What you are calling a weird worming out of paying the guarantee is GG paying out the full prize amount to a wider group of players. The why and the how of this is important to understand.
If GG simply shorted the prize pool, it would be a different story.

We all know that advertised "GUARANTEE" has small print attached to it.

That's exactly what they do if you want it all up front.

What kind of GG shill bs is this wtf?!?! Were you the guy on Twitter minimizing the superuser controversy? If this doesn't make the cut for GG deserving criticism then what are the "a lot of things" that are worst than this???

Did anyone play this and are able to confirm they received the $4? Was it anyone who fired a bullet got $4 or all day 2s??? Why would ppl who didnt even win a bounty get part of it? Why wouldnt it be done proportionally for bounties won? Why tf wouldnt they just give it to the top prize since thats where it was intended?

also Alexo the GG rep, if it was listed from the very first hand of day 2, that actually means it wasnt "shown correctly in the lobby from the moment the tournament started". You contradicted yourself in the same sentence as you used a hyphen lol.

I really hate that this ultimately won't make any negative impact on GG whatsoever. They are supposedly a regulated and should be trusted site. It seems they're primed to take over wsop.com business from 888(or however the licensing agreement works since Caesars has the only license for online pokes) so that really blows as they're just going to rake tf out of it and have a never ending stream of bs like this happen with nothing ever done about it. They screwed me out of $2500 after allowing me to play still in Taiwan up until I went to withdrawal and they said they stopped serving the region. GG also let Bryn steal my agent account player base back at the start of covid. They're crooks.

Even if what Alexi said is correct, why is it "fair" to pull all the money only from the top bounty, rather than take a proportional share from all the bounties? Or all the above minimum bounties?

Why is OP the only one paying for the glitch?

I think for an error such as this they didn't have to pay anything out as there was essentially no harm done but the fact they decided to give away an extra $220k seemed good to me as GG hasn't often been good at dealing with errors. I believe that, once they decided to hand out an extra $220k, it is debatable whether they should give it to whoever had won the top bounty or distribute out it evenly. Reasonable arguments would be that everyone was aware how much was up for grabs from the moment day 2 started, giving $220k more to top place would affect tournament strategies and also appeasing people that didn't get bounties (note the $220k was divided among all participants, not just those that made d2 or that won a bounty). But regardless, they gave out $220k that they didn't have to give.

There wasn't any money "pulled", it was just different distribution that everyone was aware of before the first hand was dealt. It happened due to an error in their software. OP isn't the only one paying for the glitch, noone is paying for any glitch - the total bounty prize pool was correct, the average value of the bounty was correct and as advertized.

I feel like most people itt don't understand that there was no money missing from the tournament. A different distribution doesn't really change anything except optics, so comparing it to tournaments that didn't pay out the GTD isn't correct. The tournament had a 10 Mil GTD prizepool and it exceeded that. There was no money missing at all from either the bounty or the regular prize pool. Out of all the things to be outraged at GG about, this isn't it imo.

I see their home page has "Join GGPoker and play for the $1,000,000 mega bounty".

Perhaps they need to correct it.

I remember back in the day Titan poker had this offer that if you won 6 consecutive Sit N Gos you won the progressive jackpot which was a minimum $35k. Some guy spent a year only playing these. Won 6 in a row and then it started. "Can you send us your drivers licence?" "Can you send us proof of address?". In the end they didnt pay out. He wasnt the only one.

When you play on sites that have a rep as being a little bit on the dodgy side, you take a risk. Its sad thats the case, but thats just how the poker world seems to be.

It is probably debatable whether they owed the entire guaranteed amount based on their own errors but their payment to everyone that played in the tournament could be viewed as gratuitous. Again, I don't see why it came out of the top prize.

Was the glitch in the calculation of the bounties and prize pool or was it in the running of the tournament?

The algorithm malfunctioned???
What you mean is - it wasn't properly written. and the software wasn't thoroughly tested - despite all of the $$$$$ GG Poker spent on marketing.

Why are they trying so hard to not pay out $220,000. They are the largest site out there, they are printing money.
$220,000 should be nothing to them.

