I don't think they submitted a plan. It sounds more like they had a plan to not buy all the precious metals in advance that was nixed by a visit from someone in the AG's office. It hasn't been clarified whether that was a planned visit that was known about in advance or if they came in because someone complained that things seemed sketchy.

Chad, I will of course follow this story.

My point to you is that you and PokerNews bear responsibility here for running PR for this event. You and the company were compensated from this tournament, were you not?

You act like you're doing the community a favor by spreading Dan's story.

The revenue from this event would not have been close to what it was without PokerNews and Jeremy Smith.

this seems like him trying to avoid legal repercussions and getting punched in the face. pay the bare min to keep people off your back, delay delay delay until people either forget or the statute of limitation runs out.

the money is coming! don't worry bro!

paying out the $200 difference to some min casher is the best value from his perspective - wouldn't be surprised to see a couple pop up to commend him for his efforts to do the right thing. the real test is whether he makes up the difference to the guys at the final table.

... do we have a list of names of people who cashed and/or final tabled? there's an awfully suspicious message left on the facebook page who seems to be a shill.

https://www.facebook.com/MidwayPoker/

They were hired to do a job. Chad and PokerNews bear the same responsibility that the dealers do. They were compensated from the tournament, too. If you are hinting that they should return all the money they were paid, I don't think that is a reasonable expectation.

This isn't the first wannabe start-up poker tour run by players and it won't be the last. Danny hired some tournament people whose reputations were considered an asset. What should PokerNews have done differently?

Unless Chad has some sort of hidden stake in Midway, he has a purely self-interested reason for writing about this that has nothing to do with doing the poker community a favor. He should obviously wish to make sure that he and PokerNews have a clean name coming out of this. Honestly, he should probably be a bit resentful towards Danny that he has to put in extra work to do this.

I would also consider that Chad lives within driving distance of this tournament. I would not be shocked if at some point he has played in charitable games in Rockford or Chicago. He certainly knows some of the people who played in this tournament, has played poker against some of them, and probably considers some of them friends. It's likely some of those people are owed money.

Of course, this works both ways. He knows a lot of people. We can wonder how likely it is that Chad heard negative private comments about Danny and whether he did his homework on that.

One reasonable question to ask is whether Chad thinks that pushing too hard now and not giving this some time makes it less likely that people will get paid what they deserve.

How many of the 31 cashers have been paid the 30% difference so far?

Why would it take time to make up the difference? The guy HAS the money from the buyins. He didn't go let his "silver pal" reap all the rewards.

“They were hired to do a job.“

Media companies have a responsibility about false advertising. Legally and morally. Media companies must vet their ads to avoid things like complete scams or illegal activities. No different for poker news.

Everyone I spoke to about this event said they would not play because of Dan. As you said, Chad is no stranger to the local scene. We all know dan’s reputation.

I take responsibility for myself getting ripped off $1k. I knew the risk going in. I still wouldn’t have played my sole day1b entry without PokerNews reporting the event.

However, until PokerNews acknowledges their role in ripping off the community they are on the wrong side of this story.

The right thing to do for them is to give their cut to charity, 100%. Maybe not that particular charity.

On the PokerNews podcast this week, Chad said 20 players were made whole, including some members of the final table.

I'm pretty sure PokerNews would not have been involved if this were an illegal tournament or an obvious scam.

This doesn't sound like you are taking responsibility.

I really don't care how it sounds to you. It's true.

Did I run a scam tournament or advertise it? no. I'm not taking responsibility for that, just my $1k.
Leave it to the antifag to victim blame.

Any links to public statements from final tablists paid?

Nevermind.

I disagree with people saying pokernews is simply a contractor/employee. When you use your name/platform to advertise and you promote a tournament you are saying you did the research/due diligence to ensure a tournament is run the right way. Ultimately, they are unable to stop fraudulent behavior as they are not operators but they should feel somewhat responsible for any unethical behavior done by those they endorsed. That being said after the fact or if someone uncharacteristically acts wrongly then trying to make sure players are given restitution and help coordinating like they did is what you would expect an honorable company to do when someone they promoted acted wrongly.

