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Statement from Pokerspot

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Russ Boyd

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Feb 15, 2001, 11:43:25 PM2/15/01
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Hello Players,

As many of you are aware, we've been faced with some recent problems at
Pokerspot. When players deposit money into their player accounts, there are
several steps involved before that money is transferred to Pokerspot
accounts. Due to a situation with Net Pro Ltd., the company that until
recently processed our credit card deposits, a large amount of our funds,
which includes player funds, has been stalled. Further, we are currently
not taking any deposits.

In late January, Net Pro informed us that they were involved in a dispute
with their bank, Barclays Bank, and that Barclays had frozen their assets
until the dispute is resolved. This affected all of the merchants for whom
Net Pro was processing. The dispute is over some double credits that
Barclays applied to several credit cards, which Barclays claims was the
fault of Net Pro. The amount of the double credits is over $150,000, and at
the moment neither Net Pro nor Barclays is willing to assume the loss. From
our conversations with both of them, it is possible we will not see those
funds for six months. However, they are making some progress toward a
settlement, and we believe the threat of our lawsuit along with the
associated publicity is encouraging them to act more quickly.

Accordingly, we've been faced with a short-term cashflow problem. Several
of last month's cashouts have not been processed and are either already late
or will be. There have even been claims of several Pokerspot checks
bouncing. These claims are true and resulted from an accounting error on
our part where we relied upon a wire transfer from Net Pro reaching our
account that didn't.

We are working around the clock to resolve this situation. We are securing
several other processors, and we are implementing software features that
will disperse all transactions among the different processors, so even if
one processor encounters difficulties, we will still be able to rely on the
others. We expect to be processing once again shortly.

As far as money owed to players, Pokerspot will make good on all pending
cashouts. We are leaning hard against both our processor and their bank to
release the funds owed to us, and are pursuing legal action. We are also
seeking short-term loan opportunities, and alternative means of raising
funds. We are prepared to go to any length to satisfy our players,
including selling the cardroom and proprietary software outright, though we
do not believe it will come to that.

Unfortunately, at this time I cannot give an exact date as to when the
current cashflow problems will be resolved. I will, however, attempt to get
some exact dates as to when we expect to pay players their cashouts. I will
give further updates as more information becomes available. We are very
sorry for the inconvenience this puts on our players, and we will do
everything in our power to remedy this situation and restore confidence in
our site.

Sincerely,
Russ Boyd
President, Pokerspot.com


Kenneth Ng

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Feb 16, 2001, 12:42:00 PM2/16/01
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What is a "pending cashout"? Is this a player who has already
requested his money?

What about a player who has money deposited at Pokerspot but hasn't
requested a cashout? Is it too late to request a cashout?
Is this player's money stuck for the next 6+ months?


>As far as money owed to players, Pokerspot will make good on all pending
>cashouts. We are leaning hard against both our processor and their bank to
>release the funds owed to us, and are pursuing legal action. We are also
>seeking short-term loan opportunities, and alternative means of raising
>funds. We are prepared to go to any length to satisfy our players,
>including selling the cardroom and proprietary software outright, though we
>do not believe it will come to that.

Kenneth Ng

Kenneth Ng

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Feb 16, 2001, 12:53:04 PM2/16/01
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From the Pokerspot FAQ
(http://www.pokerspot.com/faq.html#m1)--Empahsis Added.

How do I collect my winnings?

Cashing out is the process of converting your chips back into cash or
credit. We can credit chips back to your credit card the exact amount
that was charged to your card. For your winnings over the amount you
deposited, we will need to send you a check. For example, if you
bought in at $100, then $105.75 would be charged to your credit card.
If you then cashed out for $150, we would credit $105.75 back to your
credit card and send you a check for $44.25. WE'RE ALSO WORKING ON A
COMPLETELY NEW WAY TO GET YOU YOURE WINNINGS BUT WE'RE NOT READY TO
DISCLOSE THE DETAILS JUST YET. Be sure to sign up for our mailing list
to get the details!

Is the "completely new way " to get your money bankruptcy court?


