Don't donate to Pokerstars' "Haiti Relief Fund"... ???? - Poker Beats Brags and Variance

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Don't donate to Pokerstars' "Haiti Relief Fund"... ????

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01-16-2010 , 10:22 AM

#1

katmanx

enthusiast

Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 72

ok so i just read about this on another forum, dont know if im alowed to post the link here, so il just copy paste it.

Quote:

USER DANDRUF posted

Don't donate to Pokerstars' "Haiti Relief Fund"... unless you want your hard earned cash to go towards subsidizing Pokerstars' marketing efforts.

Before you jump down my throat and accuse me of being a heartless Jew, allow me to explain...

In December, 2004, Indonesia and several other countries were devastated by a tsunami. I'm sure you all remember.

I watched the news footage of the situation, and I felt really bad for the people affected by it. I saw that Pokerstars was collecting donations for aid to the area. It seemed like the right thing to do. I shipped $100.

I felt good about my token donation, until I saw the way everything unfolded.

Pokerstars ended up collecting something like $187,000 in donations. I was happy to see that they matched it, as my donation was now essentially doubled. Then I read a bit more and realized what was really going on.

First, Pokerstars upped the "match" to where the total donation ended up at an even $400k, instead of $374k or whatever. What's the problem there? I felt like my donation was basically useless, as Pokerstars would be donating the same $400k whether or not I contributed my individual $100.

But, okay, I could live with that. I rationalized that my donation made up part of the $187k, and that it was a small piece of the large figure that Pokerstars more than doubled. For example, I figured that had they collected $91k instead of $187k, they would have only donated $200k, so my donation (in a way) still made a difference.

Just as I convinced myself to be okay with the whole thing, something disturbing appeared on my television.

I was watching a very high-profile, highly-watched telethon for the tsunami victims. Suddenly, there was a big presentation of a large gift to the Red Cross. Yes, Pokerstars was donating $400,000, and they got substantial airtime, as Lee Jones arrogantly walked on stage and bragged about the site's generosity.

That's when I realized what was really going on.

This was all about marketing.

Pokerstars got huge exposure by getting substantial airtime on a very highly rated TV special. This was basically a $400,000 commercial for Pokerstars -- and the players footed nearly half the bill! My $100 was sadly part of that. I felt duped. To add insult to injury, Lee Jones did not give the players any credit for the donation. It was simply $400,000 from Pokerstars.net.

Did the saga end there?

Not exactly.

Pokerstars screwed up awhile later and accidentally released a list of some people who donated, referencing their screen name with their real name! The details of this are a bit fuzzy now, but Pokerstars sent out an apology for this breach of privacy, and allowed the affected parties to change their screen names.

What a mess!

Anyway, if you donate to this Haiti Fund, I guarantee that they will be using it as some sort of marketing ploy, and they'll take all of the credit.

If you want to donate to Haiti, do it through a legitimate charitable organization that isn't doing it to grandstand or sell something.

DISCUS PLEASE

01-16-2010 , 10:26 AM

#2

Lord_Ferus

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 4,805

Quote:

Originally Posted by katmanx

DISCUS PLEASE

Well we might do...

Spoiler:

01-16-2010 , 10:28 AM

#3

danny8

old hand

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,457

- you sent your money to a worthwhile cause
- a worthwhile cause got your money + more

who cares if pokerstars also benefited? there is such thing as a win win situation

01-16-2010 , 10:31 AM

#4

PokerStarSteve

adept

Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 933

Quote:

Originally Posted by danny8

- you sent your money to a worthwhile cause
- a worthwhile cause got your money + more

who cares if pokerstars also benefited? there is such thing as a win win situation

ya srsly.

01-16-2010 , 10:35 AM

#5

FearNoArt

adept

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 717

Who gives a **** if pokerstars got air time out of it, as long as the money went to the right people. What the hell is wrong with poker actually being brought up in a positive light ? We have enough problems fighting all the stigmas related to gambling.

01-16-2010 , 10:37 AM

#6

dunaimbiss

enthusiast

Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 78

Stopped reading at Jew.

01-16-2010 , 10:40 AM

#7

Mr.Happy

adept

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 766

Quote:

Originally Posted by danny8

- you sent your money to a worthwhile cause
- a worthwhile cause got your money + more

who cares if pokerstars also benefited? there is such thing as a win win situation

I agree. PS more than doubled the charitable donations they received and gave a lot of money to a good cause. The only negative to me is that they failed to credit the players for half the money, which is actually a massive omission.

