This all day!

Wow, never thought I'd come down on the side of a sex offender in anything, but I have no idea how they can justify not giving him the value of his seat. Unless I'm missing something here, it doesn't really seem that close. I can understand that they don't want him in the tournament, but if he wins the satellite then you gotta give him his money.

This answer is excellent. I asked for clarification because I assumed that the reality of the situation was something like above.

I know Mike, and would have been extremely surprised if his own opinion mirrored the quotes from the initial post I quoted.

I think a lot of genuinely good/honest pros who are eligible to participate in the EPL are in an extremely tough spot right now. I would assume that nearly all of them are pretty disgusted by Annie Duke's actions and general scumbaggery. But they are positioned to negative freeroll themselves. Remaining silent (publicly) about their opinion on the situation is the only reasonable move they have if they are unwilling to risk negative PR or financial blowback from calling out "the hand that feeds them."

I'm confident there will be no repercussions for any EPL pro who speaks out publicly against this decision. I and a few others already have.

I wish more people took this view. I think you are aware of how much I respect you for it.

I wonder how many well known poker players will chime in now and what that means for EPL and/or other pro's.

Apologies if others have made this point but the seat in question is non-refundable, non-exchangeable and has $0 cash value. They did not play in a $20k cash tournament, he paid his entry fee for the chance to win an opportunity, that opportunity has no concrete value, it can not be simply bought in lieu of winning the opportunity. It is literally worthless on the street, it's market value is $0.

Therefore, there is no reasoning or vehicle for compensating the expelled player anything more than the entry fee, which they did not have to give back and should not have given him back, IMHO. They expelled him for legitimate cause, he has no recourse.

If anything, EPL should be suing him for wasting their time, costing them money and sullying their reputation. Just imagine if he'd snuck into your home game tourney then you found out what kind of dirtbag was sitting at your table, fondling your chips, drinking from your cups, smirking to your guests and maybe your kids...

This could *not* happen to you, this is *not* a capricious act against average joe players, it is *not* unfair, it is justified protection of their league and the game of poker in general.


just my two cents but it seems like common sense to me...

You aren't missing anything, Bond. Everyone understands why they would want him to play in their closed invitational, but to not compensate him for the seat he won in their open satellite is baffling in the extreme. It has variously been claimed that to give him the $20K would be either illegal (which sounds dubious at best) or would mean they would have to take a $20K hit (duh, take the hit if you think having this guy in your tourney would result in a lot of bad publicity).

Really, really bad decision making from the EPL here, and apparently they think strong-armed and stealing from a player is justifiable just because he's a scumbag. Just a bizarre stance for any league, but especially one with an ethics committee, to make.

and its bee said before but just how lolironic do we have justin bonomo acting as the ethical voice for the epic fail league. Oh whats that you say zee? What you did was in the past?

huh, wait what?

MM,

so your position is that is perfectly ok for them to take his $1500 entry fee when he has zero chance of winning any prize? Really? And that they should then sue him for wasting their time? Really?

I hate to cry shill at anyone who disagrees with my views but I think it's pretty obvious here.

You almost had me Manik

Savages,

learn to use the newly invented quote function or type out the posters name. Most people don't associate MM with ManikMarlin. ****...

I agree with LF

You seem to conveniently forget that they set a precedent with the Chino fiasco, having an EPL representative clearly communicate in an interview with Bluff magazine that past criminal history will not be a factor if it occured prior to the formation of the EPL. Still seem like common sense to you?

Oh yea and I forgot. Hello EPL.

It seems they got the "chances of this dude winning a significant sum and our name is tarnished by being associated with him vs chances this story gets out, maybe the dude pursues this publicly and it becomes a big issue and possibly a lawsuit" calculation quite wrong.

Joe Sebok working the maths for the EPL?

I have to wonder just where you learnt your peculiar brand of common sense ManikM. It is completely skewed so can only come to same conclusion that Bolivia came to. Think you were correct first time though Bolivia - AD rather than just EPL.

The weird thing is, it wasn't deVita who started all this outrage. For all we know, he'd have quietly slumped away with the $1500 buyin refund rather than kick up a fuss, after all how many convicted sex offenders would expect any online community to support them in anything?

But yeah, the EPL definitely misjudged the reaction to this decision and I'd be amazed if they tried to defend it in law.

I've read through each post on this and other related threads. I have openly responded to questions that were presented to me. I have received many telephone calls on the Hotline that was established to field those calls. I have responded to each of those calls.

I don't expect you or anyone else to support me personally, at least until you are more informed about ALL of the facts dating back to 1991, and even then, I will gain little personal support (if any). That's not why I'm here. I am not here to rally some "sex offender" cause. I am here in an effort to help clearify the Epic mess that this has become.

There is a moderator here. That moderator has granted me access to this thread. I used my REAL name because I have nothing to hide. I have posted my mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number here because I have nothing to hide.

You on the other hand, have not signed your messages or even logged onto this message board with your real name. Is that because YOU have something to hide or to be ashamed of? Maybe not, but who knows? Who really cares?

It's easy for people to jump on the bandwagon and to run with the crowd because there is stregnth in numbers, but it takes a real man to stand against that crowd. I'm standing here my friend, and I will continue to stand here until I am escorted away by the Moderator of this thread. If that happens, I will continue to make my stand elsewhere in the Poker community.

Again, I have nothing to hide, and certainly nothing to fear. Once the Poker community actually gets to know me as a person, they too will know that they have no need to hide, and they have nothing to fear. I'm just another Poker player with a somewhat checkered past, but certainly doesn't mean that I'll have a checkered future.

See ya at the final table...

Michael DiVita

I am sure you do realise we are not in any way supporting Divita. I would be surprised if all who are in support do not feel revulsion at what he did 20 years ago. We are all supporting what is right and fair.

Right. So please, inform us.

Oh that's right, you won't. You have been asked before to explain the charges against you, but despite repeated claims that you have "nothing to hide," you refuse to do so.

Don't come on here and act like people would defend you if only we knew all the facts. Yeah, I'm sure you were screwed. You were railroaded by the justice system. No. The only people who screwed you were the EPL. You are a convicted sex offender and nobody here has much use for you on a personal level. Own up to what you did and stop with your ridiculous claims of how we hate you only because we are ignorant of the facts.

Doubt anyone has any interest in meeting a pedophile.
Ok, can you give us the facts?

Jesus some of you really don't get it. That headline doesn't get seen by many because very few media outlets consider it newsworthy. Only semi serious poker players and above give a crap. Pedo allowed to wins $$$$$ in major Poker tournament on the other hand would be run by virtually all of them.

Arcadian is right. This was a good business decision in this particular instance, using AD as one of your leading spokespersons on the other hand will seriously backfire if they ever approach being taken seriously as a pro organization a la PGA.

If he had any humility he would not make the statements he has. If he had any sense he would keep his mouth firmly shut. This is not about how much sense he lacks or how horrid his behaviour was years ago. Please lets not get sidelined by this. It is about the way that the EPL have behaved. How can anyone in their right mind ever trust an organisation that behaves this way?