PPA should disassociate itself from scandal ridden CEO Poker tour

[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:

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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.


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

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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]

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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

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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

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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]

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

PokerDoc101

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