPLETE refund of the fees collected that were not in the prize pool ,beyond the normal 3-5% costs of any of the thousands of other tournaments out there

Did they think they discoverd a new "Poker Tourney Model" that no-one would notice or care about,and they could just line their pockets with some serious $$$?

I really dont give a [censored] about the money in my own personal case,BUT I know how hard the tournament variance trail is,and a 20% haircut makes it IMPOSSIBLE to overcome.Her attempting to throw a $100 bill to all tells you right there HOW GUILTY they are,and quite insulting!

The funny part is she actually made a comment yesterday about the TAJ not having a charity connected to it originally....HUH,then WHY start at the CEO Venetian then,as I guess this was the brainstorm I predicted days ago?

"How can WE(CEO/maria/william)make some damn money with all this degenerate poker money around in Las Vegas for the WSOP,and future events"

"Lets FINEPRINT a charity,take 18-20% vig,as most poker players cant read nor care anyway,throw them a bone of a prizepool,and then whack up the difference"

Sounds like a pretty big glorified "bait and switch scheme" to me IMO!

Am I missing something else in your post?

Thanks,
~stephen /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[stephenNUTS]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Maria,

Was this a full time job? If so, what will you do now?

Best,
Matt

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

Out of curiosity beside this poll being funny,what is this Cuba thing Maria and William keep reffering too?

Thanks,as I must be missing something with that one,or is it just another deceptive trick to take attention away from the real crux of the problem /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[frommagio]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Maria,

Was this a full time job? If so, what will you do now?

Best,
Matt

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

Out of curiosity beside this poll being funny,what is this Cuba thing Maria and William keep reffering too?

Thanks,as I must be missing something with that one,or is it just another deceptive trick to take attention away from the real crux of the problem /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

From Maria's earlier post:
[ QUOTE ]

Many have mentioned that I have another site that encourages those that have lost land in Cuba to reclaim it, as if I where scamming people in some way. Please know that I was born in Miami, Florida from Cuban immigrants who came to the US in the 60's after their land was stripped from them by Castro. My father was forced to move his family to Miami, Florida, when Castro’s soldiers met him at his front door step and told him to get out of his property because it was now owned by the government. My partner’s family faced the same situation when his family business was taken away by Castro’s regime. This is not an unfamiliar story for children of Cuban immigrants and it was the reason I created the portal StateofCuba.com.

[/ QUOTE ]

Who knows, it could be simply another scam. Let's see if those Cuban exiles who have been "pre-approved for property reclamation" need to send in "good faith money" in order to "secure their claims" once Castro dies.

[Dranoel]

Glad to see the thread is back...


Did it need to be burped? /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Are either of the IP's related to the Cuban lost land URL?



[/ QUOTE ]

I am clueless what this refers to.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria's other scam (http://www.stateofcuba.com/aboutus.html)

[Gullanian]

lol great read A+ would read again

[CaseS87]

Maria- You are the worst scammer ever.

LOLZ

[Paul B.]

lol at this thread. I really hope Maria gets fired.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
lol at this thread. I really hope Maria gets fired.

[/ QUOTE ]

Before she gets fired give her a chance to respond to the latest accusations about the Taj Mahal as well as Venetian events; and to refund moneys to players overcharged for tourney entry fees as she promised.

[iron81]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
lol at this thread. I really hope Maria gets fired.

[/ QUOTE ]

Before she gets fired give her a chance to respond to the latest accusations about the Taj Mahal as well as Venetian events; and to refund moneys to players overcharged for tourney entry fees as she promised.

[/ QUOTE ]
Will anyone care or are you just hoping she digs herself a deeper hole?

[Josem]

[ QUOTE ]
lol at this thread. I really hope Maria gets gaoled.

[/ QUOTE ]


fyp.

maria is the boss of this outfit, not the obedient employee.

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]

...Am I missing something else in your post?

Thanks,
~stephen /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Stephen,

I don't want to harp on this because there is so much more important things going on in this thread so I'll drop it. I appreciate your voice in getting to the bottom of this whole mess.

RS

[W brad]

[ QUOTE ]
lol at this thread. I really hope Maria gets fired.

[/ QUOTE ]

She won't be fired because she is joined at the hip with William.

[ QUOTE ]
Maria Gomez - CEO of StateofCuba.com. Current President of CEOPokerTour.com, enabling CEOs to battle for Chairman of Poker.

Over 20 years in the area of marketing including Vice President of Saatchi Saatchi World Wide, former Director of Public Relations of Bloomingdales, and legislative aide for Senator Dan Coates from Indiana.

William Peraza - President of StateofCuba.com. Current CEO of CEOPoker.net, enabling CEOs to battle for the Chairman of Poker title at The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas in the Fall. Founder and CEO of Reachon.com, the leading opt in email marketing company.


[/ QUOTE ]

What do we know about Reachon.com?

[BeaucoupFish]

[ QUOTE ]
Incidentally, did anyone check this one, just for completeness:

Jeff Gordon (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=110398&amp;Number=11187497&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=all&amp;vc=1)
President/CEO
Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
“Embrace the Life of a Child”

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to bump my own post, but could this be checked?

[shaniac]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
lol at this thread. I really hope Maria gets fired.

[/ QUOTE ]

Before she gets fired give her a chance to respond to the latest accusations about the Taj Mahal as well as Venetian events; and to refund moneys to players overcharged for tourney entry fees as she promised.

[/ QUOTE ]
Will anyone care or are you just hoping to get moneys refunded?

[/ QUOTE ]

[ridonkulous]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Incidentally, did anyone check this one, just for completeness:

Jeff Gordon (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=110398&amp;Number=11187497&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=all&amp;vc=1)
President/CEO
Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
“Embrace the Life of a Child”

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to bump my own post, but could this be checked?

[/ QUOTE ]

If that is fake, I'll be very surprised.

[BeaucoupFish]

[ QUOTE ]
If that is fake, I'll be very surprised.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope it is legit: if it is fake it takes this to a whole new level. That is why I hoped it could be checked.

[Slim Pickens]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Incidentally, did anyone check this one, just for completeness:

Jeff Gordon (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=110398&amp;Number=11187497&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=all&amp;vc=1)
President/CEO
Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
“Embrace the Life of a Child”

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to bump my own post, but could this be checked?

[/ QUOTE ]

They seem legit. They've been around since 1994.

charityinfo link (http://www.charity-charities.org/charityinfo.php?ID=1411812&amp;page=63)

[ridonkulous]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Incidentally, did anyone check this one, just for completeness:

Jeff Gordon (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=110398&amp;Number=11187497&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=all&amp;vc=1)
President/CEO
Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
“Embrace the Life of a Child”

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to bump my own post, but could this be checked?

[/ QUOTE ]

They seem legit. They've been around since 1994.

charityinfo link (http://www.charity-charities.org/charityinfo.php?ID=1411812&amp;page=63)

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he wanted to know if someone from CEOpoker, was posting as the CEO (Jeffery Gordon) of the charity.

[BeaucoupFish]

[ QUOTE ]
They seem legit. They've been around since 1994.

charityinfo link (http://www.charity-charities.org/charityinfo.php?ID=1411812&amp;page=63)

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm talking about the IP of the registered user claiming to represent this real charity, not the charity itself. There are multiple accounts registered that have been identified to link directly to ceopoker1 via IP addresses. We are currently taking the post from the charity representative at face value. Given the shadiness of CEO Poker's dealings on this site, wouldn't it be prudent to also verify this is not associated to ceopoker1? That would be pretty despicable, but her actions so far have been far from honest. Easy enough to check.


Edit: What ridonkulous said /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[iron81]

Ceopoker1 is not matched with the Jeff Gordon account or the Cubalibre account (obvious gimmick). However, it is matched with apokermaniac (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/dosearch.php?Cat=0&amp;Forum=All_Forums&amp;Name=109998&amp;Se archpage=0&amp;Limit=25&amp;&amp;fromsearch=1&amp;fromprof=1), thepokerace1, twisterpoker and pokerdoc101.

Also, don't forget that the key post in this thread wasn't Mason's, it was Admo's. Admo4mod.

