Quote:
Originally Posted by ChasinScrila
I have searched the web and have not found anything.
The fact that no resolve has been made almost a week after the chips were found is kind of concerning to me, or there are arrest warrants out for a few people and the proper authorities are trying to apprehend them, which could be quite some time if they bailed NJ.
Maybe one of the 27 could please break down how that meeting went, what was said, etc.
Because it is my understanding that if you cash for xx amount in NJ, you need to provide two forms of ID. What if you live in Ohio and are awarded money? Do you have to fly back to NJ to claim your prize? Are they going to waive that two ID requirement? Seems a little over the top.
I was there, not a lot of information offered. Basically anyone who read the DGE press release knows as much as we do. Joe Lupo said the tournament was cancelled by order of the DGE and that the DGE would be holding the remaining prize pool while they investigate the matter. Then there were twenty minutes or so of questions from players (well, some of them were more accusations and threats than questions) with Joe Lupo frequently answering "I don't know" and "this is a question only the DGE can answer". On this front I thought one player had the best question of the day: "Why is there nobody from the DGE here?"
Joe didn't real have an answer for that one.
It was an emotional scene and nobody was really asking specific questions about how Borgata would pay us but the big question, repeatedly asked in one way or another was
IF and
WHEN we were getting paid. Joe was clearly in no position to answer this definitively but the most encouraging aspect of this whole meeting was Joe emphasizing on several occasions that there are things that the Borgata could do regardless of what the DGE did. He specifically said he thought there was the possibility of us playing it out or chopping up the prize pool. There were angry responses from players regarding the idea of playing this at a later date ("You going to fly me down here?!?! Pay for any work I miss?!?!") His job was to calm us down and give us the confidence that the Borgata wanted to do the right thing but was incapable of doing anything until the DGE did their investigation. Many left the meeting enraged but I was more or less convinced that we were eventually going to be compensated fairly; "I don't know what the DGE is going to do or how quickly they are going to do it but we (the Borgata) are going to resolve this" was, at least by my interpretation, Joe's overall message. Maybe his job description on this day was to keep us from hiring lawyers but he seemed to be on our side. I dunno, maybe I'm just a naif.
I do totally agree that is a bit disconcerting that nobody has been arrested yet (I already posted this concern). If, as we assume, it was a conspiracy with multiple parties I'm just guessing the DGE wants all the guilty parties arrested together. Maybe they have one whose guilt is certain while they remain unsure who else was in on it. A few of us players milled about the event center for some time. Maybe because I was one of the player's with the most stoic response (right after the meeting ended I was joking about getting screwed and several poker pros had questions and comments for me like "why aren't you angry right now?" and "I would be going ballistic if it were me") Joe Lupo actually approached me individually about an hour after the meeting and asked a few questions about how a chip chop works and what options the Borgata might have here. I directly asked him if they knew who was guilty and his coy response was that he cannot provide that information but that he thinks the DGE already has a lot of evidence and they will be able to resolve the matter quickly. Let's hope so
BTW, they took photocopies of our driver's licenses...they have verified the identities of the final 27...shouldnt need a second i.d. if they want to arrest us or pay us
Last edited by pninwin; 01-21-2014 at 03:22 PM.