Hello, Workaholics!


My name is Pavel, I play poker for over 10 years now, a very few of you may know me as "bomba-tiktak" on pokerstars. I currently play cash online on Ontario based platforms.

And..... I'm having concerns that I'm getting robbed by Paris cage and some of the WSOP representatives.
There's a lot of little things that are making me think so, but I will try to keep this post as short as possible.

So, this summer I finished 48th in ME this year for a payout of $188400 and I only managed to get $50000 out of Paris cage, which i took in cash, while the other $138400
was supposed to be sent to my bank account via wire transfer.

But... according to the Paris cage manager Meagan Marks and WSOP poker operations director Andrew Cash, this wire transfer had been placed on hold (for almost a month now) for investigation by my bank's intermediary and they cannot do anything about it at this point. Even give me a wire federal tracking number so I can come to my bank and ask questions.

I spent three weeks trying to sort it out with Andy via everyday e-mails , and he only provided me with misleading information, dodging the tracking info question for as long as possible.
The latest update was that he cannot get the tracking info from Paris cage.



A little recap of what happened:



I used my Russian passport to avoid paying the draconic 30% tax for North Americans (sorry guys), but I wanted my wire to go to TD Canada USD account.

I gave a paper with my wire information to the Paris cage clerk, and she refused it (?!). Only asked to fill out the WSOP wire form, which didn't require any addresses.
I didn't know the importance of it at that point.

Of course, they put my Russian address and no wonder the wire never went through. They sent wire on December 14th, allegedly.

Since then series of weird things happened:

1. When I first asked about confirmation of a processed wire they sent me a document which showed that this wire is still "Awaiting approval". Later they apologized and told me that it was a wrong document and it should've never been sent to me.

2. When I asked Meagan about tracking info, she sent me their banks SWIFT information, which is a least important piece of information needed to track a wire transfer.
She also mentioned that she works in this industry for many years and knows exactly that this is what my bank needs in order to help me .

3. Then Andy Rich took over. Allegedly, they sent a request to Wells Fargo to track this wire. Wells Fargo investigated and concluded that some information was missing, and on 28/12 Paris cage sent the missing information and the money can show up any time now (nobody ever asked me about my Canadian address).

Around January 7th, Andy provided me with an update that the transfer is on hold by my bank's intermediary and Wells Fargo is waiting for their response. I requested the tracking number again, and he replied that it is not in his power to get it from the Paris cage.

They offered me to come to Vegas and request a wire recall, which would take around 14 business days, but at this point I find it difficult to trust them (for example, Mr. Cash has a picture of a Vampire on his LinkedIn background) and would like to hear the people's opinion first.

Maybe some of you accountants, lawyers, and maybe even witchers would be able to help me to finally receive my hardly earned T-dollars. Why on earth are they refusing to give me the tracking number?

International wires can be caught up quite easily if any information including recipient address is missing or does not match.

If there acknowledging the funds have not made it to its final destination (your TD usd$ account) and is stuck at a intermediary in-between, the wire tracking number won't do you any good. I'd suggest having them recall the wire and finding a different method of collection. They need to initiate this and not you. Their timeline does not seem far fetched and wires sent into the abyss can take some time to locate.

Doesn’t Canada not have taxes on poker winnings as well? Shitty situation and it sucks. I’d get a recall and go get the funds in person asap but up to you to decide what’s best. In my experience when other people are in charge of managing your money they have no urgency and never resolve issues that arise (sometimes even create them on purpose) so you got to protect your own interests.

Apparently not, poker does not qualify as a business in Canada. But they take 30% off Canadians at WSOP.

That's good to know. They told me I have to come to Vegas to sign recall forms.

If you live in Canada you'll have to pay the 30% anyway, withholding tax is based on residency not nationality. And it is not just for North Americans.

It's different for russian players, they have an agreement that russians keep they're winnings and deal with taxes at home. They took advantage of me not knowing about wire transfers. I just wasn't expecting any possible foul play by them, that's the heartbreaking part of this situation. And even if the wire is stuck in the intermediary bank, why not give me the tracking details so I can at least ask my bank if they know anything about it.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. Vampires aren't real or at least they don't live in USA if they are.

That's with Russians that live in Russia, or anyone else living in Russia for that matter, it's called double taxation agreement. It's funny that they would still uphold it these days, but that's a different story. Anyways if you live in Canada this does not apply to you. In fact it is not unlikely that if you gave them a Canadian address or a Russian address with a Canadian bank account this is the main reason for this process being stuck.

