He explains it http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=162.

But the thread is derailing out of scope. Doesn't matter for the matter at hand.

Wish people stopped talking about his crime and his past and discuss the fact that EPL has acted incredibly poorly in this case and they need to change their attitudes and re-write some of their criteria for exclusion, inclusion, etc.

good read, tks to Kevmath's Tweets:

http://pokergrump.blogspot.com/2011/...nin-to-do.html

whats more to talk about? When 98% of the people agree, it doesn't make for an interesting discussion.

He was also charged with assault with attempt to rape and assault with a deadly weapon (non firearm) producing great bodily injury in 2010.

He answered questions about the first two cases in the other thread but has ignored my question about this case despite claiming we can ask him anything. From the court documents it seems that the judge found reason to hold him on the charges at the end of one appearance and then dismissed them at the beginning of the next hearing. I was wondering why. Only thing I can think of off the top of my head is maybe the victim passed away before trial? Not sure if they would let a victim "call off" the charges on a case like that.

shady character, shady league, shady excuses

give the perv his money

What I've learned from this thread:

1) the EPL refused to award a prize to one of its tournament winners
2) the player has a criminal record
3) the existence of fact #2 does not justify the EPL's actions
4) most people let their emotions cloud their thinking when provocative labels of 'sexual offender' and 'children' are used

I would never invite this person into my home but there's no doubt in my mind that he was treated unfairly by the EPL. He might well be a despicable person but the EPL simply has to provide him with the monetary value of the prize in lieu of letting him play in the main tournament.

Wild speculation needs to stop. Charges made but not followed through need to be taken at face value. Would you want this to happen to you in a similar scenario? We all agree the man is scummy and that is not in dispute. Over and Over and Over again it has been made clear that this is not the issue. The EPL themselves publicly stated past indiscretions would not be taken into account. Now they say 'No, what we mean is they will not be taken into account unless we decide they will be'.

To be an equal opportunity speculator you should also go after EPL. They have proved themselves to be untrustworthy amazingly early on. My wild speculation on this is did they really take from their own pockets to pay the $1.5k? Or did they hide it in the 'miscellaneous expenses' column of the accounts presented to the sponsors? You see this also is irrelevant to the matter at hand and one for their sponsor to address not me or you. If I was their sponsor I would be going over all accounts with a fine toothed comb especially since AD is involved.

Has anyone raised this point - In the Fallen Heroes EPL charity tourney, the winner Michael Craig donated his $1,500 Pro Am seat to the Fallen Heroes charity. If the seat had no cash value, what good does a 1.5k seat do a charity?

http://www.epicpoker.com/news/blog-p...rity-wrap.aspx

From what my brother-in-law told me last night, The State of Ohio passed a law 4 years ago (Adam Walsh Act) which basically re-convicted sex offenders. If a sex offender was a tier 1( the least dangerous offenders. Basically those who had sex when they were 18 and gf was 17,etc..) he automatically became a tier 2( a more dangerous person who did harm a child). Meaning instead of registering for 10 years he had to register for 25 YEARS EVEN THOUGH HE WAS ALREADY CONVICTED AND SENTENCED FOR THE CRIME! Basically they were being sentenced TWICE for the same crime. It was fought to stop this law from going on and last year it was overturned but not without several tier 1 sex offenders suffering emotionally and psychological damage including suicide on a few occasions.
http://constitutionalfights.blogspot...e-may-not.html

He also knows atleast a couple of guys wrongfully convicted and these guys have had their lives ruined whether it was by a hateful ex or a child with psychological issues looking for attention. I don't know Michael DeVita's situation. Nor will I speculate any longer what happened 20 years ago. The 3 people who know are him, the kid and God. Would I be comfortable around him? Probably not based on the fact he was convicted but as my brother-in-law reminded me last night not everything is what it seems. I would hate to be those people who were wrongfully convicted of this crime. It must be complete hell for them.

I don't think anyone has raised this specific point yet. I was thinking about something like this as well. If EPL claims the seat isn't worth 20K, then why are their pros paying 20K to enter? Oh, you can't just enter off the street with 20K, you need an EPL pro card. So, the value of Devita's entry was 20K plus a 1 day card? Sounds like it's worth more than 20k to me any way you slice it.

This used to be a poker thread and now we have Law and God taking centre stage...Hmmm....I prefer poker.

Mike Johnson said:
"the EPL would 100% require that all participants in the Pro/Am sign a document aware that the prize has no value and if they do not play in the main event, they will receive nothing."

Saying this with fanboyish respect for you but as someone on the Pokercast said - the casino can kick you out for just about any infraction, when you sign up for the tournament (or your player's card) you agree to the rules. The fact that no one reads those rules, or that they might not even be posted, is not relevant to the discussion of how much compensation the rule breaker is due.