[Cornell Fiji]

Lets make a to do list of people to contact tomorrow:
-Gaming Comission
-Las Vegas Attorney General
-Atlantic City Attorney General
-Better Business Bureau (?)
-The 'real' Jeff Gordon
-Poker Players Alliance
-Kathy Raymond of the Venetian
...

[edfurlong]

[ QUOTE ]
Ceopoker1 is not matched with the Jeff Gordon account or the Cubalibre account (obvious gimmick). However, it is matched with apokermaniac (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/dosearch.php?Cat=0&amp;Forum=All_Forums&amp;Name=109998&amp;Se archpage=0&amp;Limit=25&amp;&amp;fromsearch=1&amp;fromprof=1), thepokerace1, twisterpoker and pokerdoc101.



[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not good at english, but I'm taking this to mean the Jeff Gordon account is not matched to any of these accounts.

[Slim Pickens]

[ QUOTE ]
Ceopoker1 is not matched with the Jeff Gordon account or the Cubalibre account (obvious gimmick). However, it is matched with apokermaniac, thepokerace1, twisterpoker and pokerdoc101.

Also, don't forget that the key post in this thread wasn't Mason's, it was Admo's. Admo4mod.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a little slow with pronouns sometimes. Is it correct that ceopoker1 matches apokermaniac, thepokerace1, twisterpoker and pokerdoc101? Is it correct that ceopoker1 does not match with Jeff Gordon or Cubalibre?

[iron81]

[ QUOTE ]
Lets make a to do list of people to contact tomorrow:
-Gaming Comission
-Las Vegas Attorney General
-Atlantic City Attorney General
-Better Business Bureau (?)
-The 'real' Jeff Gordon
-Poker Players Alliance
-Kathy Raymond of the Venetian
-Nevada US Attorney
...

[/ QUOTE ]


[ QUOTE ]
I'm a little slow with pronouns sometimes. Is it correct that ceopoker1 matches apokermaniac, thepokerace1, twisterpoker and pokerdoc101? Is it correct that ceopoker1 does not match with Jeff Gordon or Cubalibre?

[/ QUOTE ]
Correct

Ceopoker1=apokermaniac=thepokerace1=twisterpoker=p okerdoc101
Jeff Gordon
Cubalibre

I'll remind people that haven't seen the Jeff Gordon (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&amp;Board=WSOP&amp;Number=11187497&amp;Sear chpage=1&amp;Main=11130950&amp;Words=+Jeff+Gordon&amp;topic=&amp;S earch=true#Post11187497) post that if it is legit (and it looks that way to me) that CEOPoker did in fact donate the money to the charity. So if this is a scam, the charity money isn't a part of the scam.

[BeaucoupFish]

[ QUOTE ]
Also, don't forget that the key post in this thread wasn't Mason's, it was Admo's. Admo4mod.

[/ QUOTE ]

And to be fair, my suggestion <font color="blue">Mods: Please also check thepokerace1 and twisterpoker as being shills</font> was just because I happened to recall a comment I remembered seeing by PokeReader in another CEO-oriented thread (see final post in this (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&amp;Board=WSOP&amp;Number=11144504&amp;Sear chpage=1&amp;Main=11144504&amp;Words=%2BCEO+%2Blooking+%2B for+&amp;topic=&amp;Search=true#Post11144504) thread)

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What 18% did we take at the Taj? At this point that is not true. The rake was not 18% at the Taj. We didnt even have a charity component.

And as I explained in the thread above the numbers above proove we didnt have an 18% or 20% juice. Please look at the pay outs.

My statement I believe addresses what type of action we are ready to take to address the concerns of the players and the forum.

Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria you have really pinned yourself in a corner. You claim the Taj Mahal entrants were not overcharged. Here are the exact numbers form the prliminary events at the Taj. They follow a similar pattern of excessive juice.



Here are the numbers for the events you claimed werent overcharged.

BUY-IN $550

Prizepool $116,100
Entires: 258

258 x $450 = $116,100
FINAL RESULTS: May.19 VIEW STANDINGS: May.19

$450 of each players $550 went into the Prizepool.

Each Player paid $450 + $100


May 20th 163 entires at $550

Total Prizepool $73,350

163 x $450 = $73,350

Again the players were charged $450 + $100


May 21 138 entries at $550

Total Prizepool $62,100

Guess what

138 x 450 = $62,100

Three tournaments where players paid $450 plus $100 juice

Next was the $1625 buyin

77 Entries

Prizepool of $85,250

This tourney was a staggering $1107 + $518 juice.



Can you dispute these exact numbers?

Every CEO tourney from the Taj, Palms and Venetian all have the same pattern. An entry fee that shows 8-10% juice but an actual 18-20% taken out.

[/ QUOTE ]

Will wait for someone from CEO to dispute these exact numbers....

[/ QUOTE ]

I will await Marias response to these exact Taj numbers when i look at this thread later today.....

[apefish]

I have no idea how this has been overlooked so far... but it is time for Admo's best mspaint ever.


Admo for god.


[x] thread delivers

[RickyRicardo]

MAAAARIIIIAAAAAAAAAAA!

You gots some 'splaining to do!!

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/6786/lucymarketwt0.jpg

[MrWookie]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Incidentally, did anyone check this one, just for completeness:

Jeff Gordon (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=110398&amp;Number=11187497&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=all&amp;vc=1)
President/CEO
Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
“Embrace the Life of a Child”

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to bump my own post, but could this be checked?

[/ QUOTE ]

They seem legit. They've been around since 1994.

charityinfo link (http://www.charity-charities.org/charityinfo.php?ID=1411812&amp;page=63)

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he wanted to know if someone from CEOpoker, was posting as the CEO (Jeffery Gordon) of the charity.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm 99.99% sure this account is legit. It's not Maria, it's from NV, and the e-mail address is from the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.

[Idi the Nigerian]

My friends,

Maria has hired my firm to compensate the hundreds of players who were inadvertently overcharged in the recent poker tournament at the Venetian. In the interests of expediency, I would ask all affected players to PM me with your banking information so that we may direct deposit $100 into each of your accounts.

Alternatively, we can send you a cashier's cheque in the amount of $1000 US dollars. Nigerian banking regulations prevents us from sending cashier's cheques in smaller amounts. We ask that each player cash their cheque, and then mail us the difference at their earliest opportunity. For players who choose this method of reimbursement, you may keep an additional $25 US DOLLARS as compensation.

Maria, pokerdoc101, thepokerace1 and I sincerely hope that this will be a first step in closing the rift that has developed between the poker community and the CEO Poker tour.

Let the healing begin, my friends.

Idi

[ibluffoldladies]

A cameo by the Nigerian just made this my all-time favorite thread on this messageboard.

[AngusThermopyle]

Does PPA have a casino where CEO Poker can hold an event?

How about the casinos that have hosted and profited from the events? What do they say? Will they refuse to host future events?

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
My friends,

Maria has hired my firm to compensate the hundreds of players who were inadvertently overcharged in the recent poker tournament at the Venetian. In the interests of expediency, I would ask all affected players to PM me with your banking information so that we may direct deposit $100 into each of your accounts.

Alternatively, we can send you a cashier's cheque in the amount of $1000 US dollars. Nigerian banking regulations prevents us from sending cashier's cheques in smaller amounts. We ask that each player cash their cheque, and then mail us the difference at their earliest opportunity. For players who choose this method of reimbursement, you may keep an additional $25 US DOLLARS as compensation.

Maria, pokerdoc101, thepokerace1 and I sincerely hope that this will be a first step in closing the rift that has developed between the poker community and the CEO Poker tour.

Let the healing begin, my friends.

Idi

[/ QUOTE ]



[x] Thread Gold
[x] I lol'd

[NickyC]

The Nigerian cameo that pops up on this site from time to time is probably my favorite troll on any message board ever.
Well done.

[Admo]

[ QUOTE ]
So if this is a scam, the charity money isn't a part of the scam.

[/ QUOTE ]

Conning marks into paying for your company's tax credit is the best (read ingenious) part of the scam.

[ESKiMO-SiCKNE5S]

most boring dramabomb evar

[phifediggy]

This thread keeps getting better.

