[Rottersod]

The way I see it, it looks like this thread has accomplished quite a lot in just a couple of weeks. The biggest things is that any future CEO Poker Tour tourneys will have the standard vig that pro's and regular players have come to expect. Also, they said that there wouldn't be any charity deductions from the players prize pool. In addition you get the opportunity to confront them at the next tourney.

The things that still need to be settled are the discrepancy between the posted prize pools and the actual amounts paid out for the past tourneys, and the refund to the players of the extra vig that was taken out without their knowledge before they entered the tourneys. As to the former, this is something that the PPA can work with the CEO Poker Tour execs with to go through the paper trail of records that should exist for each of the tourneys, compare the number of players who played and payed and compare the amounts paid out from canceled checks, receipts, bank statements, etc. It's not that hard to do assuming there are adequate records. If they find differences or if there aren't records, or if the CEO Poker Tour doesn't give them access then the PPA should have no problem disassociating themselves with that company.

Last week Maria Gomez offered to pay every player who had entered an event $100 as a refund. The PPA should be able to negotiate with them to get a higher refund.

The things I've written above need to happen privately between the two organizations and not publicly on an internet board. Real negotiations do not take place on an anonymous internet forum where nuances can be misinterpreted and where personal agendas can overwhelm any rational discussions. They take time. Records have to be gathered, people may have to travel, and time has to be set aside for discussions. If the PPA were to break off all contact with the CEO Poker Tour right now then they would lose any leverage to examine the books and to negotiate a larger refund for the players.

It wouldn't hurt for the directors of the PPA to issue a statement as to what their position is and what they are looking to accomplish. I see nothing wrong with giving them a couple of weeks to meet, discuss it and put out a statement.