High-stakes player Eric Baldwin claims that he has been robbed by WSOP.com who changed the prize for a satellite after it was completed. The tournament was for a seat at this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event starting in a couple of weeks.
@WSOP @WSOPcom This is absolute robbery if he isn't paid exactly what the prize pool stated at the end of the registration period. https://t.co/FMasQ600wt
— Jason Koon (@JasonKoon) December 1, 2020
Eric Baldwin Robbed
Fortunately technical mishaps with the client are rare in the online poker world. Human error is also rare, and when it does happen the sites tend to just take it on the chin for the most part.
What happened this week caused a huge storm on Twitter, with many high-stakes regs venting at WSOP.com. Eric Baldwin won the event with the tournament lobby showing that only one player would get paid, to the value of $22,659.
This means that Baldwin expects to receive a $10,000 seat and the remainder in cash.
After the event was over WSOP.com informed Baldwin that he would only receive the $10,000 seat with the rest of the value going to second and third places. They claim it was a misconfiguration that only one player would profit from the event.
WSOP.com Act Unethically
The statement from WSOP.com read,
“Last night tournament #4545597 was misconfigured. As a result of this we have deducted your bankroll $22,659 and credited you with the correct first place winnings, a $10,000 Main Event ticket, that can be used for the $10,000 WSOP Main Event on December 13.
Best,
The WSOP.com Team”
This was the tournament @basebaldy won.
The prizepool posted shows clearly that first place is winner takes all.
Anything less than Eric getting the 10k seat and 12k cash is absurd as the entire tournament was played based on this payout structure. @WSOP @WSOPcom https://t.co/vm400cbu8C pic.twitter.com/XMcYhHUOk3
— Ryan Laplante🏳️🌈 (@Protentialmn) December 1, 2020
Another high-stakes reg, Ryan Laplante, weighed in as well to say how disgusted he was.
“Anything less than Eric getting the 10k seat and 12k cash is absurd as the entire tournament was played based on this payout structure. “
Will WSOP.com allow their brand to be dragged through the gutter like this over a measly $10,000 and some change?
Judging by some of the replies to Laplante, their reputation is already far from stellar.
“Is it possible to have a more shit poker site to represented the prestigious live poker brand ?“
Damage Limitation for WSOP.com
It’s tough to see how WSOP.com gets out of this mess without handing over the $12,659 to Baldwin.
Eric Baldwin is a two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner with $6.6 million in live tournament winnings to his name. He is not a nobody who will fade away into the background.
There is also the fact that the tournament saw at least 93 rebuys and 59 add-ons. Many of these would have been based on the advertised tournament structure.
What about the final table dynamics? It is outrageous that the prize(s) should be adjusted after players based their strategy on what they thought was on offer.
One Twitter poster chipped in with,
“Not familiar with the specifics of this situation but it is disheartening to hear of things like this. Working for Run It Once I am certain that @PhilGalfond would rather hand deliver a personal check of his own $ than short change a customer like this,”
Indeed, the RunItOnce founder is known for his integrity and would never embarrass himself over what is essentially chump change in the industry.
Don’t forget to check out the latest poker news to see if this situation gets resolved favourably, or if Baldwin gets the lawyers involved.
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