[Dranoel]

I just sent the following email the the PPA General email account:


To Whom It May Concern:

As a member of the PPA (albeit, a free membership) I am troubled by the recent reports of deception &amp; possibly fraud by the CEO Poker Tour. Information has come to light that shows the “tour” has been deceptive in the payouts by withholding a portion of the prize pool.

Chris Raymer stated in the 2ND thread posted below that he is going to bring the matter up to the rest of the PPA Board Members. I feel that the PPA needs to take action and have a visible role in determining what has transpired.

Please let me know that the organization that I am a member of, will take a lead role in investigating the accusations that have been leveled against the CEO Poker Tour.

I thank you for your time, and look forward to your response in the serious matter.

R. Dale Leonard
Virginia Beach, Virginia



Please refer to the following forum threads on 2+2 web site for further clarification:

*********To All CEO Poker Tour Participants******
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...;gonew=1#UNREAD (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&amp;Number=11296434&amp;an=0&amp;page=0&amp;gon ew=1#UNREAD)


PPA should disassociate itself from scandal ridden CEO Poker tour
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...=0#Post11243840 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&amp;Number=11243840&amp;an=0&amp;page=0#Pos t11243840)

[diddlysquat]

"Chris Raymer stated in the 2ND thread posted below that he is going to bring the matter up to the rest of the PPA Board Members."

Chris Raymer is my 2nd favorite player in the world. Bill Ivey is the 1st!

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
"Chris Raymer stated in the 2ND thread posted below that he is going to bring the matter up to the rest of the PPA Board Members."

Chris Raymer is my 2nd favorite player in the world. Bill Ivey is the 1st!

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. My bad. /images/graemlins/blush.gif

Greg Raymer.

[rafiki]

LOL @ the nigerian

As an aside, can anyone rate Maria's looks out of 10 ? Because she's got little going for her otherwise, so I'm really hoping she's a solid 8.

[PITTM]

hahahaha. how on earth does someone become the head of a company when they are that stupid? "Wow, i bet no one will notice all the money missing from the prize pool and i will get off just fine...oh [censored] now im worried, better make another account to praise what i say, that will make everything alll better."

so funny.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

[ QUOTE ]
Paging Greg Raymer...

Board Member of the PPA &amp; one of us (minus the ME Bracelet /images/graemlins/smile.gif)

What's the next move in handling the CEO Poker Tour fiasco?

[/ QUOTE ]

I just wrote and email to the Board stating that we need to either help the players who are going after the CEO PT, or we need to walk away from the whole thing (as opposed to our earlier published position of working with the CEO PT).

There is no doubt that helping the players correlates with our goals in the PPA. The internal question for the Board to decide is whether we should expend some of our resources on this issue, or instead spend those resources on something else that we think would be more helpful to the poker community.

I hope you will all understand this should the PPA choose not to actively get involved going forward.

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[rafiki]

just an aside, I think Raymer is pretty awesome. Pretty down to earth cool guy.

ps: if you check this IP, you will find it's also Gregs.

pps: not really

[Cornell Fiji]

Greg,
I was just about to make a post saying that I think that it is the PPA's responsibility to help out with the legal costs of bringing the CEO Poker Tour to justice.

Just because Stephen Feraca has the resources to pursue this issue himself does not mean that the burden should be placed on his shoulders.

It would be one thing if you had no relationship with the CEO Poker Tour, in that instance it would behoove you to help go after them as it benefits all of us to get scammers out of the poker industry. It is another thing altogether that your organization had endorsed the CEO Poker Tour. In my mind your endorsement absolutely must be rectified or the word of the PPA will be in question in the future.

Please contact Stephen Feraca directly about supporting his legal siege on the CEO Poker Tour.

Please also post here with who I need to contact within the PPA to make my sentiments known.

Thanks again for being proactive on this issue and for your continued presence on this board.

Steve



PS- Greg your PM box is full.

[JaredL]

Greg,

Something you and the PPA board should think about is that (as far as I know at least) the PPA hasn't apparently done anything apparent and tangible to help poker players. That's not to say that the PPA has been worthless or anything close to that, but if I asked you what the PPA has accomplished, unless I've missed something big, it's going to be something along the lines of "we have lobbied congressmen and convinced a couple that are on the fence that the UIGEA is bad and a couple of our supporters that it's a more important issue than they otherwise would have thought."

If you help the players get their money back in this case it will be some good publicity for the organization and put a lot more weight behind other projects that may be more important to poker players in general such as making online poker legal. If people not in the know read say a newspaper article which mentions the PPA as a lobbying group that won't sound nearly as good as a group that is looking out for poker players and ensuring that the games they play are legit and that they are protected from being scammed. This is especially true since one of the arguments of the people in favor of the UIGEA is that playing online makes it a lot more likely that shady dealings are occurring.

As others have said above, I applaud your actions thus far in this matter. I think you should take the next step for the reasons above.

Jared

[Cornell Fiji]

Here is the press release from the CEO website about their partnership with the PPA. I have put comments that I found interesting in bold:

[ QUOTE ]
CEO Poker Tour Partners with Poker Players Alliance

May 1, 2007 -- The CEO Poker Tour (www.ceopokertour.com), where executives battle for the title of Chairman of Poker, is partnering with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) (www.pokerplayersalliance.org), which supports poker player rights, by strategically including PPA in the year long poker tour.

The partnership will include a strong presence at every tournament location to include: placement of PPA items and information in CEO Poker gift bags, poker room banner, CEO Poker website insertion with link to PPA website, logo on direct mail pieces, and more.

"We are excited at the possibility of reaching more potential members through our inclusion in the national CEO Poker Tour," says Michael Bolcerek, President of the Poker Players Alliance. "The Poker Players Alliance is committed to defending the rights of poker players, and we search for opportunities, at strategic poker events through out the country, to further our message of protection of the poker game in the US and globally."

PPA's first strategic marketing presence will be at the CEO Poker Tour, at Trump Taj Mahal, May 19-25, where players will battle over the green felt of the poker table with buy-ins from $500-$5000.
"This is the first time that PPA will be included in a poker tournament kit and will mark an important step in furthering the support of thoughtful legislation to protect the game of poker," says William Peraza Jr. CEO of CEO Poker. "We see this as a long term relationship that will only grow over time."

PPA with over 350,000 members and counting is supporting poker player rights in a variety of ways, including partnerships with companies that believe in the importance of protection of the game.

Poker Players Alliance
The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect poker players' rights

CEO Poker Tour
CEO Poker Tour is an Executive Games company that produces executive games and events, where players network as well as compete for titles, cash and bragging rights. William Peraza, JR., CEO of Executives Games, and Maria Gomez, President of Executive Games, developed the concept of executive entertainment event productions to give players the ability to release stress, have fun and network. Executive Games is the ultimate in player competition.


[/ QUOTE ]


It would be a huge black eye to the PPA if they did not front the legal bill for this fight.

It is already a black mark against them that they would endorse a company as suspect as this on and that they have not already offered to pay the costs to bring them to justice

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
Greg,
I was just about to make a post saying that I think that it is the PPA's responsibility to help out with the legal costs of bringing the CEO Poker Tour to justice.

Just because Stephen Feraca has the resources to pursue this issue himself does not mean that the burden should be placed on his shoulders.

It would be one thing if you had no relationship with the CEO Poker Tour, in that instance it would behoove you to help go after them as it benefits all of us to get scammers out of the poker industry. It is another thing altogether that your organization had endorsed the CEO Poker Tour. In my mind your endorsement absolutely must be rectified or the word of the PPA will be in question in the future.

Please contact Stephen Feraca directly about supporting his legal siege on the CEO Poker Tour.

Please also post here with who I need to contact within the PPA to make my sentiments known.

Thanks again for being proactive on this issue and for your continued presence on this board.

Steve

[/ QUOTE ]

IMO, this isn't going to happen. The PPA is a lobbying organization for the legalization of poker. Playing mediator or ombudsman or whatever isn't in their bag of resources.

Secondly, they cosponsored these tournies and could be listed as a DEFENDANT (coconspirator?)