Kenneth Ng

V V Mtg Co

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Feb 16, 2001, 1:04:36 PM2/16/01
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>Subject: Statement from Pokerspot
>From: "Russ Boyd" >bo...@pokerspot.com
>Date: 02/15/2001 8:43 PM Pacific >Standard Time
>Message-id: ><Kd2j6.2222$9r5.3...@news1.primary>.net>

>Hello Players,

>As many of you are aware, we've been >faced with some recent problems at
>Pokerspot. When players deposit money >into their player accounts, there are
>several steps involved before that money >is transferred to Pokerspot
>accounts. Due to a situation with Net >Pro Ltd., the company that until
>recently processed our credit card >deposits, a large amount of our funds,
>which includes player funds, has been >stalled. Further, we are currently
>not taking any deposits.

>In late January, Net Pro informed us that >they were involved in a dispute
>with their bank, Barclays Bank, and that >Barclays had frozen their assets
>until the dispute is resolved. This >affected all of the merchants for whom

Russ,

This is the same story only a month or two older. If this was a true story
about Barclays bank, which I personally do not believe, you would have already
persude legal action. It would have be a easy case to prove. Computer bank
and credit card records make for great record of the truth. Very black and
white.

Also, if true you would have been here posting a story, with some kind of
prove. A letter from Barclays Bank would be nice.

As a business owner for over ten years, I've learned one fact about other
businesses, when they stop paying their bills and start boucning checks, the
writing is on the wall, they are done, period... An accountant said to you a
wire transfer from Net Pro is on they way, so you figured it's ok to write
check to clients with no money in the bank. A wire transfer takes less than
half a day to confirm. Please that is a lame, bull shit statement to make
stupid people believe you. You sir are a bad business person.

If you have not found new financing by now, you most likely won't find it
anywhere. Again most investors what a great business leader, with business
skills, which you have not shown so far.

And to have us believe that a business that is in business to take credit
cards, would be so STUPID to have only one source of processing credit cards,
shows me a person that had no business even being in business.

Other than your software, your business has no other real assets, right. I'm
sure even if you sold you software to another online site, which would be
smart, I dont think it would cover all of the players deposits.

As far as restoring confidence in you company, you must be kidding. I as a
online poker player would never play on your site ever again.

And why should I, you have Neal Ross...

Craig...SoCal

Gary Carson

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Feb 16, 2001, 3:40:37 PM2/16/01
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On 16 Feb 2001 18:04:36 GMT, vvm...@aol.com (V V Mtg Co) wrote:


>
>>Accordingly, we've been faced with a >short-term cashflow problem. Several
>>of last month's cashouts have not been >processed and are either already late
>>or will be. There have even been claims >of several Pokerspot checks
>>bouncing. These claims are true and >resulted from an accounting error on
>>our part where we relied upon a wire >transfer from Net Pro reaching our
>>account that didn't.

Interesting language for "We wrote some bad checks".



>
>As a business owner for over ten years, I've learned one fact about other
>businesses, when they stop paying their bills and start boucning checks, the
>writing is on the wall, they are done, period... An accountant said to you a
>wire transfer from Net Pro is on they way, so you figured it's ok to write
>check to clients with no money in the bank. A wire transfer takes less than
>half a day to confirm. Please that is a lame, bull shit statement to make
>stupid people believe you. You sir are a bad business person.
>
>If you have not found new financing by now, you most likely won't find it
>anywhere. Again most investors what a great business leader, with business
>skills, which you have not shown so far.

I can't believe that they'd have had any trouble raising the money to
pay off the bad checks if they'd wanted to do that.

I would expect that new investors would not allow the current owners
to maintain control of the operations however.

I expect that's the reason they can't raise the money to cover the bad
checks -- they're just to stupid and too arrogant to give up control.

Clowns like this just give poker a bad name.

Gary Carson
http://www.garycarson.com

Richard John Cavell

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Feb 17, 2001, 6:51:06 AM2/17/01
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On 16 Feb 2001, V V Mtg Co wrote:

> Other than your software, your business has no other real assets, right. I'm
> sure even if you sold you software to another online site, which would be
> smart, I dont think it would cover all of the players deposits.

That's a good point. People have seen the billion-dollar rise of
yahoo.com and the like, so they assume that somehow once they've set up an
online gambling venture, with net assets of $10,000 or so, that the
company becomes worth $1,000,000 overnight. If his business were not
online, it would be a load of codswallop.

> Craig...SoCal

Southern California?