Why the constant turnover of "site pros" and "integrity council members"?
Why is Daniel Negreanu tweeting all day and night about everything except the issues on GG Poker.
Why are GG Pros blocking people who ask questions?


GG Poker is a bad actor in the poker community.
They operate with the same mindset that Full Tilt and UB had.

They will cheat, steal, and lie to us until they pull the plug on the operation because the name is too damaged; or those in charge are facing serious legal risks.
Then they will "rebrand" and attempt to get licensed in regulated markets.

**** GG Poker. and **** the people defending them.
We've seen this all before, why are we letting it happen again.

So, simplifying, you're saying:

- The intended bounty distribution (as advertised) was something like: $1m, $500k, $400k, .... $1k.
- Instead they paid out something like $780k, $510k, $410k, ... $1,010.
- Realising it was not as advertised, they decided to throw in an extra $220k (which happens to coincide with the amount that OP was short of the top bounty guarantee).
- However, instead of giving that to OP who lost out in that sense, they decided to give it to all the other players who had generally either (a) benefitted from the error already (other bounty winners who received more than they would have if distributed correctly) or (b) lost nothing (because they didn't win a bounty).

That makes no sense to me. They guaranteed 2 aspects of the tourney: (1) total prize pool $10m and (2) top bounty $1m. They satisfied (1) but failed to meet (2). The corrective action is to meet obligation (2), not to take the amount involved in doing so and giving it to others.

But that's not the point at which players committed to the tourney.

They get kudos for contributing $220k rather than just hiding behind the inevitable small print in their ToS but they gave it to the wrong players imo.

? The distribution is advertised in the title of the tournament. At least, the amount of the gtd top bounty 1 million, which GG failed to pay. Ask OP if 220k is “optics”

yes but thats the players choice

sounds a lot like something a paid shill would say

I think you fail to see my point of view that when the error occurred (before any day2 hand was played) noone at all was affected. The value of every bounty was the same. Yes, OP ended up winning the top bounty which had a smaller prize pool distribution but they could have won the second top bounty instead, which had a higher distribution than intented. In my eyes, because noone was actually hurt by the change in distribution at the moment that it happened (evs stayed the same, all bounties were still in etc) noone is owed money or got less than they were entitled to.

Regardless if you agree with me or not, I hope my pov is clear now and I will refrain from posting any more itt as I have to get back to the mansion GG bought me for shilling.

Wow, this post is a gigantic (FACEPALM). The only thing I can say to this is to refer to your avatar, it says it all.......

I understand. And I agree it’s hardly GGs biggest issue atm. That said the fact remains that on day 1 the top bounty guaranteed a certain amount. The dilution of “guaranteed” is unfortunate in the poker landscape. Regulators should ensure that poker sites meet their guarantees not arbitrarily hand out money at their prerogative and discretion. The decision to pay $4 to each player is obviously idiotic (doubling down on the mistake of paying too broad a distribution in the first place).

Obviously GG screwed up here, but they did end up paying back the $220k in equity. And if the prize pool was posted at the start of the tournament and any player objected to it, it seems like they should have complained at the start of the tournament (or as soon as the prize pool was posted), and not only once the bounties have actually been awarded.

Players are usually going to going to orient their play around the posted prize pool, and I do think that to make a big change to the prize pool after the prizes have actually been awarded would be unfair to everyone who played the tournament based on the posted pool.

For OP to be bringing up this objection now seems a little free-rolly to me. If he has evidence that he made a complaint about the prize pool distribution prior to actually winning the top bounty, I’d be a lot more sympathetic. But to do it now seems more like “action offered and accepted”.

^^^^^^^ another one.

It sounds like they aren’t trying to avoid paying the $220k. In fact, they already paid it out. The question is who they should pay it out to.

In my mind, they published a prize pool, and everyone presumably played the tournament based on that published prize pool. If players thought the top prize should be higher, this should have been expressed and resolved before the top prize was drawn.

To distribute the additional money evenly to all players does seem like the lesser of two evils to me compared to significantly changing the prize pool to make it more top heavy after the tournament has already been completed.

If a player satellited into the tournament because the top was advertised for weeks to be 1 MIL, why does the incorrect prize pool amount the day of make any difference.