[TxRedMan]

[ QUOTE ]
Greg,
I was just about to make a post saying that I think that it is the PPA's responsibility to help out with the legal costs of bringing the CEO Poker Tour to justice.

Just because Stephen Feraca has the resources to pursue this issue himself does not mean that the burden should be placed on his shoulders.

It would be one thing if you had no relationship with the CEO Poker Tour, in that instance it would behoove you to help go after them as it benefits all of us to get scammers out of the poker industry. It is another thing altogether that your organization had endorsed the CEO Poker Tour. In my mind your endorsement absolutely must be rectified or the word of the PPA will be in question in the future.

Please contact Stephen Feraca directly about supporting his legal siege on the CEO Poker Tour.

Please also post here with who I need to contact within the PPA to make my sentiments known.

Thanks again for being proactive on this issue and for your continued presence on this board.

Steve



PS- Greg your PM box is full.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFMFT.

Taking a backseat here is not cool. The PPA supported the CEOPT. If the PPA doesn't help (considerably) in rectifying this situation, then I will no longer support the PPA.

[TheChad]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

I have never laughed at ANYTHING authored (speech, typed, etc) by Mason until this!

[TxRedMan]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Can 2p2 do an IP address ping on pokerdoc101 and CeoPoker1, I can venture an educated guess that the IP addresses are identical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are identical.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

I have never laughed at ANYTHING authored (speech, typed, etc) by Mason until this!

[/ QUOTE ]

Mason deserves mad props for the time and effort he's putting into this. I've always had the opinion that Mason made a concentrated effort to avoid getting in the middle of controversy, especially when acting as the head of twoplustwo. For him to dive into the middle of this and support his readers, customers, and fellow poker players is an act of community service.

And no Mason, I'm not blowing smoke up your ass.


-Tex

[stephenNUTS]

Mr, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Please be so kind as to PM me,as I would respect the fact that the PPA is going to step up to the plate with regard to its members,esp. after endorsing the CEO Poker Tour.I will exchange contact #'s after receiving your PM

Thanks You,
~stephen feraca

[Synergistic Explosions]

[ QUOTE ]
Mr, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Please be so kind as to PM me,as I would respect the fact that the PPA is going to step up to the plate with regard to its members,esp. after endorsing the CEO Poker Tour.I will exchange contact #'s after receiving your PM

Thanks You,
~stephen feraca

[/ QUOTE ]

Did the PPA actually endorse them? Or did they just allow them to put the PPA brochure in their tournament literature packages?

[stephenNUTS]

I would say "ANY" involvement whatsoever with a NEW company/entity is basically saying your are behind them in no uncertain terms.
Did they OFFICIALLY endorse them...I dont know?

[PITTM]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Greg,
I was just about to make a post saying that I think that it is the PPA's responsibility to help out with the legal costs of bringing the CEO Poker Tour to justice.

Just because Stephen Feraca has the resources to pursue this issue himself does not mean that the burden should be placed on his shoulders.

It would be one thing if you had no relationship with the CEO Poker Tour, in that instance it would behoove you to help go after them as it benefits all of us to get scammers out of the poker industry. It is another thing altogether that your organization had endorsed the CEO Poker Tour. In my mind your endorsement absolutely must be rectified or the word of the PPA will be in question in the future.

Please contact Stephen Feraca directly about supporting his legal siege on the CEO Poker Tour.

Please also post here with who I need to contact within the PPA to make my sentiments known.

Thanks again for being proactive on this issue and for your continued presence on this board.

Steve



PS- Greg your PM box is full.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFMFT.

Taking a backseat here is not cool. The PPA supported the CEOPT. If the PPA doesn't help (considerably) in rectifying this situation, then I will no longer support the PPA.

[/ QUOTE ]

this was pretty much what i was going to say. if you put your support behind an organization, tell your members they are trustworthy, and it is later found that they scammed your members you HAVE to go after them. especially after the "committed to protecting their players" statement. the board shouldnt even consider walking away. Jared's statement that the PPA hasnt made itself recognizable by single action is a good point. You guys finally have an opportunity to make the people who point that out not have any ammunition. however, if you walk away, your organization becomes pretty much worthless and the players who you represent will no longer wish for you to represent them.

[stephenNUTS]

Well at least I'll have my red,white and blue PPA ribbon lapel pin to wear,when I am out on the town..lol

I made my donation,believing what they stood for,and I certainly hope they come foward and prove that.

A Fellow PPA Member,
~stephen feraca

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What 18% did we take at the Taj? At this point that is not true. The rake was not 18% at the Taj. We didnt even have a charity component.

And as I explained in the thread above the numbers above proove we didnt have an 18% or 20% juice. Please look at the pay outs.

My statement I believe addresses what type of action we are ready to take to address the concerns of the players and the forum.

Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Maria you have really pinned yourself in a corner. You claim the Taj Mahal entrants were not overcharged. Here are the exact numbers form the prliminary events at the Taj. They follow a similar pattern of excessive juice.



Here are the numbers for the events you claimed werent overcharged.

BUY-IN $550

Prizepool $116,100
Entires: 258

258 x $450 = $116,100
FINAL RESULTS: May.19 VIEW STANDINGS: May.19

$450 of each players $550 went into the Prizepool.

Each Player paid $450 + $100


May 20th 163 entires at $550

Total Prizepool $73,350

163 x $450 = $73,350

Again the players were charged $450 + $100


May 21 138 entries at $550

Total Prizepool $62,100

Guess what

138 x 450 = $62,100

Three tournaments where players paid $450 plus $100 juice

Next was the $1625 buyin

77 Entries

Prizepool of $85,250

This tourney was a staggering $1107 + $518 juice.



Can you dispute these exact numbers?

Every CEO tourney from the Taj, Palms and Venetian all have the same pattern. An entry fee that shows 8-10% juice but an actual 18-20% taken out.

[/ QUOTE ]

Will wait for someone from CEO to dispute these exact numbers....

[/ QUOTE ]

I will await Marias response to these exact Taj numbers when i look at this thread later today.....

[/ QUOTE ]



Still waiting for Marias response to these exact numbers (especially the $1625 buy in tourney)..... after she had claimed that the Taj Mahal entrants did not pay 18 - 20% juice......

[braveyoyo]

not only should the PPA fix this QUICK so as not to get a black eye, so to speak, this couldnt help any of our causes incl certain Libertarian VP aspirations.

[Cornell Fiji]

Lol @ doublejoker.

Sorry DJ but Maria is not coming back to the forums. She was caught red handed in several lies and she is unable to refute your numbers which are obviously true and are clear indicators of their theft.

Last night I sent Maria a PM asking her to respond to questions that I brought up in my post (made a couple responses after her statement) and she read my PM at 10:17. While she went on to make other posts in this thread she did not answer my questions because they were too incriminating.

If she were honest she would answer both your questions and mine. For that reason I am confident that we will not hear from her again.

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
not only should the PPA fix this QUICK so as not to get a black eye, so to speak, this couldnt help any of our causes incl certain Libertarian VP aspirations.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's with all the 1st time posters finding this thread? Is it by magic, completely random, or just sheer luck?

Also, what is the reference to the Libertarian VP spew? Did I miss the memo?

[*grendel*]

[ QUOTE ]
I found this on their website, you might find it interesting:

[ QUOTE ]

<u>Administrative Board</u>
President: Maria Gomez
CEO: William Peraza, Jr.
Public Relations Officer: Justin Bonomo
Outside Accountant: Arthur Anderson

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ] Outside Accountant: Aurthur Anderson

I found this pretty funny since Arthur Anderson = BUSTO!

[Cornell Fiji]

Greg Raymer eyeing vice president seat in '08 (http://www.pokerlistings.com/greg-raymer-eyeing-vice-president-seat-in-08)

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
Greg Raymer eyeing vice president seat in '08 (http://www.pokerlistings.com/greg-raymer-eyeing-vice-president-seat-in-08)

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks! I did miss the memo. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Stinky Johnson]

I also don't understand how the PPA could even consider walking from this situation.

