So it seems given the 1k rebuys sweat thread this is fairly inevitable. As I said there, I'm comfortable with this being aired in public.
What Bakes is referring to is the backing arrangement between myself, Bakes, and Charles Chua. At the time this all hit the fan I sent many prominent 2p2'ers the following PM asking for their opinion on the matter:
"Time line for the Bakes/Bond/Charles backing saga:
December 2007: Bakes and I are playing in a 10 package guaranteed tournament to APPT ME in Syndey. The package is worth $9000. I AIM him and ask if he’d like to swap a %. He suggests we swap 50% (that is, if one of us wins and the other doesn’t, the winner has to send half the value, this was agreed upon since we both had live backers at the time) and I agree.
I am knocked out in 12th place and Bakes goes on to win the package. A few days later I ask Bakes for my half and he says he was not aware that the package was a must play (cannot be turned in $W and cannot be redeemed for a later event) and that he is consulting with Stars about his options. Stars informs him that his only way to redeem the packages value is to go down to Australia and play. Bakes decides that he won’t be doing this because he’s playing events at the Bellagio at the same time and his backers would not pleased. He offers to send me $1000 of the $2000 Stars is sending him for cash related to the package. I tell him to hold off sending anything and let me consider this.
January 2008: Over dinner with many 2+2’ers during the Aussie Millions I bring this situation up with them. They all conclude that Bakes owes me $4500 since had I won the package I would be required to send him a full $4500. I talk to Bakes about it and he laments that he didn’t realize the package was a must play. I decide to be nice and offer him an alternative:
Bakes and I will back my friend Charles for small and mid stakes tournaments online. Bakes will invest the $4500 he owes me and I will invest $4500 of my own money. The horse will receive 40% of profits and us 60% with standard make up. Bakes and I receive 30% each. The first $4500 in profits receives as a result of his 30% is returned to me to pay back the satellite incurred debt. If the horse loses then Bakes loses the $4500 and his debt to me is called off. Bakes agrees and I send the horse $4500 and ask Bakes to do the same. Bakes sends $3000 and either forgets or simply doesn’t getting around to sending the other $1500.
Early March: I remind Bakes that he needs to send the horse another $1500 on Full Tilt as the horse has lost the money there. He tells me that he’ll take care of it.
March 12: I send the Charles the following email:
“I let bakes know he needs to send you another $1500 on Tilt. Are you still appropriately rolled there ATM, i check the OPR regularly and see you don't play there much, which is fine if your happy grinding over at Stars. Also, I'd like to look over some hand histories of yours so send them over ASAP seeing as I won't have time when i go traveling. Also, can you give me the new passwords to the account as well?
Cheers, Tony”
On March 13 I receive an email from Charles on the topic:
“hey tone, am currently in macau playing a few cash games. tried to contact you couple of days ago but you weren't online. anyway, havent played much this last week but will be getting back to fulltime next week when i get back in kl. also i cashed out some of the online roll temporarily, will redeposit back next week as soon as i return to KL. know i should have asked you first, sorry, ran out of cash in macau and you weren't online. but ive got the cash back on me now and will benson it straight back in. also with HHs will email them to you when i get back to KL next week. I dont have my laptop with me in macau and im only online sporadically every couple of days. changed the passwords on both accounts to XXXXXXX, had to cos the other password seems to be known to a few people. in future i will let you know as soon as i change it. sorry bout that. where are you travelling to?”
As you know this is the part where Charles absconded with the money to Macau in house games.
June 2: I make the infamous ‘very strange staking situation’ post in MTTc. The link can be found here:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/61...king+situation
Several details of the backing arrangement are confirmed in that thread. In the end I decided that not only had I handled that situation rather poorly, but as a result of Bakes and I not backing Charles on Mansion poker or for tournaments over a buy in of $109 FO we were not entitled to the money. Bakes feels then and to this day that we were entitled to our 60% share.
Mid June: Charles sends back $6000, which was everything I received out of the stake. In total I had invested $4500 of my own money and $4500 of equity from a debt incurred by Bakes and received this $6000 in return. I spoke to Bakes during a 2+2’ers final table and he told me he wrote that all off a long time ago. I apologized for the whole fiasco and we agreed that our arrangement was over. I do not mention the $1500 that Bakes still technically owes as I feel that our agreeing to dissolving the staking arrangement pretty much lets him off the hook. He does not bring it up either. I never make any effort to gain that payment from him, he never makes any effort to pay it to me.
Mid August: Charles comes to Melbourne and finds me at a club. He apologizes to me for his behavior and for ruining our friendship. He offers me a free 25% of him in the Vic Champs ME and I tell him I’m willing to accept but all I can really offer is that when people ask me about this story I will end it with the part where he attempted to make some form of apology. I am currently unsure whether Charles actually played in the Vic Champs ME or whether he simply went home, as I heard both. Either way he certainly did not cash in it.
