I've let an English-speaking buddy proofread the post. So here is the cleaned-up version, as the time frame for editing the original post has passed.
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Dear players! I believe that a lot of you will ignore this thread and I anticipate a lot of “lol, you are donks” comments to this, but I believe in players’ unity and mutual support in questions regarding relations between players and pokerrooms.
I’m telling you this story on behalf of Russian poker players community, which succumbed to the power of authority and believed those who were supposed to be trustworthy, but in fact were not.
This story began in February 2008, when a PokerNews associate started advertising T6poker on cgm.ru (largest Russian poker forum, property of PokerNews). An ad also appeared on pokernews.com. The advertising campaign has been very aggressive. PokerNews offered a lot of bonuses on T6 poker, rake races to EPT buyins and such, but some people expressed doubts in this pokerroom because of the shady reputation of some of its founders (I will not go further on this topic, as I believe people whom I speak of here know better). There was a discussion on cgm.ru and in Tony G.’s blog about the security of the room and the integrity of its owners and PokerNews associates were asked to comment on that. The following reply appeared on cgm.ru (directly quoting Indenok, who is a PokerNews associate/employee).
http://forum.cgm.ru/showpost?goto=310961
Translation from Russian. My comments in []:
“
Indenok, 18 Feb 2008 13:44
Regarding the integrity of the pokerroom [T6poker]. As many of you know, I am a PokerNews employee and Tony G.’s business partner in his Russian ventures. Tony G. personally asked me to promote and advertise T6. After reading topics on 2+2 and comments in Tony’s blog [links:
http://tonyg.pokerworks.com/2008/01/...home-game.html,
http://tonyg.pokerworks.com/2008/01/...t6-poker.html] etc., I, naturally, asked him corresponding questions. Tony answered that this does not represent the facts and that he PERSONALLY [capitalization in original post] guarantees withdrawals from the pokerroom. I believe it is reasonable to trust his business reputation. I completely trust it. TTR’s [one of cgm.ru poster] assumptions that T6poker belongs to Tony G. and could be a financial pyramid are absurd in my opinion.
“
After these guarantees were stated, a lot of high rollers and grinders, who otherwise would not play on T6poker, signed up to play there. Rakeback, rake ladder and WSOP/EPT invitations were lucrative but the PokerNews’s guarantee was what made the real difference.
One of the victims of the fraud is a well known Russian player Alexey “Gump” Makarov (screen name NiceHandLOL on T6poker) who had more than 240k euros in his account. I write this post on his and other players’ behalf, so all proofs will be presented if needed. Besides him, there are many more players who have significantly less money on their accounts (one player with 10k euros, others with 500-5000 euros).
Also, two players didn’t get their tournament buy-ins which amount to 42k euros total (they were the winners of T6poker’s advertised EPT promotion).
Here is a list of players we are aware of who still have funds in their T6poker accounts they are unable to withdraw:
1. Ostryak 4082 euros
2. WaterGhost 2281 euros + 28K dollars Promo
3. hAAppyMonkey 9679 euros
4. HoldemKhan 14K dollars Promo
5. dimapow3r 874 euros
6. ekikmk 847 euros
7. x25rus 601 euros +10K dollars Promo
8. JennaJameson 3329 euros
9. NiceHandLOL 238689 euros (120k euros were paid by Tony G., so only 118k euros remain)
Withdrawal problems began in June. T6poker support requested additional documents from Alexey, and after they have been provided, he was able to withdraw about 80k euro to Moneybookers and wire transfers. But his further withdrawal requests all got cancelled and support provided no explanation to this.
Since June Alexey maintained close contact with Indenok (PokerNews associate who posted Tony G.’s guarantees), Tony G. and Torben (T6poker’s owner). For a long time nothing happened. On September 9 Alexey made a post to a T6poker related thread on cgm.ru where he described his current situation and stated that he will try all legal ways to make Tony G. responsible for the guarantees he made.
http://forum.cgm.ru/msg?th=37242&prevloaded=1&&start=40
You can try to read it using online translator.
This thread had a HUGE players response and soon after that Tony G. contacted Alexey and they went into long and uneasy negotiations which resulted in Tony G. paying Alexey half of T6poker’s debt (120k euro) on condition that Tony G. will be no longer held responsible to Alexey for his guarantees regarding T6poker. At the same time T6poker ads were removed from PokerNews and Tony G.’s sites. The following post appeared in Tony G.’s blog:
http://tonyg.pokerworks.com/2008/09/...portunity.html
As of now T6poker still owes 120k euros to Alexey and roughly 30k euros in cash plus 40k euros in promotion money (at least that’s the sum I am aware of) to other players, who trusted PokerNews's guarantees. No withdrawals are currently being processed.
Why I started this thread:
1. To warn players who may decide to start playing on T6Poker: don’t do it under ANY conditions.
2. To try to find other players who became victims of T6poker fraud.
3. To seek legal help for Russian players. If anyone can help for fee or for free PM me please.
4. To see input from players – whether we were right or not to hold PokerNews responsible for this fraud?
5. To hear advices – what should we do next?
If you need further information I am willing to provide it.