I would expect the message from the PPA would be "We will do everything possible to rectify this situation"
rather than "We may choose to simply walk away from this and let the people we are supposed to represent take care of it on their own".

[BigBuffet]

[ QUOTE ]
The Nigerian cameo that pops up on this site from time to time is probably my favorite troll on any message board ever.
Well done.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. But it would be nice if the real Sup Bro gave us his take /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Incidentally, did anyone check this one, just for completeness:

Jeff Gordon (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&amp;User=110398&amp;Number=11187497&amp; Board=WSOP&amp;what=showflat&amp;page=0&amp;fpart=all&amp;vc=1)
President/CEO
Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
“Embrace the Life of a Child”

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to bump my own post, but could this be checked?

[/ QUOTE ]

They seem legit. They've been around since 1994.

charityinfo link (http://www.charity-charities.org/charityinfo.php?ID=1411812&amp;page=63)

[/ QUOTE ]

That doesn't mean that there weren't shenanigans going on. How did CEO pick this charity? Is anyone at either organization related - either by blood or marriage? If the answer to that is yes then I'd expect that this donation was not above board.

[burningyen]

I feel for you guys who lost $$$ to this scam, but I hope you don't lose sight of what the PPA is doing for all of us and force them to divert resources to this legal mess. Did the PPA receive a cut of the entry fees, or were they just co-marketing partners in this?

[PokeReader]

I'll just address the PPA association with the CEO Tours in this post. First, clearly the CEO Tours operators used the PPA "partnership" to help give them credibility as a new player on the tour circuit. Secondly, the PPA clearly had not set up any procedure to verify that any organization that they would associate with meets a minimum standard of conduct. I would hope that they are doing a better job of scrutinizing contributions within the PPA itself, and are meeting federal standards. The PPA needs to set up a validation proceedure that will take place before they "partner" with any organization, they will need to periodically follow up to assure that these standards are mantained. They must require that any and all press that mentions the PPA will be approved by the PPA in advance, and the PPA needs to avoid words such as partnership, which infer a much closer relationship than actually exists. This is crucial to make sure that PPA's name is not tarnished, and because if their name used repeatedly to promote a for-profit company, they could face legal implications with their non-profit status, (what are they anyway, a 527, or 501 (C)(4))?

Not referring specifically to this case, but if a company misrepresents and falsely advertises their product, even negligently, in a long pattern, that constitutes contractual fraud. I sincerely hope that the PPA would immediately severe all ties to this organization, and will do so publically.



PRWeb Apr 25 -- The gears are beginning to turn once again for the Poker Players' Alliane in the inexhaustible quest to have the online game re-legalised in the United States. The PPA has now partnered with the CEO Poker Tour.

The CEO Poker Tour, where executives battle for the title of Chairman of Poker, is partnering with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), which supports poker player rights, by strategically including PPA in the year long poker tour.

The partnership will include a strong presence at every tournament location to include: placement of PPA items and information in CEO Poker gift bags, poker room banner, CEO Poker website insertion with link to PPA website, logo on direct mail pieces, and more.

We see this as a long term relationship that will only grow over time.

"We are excited at the possibility of reaching more potential members through our inclusion in the national CEO Poker Tour," says Michael Bolcerek, President of the Poker Players Alliance. "The Poker Players Alliance is committed to defending the rights of poker players, and we search for opportunities, at strategic poker events through out the country, to further our message of protection of the poker game in the US and globally."

PPA's first strategic marketing presence will be at the CEO Poker Tour, at Trump Taj Mahal, May 19-25, where players will battle over the green felt of the poker table with buy-ins from $500-$5000.
"This is the first time that PPA will be included in a poker tournament kit and will mark an important step in furthering the support of thoughtful legislation to protect the game of poker," says William Peraza Jr. CEO of CEO Poker. "We see this as a long term relationship that will only grow over time."

PPA with over 350,000 members and counting is supporting poker player rights in a variety of ways, including partnerships with companies that believe in the importance of protection of the game.


The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect poker players' rights


CEO Poker Tour is an Executive Games company that produces executive games and events, where players network as well as compete for titles, cash and bragging rights. William Peraza, JR., CEO of Executives Games, and Maria Gomez, President of Executive Games, developed the concept of executive entertainment event productions to give players the ability to release stress, have fun and network. Executive Games is the ultimate in player competition.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/4/prweb521345.htm
http://poker.sportinglife.com/News/story_116787.shtml

[burningyen]

[ QUOTE ]
I would like to say that you guys should give Maria a second chance. I met her when I played in the CEO Poker Tour event at the Venetian (which was an extremely well run event) and she was nothing but honest and kind.

You all should really believe that she would never try to deceive anyone and that her ethics are top notch.

I hope to see you in the next CEO Poker Tournament.

Good Luck!

Juan

[/ QUOTE ]
This deserves a gimmick account medal.

[stephenNUTS]

My gut feeling is telling me that the PPA will be distancing itself from this mess as each post/day passes IMO.

Its JUST as bad publicity-wise for them,as for the CEO Poker Tour,the TAJ/Venetian,and as well as themselves who gave them their blessing in the first place!

NOW lets see if they step up to the plate for the defense of their principle cause.....THE PLAYERS who paid a fee to them as well,for fairness/support in the Poker World

~stephen feraca

[kaiser773]

Suzzer99 posted a note purporting to be from Jeffrey Gordon in the now-locked thread. The mispellings and poor writing style is similar to the choppy style found in some of Maria's notes. I would be surprised if the CEO of a legitimate / established charity would write "recive," "striken" (instead of "stricken"), "physcologically" ("physchologically"), and "rest assured that everything is on the up and up" (would the charity describe itself as "on the up and up"?).


I didn't see this posted anywhere else, and thought it might provide a laugh: http://www.thecommercialexpert.com/. Seamless photoshopping. also note the title of the page.

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
Suzzer99 posted a note purporting to be from Jeffrey Gordon in the now-locked thread. The mispellings and poor writing style is similar to the choppy style found in some of Maria's notes. I would be surprised if the CEO of a legitimate / established charity would write "recive," "striken" (instead of "stricken"), "physcologically" ("physchologically"), and "rest assured that everything is on the up and up" (would the charity describe itself as "on the up and up"?).


I didn't see this posted anywhere else, and thought it might provide a laugh: http://www.thecommercialexpert.com/. Seamless photoshopping. also note the title of the page.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's hideous.

Their heads look photo-shopped on the bodies.

[Nroz]

[ QUOTE ]
I wanted to respond regarding the Taj Event where you stated that $70,000 was missing. This is not correct and let me explain why.

There was an error in the number of players stated on the website, our apologies.

May 23rd - 62 players, previously stated 77.
May 24th - 32 players, previously state 45.

This can be easily verified by the casino.

We have made the correction and stated on the website that a correction was made, so everyone is aware that the original numbers were not correct.

You can verify this just by looking at the number of players paid. Usually about 10% of the player get paid.

May 23rd - 6 players paid.
May 24th - 5 players paid.

Hope this clears up these tournaments. I will send an email to Card Player and Bluff to update those tournament numbers.

Regards
Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Having read this entire thread it seems like this overstatement 'error' of total participants was a dishonest attempt to make the CEOPoker events seem more successful than they actually were. It fits perfectly with this:

[ QUOTE ]
Without the CEO Tour actually sending me a written guarantee,you told me flat out that there were 150+ CEO's,Pro's,players,etc that had deposited $500 to "lock-up" a seat ,and I better sign up before the event sold out!

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems CEOPoker's MO has been to use deception from the very beginning.

It's more than a little scary that people like this can convince properties like the Taj and the Venetian to allow them to run these skimaments in their facilities.

[PokeReader]

I did some more research on the Maria/William combo, and will write it up soon, but thought all would like to know that aside from just being an item, the aforemention couple are married.