I don't think this is quite accurate. Different parts of a tournament contain different areas of expertise, and can be somewhat expected to exercise that expertise.

If a dealer showed up on the first day, and was handed a bunch of decks that were clearly marked, I'd have some blame for them if they said "not my problem, I just get paid to be here".

If a floorman or TD showed up and was handed a table breaking list that said "the following people will be moved in a favorable order", I'd have some blame for them if they said "not my problem, I just get paid to be here."

If a news/publicity organization is contracted to promote something where the person contracting them has a very suspicious history that doesn't seem at all hard to find out about, I've got some time to allocate some blame to them too.

When you get contracted to do a job, there's some due diligence you should be expected to do in the area in which you are supposed to be an expert.

You can take responsibility while still assigning blame. It's not an all or nothing situation. Ultimately, it's on all of us as gamblers to protect ourselves against the many many scams in this business, but it's still irresponsible for an established business to not due their due diligence and in doing so lend credibility to a scam. They can both be true.

LOL, no - at least not as a general statement like this. There are circumstances under which it might be reasonable to expect more from a company taking advertising, but the idea that if a platform advertises a tournament said platform has done "the research/due diligence to ensure a tournament is run the right way" is a rather unrealistic expectation, and setting yourself up for a fall.

That might change things. I guess the question I would ask would be what you mean by "endorsed". Did PokerNews in some way endorse this event, or are you just assuming that any advertisement is an endorsement?

Over weekend I tried to verify which players have been made whole. Here's where things stand according to the players I've talked to or messaged with...

Still Waiting
1 Renato Spahiu $55,060
2 Satoshi Tanaka $38,180
3 Joseph Paris $25,800
5 Amanda Heidbrick $14,120
6 Josias Santos $11,600
7 Steve Federspiel $9,680
9 Bob Peppe $6,680
10 Frank Lagodich $5,290
12 Benjamin Craig $5,290
14 Jason Kapoor $4,120
19 Kevin Maahs $2,600
22 Alex Tremanis $2,600

Made Whole
4 Rocco Pace $18,320
8 Nicola Ditrapani $8,150
13 Antonio De La Cruz $4,120
16 Andy Rogowski $3,200
18 Adam Thomas $3,200
20 Bryant Miller $2,600
21 Kevin Berthelsen $2,600
23 Praise Ogwo $2,600
24 Matt Lubawski $2,600
25 Eric Salazar $2,600
26 Donnie Phan $2,600
31 Amit Kuckreja $2,300

Believe They Have Been Made Whole But Waiting to Hear Back
11 Pat Steele $5,290
15 Sami Shurbaji $4,120
17 Jimmy Salabi $3,200
27 Young Hoon Koh $2,600
28 Mike Sisiliano $2,300

Believe They Have But Haven't Found Way to Contact
29 Chris Bone $2,300
30 Dennis Brady $2,300

"Fast and Easy" is usually a tipoff.

A tip off to what ?

You mean that "Call 1 900 FastnEasy " was NOT going to send an escort "Direct to your hotel room" for a Fast and Easy good time ?

This guy has scammed so many people. When will someone who has been affected turn him in to the feds?

I have not been personally affected by him, but know others who have. Dude's got some big balls even putting a show on like this, given how many he's screwed over in the past.

The good news is that Poker Bros finally booted him. Long time coming, but I hope the **** storm is just beginning for this clown.

As you say, a lot of the best scams depend on the willing complicity of the victim.

His ex is an ex con junkie who works for him and still sleeps with him for money and drugs as well as doesn’t see her oldest daughter. This ‘baby mama’ is worse than him and looking for a payout

Exactly these people act like one person was involved. Clearly their fact checking isn’t as great as these detectives thought

Re: Midway Poker Tour Shadiness. Possibly $60k+ in precious metals stolen
Exactly these people act like one person was involved. Clearly their fact checking isn’t as great as these detectives thought