I mean NATO has basically been at proxy war with Russia for 2 years, so I'm not in the least surprised that a Russian citizen attempting to take money out of the US is having difficulty with it. I doubt very much this has anything to do with Paris or any of the representatives you've been talking to and more to do with the fact Russia has been removed from SWIFT and is under an embargo by, you know, most of the west.

As far as taxes for any decent sized win for a Canadian national, they will withhold whatever tax they think they should. You claim it back from the US government later via the tax treaty Canada and US have together. I think most people just do it when they return through the federal border.

Thankfully I never have to worry about winning six figures

Sounds like you're trying to get out of taxes you were legally obligated to have withheld and now it's become a problem.

Or just standard wire problems. Doesn't sound very sus.

Mayyyybe have to worry about vampires in New Orleans, but doubtful.

Santa Carla CA too

What's more likely, they're robbing you or an international wire to a Russian being sent to Canada is a giant ****ing pain in the ass that they'd rather never have to deal with?

"At home" in this case is your tax residence in 2023.

If you're actually a tax resident of Canada the Russian passport doesn't help you to legally obtain the money without tax deductions. The passport would obviously help anyone trying to do it illegally but in that case the money shouldn't be wired to a Canadian bank and the situation shouldn't be discussed and documented on a public internet forum.

They refused my wire information paper with the correct address, were never in doubt using my Russian address to send money to Canada, and now they are refusing to give me a tracking number.

They even e-mailed me prior to coming there asking what payout methods I wanted to choose, so they were prepared for this situation.

I never did taxes for 2023 in Canada and have no intentions to do so. Where else would Russian players receive their wires, if Russia is banned from SWIFT these days.

Yeah you really should've just taken 100% of it in cash and then found a trade for crypto. The BS nonsense will possibly end up causing you to lose 30% of the total now.

What you meant to say is it's *supposed* to be based on residency and not nationality.

Multiple canadians I know who are canadian citizens only and 100% legally live in europe (with residence cards, visas, and everything) and still cannot get out of the 30% no matter how hard they've tried. At least one Canadian who plays the highest stakes MTTs and still has this exact issue. Doesn't live in Canada at all and with the reality of how this stuff works, it doesn't matter. This is the exact reason I haven't claimed my Canadian passport yet (have birth right to it). Well, that issue combined with it not giving me any additional travelability.

If you don't actually live in Canada (and Canada doesn't treat you as a tax resident) that's obviously a different situation. Your opening post made it sound like you don't live in Russia.

What was your plan for getting the money from a Canadian banking account to Russia? That same solution might work from the Paris cage too but it sounds like you have to be there in person to make things happen. Once you're in Vegas you can try to trade $ for crypto or balance at a reputable poker platform.

If i get to lose 30% , so be it. that's fine. it's just sad that WSOP's attitude towards players is so demeaning these days. Even if they disliked my greedy intention to choose a 13% tax option over 30% (for an mtt, for ****'s sakes). They should've recalled that the ME is an iconic competition where all kinds of players - levels, pronounces and nationalities are battling for the most prestigious mtt of all time, and they play a part in this spectacle.

But some individuals , middle-managers, within the system treat it like they own it and can prey on random players considering themselves invincible. how modern of them.

A simple question was never answered: is there a tracking number for this wire?

Only a dozen of vague misleading e-mails like this one




Payment ID is the federal wire tracking number , they just probably "not competent enough" to know what im asking about

This is what my bank is asking me to provide so they can take a look.


And I can't get a straight answer from WSOP , wtf

now it makes sense why they didnt want my wire info in the beginning

I would just keep it on my Canadian account and use it when I'm in Ontario, like right now, having to deal with this situation Yes, those are the options, but at this point there's no certainty that going to Vegas to recall the wire is the best solution.

If you want to keep that money on an account with a Canadian bank, I'd strongly suggest you talk to a Canadian tax attorney to make sure that you're not only not a Canadian resident for tax purposes but that you're playing poker professionally from Canada isn't an issue or considered conducting business. The minute a six figure wire transfer from a foreign country hits your banking account it gets dramatically more difficult to fly under the radar. (not saying you're doing anything "wrong" here).

I'm assuming it's all figured out regarding poker in Canada, at this point. Poker does not qualify as business, due to lack of business properties. Therefore not taxable. 100% legal.