ReachOn, an email-driven business development company, uses an audio logo that can be heard when a new lead arrives in a customer's inbox. "The audio logo is our sound identity that penetrates and elevates an emotional response by clients. For us it is efficient marketing; the customer is always within earshot of our brand," explains Maria Peraza, CEO. "The sound message trigger builds a sonic brand and delivers a share of mind that visual branding alone cannot achieve."

http://www.fastcompany.com/resources/marketing/post/111504.html

[GaryTheGoat]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I found this on their website, you might find it interesting:

[ QUOTE ]

<u>Administrative Board</u>
President: Maria Gomez
CEO: William Peraza, Jr.
Public Relations Officer: Justin Bonomo
Outside Accountant: Arthur Anderson

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ] Outside Accountant: Aurthur Anderson

I found this pretty funny since Arthur Anderson = BUSTO!

[/ QUOTE ]


Not to mention that it is misspelled...Arthur Andersen. lol

[chalk7]

[ QUOTE ]
I read her response and she seemed to address all those issues you mentioned. I also played in her tournament, was treated well, and will give her and the company an opportunity to make right.


Pokerdoc101

[/ QUOTE ]

so comical. hi maria.

[doublejoker]

&lt;img src=http://www.reachon.com/images/luismariawilliamcar3copy.jpg&gt;

[doublejoker]

The link is a picture of maria......

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I wanted to respond regarding the Taj Event where you stated that $70,000 was missing. This is not correct and let me explain why.

There was an error in the number of players stated on the website, our apologies.

May 23rd - 62 players, previously stated 77.
May 24th - 32 players, previously state 45.

This can be easily verified by the casino.

We have made the correction and stated on the website that a correction was made, so everyone is aware that the original numbers were not correct.

You can verify this just by looking at the number of players paid. Usually about 10% of the player get paid.

May 23rd - 6 players paid.
May 24th - 5 players paid.

Hope this clears up these tournaments. I will send an email to Card Player and Bluff to update those tournament numbers.

Regards
Maria
CEO POKER

[/ QUOTE ]

Having read this entire thread it seems like this overstatement 'error' of total participants was a dishonest attempt to make the CEOPoker events seem more successful than they actually were. It fits perfectly with this:

[ QUOTE ]
Without the CEO Tour actually sending me a written guarantee,you told me flat out that there were 150+ CEO's,Pro's,players,etc that had deposited $500 to "lock-up" a seat ,and I better sign up before the event sold out!

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems CEOPoker's MO has been to use deception from the very beginning.

It's more than a little scary that people like this can convince properties like the Taj and the Venetian to allow them to run these skimaments in their facilities.

[/ QUOTE ]

They have not responded since i posted the exact Taj Mahal numbers yesterday in this thread.....

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
&lt;img src=http://www.reachon.com/images/luismariawilliamcar3copy.jpg&gt;

[/ QUOTE ]

Fixed it for you...

http://www.reachon.com/images/luismariawilliamcar3copy.jpg

[stephenNUTS]

Thats them alright,I just dont see the gun and the mask used during these hold-ups, anywhere else in the photo though?

Who's the third guy?
The getaway driver?

~stephen /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[pa3lsvt]

Somebody needs to photoshop some Nigerians in that pic of "The Team".

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
Somebody needs to photoshop some Nigerians in that pic of "The Team".

[/ QUOTE ]

If so, that should be done in a new thread.

So not to derail the purpose of this thread.

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
The PPA should disassociate itself immediately from the CEO Poker Tour. The tour has shown a repeated pattern of misleading marketing and incredibly high fees that do not benefit the poker player rights in any way...

Poker Players Alliance: Press Releases
CEO Poker Tour Partners with Poker Players Alliance
by Maria Gomez, CEO Poker Tour

CEO Poker Tour Partners with Poker Players Alliance

The CEO Poker Tour (www.ceopokertour.com), where executives battle for the title of Chairman of Poker, is partnering with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) (www.pokerplayersalliance.org), which supports poker player rights, by strategically including PPA in the year long poker tour.

(PRWEB) April 25, 2007 -- The CEO Poker Tour (www.ceopokertour.com), where executives battle for the title of Chairman of Poker, is partnering with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) (www.pokerplayersalliance.org), which supports poker player rights, by strategically including PPA in the year long poker tour.

The partnership will include a strong presence at every tournament location to include: placement of PPA items and information in CEO Poker gift bags, poker room banner, CEO Poker website insertion with link to PPA website, logo on direct mail pieces, and more.

"We are excited at the possibility of reaching more potential members through our inclusion in the national CEO Poker Tour," says Michael Bolcerek, President of the Poker Players Alliance. "The Poker Players Alliance is committed to defending the rights of poker players, and we search for opportunities, at strategic poker events through out the country, to further our message of protection of the poker game in the US and globally."

PPA's first strategic marketing presence will be at the CEO Poker Tour, at Trump Taj Mahal, May 19-25, where players will battle over the green felt of the poker table with buy-ins from $500-$5000.

"This is the first time that PPA will be included in a poker tournament kit and will mark an important step in furthering the support of thoughtful legislation to protect the game of poker," says William Peraza Jr. CEO of CEO Poker. "We see this as a long term relationship that will only grow over time."

PPA with over 350,000 members and counting is supporting poker player rights in a variety of ways, including partnerships with companies that believe in the importance of protection of the game.

Poker Players Alliance
The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect poker players' rights

CEO Poker Tour
CEO Poker Tour is an Executive Games company that produces executive games and events, where players network as well as compete for titles, cash and bragging rights. William Peraza, JR., CEO of Executives Games, and Maria Gomez, President of Executive Games, developed the concept of executive entertainment event productions to give players the ability to release stress, have fun and network. Executive Games is the ultimate in player competition.


Author Contact Info: Maria Gomez, CEO Poker Tour

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't have the press release in front of me, but I sure hope that it really wasn't worded that way. The PPA never was a sponsor of the CEO Poker Tour, or a sponsor of any outside entity. The main reason the PPA got involved with teh CEO PT was just to get their help in raising members by having advertising present at CEO PT events. At least, that is my present understanding. If our relationship with the CEO PT was more than that, I was unaware of it.

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[stephenNUTS]

Well Greg,based on that response and your ignoring my request to contact me for HELP, "the PPA did get involved just to get their help in raising members by having advertising" ............the way I see it, the PPA IS INVOLVED!

Sorry if you dont agree ,but it seems like abit of back-peddling to me?
~stephen feraca /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[MicroBob]

deleted - somebody already fixed the photo

[ibluffoldladies]

Apparently, I'm a PPA member, since I get emails from them claiming that. I eagerly await the PPA response to this thread, but I also feel jaded that they would associate with people like this. Anything less than legal action would garner a no-confidence vote from me.

[GaryTheGoat]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The PPA should disassociate itself immediately from the CEO Poker Tour. The tour has shown a repeated pattern of misleading marketing and incredibly high fees that do not benefit the poker player rights in any way...

Poker Players Alliance: Press Releases
CEO Poker Tour Partners with Poker Players Alliance
by Maria Gomez, CEO Poker Tour

CEO Poker Tour Partners with Poker Players Alliance

The CEO Poker Tour (www.ceopokertour.com), where executives battle for the title of Chairman of Poker, is partnering with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) (www.pokerplayersalliance.org), which supports poker player rights, by strategically including PPA in the year long poker tour.

(PRWEB) April 25, 2007 -- The CEO Poker Tour (www.ceopokertour.com), where executives battle for the title of Chairman of Poker, is partnering with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) (www.pokerplayersalliance.org), which supports poker player rights, by strategically including PPA in the year long poker tour.

The partnership will include a strong presence at every tournament location to include: placement of PPA items and information in CEO Poker gift bags, poker room banner, CEO Poker website insertion with link to PPA website, logo on direct mail pieces, and more.

"We are excited at the possibility of reaching more potential members through our inclusion in the national CEO Poker Tour," says Michael Bolcerek, President of the Poker Players Alliance. "The Poker Players Alliance is committed to defending the rights of poker players, and we search for opportunities, at strategic poker events through out the country, to further our message of protection of the poker game in the US and globally."

PPA's first strategic marketing presence will be at the CEO Poker Tour, at Trump Taj Mahal, May 19-25, where players will battle over the green felt of the poker table with buy-ins from $500-$5000.