Late August: Charles finds me at the APT player party and offers me 25% of himself in the APT ME and APPT ME in a further attempt to repair our friendship. At the time I do not think of speaking to Bakes about this, as a mixture of being very busy/forgetful and having assumed that the arrangement was long over as we agreed up in mid June.
September 05: Charles makes the final table of the APPT ME coming in with a decent stack. Zugwat asks me on the table what I’m going to do about Bakes in this whole situation. It suddenly occurs to me I had better talk to him about all this. I log online and ask him if he remembers our staking arrangement and he tells me he wrote it off a long time ago. I inform him about the current situation then tell him “Seeing that we dissolved our backing relationship I do not think you are entitled to part of this.” Bakes disagrees and feels he should have to pay back the other $1500 and then will be entitled to half of the 25%. I ask Bakes directly “As of yesterday did you consider yourself this guys backer” and he answers to the effect of ‘of course not.’ I repeat to him that “I feel that since we agree we have dissolved our backing relationship that is the most pertinent detail and you are not entitled.” Bakes accuses me of doing whatever I can to cut him out. I tell him that for the time being my plan will be to take the money from Charles and we will discuss this all at a later date as I have to wake up in the morning for a final table.
September 06: I spend much of the day asking various people their opinions on the situation after giving them the exact same information that has been listed here. In order to not skew your interpretation, I will not include theirs. Charles takes 2nd in the APPT ME for $300,000 after making a deal. He gives me the $75,000. When I tell him that Bakes feels he is entitled to half he becomes outraged and says he feels Bakes deserves nothing and that this was a personal gift to me to repay the breach of trust in our friendship. I tell him it’s more complicated than that, but I do not feel Bakes is entitled to the half he thinks he is.
So, who is entitled to what. Legally? Morally? Otherwise? How can this be solved logically?
It is also worth nothing that I have maintained evidence of many of the things stated here, though not every detail. I have the conversation Bakes and I had last night. I have emails from the horse. I might have PM’s (or be able to recover them) from Bakes at the time of our satellite discussions. It’s possible I even have the AIM conversations, but this is considerably less certain.
In the end of our staking arrangement Bakes had invested $3000 of a $4500 debt and had the rest scratched, resulting in a $1500 win. I invested $4500 of my own money and $4500 of equity in a debt, and received $6000, resulting in what is sort of a $3000 loss, but not exactly since equity is not 100% real money."
After I sent that PM out I had interesting conversations with Thayer and Shaundeeb. Both said they seemed to recall (though were not entirely sure) that they told Bakes it was fine if he played in Sydney instead of the Bellagio. Deeb went so far as to say he was pretty confident that he told Bakes he was happy to have him play in Sydney instead and would reimburse him for the package. Whether they stand by that to this day has yet to be seen, and perhaps they will alter their version of their story, though at the time in Macau I remember the conversation with Deeb vividly.
I'm sure Bakes version of this story is at least slightly different from mine own, though I can at least offer to provide evidence on a considerable amount of that PM, and even the offending horse, Charles Chua, is willing to collaborate that information.
A major point of discussion is whether Charles is able to give me that equity simply as a repayment as his betrayal of my trust as a friend instead of as a backer, and whether he's able to I'm unsure. I brought this situation to many people and the opinions on whether Charles opinion on why he was giving me the equity had a vast array of perspectives. However, of the 30ish people I sent that PM to, about 26 felt that I owed Bakes nothing, which weighed considerably in my decision. People I asked ranged from guys who had considerable backing experience, to prominent 2+2'ers, to established live guys like Barry G.
I sent Bakes the following PM regarding the situation tonight:
"Hey Bakes,
Obviously I noticed your comments in my sweat thread. Long story short, I've never had anything personal against you and when you go deep in a tournament I wish only the best for you. The decision I made was simply a business one which I stand by comfortably to this day and if you would like to have the whole situation aired out in public that is your prerogative and I am happy to do so. I did a large amount of research and opinion asking before I made my decision on the matter and I'm confident it was the correct one.
If you would like to continue trolling me now and then you are free to do so though I will not shoot back in any similar manner. As I said then and as I feel now, as a result of our business arrangement being over I simply felt you were not entitled to any of that money and if you choose to have the whole situation played out on the forums that's fine by me as I have saved a considerable amount of the relevant information pertaining to it.
-Tony"
Anyway, I'm sure none of this will be particularly pleasant, but it seems necessary at this point. It is extremely clear that I handled this situation poorly in many factors, and for that I apologize. However, I do not apologize for the money entitlement decision I made regarding Bakes.
Two Plus Two
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