Sounds like you know a little bit more about what's happening. Given what you know, do you till stick by your previous defense of the PPC?

I believe this is incorrect.
As it says in this link:
"Monetary instruments that are made payable to a named person, but are not endorsed or which bear restrictive endorsements are not subject to reporting requirements."

So if you have a check, and you have endorsed the check, you must report it. If you have not endorsed the check, you do not have to report it. I've had it ruled that way a half dozen times when going over the border, and I've never had it ruled the other way, and each time when they've asked I've been honest and gone through the rigamarole of detailing exactly what I have.

I'd be lying if I said I felt great about it. At this point I'm just hoping all {payouts} is resolved by 4pm on Thursday.


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I'm from Madison and have known MH for years. Great guy, really likeable and trust worthy. Unfortunately I think his proximity to the situation may cloud his view on this for a few reasons. Please don't take offense to this MH but as you know I was crushed by Black Friday and have been a grinder since the beginning of the online rush. As a player who's won money in and out of the states and who has been defrauded on and offline I think I can offer some insight.

First, MH is good friends with Mark Kroon and from what I understand knows Phil Hellmuth very well. This is a contributing factor that plays a roll in him defending the tour imho. I don't remember him defending UB after Black Friday but I do know he stood behind Mark and Phil. Mark being a site pro and Phil being a founder and pro as well I found it hard to believe either one of them didn't know what was going on with UB or at least have suspicious incidents that weren't shared in order to protect the brand. I think it's possible Mark had no idea but for Phil to just drop ties with the site and do nothing to facilitate the return of funds back to players is hard to stomach. I say all of this because the same thing appears to be going on here. From the evidence shown thus far along with slow paying players for years and now not paying out the top 7 of their main show serious cracks in the foundation of the PPC. To pass all of that as a logistics issue is a bit naive when this follows the blueprint we all know so well in how to turn a legit poker business into a ponzi scheme. MH's relationships doesnt provide a clear representation of what's going on, we all want to assume the best from friends and business acquaintances.

Second, whenever I've won money in or out of country that was over the $5k limit to declare I have never filled out any form for taxes (get paid out in full so you can claim losses when you file) but I have been paid on the spot. If I took a check, it cleared the next day. If you host a tourney with mostly American players the logistics should be made clear well in advance of any packages sold or buy ins collected. After the fact if there is going to be a waiting period on payouts, seems like a ridiculous concept, they should be punctual and there should be no confusion. The fact that the owners have not made a public statement is troublesome as well. Anyone in the industry knows you need to get out ahead of things like this to protect your brand and ensure player's trust.

The parallels between this and what FTP/UB/Stars did are glaring. There is no excuse to not paying players other than you don't have the funds. I get that greed gets the best of all of us from time to time, but the tour's/sites we entrust have to be held to a higher standard and even that bar is really low in the poker industry. These issues that PPC are showing appear to be mixing funds which is Business 101.

In the end I hope things are resolved and MH please don't take this personally but as a long time grinder I think players should always come first. The businesses in poker tend to forget that without the players there is no money to be had. Some transparency in situations like this are paramount and the lack of such from the PPC only implies guilt given the history of such matters.


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If the check is made out to you, you still need to report it even if you haven't endorsed it.

If the players are paid at 4PM tomorrow will you continue your relationship with the PPC? (I think you did say you ran one of the rooms but could be wrong, too lazy to look back).

1 - Thanks for the Kudos

2 - PH might recognize me if you gave him a scenario of how he met me, but there's no way he knows my name.

3 - I think you're absolutely right that players should come first and I'm sure you would agree that 90% of the time I would be stating that very same thing.

Finally, 4 - I think you're right that my optimism is directly related to my closeness to the situation and probably undeservedly so.

I take no offense to your statements, as they're largely true.


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I made my previous post before I saw this fwiw
[

I haven't looked into this and I'm not going to, but I still felt compelled to just state that if somehow that is actually the rule, it is incredibly stupid. It would defeat the entire rule if all someone had to do was not endorse the check until after crossing a border.



EDIT:

I think you are considering the wrong definition of endorsed.

