Venetian CEO Poker Tournament Main Event Furor

[BigAlK]

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I think we also need to consider contacting Bluff, as they have a relationship, and all the poker magazines and sites.

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You might consider a PM to Nate who used to own the pokerdb and now has some ownership interest in Bluff. I'm not sure of his exact user name, N 82 something, but you could find it by searching for 'thepokerdb' for the past several months in MTTc. He seems to be sensitive to issues where Bluff might look bad and works quickly to get those kinds of issues resolved.

[grdred944]

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Hi Maria,

at the line to sign up for tourneys at the Venetian, there was a board advertising the CEO poker tour. It listed the main event as $2500 + $100 (someone with a ballpoint pen had changed it from $2500 + 120).

I hope you can see why the players have concerns over this false advertising. Please comment on this.

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I like the Venetian poker room, like the people there and really enjoyed the recent deep stack tournaments but I have to say, this is the second time something associated with that room has had the air of deception and/or false advertising associated with it.

Back when they had their freeroll there were several questions associated with the qualifications and who got in without having to play the required hours. To their credit, management came here to explain.

Someone in their management needs a lesson on full disclosure. They may have the best intentions but if they do not communicate well, the perception will be that something underhanded is going on.

[Stinky Johnson]

Jeff Haney writes gaming articles in the "Las Vegas Review-Journal". If someone contacts him, it's possible he'd do a story on this.

[doublejoker]

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"Relevant Laws
Basic sources of traditional advertising law apply online
Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1125(a) authorizes civil liability upon proof of:
False statement of fact by advertiser about its own or another’s goods, services, or commercial activities, which
Actually deceives or tends to deceive, a substantial segment of intended audience,
Is material,
Is made in connection with goods or services in interstate commerce, and
Results in or likely to result in injury to plaintiff
Section 5 of FTC Act (15 U.S.C. §45) declares unlawful “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce”
Under Lanham Act, burden of proof is on plaintiff to demonstrate that claim at issue is false, not merely unsubstantiated
FTC bears no such burden: it may seek to enjoin advertisement solely on ground that it is unsubstantiated"

File a complaint with the National Advertising Division,(NAD), of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, http://www.nadreview.org/, of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, if your competitor's ad is running nationally or regionally. The NAD is a private, self-regulatory group affiliated with the BBB. It investigates allegations of deceptive advertising and gives advertisers a mechanism for resolving disputes voluntarily.

Contact the radio station, television station, or publication where the ad ran. Let them know that they're running an ad you think may be deceptive.

Contact your state Attorney General's Office or your city, county, or state Office of Consumer Affairs. To get their phone numbers, check your telephone directory.

Contact the FTC. By mail: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580; by telephone: toll-free 1-877-FTC-HELP.


http://ag.state.nv.us/menu/action_bt..._complaint.htm
http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/index.htm

These are the links to the Nevada and New Jersey AG Consumer Complaint Divisions. I will go through my history tonight to find the links to the internet sites the false information was on. I also seems to recall seeing an ad in a poker magazine, but didn't find one in my quick search. If anyone has a print advertisement that will be helpful. In writing your complaint you want to stress that you never would have played the event had you been aware of the actual vig, which was falsely advertised before and during the event to be much less. I would also mention the surprise mandatory charity "donation", which violates several fundraising laws, which require a great deal of disclosure about the charity, the fundraisers, and their relationship to each other. Unfortunately, the charity is definitely not following best practices, which require a donation review board, and familarity with the fundraising practices of anyone raising money for them. I sincerely hope their mission and reputation are not damaged because of naive trust and desire for a significant contribution. In some states, this type of intentional bait and switch, not to mention the other problems, would result in triple damages, but I was not able to put in enough time to pull up the relevant New Jersey, and Nevada statutes. If anyone needs anything else specific, please let me know.

http://www.sidley.com/cyberlaw/features/online_adv.asp
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/busines...ing-faq(2).html
http://www.nonprofitpanel.org/selfre...ng_Revised.pdf

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Aren't the 7 foot billboard at the event, along with the actual entry card that both stated $2500+100 both strong evidence of misrepresentation?

[doublejoker]

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Jeff Haney writes gaming articles in the "Las Vegas Review-Journal". If someone contacts him, it's possible he'd do a story on this.

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You should email him this thread; there is plenty of clear documentation of at least 5 instances where they grabbed almost 20% of entry fees.

[Blair Rodman]

This is typical of the prevailing attitude among tournament organizers today that tournament prize pools are fair game for them to grab as much as possible. If tournament players don't take a stand, we will soon be extinct. The WPA merits everyone's support. It's our last chance. If they had a chance to review and sanction this event, it would never have gotten to this. Please check it out at Wpapoker.org.

[doublejoker]

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This is typical of the prevailing attitude among tournament organizers today that tournament prize pools are fair game for them to grab as much as possible. If tournament players don't take a stand, we will soon be extinct. The WPA merits everyone's support. It's our last chance. If they had a chance to review and sanction this event, it would never have gotten to this. Please check it out at Wpapoker.org.

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Blair, can WPA intervene now to get us compensated or to change the ridiculous juice (or make them fully disclose all juice) for the 2 upcoming CEO events at Caesars and Venetian.

[internetdonk]

I say we boycott event and boycott venetian day of event.... Or stage a walkout 2 hours prioe to event..

[Josem]

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I say we boycott event and boycott venetian day of event.... Or stage a walkout 2 hours prioe to event..

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you realise that these events were already very poorly attended?

[doublejoker]

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I say we boycott event and boycott venetian day of event.... Or stage a walkout 2 hours prioe to event..

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you realise that these events were already very poorly attended?

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You think a 600k prizepool is poorly attended? Still no reason to take out 100k for various juice and "site fees"..... The funny thing is the Stepfords will still play when the CEO tour runs their next tourneys at Caesars and Venetian.