01-16-2010 , 10:45 AM

#8

poster

old hand

Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,362

Quote:

Originally Posted by danny8

- you sent your money to a worthwhile cause
- a worthwhile cause got your money + more

this

+ pokerstars takes care of everything, gets money from people who are lazy and will probably never send money or not such a high amount otherwise plus gives more....I mean I can´t really see any problem with them taking a credit for it

01-16-2010 , 10:46 AM

#9

Absurd

grinder

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 689

If PS benefits by advertising themselves you as a PS player benefit by possibly getting new fish.

01-16-2010 , 10:48 AM

#10

Mr.Happy

adept

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 766

I have to say, when I started reading the OP's post I thought from his tone that Haitian orphans were all being decked out in PokerStars gear for the cameras or something.

01-16-2010 , 10:49 AM

#11

jMoNToYa

adept

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,091

I agree with everyone else that this is a win win situation, as long as the money reaches the people that need it, I am a happy camper.

01-16-2010 , 10:51 AM

#12

forumer9

journeyman

Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 274

I can´t really see any problem...

01-16-2010 , 10:51 AM

#13

Zacharrrr

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 7,866

cliffs: op is ******ed.

01-16-2010 , 10:57 AM

#14

Llamaman

centurion

Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 130

Quote:

Originally Posted by katmanx

DISCUS PLEASE

01-16-2010 , 11:03 AM

#15

Baristhedims

enthusiast

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 98

They still send the money to Haiti, - which is what we donated our money for.

01-16-2010 , 11:04 AM

#16

inthepub5

banned

Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3,994

everyone benefits imo.

Huge charitable contributions made to charities by pokerplayers + pokersite makes online poker much more respectable and removes some of the degen stigma attacched (brilliant for US players).

most governments only donate because they would look terrible if they didnt.

01-16-2010 , 11:14 AM

#17

AphexDeuce

delicious bread apples

Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 3,708

Jesus christ op got F**K yourself.

/Derail

01-16-2010 , 11:22 AM

#18

Flippn Corner

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 4,783

OMFG, THIS THREAD IS AWESOME

THANKS TO APHEXDEUCE

also, GTFO OP

01-16-2010 , 11:29 AM

#19

FetterSven

old hand

Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 1,313

Quote:

Originally Posted by AphexDeuce

Jesus christ op got F**K yourself.

/Derail

winnar

01-16-2010 , 11:34 AM

#20

fish491

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3,130

just quote one pic , JEZUS ****ING CHRIST

01-16-2010 , 11:40 AM

#21

natin

centurion

Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 152

your a total reert they still donated 400k. And as stated above its a win win situation, pokerstars is a company not a charity lol, they were generous enough to double your money

Last edited by natin; 01-16-2010 at 11:50 AM.

01-16-2010 , 11:43 AM

#22

Sheep86

Don't donate to Pokerstars' "Haiti Relief Fund"... ????

Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 6,977

Quote:

Originally Posted by AphexDeuce

Jesus christ op got F**K yourself.

/Derail

[ ] tl;dr
[x] Thread saved

01-16-2010 , 01:17 PM

#23

Lenny-T

old hand

Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,864

So.

You're just figuring this out?

What are you, ******ed or 12? Off course it's all about marketing, but this doesn't mean it's not a good cause. This DEFINITELY doesn't mean you shouldn't donate through PS. You only care about the cause, so if you're NOT donating through PS(or FT/cake), you're basically just screwing yourself. Obviously PS is going to take credit for what they donate, because it's a huge sum. It would be really stupid if PS did that anonymously.

01-16-2010 , 01:37 PM

#24

darkAI

newbie

Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 15

First of all - ITT: Idiots who can't quote just one pic or use the "@" sign to reply to a post.

Secondly - Donations are often used for marketing purposes, but in this case it's an unusual win-win situation:
* PokerStars doubled the amount donated so I think it's fair of them to use it for marketing purposes having donated nearly $200k
* It gives the Poker industry a positive image, which it lacks
* It brings more fish
* You end up helping fellow human beings and that's what truly matters here

So as said previously - Whatever way you look at it it's a win-win.

01-16-2010 , 01:48 PM

#25

Jan0s

banned

Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 661

I don´t have a problem with the marketing, because it is really a WIN/WIN/WIN imo.
I just think it would be better to deliver the money the fastest way possible because time really matters in Haiti instead of collecting a huge sum and donate it in 2 weeks.

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