"This is the first time that PPA will be included in a poker tournament kit and will mark an important step in furthering the support of thoughtful legislation to protect the game of poker," says William Peraza Jr. CEO of CEO Poker. "We see this as a long term relationship that will only grow over time."

PPA with over 350,000 members and counting is supporting poker player rights in a variety of ways, including partnerships with companies that believe in the importance of protection of the game.

Poker Players Alliance
The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect poker players' rights

CEO Poker Tour
CEO Poker Tour is an Executive Games company that produces executive games and events, where players network as well as compete for titles, cash and bragging rights. William Peraza, JR., CEO of Executives Games, and Maria Gomez, President of Executive Games, developed the concept of executive entertainment event productions to give players the ability to release stress, have fun and network. Executive Games is the ultimate in player competition.


Author Contact Info: Maria Gomez, CEO Poker Tour

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't have the press release in front of me, but I sure hope that it really wasn't worded that way. The PPA never was a sponsor of the CEO Poker Tour, or a sponsor of any outside entity. The main reason the PPA got involved with teh CEO PT was just to get their help in raising members by having advertising present at CEO PT events. At least, that is my present understanding. If our relationship with the CEO PT was more than that, I was unaware of it.

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[/ QUOTE ]

I see your point Greg. Edit: Limited or general partners?

Does FossilMan = doublejoker? I am confused again.

[teddyFBI]

[ QUOTE ]


Does FossilMan = doublejoker? I am confused again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm...did Greg just 'out' his 2p2 gimmick account??

[gobbomom]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Does FossilMan = doublejoker? I am confused again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm...did Greg just 'out' his 2p2 gimmick account??

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, I caught that, too. Thought I was seeing things at first.

[shaniac]

No, Doublejoker is someone different who doesn't know how to use quoting features properly.

[MicroBob]

He just quoted Greg from a different thread guys. Relax.

[ericicecream]

[ QUOTE ]
Apparently, I'm a PPA member, since I get emails from them claiming that. I eagerly await the PPA response to this thread, but I also feel jaded that they would associate with people like this . Anything less than legal action would garner a no-confidence vote from me.

[/ QUOTE ]

A couple points here. Lots of players associated with CEO PT also. And this missing prize money went on for several events before anybody noticed/spoke up.

Granted, the PPA should be held a bit more accountable for associating actions than should players and should be a bit more involved/aware of the business practices of organizations which they attach their name to. But at the same time, I think you can cut them a little slack in this matter. Their main goals right now are and should be to increase membership and to fight for a change on the internet front. One way to do this is to get more of a presence at events.

I certainly don't mean they should be absolved from any fault by their association with CEO PT, or that they should just walk away now that this situation has been brought to light. But if they can lend a hand in bringing this situation to a satisfactory conclusion, I think it is more than reasonable for PPA members to view their association with CEO PT as a forgivable mistake from a young association that seems to have good intentions. Hopefully, when this is concluded, the PPA will see this as a learning experience.

Note to Greg/PPA: I also think this is a great opportunity for the PPA to step up and show how great of an organization it can be for the time going forward.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Apparently, I'm a PPA member, since I get emails from them claiming that. I eagerly await the PPA response to this thread, but I also feel jaded that they would associate with people like this . Anything less than legal action would garner a no-confidence vote from me.

[/ QUOTE ]

A couple points here. Lots of players associated with CEO PT also. And this missing prize money went on for several events before anybody noticed/spoke up.

Granted, the PPA should be held a bit more accountable for associating actions than should players and should be a bit more involved/aware of the business practices of organizations which they attach their name to. But at the same time, I think you can cut them a little slack in this matter. Their main goals right now are and should be to increase membership and to fight for a change on the internet front. One way to do this is to get more of a presence at events.

I certainly don't mean they should be absolved from any fault by their association with CEO PT, or that they should just walk away now that this situation has been brought to light. But if they can lend a hand in bringing this situation to a satisfactory conclusion, I think it is more than reasonable for PPA members to view their association with CEO PT as a forgivable mistake from a young association that seems to have good intentions. Hopefully, when this is concluded, the PPA will see this as a learning experience.

Note to Greg/PPA: I also think this is a great opportunity for the PPA to step up and show how great of an organization it can be for the time going forward.

[/ QUOTE ]

Eric,

Thanks for a very cogent response. Also, I'd like to remind those expecting action from the PPA to realize we are an organization with a Board, all of us busy people who do it for free, and as such things can move slowly sometimes. The connection the PPA had/has with the CEO PT was done by our President without Board input, and thus happened more quickly. Now that the Board is aware of these concenrns about the CEO PT, we are getting involved, but things are not going to happen overnight.

Also, whatever my personal opinion is about how the PPA should deal with this, I can't make any promises. I'm only 1/10th of the Board, and the final decision might not be in line with my opinion. So, I've been trying to assure you that the intentions of the PPA are good, and that we want to achieve positive things. However, I've been trying to make it clear that what the PPA ends up doing might not be exactly what you, or I, would like.

Also, for those of you trying to contact me personally, I'll try to free up some room in my inbox here on 2+2.

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Does FossilMan = doublejoker? I am confused again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm...did Greg just 'out' his 2p2 gimmick account??

[/ QUOTE ]

No i cut and pasted his response from the other thread... sorry for the confusion

[doublejoker]

Is there any truth to the rumor that the CEO Event sheduled for August at the Venetian has been renoved from their listed schedule on the internet?

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
Is there any truth to the rumor that the CEO Event sheduled for August at the Venetian has been renoved from their listed schedule on the internet?

[/ QUOTE ]

On the site is this link

CPT CUP at the Venetian --Aug 29-Sept 9

Think you have what it takes to be the Chairman of Poker? Aug 29-Sept 9 play for the crystal cup, bracelet, cash, and bragging rights.

When you click on it the next event shown is at Caesars November 26 to December 3

CEO POKER TOUR CHAIRMAN OF POKER

Caesars Palace
(Las Vegas)

Sponsored by
High Limit Magazine (highlimitmagazine.com)

Mason, do you know anyone at High Limit Magazine? They may not want to sponsor this event after whats gone on so far....

[Mason Malmuth]

[ QUOTE ]
Mason, do you know anyone at High Limit Magazine?

[/ QUOTE ]

I never even heard of High Limit Magazine. There is a High Roller Magazine but I'm pretty sure that's something completely different. Anyway, I clicked on http://highlimitmagazine.com/. It's interesting, and I'm sure that a few of you may want to comment on it.

Best wishes,
Mason

[David LoPan]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mason, do you know anyone at High Limit Magazine?

[/ QUOTE ]

I never even heard of High Limit Magazine. There is a High Roller Magazine but I'm pretty sure that's something completely different. Anyway, I clicked on http://highlimitmagazine.com/. It's interesting, and I'm sure that a few of you may want to comment on it.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

LoL, is there any angle that these people aren't playing...that is a fantastic link Mason!

[Dranoel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mason, do you know anyone at High Limit Magazine?

[/ QUOTE ]

I never even heard of High Limit Magazine. There is a High Roller Magazine but I'm pretty sure that's something completely different. Anyway, I clicked on http://highlimitmagazine.com/. It's interesting, and I'm sure that a few of you may want to comment on it.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

We need a new thread started about High Limit Magazine!

What a load of [censored]!

[ibluffoldladies]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mason, do you know anyone at High Limit Magazine?

[/ QUOTE ]

I never even heard of High Limit Magazine. There is a High Roller Magazine but I'm pretty sure that's something completely different. Anyway, I clicked on http://highlimitmagazine.com/. It's interesting, and I'm sure that a few of you may want to comment on it.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Who wants to give an over/under on the real subscription number?

[ QUOTE ]
AD PRICING

1 FULL PAGE AD (602 X 810) - $1000, sent 1 time, in 1 month, to 100,000 subscribers.
2 FULL PAGE ADS (602 X 810) - $1,500, (2) full page ads, in same issue OR in different issues. Each ad to be sent to 100,000 subscribers, for total of 200,000 reach.

[/ QUOTE ]

[David LoPan]

Are Maria and the other guy rich?

With all these ponzi schemes going, they must be loaded...real estate, poker tournaments, magazine publishers, cuban property consultants, where does it end?