There may have been a logic to paying everyone the shares of the 220k, I just haven't seen it with what has been posted.

The intention behind what they advertised was very clear. They could make it right in everyone's mind by paying out an amount that is very insignificant in relation to the amount that the site takes in.
This is the way that any room with GG's traffic who is operating in good faith would handle the situation.

However they decide to oddly distribute $4 to bunch of players on their site. If they want to do that as well - go ahead - but it is not resolving this issue.

Combine this, with all of the other shady activity and odd decisions by GG Poker - the use of "agents" to circumvent gambling law; both during Covid with Brynn Kenney, and now with the skins that require no KYC when opening new accounts.

GG Poker is a bad actor. They will go the same way as FTP, UB, Lock Poker, and all of the others that fell along the way.

I don't know if you're paid by GG, or just clueless- but by defending their behavior you are doing the poker community a disservice.
You should reevaluate the situation and look into who you are defending.

I'm guessing in their TOS is something that says they can alter guarantees/payouts in the event of an "error" (they can claim anything was an error).

At least it's not as bad as the supernova elite rewards bait n' switch.

The overall prizepool being the same doesn't mean there's essentially no harm done. A more top-heavy prize pool has ICM implications.

Imagine if it was advertised as winner-take-all. Late in the tourney you are 2nd in chips and call an allin vs the chip leader and lose. You find out after the fact that you busted on the bubble because it wasn't actually winner-take-all. So had you known the actual prizepool, it would be ICM suicide to call the allin.

This is why it wrecks the game and causes damage to players when payout structure changes after the tournament starts. And they're basically tricking people into playing a more rake-friendly format than what they signed up for.

This is how poker news advertised it and it seems like the only bounty amount not properly paid was the only one promised:


The Million Dollar Mystery Bounty Event is the Craziest Online MTT Ever!
August 16, 2022
Name Surname
Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
2022 GGPoker WSOP Online
GGPoker has pushed the boundaries of online poker yet again with the creation of what is the craziest online poker tournament, perhaps ever. Event #7 of the 2022 GGPoker WSOP Online will go down in online poker history.

The Million Dollar Mystery Bounty gives the impression that the event is a $1 million guaranteed PKO tournament, but it is far much more than that. GGPoker gave the event this name because the top mystery bounty prize tips the scales at $1 million! That's correct, one lucky GGPoker player will be walking away with a $1 million mystery bounty prize! Remember the excitement surrounding Matt Glantz when he found the $1 million mystery bounty prize at the 2022 WSOP in Las Vegas? Well that same furore is coming to a computer screen in the next few days.

2022 GGPoker WSOP Online to Award 33 Bracelets; Runs August 7-September 27

As if having a $1 million mystery bounty up for grabs wasn't enough to have you clambering for your mouse and registering for the $210 buy-in tournament, GGPoker has slapped a $10 million guarantee on the event's prize pool! We told you this is a crazy tournament. Better still, there are dozens of satellites feeding into the Million Dollar Mystery Bounty from as little as $1! Imagine turning $1 into a $1 million bounty, a shedload of cash from the prize pool, and a WSOP bracelet to boot.

How Does the Million Dollar Mystery Bounty Work?
The Million Dollar Mystery Bounty has a few dozen flights remaining. They run several times per day up to and including August 22, which is the date of the final day's action, too. Each Day 1 costs $210 to enter, with $100 going into the prize pool, $100 into the bounty prize pool, and $10 in tournament fees. GGPoker guarantees the bounty prize pool will weigh in at $5 million with the top prize being a cool $1 million.

The tournament plays out like any other you have played on GGPoker; your ultimate goal is to reach Day 2 on August 22. You can play as many Day 1s as you wish and re-enter an unlimited number of times until the end of the 14th level of each flight. It is worthwhile taking as many shots as your bankroll allows because all your qualifying stacks are combined and taken through with you to Day 2; you could have a mega stack as the final phase kicks off!

LOL, I’m not paid by GG. I’ve never played on GG. I haven’t played any internet poker at all in at least 15 years.

I guess it’s just not clear to me why if this is such a big controversy, why only the OP is complaining about it after the tournament is already over, and not everyone in the tournament as soon as the wrong prize pool was announced.