1. Want to trade localities?
2. Why do you need to play online?

-------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Cavell - richar...@mail.com

Newsgroups - Please keep any discussion on the group, and copy your
replies to me via email. (Server problems). Sending me bulk email
guarantees a nasty response.

Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson on Bill Gates: "He has a Napoleonic concept
of himself and his company, an arrogance that derives from power"
-------------------------------------------------------------

James L. Hankins

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Feb 17, 2001, 3:03:56 PM2/17/01
to
I played at Pokerspot under "cnote" and liked it there, but I don't see how
it can come back at this point. I have cashed out a little over $500 and
don't realistically expect to get paid. Luckily, as with all my gambling
money, it was an amount that I could afford to lose.

Free market forces will not allow it to return. Players must have
confidence that they can cash out. Can you imagine playing at the Bellagio
and trying to cash out and being told that it may be a couple of weeks? The
reason doesn't matter--a good reason, a great reason, or a bad reason. I
now play at Paradise and it is great. Lots of games, limits, and the
tournaments are fun. I also have an account with Planet, mainly because I
trust Mike Caro, but I like the graphics and the tournaments at Paradise
better (why has Planet been so behind the curve on the tournaments, Mike?).

But the bottom line is, in this business, the most important concepts are 1)
the games are fair, and 2) a player will get paid. If I don't believe those
two things, I will go somewhere else, even if Pokerspot purports to "fix"
the problem. It is not a problem that should ever have to be "fixed". If
they wanted to stay in business, they should have borrowed the money, or
started with sufficient capital to cover these contingencies. Because the
didn't, they will fail as a business, and others will thrive. That is, I
suppose, they way it is supposed to work.


"Richard John Cavell" <rjca...@student.unimelb.edu.au> wrote in message
news:Pine.OSF.4.10.101021...@cassius.its.unimelb.edu.au...


> On Thu, 15 Feb 2001, Russ Boyd wrote:
>
> > Accordingly, we've been faced with a short-term cashflow problem.
Several
> > of last month's cashouts have not been processed and are either already
late
> > or will be. There have even been claims of several Pokerspot checks
> > bouncing. These claims are true
>

> See, now, RGP people, I hate to say "I told you so", so I'll get down off
> my podium.
>
> Honestly, this is poor accounting. If someone sends a company money on
> credit, the company is not allowed to spend that on expenses as though it
> were theirs. It is a liability, and must be at hand for when it is
> needed.
>
> I wonder why Costa Rican residents aren't allowed to play. Is it because
> they'd have some chance of getting their money back when things like this
> happen?
>
> Look, I can't keep it in any longer.
>
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.
> I told you so.

Gary Carson

unread,
Feb 17, 2001, 3:50:37 PM2/17/01
to
On Sat, 17 Feb 2001 14:03:56 -0600, "James L. Hankins"
<jhan...@peakonline.com> wrote:

>
>Free market forces will not allow it to return. Players must have
>confidence that they can cash out. Can you imagine playing at the Bellagio
>and trying to cash out and being told that it may be a couple of weeks?

Sure.

What would happen if the Horsehoe all of a sudden decided that they
would refuse to cash some of their chips? Do you think poker players
would quit playing there?

For the most part poker players are idiots.



Gary Carson
http://www.garycarson.com

RazzO

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Feb 17, 2001, 4:12:46 PM2/17/01
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>For the most part poker players are idiots.

How many idiots have $5k chips?

razzo

Gary Carson wrote:

--
_____________________________________________
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| ADVERTISE IN FLASH in 2001 |
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---------------------------------------------
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James L. Hankins

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Feb 17, 2001, 11:22:47 PM2/17/01
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Not sure what your point is here, Gary. The situation at the Horseshoe,
where it apparently contends that there was some fraud in $5,000 chips and
refuses to honor the chips of one person (Stupak), is hardly the same as the
situation at Pokerspot where all the money is "frozen", no one is getting
paid, and yes, there are no players in live action games there.

I think you're just being a smartass. And not that smart, at that.


"Gary Carson" <garyc...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:3a8ee352....@news.mindspring.com...

Lee Munzer

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Feb 18, 2001, 11:05:44 AM2/18/01
to

"RazzO" wrote ...

> >For the most part poker players are idiots.
>
> How many idiots have $5k chips?
>
> razzo

Heh, heh. One of your best.

Lee


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