[OvrTheTop111]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mason, do you know anyone at High Limit Magazine?

[/ QUOTE ]

I never even heard of High Limit Magazine. There is a High Roller Magazine but I'm pretty sure that's something completely different. Anyway, I clicked on http://highlimitmagazine.com/. It's interesting, and I'm sure that a few of you may want to comment on it.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]


Cardplayer and Bluff had better watch out. Theres a new magazine on the scene! LOL

[Aristotal]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
High Limit Magazine?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://highlimitmagazine.com/.

[/ QUOTE ]
No surprise here.......... What an interesting coincidence that every one of their 6 staff writers have the exact same writing style, right down to the bad punctuation, incorrect word usage, conflicting word tenses, indiscriminate use of a thesaurus...

It seems that everything written from them has come from Pereza's keyboard.

I wonder if their advertisers are aware that the big staff of writers appears to be just one person.


Also... if Pereza is, in fact masquerading as all these writers, as well as the phantom posters on 2plus2, perhaps he also dresses up as Maria when required for photo ops... Has anyone on here had any 'substantial and convincing' contact with Maria to know for sure that she isn't he? ... 1st hand experience would be sufficient here, I don't think photo evidence is required or even desired in this instance.

Pereza=thepokerace1=twisterpoker=TomStraw=CindyCas tillo=JimRobinson=JohnBlake=MariaFerguson=RichardT rent= ...Maria Gomez?? ... My gawd, how does he keep it all straight?

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mason, do you know anyone at High Limit Magazine?

[/ QUOTE ]

I never even heard of High Limit Magazine. There is a High Roller Magazine but I'm pretty sure that's something completely different. Anyway, I clicked on http://highlimitmagazine.com/. It's interesting, and I'm sure that a few of you may want to comment on it.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

The story called Chairman of Poker by Cindy Castillo is priceless... Can someone find a way to display that story? I cant copy it or even link to it...

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mason, do you know anyone at High Limit Magazine?

[/ QUOTE ]

I never even heard of High Limit Magazine. There is a High Roller Magazine but I'm pretty sure that's something completely different. Anyway, I clicked on http://highlimitmagazine.com/. It's interesting, and I'm sure that a few of you may want to comment on it.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

The story called Chairman of Poker by Cindy Castillo is priceless... Can someone find a way to display that story? I cant copy it or even link to it...

[/ QUOTE ]

The next page has a video interview with William Perazza ... cant figure out how to send the link for that either though

[Spook]

http://www.highlimitmagazine.com/circulation.htm

High Limit's demographics, and at the bottom...

Source: September 2003 Card Player Reader Survey

edit: Here is the original source, the numbers and questions have been changed, but at the bottom is the exact same line as Source... http://www.cardplayer.com/media_kit/circulation

[Professionalpoker]

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.highlimitmagazine.com/circulation.htm

High Limit's demographics, and at the bottom...

Source: September 2003 Card Player Reader Survey

[/ QUOTE ]

From above page...We are the ONLY magazine that sends e-zines to a targeted audience of over 100,000 poker players
and gamblers via email twice per month.

Um - anyone here on the email list?

[daryn]

hahahaha their subscription list = how many email addys they spam to

[bronx bomber]

Also... if Pereza is, in fact masquerading as all these writers, as well as the phantom posters on 2plus2, perhaps he also dresses up as Maria when required for photo ops... Has anyone on here had any 'substantial and convincing' contact with Maria to know for sure that she isn't he?
Maria is all woman, I assure you-and she does not lie. After a night of wining and dining me (paid for with a credit card in the name of one Steve Faraca, but thats an entirely different story....) she took me back to her house to seduce me. As her dress fell to the floor my eyes were locked on her rather smallish (some would say man sized) breasts, and i could not help myself i commented about the large thatch of grey hair surrounding said boobies. She immediately put my concerns to rest as apparently many cuban women have this affliction. As my eyes roamed further down her body i refrained from making the same mistake again when i noticed a rather large stomach protruding over the band of her Hanes underwear. (she did drink copious amouts of beast Lite BTW) I waited breathlessly as she rolled he hanes undies over her hips and down her hairy muscular thighs with her Seinfeld date hands and was truly amazed when she stood up- for there, nestled in the middle of her greyed love nest appeared to be a penis. Maria, being the wonderful person that she is, immediately assured me that everything was OK- it seems women in her family are blessed with over large clitoris's. As I again breathed a sigh of relief she asked me if I was up for some hot sex Cuban style. Not wanting to be one to kiss and tell i will leave the rest up to your imagination- but let me finish with this, Maria is a squirter.
DISCLAIMER- NONE OF THE ABOVE IS TRUE PLEASE DONT SUE ME

[doublejoker]

LOL just found williams MYSPACE account

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&amp;friendid=665 38118

[suzzer99]

Holy crap this just gets nuttier and nuttier.

By the way that email from Jeff Gordon came in to my work account. I'll post it again with full headers and you guys can examine it. I really think we should start looking into that charity. The whole thing could be a front.

[SherlockH]

It seems William and Maria have created their own childrens charity - http://www.firebasesoftware.com/PR%20New...%20Needy%20Kids (http://www.firebasesoftware.com/PR%20News%20Releases/Business/Real%20Estate/Kidinvest%20Charity%20Targets%20Professionals%20Pr ofiting%20from%20the%20Real%20Estate%20Boom%20to%2 0Help%20Needy%20Kids)

[edfurlong]

[ QUOTE ]
305-761-4371

[/ QUOTE ]

Trip reports?

[doublejoker]

[ QUOTE ]
It seems William and Maria have created their own childrens charity - http://www.firebasesoftware.com/PR%20New...%20Needy%20Kids (http://www.firebasesoftware.com/PR%20News%20Releases/Business/Real%20Estate/Kidinvest%20Charity%20Targets%20Professionals%20Pr ofiting%20from%20the%20Real%20Estate%20Boom%20to%2 0Help%20Needy%20Kids)

[/ QUOTE ]

Real estate industry professionals are experiencing incredible good furtune with the current real estate boom. Kidinvest.com a charity targeting real estate professionals, wants to give these individuals the opportunity to give back.

William Peraza, founder of KidInvest and President of Reachon.com Email Marketing Co. and Maria Gomez, co-founder of KidInvest and a Realtor at Keller Williams Miami Realty Inc. team, are asking Realtors, developers, architects, builders, closing lawyers, and mortgage brokers, individuals that are profiting from the real estate boom all over the US, to invest in needy children by: pledging time, making donations, and giving a percentage of their commission/fee to Kidinvest after a real estate closing. Kidinvest will also be coordinating real estate professional networking events to raise funds.

Every dollar the charity receives is used to assist a needy child. That is the dream Peraza and Gomez had when they created the charity. They wanted a way for real estate professionals to directly connect with those that need time and money the most--children.

"Real Estate professionals are already making a difference making dreams come true for so many families, as they help find dream homes and investment properties, and it is a natural step for these individuals to make dreams come true for kids," says Peraza founder of KidInvest and President of Reachon.com Email Marketing Co.

Millions of children every year are abused, homeless, and end up in the foster care system. Gomez and Peraza have decided to make a difference in the tomorrows of these children by giving donations directly to these needy kids from every real estate closing, while encouraging other real estate professionals to do the same.

After making a donation, donors receive a monthly newsletter detailing what Kidinvest is accomplishing with the donation. Kidinvest will also highlight all donors, with images and bio, in thier newsletter that will be sent to an over 50,000 member database--a great way to promote real estate professionals and to do something good for kids.

100% of your donation goes to needy children. Not one penny goes to administrative costs.

If you want more information on Kidinvest please contact Maria Gomez (www.thecommercialexpert.com), residential and commercial Realtor, at e-mail protected from spam bots or calling 305-761-4371.

You can also log on to Kidinvest.com for more information or to make a donation.

[LouKadeez]

Are they originally from Nigeria?

[David LoPan]

I guess all it takes these days to be a CEO is a website and a tax-ID number.

I find it ironic that a successful business owner might have one, maybe two profiting business, however 7 or 8 non-profitable businesses is just comical.