I posted a message similar to this recently on another thread, but it seems better for here.
We can't tell if the payout is correct until we know the total number of weekly and monthly qualifiers that were existing and unused at the time the tournament was cancelled (of course we know there were 1000 Grand Final entrants).
So, I sent a cordial email to empire poker at
[email protected] requesting this data. Here it is:
[ QUOTE ]
Hello,
I am a player who won an entry into the Empire Poker / Party Poker Monster Grand Final online tournament. I have just digested the breakdown of how you calculated the $1,800.72 cash value of my entry (you posted your calculations at
https://secure.partyaccount.com/mons..._monster.htm).
It appears that you are in error when you divide the Grand Final $14,405,786 Prize Pool by 8,000 players to arrive at the $1,800.72 per player value, since there are in fact only 1000 players who had qualified for it at the time you cancelled the tournaments.
I believe the fair and accurate way to value this is to assume that all of the pending weekly and monthly qualifiers would have ultimately resulted in one more group of 1000 making it to the Grand Final. So, at most half of the $14,405,786 Prize Pool should be allocated to them and the other half should go to the existing 1000 Grand Final qualifiers. Thus, $7,200,000 should be distributed fairly to the weekly and monthly qualifiers who existed at the time the tournament was cancelled. The remaining $7,200,000 should be divided equally amongst the 1000 players who had qualified for the Grand Final at the time you cancelled the tournaments. Thus, my entry should be worth $7,200.
There is much confusion over this on the two plus two forums:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...t=all&vc=1
I think it would help me understand this much better and perhaps even explain it to others on the forum if I had some additional information about the correct numbers of the various qualifiers from you so I can calculate what this all means. I know there were 1000 players who had qualified for the Grand Final at the time you cancelled the tournaments.
Please tell me the total number of weekly qualifiers who existed at the time the tournament was cancelled and the total number of monthly qualifiers who existed at the time the tournament was cancelled. I assume this is not confidential since you had it all displayed in the game lobby up until you cancelled the tournaments.
If the numbers you provide show that you are paying out the entire $14,405,786 Prize Pool, then it would be hard for anyone to dispute your formula. Conversely, if less than the $14,405,786 Prize Pool is being paid out, then there must be an error. Perhaps you could post this on the two plus two forum and clear up the present controversy.
I am sure you want to treat everyone fairly and maintain the pristine reputation you possess in the online gaming community. I assume if there has been an error, it was an honest one and I do not mean to question your integrity. I also recognize that my assumptions may be wrong or there may be factors I am not aware of at this time. If that is the case, please explain where I am mistaken.
Thank you and I look forward to your response.
[/ QUOTE ]
Here is the reply I just got:
[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately, the structure of the EmpirePoker.com Monster made it untenable to continue with the tournament once the act became law, and it was discontinued. We have converted pending Monster Freerolls into equivalent cash amounts. If you had any unused Monster Freerolls, you can log in to your My Account to convert them into cash and see how the amounts were calculated.
We came up with what we thought was a fair and equitable distribution for each unused freeroll. Thus the determined values of the monster freerolls will not be changed.
Thank you for choosing us as your online gaming site!
Sonia
Poker Customer Care
[/ QUOTE ]
Rather than argue over the formula (the confusion divides and weakens us), and speculate about the fairness, etc., we should all be
making a unified and consistent push to get Party to publicly divulge the complete numbers to compile a full accounting of the $14,405,786 Prize Pool. The fact they won't do so is all the proof anyone should need that they have not been fair.
So let's send emails to Party specifically demanding this. And, let's start emailing all the major poker web sites (cardplayer.com, pokerlistings.com, pokerpages.com, etc.) and all the news outlets we can think of (CNN, CNBC, London Stock Exchange, etc.) to make this public. Perhaps if enough publicity is generated, Party will be forced to do the right thing.
Power to the People!