The major Ongame – Poker.com network moved with commendable speed over the weekend in addressing the failure of one of it’s member sites, Check ‘n Raise Poker, to meet it’s WSOP sponsorship promises to players.
Late last week we reported on the unusual case of poker site Check ‘n Raise.com reneging on a promise to 10 winning players to sponsor them to the next World Series Of Poker final.
Several players were fortunate enough to win tickets to WSOP events through a series of promotions run by Check ‘n Raise. But the exhilaration and thrill of winning such a prize was short-lived when Check ‘n Raise reneged on their part of the deal, sending the unfortunate players an email informing them that the operator was unable to meet the cost because: “….our cash flow did not allow us to set aside sufficient funds from the time that you won your seat in March.”
One disgruntled player posted on the issue at the Casinomeister portal, which was picked up and an report on the incident soon appeared on several news sites.
As the weekend ended, a Poker.com staffer spotted the report on the news pages at portal Online-Casinos.com and contacted the owner, Jan Balslev, informing him that the matter would be handled by the network.
Good to his word, Poker.com then posted the following on the Casinomeister and Online-Casinos.com sites:
QUOTE:
Poker.com, has generously offered to provide the WSOP packages won by ten ChecknRaisePoker.com members who have been told that ChecknRaisePoker.com is unable to fund their World Series of Poker prize packages as previously won through their website promotions.
According to various reports surfacing on online gaming news sites, ten ChecknRaisePoker.com members that had won World Series of Poker seats have been informed that their prize packages are not to be honored. Via an email from ChecknRaise management they have instead been offered a series of small payments over the coming months.
Poker.com has attempted to contact ChecknRaisePoker.com management by email and telephone to confirm this situation and offer to cover the prize costs, but as yet have been unable to get a response.
Both the tournament entry fee and spending money according to the terms of each promotion will be provided by Poker.com if any of the affected players come forward.
Poker.com Director of Gaming, Paul Cherry said, “I don’t want to comment too much at this time, as we are yet to obtain confirmation that the reported situation is accurate. But if the story is accurate, we are happy to help these players however possible.”
“From most players’ perspective, this is a chance of a lifetime, and I can’t think of anything more upsetting than to be told you are not going to Vegas, after having already won the prize. It’s only a few weeks away and the players may have already planned and paid for their travel arrangements.”
“Our own players are like family to us and we’d hate to see these ChecknRaise players miss out due to no fault of their own. That’s why we are offering to help them get to Vegas as a part of the Poker.com family and enjoy the trip they have won and earned. A trip that includes the chance to win a World Series of Poker bracelet!”
“I know that at Poker.com we keep all guaranteed tournament prizes and player funds in escrow, separate from operational funds to avoid such a situation ever occurring.” Mr Cherry said.
Poker.com has released this information in an attempt to resurrect the WSOP dreams of the ten players affected. If you have contact information for any of these players, please forward this offer to them and ask them to contact marketing@poker.com to arrange their compensation package. Spread the word to help us make sure that these players get the World Series of Poker experience that they deserve. UNQUOTE
The admission by Check ‘n Raise that it was unable to meet its obligations due to cash flow inadequacies will cause many potential poker players to take a cautious approach to this operation, but that has been admirably balanced by the Ongame network quickly and generously acting to protect the interests of the 10 disappointed players.