wow . my uncle works for the salvation army and im pretty sure he does
it as a volunteer with no pay.

If I worked for a charity I would volunteer my time. Sorry if I offended anyone by asking why he took a salary.

So it's not the cancer aspect but the amount of the prize that gives him a right to a free pass? The fact that someone would scam such a small prize hoping the winner would just give up because it was for 'cancer' makes it even scummier to me.


The 'sketchy' article says this guy filed bankruptcy (a legal scam) when he was 21, how do you screw up so bad you have to hit the reset button on your life and welch on all your debts by the time you are old enough to drink legally?

If you mean me, I didn't mean to stick up for them. But imo the right approach is to give them a chance to explain, provide info and answer reasonable questions and then only if the info/answers are unsatisfactory should the flaming begin. I know this is NVG but still!

I think there are a lot of causes for concern here:
- OP experience
- Sketchy comments
- BBB issues (the biggest concern)
- Failure to provide info quickly when asked
- Failure to include any financials on Website http://www.ucareamerica.org/

However, I just think there should be a fair chance to address the issues before the most potent forms of flaming begin.

On the issue of pay etc, the website says JW is full time so if he has indeed spent 2 years and taken only $10k then that in itself does not seem like a basis for criticism (would the critics be willing to do that?). It is not unusual for charity staff and fundraisers to be paid. However, that doesn't preclude that they could be creaming off money in other ways.

(Also bear in mind there are several other unrelated non-profit organisations around the world called UCARE.)

lol because you don't work for a charity, so it's a bit rich to be taking the moral high ground here.

totally disagree with this. the smaller sum suggests to me that it's an error or oversight which is exactly what he is saying.

+1

give the guy a chance to defend the charity, and THEN if he doesn't, go about your flaming

This is the background of UCARE from its website ...
JW, perhaps you would also explain the difference between this: ... and the fact that the above says you raised over $500k in the first 2 years alone.

Also how can you recocile the above with this? ... I am really hoping for the best here.

Read the articles in post #115.

So obviously a fraud - a bustout poker player wants to promote poker tournaments, adds the magic word CANCER and voila! twoplustwo posters ignoring the obvious.

The website lists many regional offices, yet gives no addresses and phone numbers.
Way to pump up your stature for the naive and gullible.

Another question. The website is unusual for a charitable organisation in that it has nothing about the beneficiaries (it is centred much more on fundraising). Normally you see examples of people and organisations that have been helped or those that need help, i.e. to explain to people why the organisation exists. On yours there is nothing like that. It just says:
http://www.ucareamerica.org

Do you publish summary of the recipients anywhere? eg how many people yo have given to, how much and what for?

He intentionally used the small prize to make himself look like the victim and the OP appear insensitive to charity, I didn't think he did a very convincing job but apparently it worked on at least one person.

Somewhere on their disastrous website it states that it can take 3 months for applicants to get an answer, and that the maximum donation that the charity makes to an applicant is $500 or $1000. TOTAL.

The people collecting for this scam get 20% minimum off the top.
The collector in the article collected $800 his 1st weekend, which would've entitled him to 25% off the top due to the amount he collected.
No wonder he's afraid to file and display financial data.

raidalot - "JW, perhaps you would also explain the difference between this:
Quote:

"has been around for 3 years and has raised over $400,000 in that span."

... and the fact that the above says you raised over $500k in the first 2 years alone."

Not surprising he couldn't keep his stories straight - he and his accomplice couldn't even coordinate the story about the father with cancer - in one version he's fighting it, in another he's dead.

Doesn't seem to matter to some twoplustwo'ers, though.

Stinky jesus, give it up. They're not saying that everything is fine, they're simply seeking real proof (as anyone should) to pass the threshold from hunch to fact before causing irrevocable damage to a reputation.

Completely standard. This does not need "addressing" by you or by NVG.

Come on, JW1979 has admitted his charity were wrong here and said they will make it good with OP. Nothing more to be said in the thread, unless OP returns to say that this has not happened. If people have concerns about the accounts of the charity, then look up what organisation to report them to and then do it. Don't feel this thread with baseless speculation that could be harmful to the charity.

