And the UK TV version haven't renewed Michelle Orpe as host/presenter (Damn !)

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...5mgiUoXUWD8b11

http://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/wo...Scandal_50137/

It would rather appear that someones sources are not as reliable as they thought and that he may have not been the messiah but a very naughty boy.

But then again one imagines Stars are not going to say its true ...

Hi All,

Apologies for being late into this thread, but have been really, really ill all week

To start off with a little explanation, there are significant differences between pretty much every EPT. Because of all the different countries the EPT operates in, it has to be that way.

As an example, EPT Tallinn, where we just were, has 5% of ALL prize pools (rebuys, bounties, addons) deducted and given to the Estonian Government. EPT Deauville is 4% for all NLH tourneys and 2% for all PLO tourneys (don't ask why the difference in PLO/NLH, it will just make your head hurt...trust me ) to the French Government.

In both of those instances, we do not take an additional 3% to pay the staff because we are already taking more than we would normally take (5% / 4%) for the Government.

This is the chart off of EPT.com... http://www.europeanpokertour.com/tournaments/

Tournament Country Main Event Dates Buy-In PS A/C
Buy-In† CAP

EPT TALLINN ESTONIA Aug, 2 - 7, 2011 €4,000 + 250*** Yes 600
EPT BARCELONA SPAIN Aug 27–Sep 1, 2011 €5,000 + 300 No 1000
EPT LONDON UK Sep 30–Oct 6, 2011 £5,000 + 250* Yes 1000
EPT SAN REMO ITALY Oct 21 - 27, 2011 €4,600 + 300* No 800
EPT PRAGUE CZECH REPUBLIC Dec 5 – 10, 2011 €5,000 + 300* Yes 700
2012 PCA BAHAMAS Jan 5 – 15, 2012 $10,000 + 300* Yes 1600
EPT DEAUVILLE FRANCE Jan 31 - Feb 6, 2012 €5,000 + 300** No 1000

* 3% of tournament prize-pool will be withheld to cover the costs of floor staff and dealers.
** 4% of tournament prize-pool withheld for government taxation.
*** 5% of tournament prize-pool withheld for government taxation.

† The option to buy-in to all tournaments using real money from your PokerStars account is available. If you do buy-in via your PokerStars account you will be subject to the PokerStars EPT terms and conditions.

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Cliffs -

Tallinn - 5% Govt
Barc - 0% for anyone
London - 3% Staff
SR - 3% Staff
Prague - 3% Staff
PCA - 3% Staff
Deauville - 4% Govt

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Another small note, on EPT’s where we bring the staff, the breakdown by buy in is...

0 – 9,999 – 3%
10,000 – 19,999 – 2%
20,000+ – 1%

Tipping is a very sensitive subject amongst Tournament Staff and players and always will be. Just look at the myriad threads on 2+2 about it. I won't go into an extensive debate of what you should and shouldn't do if you win something since that is a personal choice. I know players who have left zero, too much, just right and players who haven't tipped at all, but then invited everyone out and paid a tab for a couple of hours of dealer drinking (which isn't cheap...lol).

Let me state how it should be handled anytime you cash at an EPT in Season 8 (and all other PS Events)...and if it isn't, please come and find me and inform me of what happened so I can address it, I'm easy to find. When you cash, you have to fill out the form that covers do you want any money wired, cash, PS account, charity deduction, dealer tip, etc... What should be said by payouts is "Would you like to leave anything for the staff?" If you say yes, they say "thank you, everyone appreciates that". If you say no, they should say "ok, please sign here". That's it. No hustle, nothing further, just that sentence. That is how we are asking everyone to operate that does payouts on EPT8. In places where the casino is doing the payouts, they are receiving the same instructions. If you feel you are EVER being hassled for tips, please come and tell me about it. The two Tournament Directors (Toby Stone and Teresa Nousiainen) that have been hired by GPTL as exclusive to PokerStars Sponsored Events cannot take personal tips anymore than I can. Anything they (or I) accept is given directly to the Staff tip pool.

I know some people have said we shouldn’t even ask, but I disagree with that. There are players at probably every tournament who have never played a live tournament and therefore don’t know they have the option to tip. I am enough of a dealer still (4+ years) to think that one sentence of “would you like to leave anything for the staff?” is not insulting to players.

Ok, now to the individual comments in the thread –

(*** I won’t comment on people’s individual, so-so said this, and I said this comments as I have no personal knowledge of the incidents)

Rivered – 1 – I’m curious what your information is that states these tips don’t go to the dealers? To your other point, a lot of TD’s I know mention tips to the Final Tablists as they go bust. Ours have now been instructed not to.

Play – 6 – Our 3% is consistently distributed where ever it is taken by GPTL. Floor personnel do make more money than the dealers, but then TD’s make more than floors. Boggs has it right in post 11. You pool the hours and the money and chop it up on an hourly. That is how most tourneys do it.

Bingo – 7 – That is exactly your right and no one should ever say anything to you about it. I will disagree with you and say that Floor Personnel do work very hard and earn every penny they make.

