POKER HOST NIGHTMARE!

[CasinoKim]

Hi its Kim O'Leary (CasinoKim). I have to tell you about the NIGHTMARE that happened to me on 3/20 after placing 2nd in a huge tourny at poker host. If you want to call me about this after reading it, my number is 781-599-1504. here goes:

I won my way to a WPT event through a satellite. I played in it on 3/20, the tourny started at 4:00. 1st place was supposed to go to Reno for the WPT. But since the total prize pool was$5612, less than the prize package worth $6,100 according to their web site http://www.pokerhost.com/tournament-structure.htm (look at WPT section line 9) we were competing for money instead. Thats how it was posted in the lobby the whole tournament and that was what we all tought as players. I made it to second place. The announced prize pool was as follows: 1st, $2806.00 , 2nd $ 1683.60, 3rd $1112.40. The first place winner was ChicoEJ, then me CasinoKim3, Third was hitman. When the tourny finished, the money was posted to my account. I went to the cashier to withdraw my winnings via mastercard. Then logged off poker host. I then when back on to Poker Host to the cashier to reverse the withdrawal and use a different withdrawal method to cash out my winnings via neteller. I called to see if that was a problem, and POOF! The money was no longer there!!!!!! I spoke with 2 customer service people, then to a manager named Daniel at first, then he transferred me to another manager named Gus. I told them all my story about the $$ disappearing. They told me that it was a mistake, I never should have gotten the money in the first place and It was a winner take all tournament. It was not posted that way!!! after using a few not so nice choice words to Gus. I fought with them for 2 hours about this! I dont know if they took the money away from the 3rd place finisher hitman or not. But they refuse to pay me. They cancelled my pending withdrawal and now I have nothing! I told them that I was a member of several poker clubs, including this one and that I would certainly let them know what happened to me. Gus' response was well since you are use to how these things work, I should know that only the top finisher gets its all. I will be calling my lawyer Monday about this, and I told them that as well. I went into my transaction history at poker host, and printed it out,it shows that the money was there and the pending NETELLER withdrawal is there. After arguing with Gus more, and a few more phone calls later, They did not let me log into poker host, and I can no longer access my Transaction history! I thankfully have everything printed out including the picture of the payout screens and amounts with my camera at the tournament. End result for me is no money to bad for you!

Can you guys help me? or direct me to someone in the higher up department since they refused me that information! Also,Follow this link to a scrren shot of the tournament results with another communitys support:http://pokeranalysis.com/viewtopic.php?p=95223#95223


Thanks, Kim O'Leary

[DeeJ]

<font color="orange"> 10 In the case of a qualifier in which the total sum of buy-ins does not cover the seat prize, players will play for the prize pool cash instead of the seat prize, unless guaranteed. </font>

Seems like it's very possible the "seat prize" was replaced with the "Prize pool cash". Unlucky mate.

[no1prostuntman]

That is total BS, please keep us updated on how this turns out. I am very interested to know.

[skoal2k4]

I think you might be screwed on this one. I would think that in order to bring any type of lawsuit against them, you'd have to file that in the country where pokerhost is headquartered... I could be wrong on this one though.

I believe their stance will be to do nothing and hope you forget about it. Good luck to you though!

[Lorraine]

Poker Host might not respond to Kim as they should, but they sure as heck will lose alot of customers, as this is going all over the poker forums and sites /images/graemlins/spade.gif /images/graemlins/diamond.gif /images/graemlins/heart.gif /images/graemlins/club.gif

[CasinoKim]

Thanks so much for your support guys on this. Look at this link too:http://pokeranalysis.com/viewtopic.php?p=95545#95545

[Mauidudi]

Howdy Y'all -

I offer the following as a sort of update to the unfortunate situation CasinoKim is involved in. First Skoal, You're correct in that going through the legal system to correct the problem will not likely work. However, Kim has a much more powerful weapon to use in her defense. I'm speaking of her fellow on-line players and how they will definately have an impact at Poker Host. A room's integrity is probably the most important aspect of this business and once confidence in that integrity has been shaken they're soon out of business. I anticipate that will be the outcome in this situation unless PH reverses their decision very quickly.

Bluff magazine has also gotten involved and contacted PH regarding the matter. Another of PH's managers, Manfred, replied to them that there was a pop-up shown during the tourney explaining that the prize money as posted in the tourney lobby was incorrect. He stated that this was a "guaranteed" event and therefore only one person would get the prize. However, their software is built to divide the prize money among the first three places if the target amount for the tourney is not met. I don't doubt he's telling the truth but the fact of the matter is that it doesn't really matter.

These are the facts as I see them. Those pop-ups or "envelopes" are common and 95% of the time they are ads for other tourneys and I, and many others I'm sure, don't pay much attention to them. Also, no where was it previously stated that this was a "guaranteed" event. Besides, they can't change the rules once the tourney has started anyway. So what if the posted payouts were incorrect? They were posted by PH and thus PH's responsibility. Also, they initially credited the money to her account and then withdrew it. Now if they need to fix their software then so be it but that's not Kim's fault and lies squarely in the lap of PH. They haven't got a leg to stand on and most of the many forums discussing this situation have already pulled the PH banner ads and withdrawn any support they ever had for them.

Poker Host's short existance has generated more complaints than RVP all year long. RVP is huge, PH is tiny. PH is owned by SBG Global and sportsbookreview gives them a D rating for nonpayment. It takes alot of bad activity to achieve the D rating. All poker rooms get complaints, but these facts are amazing. PH's word to me is MUD.

Finally, as mentioned by another poster, Casinomeister is looking into the situation. They are extremely busy so I doubt they'll have anything specific to say for another day or two. However, they've already contacted another site Admin stating there have been numerous problems with PH in the past and are not surprised by this.

The bottom line is that PH screwed up and they need to eat their error and move on. If their software needs to be reworked then they need to fix it. That doesn't excuse them for nonpayment. Many sites have server problems and numerous other issues but rectify the situation and move on. How often have you been involved in a freeroll where the site crashed and they later offered another with a larger payout to placate those inconvenienced by the breakdown? This is a similar matter and PH needs to pony up the dough and move on or they'll soon be history. You can see for yourselves that play there has already dropped dramatically within the last day and a half.

Good luck players!