AP Visit: I'm going to Costa Rica

[carlgraham]

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Hi Carl:

You're going to need to be patient. We are active on this issue, and when appropriate you'll hear from us.

Best wishes,
Mason

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Thanks, Mason. You certainly don't have to prove to anyone your commitment to poker, but I guess after seeing your swift and public involvement on the CEO Poker Tour, I was hoping for something similar with AP. The intellectual side of me knows this is a marathon, and not a sprint, but that doesn't stop the impulsive side of me wanting immediate results.

Cheers, Carl.

[SgtJake]

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I would think it would be nearly impossible for Nat to comeback with a report saying AP is on the right road back if he is not granted full disclosure of owners/management and people recently fired/removed.

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qft

[N 82 50 24]

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Okay, I've received a very interesting offer that may change the whole angle of my visit and will address some of the concerns expressed in this thread. I will explain further once I talk to AP management about it and think it over.

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let me guess. they offered you a job or something?

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Nope. I sent a request to the AP guy to call me. When I talk to him and clear everything, I'll explain.

[Erasa]

Hi Nat,

Thank you so much for everything you have done to this point; I am very excited about the prospects for your upcoming visit with AP. Anyone that doesn't think you will be able to accomplish anything is way off the mark in my mind.

I don't have anything to add to the specifics of the discovery and data gathering on the cheating that took place but I think by taking a look at how the company fundamentally is operated will go a long way towards knowing whether they have a future or not.

I used to manage a software development group for a Fortune 20 company that develops software for the financial side of healthcare. In that capacity I was involved in many technical due diligences of other companies that were potential acquistion "targets". You will be amazed at how quickly you can establish the level of competency by asking the right questions.
Just to get you started thinking in this direction (if you haven't already), here is a tiny sample of types of questions to ask;

- Ask for an org chart; do they have separate Product Management, Development, QA, Operations groups?
- How are product enhancements handled? A couple of developers drinking beers after work or is there a documented, formalized approach with multiple sign-offs?
- How do they handle defects? Do they use defect tracking software?
- Do they have separate development, test and production hardware?
- Do they have documented test cases; regression; system; integration testing?
- Do they use automated test tools? How do they do load testing?
- Do developers have access to test systems; do developers and QA have access to production systems? The more formalized and segrated they are here, the less likelyhood of shenanigans making it into the system?
- How does updates make it into the system? Do they have self contained scripts that can be executed without developments involvement or is it a developer opening Query Analyzer (hopefully not)?
- Grab a random CSR and ask for a hand history? Does he have an "automated" tool or is he firing up Enterprise Manager or Query Analyzer to find the answer (very bad obviously)? I am surprised that spreadsheet with all that info made it out - it should be a standard task with a standardized tool to retrieve that information without giving the CSR access to the all that info.
- Ask for the their DRP
- Look at the physical back ups; do they do incremental backups or complete data back ups?
- Ask to see if you can take a look at their documentation on the system.

There are literally hundreds and hundreds more questions in this vein that you typically ask for during a technical due diligence - while it doesn't answer the specifics of the cheating incident(s) the answer will/should tell you whether they can recover from this or not. If it is just a handful of programmers sitting around slinging code, you probably don't want to trust your dollars to their site - if they can show that they are a serious business operated in a professional fashion there are hope they can recover from this.
Also note that it really doesn't matter whether AP reads this or not in advance of your visit; creating a professional development organization with documentation (and revisions to that documentation) to back it up take years - if they don't have it today they will not have it when you get down there in a day/week/month.

Finally; I am tilting so hard to read that people have any reservations whatsoever about you getting paid for this - any idea what the Big 4 charges for a technical due diligence and data gathering trip like this one? We are getting a hell of bargain by having you do this for us and I for one am immensely grateful.

Good luck
Erasa

[Jimbo232]

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Finally; I am tilting so hard to read that people have any reservations whatsoever about you getting paid for this - any idea what the Big 4 charges for a technical due diligence and data gathering trip like this one? We are getting a hell of bargain by having you do this for us and I for one am immensely grateful.

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The Big 4 or any other established auditing or consulting firm would not risk their reputation by being associated with an online gaming company.

Edit: I might have read your question wrong. For a baseline, a senior technical consultant for the Big 4 would be billed for at least $200 per hour (probably more like $230-$250) plus all expenses incurred on the trip. Put together a small team of 2 or 3 individuals for a couple week investigation and it could easily push $50K.

[otis_nixon]

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Hi Carl:

You're going to need to be patient. We are active on this issue, and when appropriate you'll hear from us.

Best wishes,
Mason

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Sure Mason, just like the 8 months of consultation you had with your attorney to make a 1 paragraph statement about the UIGEA and the PPA.

Thanks so much for your support!

[Makonnen]

First post in this fiasco, largely b/c I didn't see the use of posting another "Hey, thanks, guys!" post. But, um, Hey, thanks, guys!

One thing I haven't seen: both Nat and Adanthar have referenced additional information that is being withheld at this time. Especially if both of them go, make sure someone else has/can access and understand that information.

Just cuz I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me ...

[mntbikr15]

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Nat,

1) I think a lot of former AP props would appreciate you looking into some of the 60/40 maniacs who just seemed to crush the 3/6-10/20 games. I was not a prop but know a few and I'm sure you could talk to them and get screen names.


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I have said this before, but most of those props complaining ranged from awful to mediocre at best.

I have played on AP for years now and cant think of a single 60/40 type player that has had any lasting success there.

[mattnxtc]

Nat and Adanthar deserve this equally. I think going down there with at least one other person to bounce ideas/thoughts off when AP will have an entire team there specifically to divert you from finding out the truth.

[Arnold_O]

tell them you're not coming home till they unfire the guy who sent that big file that cracked the case wide open. tell them you demand that he gets a promotion and big raise