Wazz – 10 – We speak extensively with our casinos about this in particular. If it is happening, in San Remo or anywhere else, I want to know. You won the money...if you enjoyed the service and thought the staff was good, tip...if you hated it, thought everything stunk, say so and don’t tip, if you think the 3% is enough, congrats on your score, thanks for playing. This shouldn’t be a difficult process but always appears to be

Reload – 19 – Those rumours are unfounded. TK had a contract for EPT6 and EPT7 that both parties chose not to renew. PokerStars chose to internalize the staffing and running of our events through GPTL. We wish Thomas and TK Poker Events continued success and appreciate all that he, his company and his team have done to help the EPT achieve the success it has over seven seasons. It wouldn’t be what it is today without all of his hard work over the last 7 years.

Pizdec – 24 – I would very much dispute you calling many people (anyone!) involved with the EPT “scumbags”.

Pizdec – 25 – There is no EPT minimum wage. The dealers we are getting ready to hire for EPT London will receive a piece of the 3% and extra tips as their ONLY wage. There is no guarantee of what that will be. All the combined hours and money will be pooled and chopped as it has been in EPT6 and EPT7 at the Metropole.

Pizdec – 27 – The min cash should never be for less than the buy in? What event was this? I’d never tip if min cash was less than I bought in for! All of the EPT8 Side Event payouts have been set for essentially 2x and 10% of the field being paid. The Main’s are like last year, 15% and 1.5x on the bottom.

Sirin – 30 – We take what happens on the tours very seriously. That is why myself, David, LAPTThomas, BryanPS, Tatsu, Danny, etc... are all on the forums.

Memphis – 32 – Depends on the tournament. Can be 2%/1% - 75/25 or really any combination. As a dealer, you always want to ask what the chop is on the percent and the extra tips.

Bertie – 34 – As I sad earlier, TK and EPT contract concluded with EPT7 and both parties chose not to renew it. We have complete faith in the integrity of TK and his team.

Pizdec – 36 – You are incorrect, it is not based on your “standing” if we have 30 dealers and it is £10 an hour, all of them receive £10 an hour times the number of hours they worked. You don’t get £11 an hour if you have worked more EPT’s.

Pizdec – 38 – This one I have to ask about. You have confirmed? How? Also, are you trying to compliment us or insult us that we are shady and unethical, but not as shady and unethical as others? What would make us less shady and more ethical? I say that being genuinely curious! What are you looking for that would make us a better Tour?

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If anyone has any other concerns, please let me know. I have a unique perspective in that I have worked on the dealer side for pretty much everyone in the business, Matt Savage, Thomas Kremser, Mike Ward, Jack Effel, Jack McClelland, Dave Lamb, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Warren Karp, etc... and working for PokerStars on the flip side. We as a company, and I personally, take this very seriously. I have dealt events where I told players not to tip because the dealers were flat rated and weren’t getting the tips. I have dealt honest events and events that I ended up feeling were shady so I know the difference and would never stand up and rep something I thought was out of line.

The procedures for GPTL Events are fantastic. Any money that goes in for the dealers is accounted for and paid out. I know that for a fact since I review those logs. It is all cross counted and verified by casino staff, tournament staff (floor and dealer) and a tour staff member. Any dealer (or player) that feels there is an error need only contact me or GPTL and it will be investigated to make sure there are no mistakes.

Cheers,

Neil
PokerStars Live Events Specialist

Neil, you're better not to reply and ignore than try to fight reality. If you think everything has always been above board and transparent on the EPT, you are wrong. I have been there since before the first 1k in Barca. Dealers definitely had different pay based on seniority in the past. Whether people are still pilfering and manipulating on your watch, I don't know.

If you are trying to say you magically changed operating policy and cleaned everything up, then I think a full audit and opening of the books would be appropriate. But that will never happen because it would show too much bs, and you are a for profit company who has no incentive to because of the bs.

Firstly, the policies on dealers and what not has evolved quite a bit. You would know better about the most recent seasons events (I only played a few events). I can say on the surface it appears things have got worse not better.

Secondly, to defend the 3% not coming out of the more aggressively taxed venues is like a grocery store telling me I am getting a discount by having a club card. This is not sound logic. To add to this point, at the very least the actual taxes paid to the said governments should be public information to player, and copies of this money going there is a good start.

I think the 3% fee is fine if people are willing to pay it, the tip hustling and uncomfortable feeling isn't. I think tipping should be banned if you guys are going to the trouble to fire the Kremsers.

Thirdly, if you have never min cashed a rebuy for less than you put in and then been tip hustled, you haven't enjoyed poker to it's fullest.

Finally, you should know that you work with scumbags. Does everyone working the EPT get full background checks? Do you know how many sex offenders and other convicted criminals are working? Point proved there.


If you want to improve the tour I suggest not dealing at all in cash. Would stop robberies, people pocketing cash, and other bs. Twice I have caught people stealing cash directly from me that were a part of EPT. One was a tournament dealer in a cash game taking the wrong rake and tipping himself 25 euro. The other time actually was at a makeshift cage when I changed a wad of euros and got chips 100 euros short. The supervisor handling it miraculous found it when I said you didnt follow procedure and count the money again (He tried to bury the cash in another pile too).

Considering EPT is not in the U$A where people work for tips, I wouldn't tip much at all even if I won.
Why a card dealer thinks they deserve to earn more than 17 euros per hour for dealing cards is something I will never understand.