From the link:

If it can be cashed by the person in possession of it, then it does not matter if it is endorsed ... I think. I was going to state a second part regarding a check not made payable to the person in possession where I thought the endorsement thing came into play and thought I was clear on this, but now I'm actually getting a little confused over it again.

Im confused by the wording online but fwiw me and my friend have been told by separate customs officers that you do not need to claim checks. Now take this with a grain of salt b/c im still confused from reading these posts and that link.

Having tried every possible way to contact the owners of PPC (and explaining that I am a poker journalist who needs some form of comment on the issue to attempt to keep some balance) I have still had no reply of any kind.

Whatever may be going on, ignoring the media is a surefire way to see your brand and image tarnished - we can only report the facts and claims as available, which so far point to very serious issues within PPC affecting the tour's poker players financially. It's not looking good

I don't disagree with the rule being dumb, I'm just stating that...
my experiences have been consistent with the above. I've gone through this 6 times, in 3 different customs locations, and every time I've disclosed that I was in possession of a check which I haven't signed and been told that I do not need to report it.

Why did this guy mike hanson become the focus of this thread?

You are judged by the company you keep.

Seems like he's acting like some sort of surrogate for the owners of PPC since they won't talk to anyone else.

PH= Phil Hellmuth
MH= Mr. Hellmuth....?

I won a $5k package at one of the stops.

I finished 26th in the main and was paid cash on the spot.

I inquired about the $300 flight credit owed to me at the event. I was told that they forgot the checks, but one of the PPC dudes verified my address.

I tweeted the PPC on 11/29 asking about my flight credit. I was told to email them and it would get sent right out. I emailed them immediately. I finally got a response on 12/14 from Bryan. He said they had been out of the office, but that he would send the check next week. I haven't gotten it yet.

I also won a satellite for a $3k package to come back next year.

I think most people spent their flight credit on additional buy-ins at the event.

Omg LOL. "Yeah um we forgot them" I had no idea their excuse was this poor.

You are correct, sir. But if a deposit only endorsement is executed, then it is not required to be reported. Therefore, if you want to avoid filing the firm on entry, it's very easy, and completely legal. I should have been clearer.

Thanks, gregorio, for the link.

first 45 seconds - Costanza

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O27RzZEOkeA

sandy sent me this on facebook on november 21st:

Andy,

Hope all is well. Need to get you back to Aruba next year.

Based on our growth, we have an opportunity we wanted to send your way.

The PPC Poker Tour just wrapped up its most successful season yet.
PPC Poker Tour - Season 4 (2016)

* 30 events
* 10 states
* 5th annual PPC Aruba World Championship
* 2016 PPC Aruba Main Event prize pool - $554,743

As we move into 2017, our 5th tour season, we are at an exciting point of critical mass that will be take the tour from 30 stops nationwide to 50 in 2017, followed by 100 total in 2018. We will also be adding 2 additional scaled down Aruba events as well leading into our PPC Aruba World Championship in October of 2017. In addition, we are in talks with some high-end sponsors to become the "Title Sponsor" of the tour for years to come.

We are currently looking for our 2nd round of funding to take us to the next level. Investors that join our team will be coming in during our largest growth spurt to date. It's time that we take that big step to be the
largest poker tour in the world when it comes to overall stops.

For the first time since inception in 2010, we will be offering up to 50% equity in the PPC and are looking for a few new investors to push us to the next level. We both feel the time is right to bring on some new partners.

If you'd like us to send over more details, forward your email and we'll send our investment options next week.

Thanks again and wishing you a great holiday season.

Sincerely,
Sandy Swartzbaugh
Commissioner - PPC Poker Tour
sandy@ppcpokertour.com
Twitter: @ppcpokertour
Office: 954.773.8086

I have no current working relationship with the PPC and in the past there were only loose connections at best. As far as working with them in the future, assuming all works out today, I would definitely need further assurances and information as to what the situation was.


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That was a bombshell of a 4pm announcement

4pm central (sorry for the confusion)

Where'd that guy go that said I don't know what a Ponzi scheme is??!!