>It happens at the WSOP about 500 times a day.

different tourney, public tourney, different rules - AFAIK

>They would either

we're down to guessing now but I would imagine either option C or D) sorry you are ill, here is your entry fee - runner-up, congrats it's your lucky day. It is not EPL's fault he got sick, they still have an event to run. Or E) your seat is waiting should you get better, chips being blinded off.

But let's be fair, there is a difference between falling ill and being a convicted pedophile, they are not remotely related.


Bolivia said: They should not have allowed him to register or play the satelite.

agreed, but they can not conduct background checks in real time (or can they? hmm) so the onus is on the player to know the rules and follow them.


Pizdec said: This was revised in the tax code, but the gaming laws used to originally interpret the tax consequences did not change.

Great point and while this certainly complicates matters, the ticket can both have taxable value and still no street value, due to the rules of the tournament. Further, the gaming laws can still require that the value of the seat be provided to the prize pool, as promised to everyone. So the value is put into the tournament, not into compensating the ejected player.

Someday there will be a tournament where one player has a restraining order against another player who won their seat in a satellite, what do you all think should happen then?

This may be the strangest situation I have read about in a while.

Did the EPL have rules in place that said something to the effect that anyone with any kind of prior conviction cannot take part?

If they didnt then I would assume this guy played within the rules and should be awarded the value of the ticket he won.

What he did in the past is kind of irrelevent regarding this situation unless rules were in place beforehand.

They are unrelated.

What is interesting is the justification to pull a scummy move NOW is that this guy was a scum bag in the past.

If this guy is banned, then are all poker players banned from playing who have any kind of past conviction?

I am guessing if we removed all the players convicted of sex crimes, assault, drug crimes and stealing/robbery it might thin the field a lot!

Isn't it incredibly ironic that Andy Bloch is on the ethics commitee.

One of the alleged owners of FTP, who are indicted by the US DOJ for serious banking crimes.

To me (removing all emotion) this looks like a clear case the guy should be compensated and told he is no longer welcome back.

When you lower yourself to the scum bag level.......you become a scum bag.

Maybe he played $1500 for them?

Does anyone think they would've refunded him that $1500 if he hadn't won the $20k seat? nice freeroll...

Since you be lawyering and might have a lexis account...any good decisions about the constitutionality of sex offender registries ex post facto?

It most certainly is punishment to any reasonable person, but I can see the merits of having a serious offender who committed crimes long ago on a list...it is not like their record has gone away...it is merely making a list of past crimes. But forced registration ex post facto seems most definitely undefensible.

@bolivia, I agree with you on your assesments, but your posts come across as smug (though not as smug as your friend ZJ's) regarding sex offenders. You seem very unsympathetic...

I'd just like to again point out the sex offender registries don't accurately describe the level of crime or provide much else than that someone is on this list. Considering a lot of people are on these lists for things that aren't even crimes and widely accepted throughout most of the world, it seems a bit shortsighted your smugness on the matter.

What do you mean by the bolded, more specifically in the U.S.

I don't have any reasons to think this has anything to do with anything, but i'm just curious..

I read Xaston ended up getting the seat?

Are any of Xastons friends on the EPL committee?

The EPL has to the f#@k over themselves...... They are digging a hole of hypocrisy for themselves, and its pathetic. This man deserves his money, and an apology.

this is completely out of line

18 with 17 year old, 17 year old with 14 year old etc...

Then there is sex with step relative, sex in position of authority (teacher and student of legal age).

I think if you are an American you should do some research on the matter, this ignorance is not tolerable. The reason why is because it's like all these stupid Amber alerts...it is always a teenager running away, or a mother illegally taking custody in a dispute and not actual danger to a child. Then when a child is actually in danger, nobody cares anymore.

I don't know who Xaston is, but I don't see this question being out of line. It is directly related to corruption.

Question for DaVita:

Did you report this to the Nevada gaming commission yet?

The fact that it prompted that response from you is quite telling and would tend to add credibility to the question.

For example "lol, don't be stupid" would have been a more honest reaction.

If your struggling to interpret this point, exchange Xaston for Howard Lederer (pre black friday). Would it be out of line now to ask this question?

in ohio all the lower courts upheld the law, saying the retroactive nature, didn't violate ex-post facto because the sex offender lists were not supposed to be punishment. The supreme court ruled it unconstitutional, this is the 2nd time that parts of the AWA have been found unconstitutional. To my knowledge Ohio was the first state to enact it, and it hasn't been challenged at a federal level yet.

Are u this dense? We are now going to cast suspicions on Xaston (whom I dont know FYI) just in the name of throwing mud? You cant see how making completely baseless accusations and insinuations is wrong?

Comparing the brother of the founder of the league to a random guy playing the satellite really? Not to mention this apparently didnt even go to the commitee.