Hi Everyone:

I don't know if this person is being truthful or not, or whether this is a worthwhile charity, and I don't want my comments to be taken as any form of direct criticism of the United Cancer Society (if I got the name right). But it's been our policy at 2+2 not to support any of these charities, and we also don't feel it's correct, in most situations, for anyone to come on here and solicit for money. (Again, just to be clear, I'm not saying that this particular person is soliciting money on www.twoplustwo.com in any way.)

The problem is, and history bears this out, that it seems as if there are enough of these charities around the poker world where there seems to be problems. I won't list any of them here, but there has been plenty of discussion on this site about at least two of them.

So my advice is to not participate in any of these events unless you are absolutely sure it is legit. Besides, there are for sure legit charities in these fields that you can donate to. Just off the top of my head The American Cancer Society comes to mind. So if you feel that donating to a group like this is worthwhile, why not enter a tournament and decide that if you win anything, some percentage of it will go to the charity of your choice.

And one final thought before anyone here gets irritated with what I have just stated. My life, through the success of 2+2, has also been financially successful. And to this end, my wife and I set up a small private foundation of our own and we give money away each year related to a particular interest we have. Never once have I been on my own website (which is this one) promoting my own charity, and that's because it's the opinion of 2+2 management (which includes me but is not limited to just me) that it's wrong to be soliciting money in this way.

Best wishes,
Mason

Isn't there a problem here? By letting Shaun play in a future event for free aren't you in essence taking money away from other participants unfairly?

One of the reasons I bring this up was that a few years back we had a group on here (that as far as I know doesn't exist anymore) defending their tournaments which included money donated to a charity that was highly questionable. When they began to get called out, these people offered me something similar at their next event which of course was immediately turned down.

Mason

I don't think you offended anyone - it's just hard to understand why you find this concept so strange.

If you want to give up poker to run charities for free while living on your past winnings, that's awesome, but it's not a choice most people have the resources to make.

Running a charity is work. People get paid for doing work. The fact that they work for a charity does not mean they should do all their work for free. It would be nice if everyone were in a position where they could do that, but, excepting smaller and/or one time charities, it's not an option for most.

There's a difference between a celebrity donating his time for free to show up at a charity event and the non-rich guy who spends his entire work time running that charity donating all that time for free.

I have no idea what amount of work/time is being spent on this charity and whether or not 10K sounds like an excessive, reasonable or charitable amount for this guy to work for, but it's hardly a difficult or unreasonable concept in itself.

Wrong...it wasnt just an error, he litterally forgot he claims. You know why? Because he didn't care.

Everyone ask yourselves, what if it was you.

1. You do not make a simple error for 6 months. 2. You do not offer a free seat to op at the next tourney because this takes away from the donations you are trying to make. 3. Change your attitude. How could your charity ever be successful with someone so arrogant at the helm... Who only paid themselves 10000/year. Get Real JW

$10k a year is nothing, and the guy could easily have intended to pay the buy in at the next tournament, meaning nobody misses out.

No opinion on whether he is legit or not, (those statements I think he is legally obliged to produce would go a long way to clearing that up), I am just saying...

He said "Less than 10k in 3 years"... which hardly seems unreasonable (obviously dependent on the amount of work put in)

Did any of you ******s still calling the speculation baseless read the story linked in Ce1ska's post ? Or are you just willfully ignoring all of the shady signs that are piling up here.

I will never play in any future event for ucare or any other charitable tournament considering the sheistyness I've encountered.

Jack has my address here in Vegas, if he wants to send me what I won then so be it. If not, I did the community a service by airing this scenario for future players to consider before they pay to play in these things.

I appreciate everyones post no matter what the content. thats what makes this forum so great.

If you play the Orleans $125 on Fri nites give me a shout out. GL to all

I love how Jacks first response starts with 'the company', then changes to 'we' and finally 'I'.

Whether UCARE is legit or not, what is clear is that you show a alarming level on incompetence for someone purporting to run a charity with a not insignificant turnover.

I hope someone alerts the board and they make the seemingly necessary change.