2011 4KSOP will be at Full Tilt

[scrawnybob]

hi all

This Years 4KSOP 2011 will again be at Full Tilt Poker

This has been a really difficult decision - as it means our US wont be able to play

I appreciate many wont appreciate the difficulty or issues Ive had to consider to make this decision - and may be angry but its been a tough couple of months for everyone

Despite alot of reservations with the way the US is / has gone I had tried to organise this years 4KSOP at Carbon so US players could play but it hasnt proved to be practical to get confirmation quick enough or for me to be able to rely on where things will be in a few weeks time re the US generally

so its with something of a heavy heart that I have decided to setup the 4KSOP at Fulltilt where I know the games will be setup up asap etc - however this means our US forum members wont be able to play in this years 4KSOP

I'm sorry but with the combination of alot of factors and considerations its a better choice than ending up with no 4KSOP at all or a botched one that starts off late or badly and then doesnt get much support anyway because of deposit issues that seem to be issue now for most US players.

I hope everyone apprecaites the reasoning but I have already noted from the drop in forum posting that a good deal of our US members seem to have gone MIA during the last Carbon league suggesting even if we did run at a US friendly site they are having issues depositing or playing generally

I hope that things improve on the US player front so that sooner rather than later the US gets on somesort of sensible footing for poker players but in the meantime I have to balance alot of factors and make tough decisions

I hope ALL members including our US members will continue to be active in the forum and hopefully by the time the regular leagues are ready to start again we will have a clearer picture of things and the sites will be a little less stretched

the 4KSOP 2011 Schedule is HERE

cheers scrawnybob

[Peteyweestro]

Hey Bob, as far as i am concerned no apologies are needed! We all know that you do you best at providing great games and you are as fair as they come. So how anyone that is an actual contributing member here could ever fault you regarding this decision is beyond me and my thinking. I am absolutely without a shadow of a doubt sure, that had you been able to include us from the land of the free you would have, so enjoy the series this year and hopefully our politicians will pull their heads out of their asses sooner rather then later.

P.S. Just consider all your Euro asses lucky because i was figuring on winning this thing hands down this year,lol j/k

[scrawnybob]

hi Petey

thanks - its just alot of bad timing

preferred US site has generally been slow to sort things and I cant leave things still hanging in the air as definately maybes a week before the start

Its totally understandable as I dont think anyone really knows how the next few months will pan out and they have alot of much more pressing issues to keep on top of.


The whole US situation is to be honest unpredicable for everyone

it looks like it has taken a heavy toll on US players ability or desire to even play at the remaing sites

its possible that things could grind to a halt on the US side or just gradually just get tougher for deposits etc - I'm not sure anyone really knows

I firmly believe the land based casinos will want to get in on the action as quickly as possible so there will be a push to regulate etc in the US asap - while I dont like the way this has all panning out - that is likely under the circumstances to be the best option for US players now.

if things get a little more settled in a couple of months, hopefully when I come to setting up the next normal league we can find a suitable and reliable US facing site to run it at

cheers scrawnybob

[scrawnybob]

hi all

more bad news I am afraid, as the minimum they will let me add to the Fulltilt games is $25 that would mean double the cost (to $300) and frankly I cant afford that as Fulltilt rev has been decimated amongst others

I will have to reassess the games but we will play roughly half the original number so one game per weekend

I will update the schedule asap later tonight when I get the chance

cheers scrawnybob

[Dan Abnormal]

DANG Bob and Petey, its like im watching the poker world explode in front of my eyes. WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO EVERY START PLAYING, I trace it back to me not liking to watch movies, If I liked movies alot I would of seen rounders in 98 and started then and ID BE A POKER LEGEND BY NOW. Then I put my eggs in the wrong basket (kind of) I never heard of chris moneymaker poker boom cause I was in the small online business boom of ebay and making BUCKS and we got screwed in 2006 (DAMN THE SAME YEAR AS UEIGA LOL) but not quite as bad as the poker world has. I think stupid FACEBOOK ZENGA got me interested in hold em in late LATE LATE 2009. OH WELL JUST RAMBLING

Shame bout your games BOB, but the USA folks are running out of OUTS (so to speak) Im scared to use any of my money on cake and carbon cause If I lose it, I dunno how to get money on there. BUt then I know one day Im gonna wake up try to log in and they will be closed So ITS LIKE WOW. TOTALLY SUCKS

Hope you can work thinks out with the 4KSOP (HEY WHY DONT SOME YOU LUCKY FOLKS POST SOME SCREEN SHOTS OF THE HOT ACTION LOL)

[Peteyweestro]

Well Dan looks very very bad right now, as all the sites that allow us american'ts play only have western union as a deposit method and that costs money unless you put like $500 but who is stupid enough to do that with the situation as it is. I have also seen several forums i am a member at are also closing up shop.This whole Black Friday thing has really fekked us over big time. The DOJ has hit a virtual homerun if you ask me


P.S. Time to re-open my virtual horse racing stable and start racing again

[LeanAndMean]

I am sorry to miss this series. In addition to not being able to play on FT, I wonder if it is the best interest of your NonUSA members since FT seems unable to pay player money, if they are going bankrupt, your members will never see their winnings. But anyway, good luck

[scrawnybob]

hi

to be honest nothing is ideal

but on the fulltilt front while it would have been better if they could pay US players earlier the bottom line is they are in this pickle because frankly they did TOO much to support US players

the problem is partly because they bankroll US players to the tune of $60m+ for the last few months crediting deposits (which players got to play with) before actually getting Players (YOUR) money in Their accounts

because of their then generous nature and with hindsight over optomism they ended up not only with their / players funds getting seized but also the actual money that should have gone through NOT getting to them

that is really important

basically they are in a fix to sort out paying out money they actually owe and NOT money they actually never got and never moved from players bank accounts to fund their player accounts

its hellishly complicated - ideally it shouldnt be but on the other hand why should they payout money they actually dont owe players ... thats a $60m accounting issue at least + the $100-$150m that is likely genuine player balances that need paying out

I will post more in the blog tomorrow but none of these things are ever as straight forward as customers / players would like to think them

Also while I dont ever expect to make (or infact actually make) anything from running the leagues etc Carbon were very busy sorting other things and unfortunately I wasnt patient enough for the confirmation they could fix up the games in time ...

however they are now closed on a tempory basis to new US players for 6 weeks so actually thats another issue for me to have to consider

The games are Fulltilt because in all honesty while the US players may not be paid in full for a while I see no reason for the non US players to worry and I think talk of FT being in real problems is more US side stirring

bear in mind US was 35% of their base not 100% so they can and will want to carry on and that will ultimately mean they will have to maintain the non US business and also payout the US players ONCE the RIGHT numbers are assertained

cheers SB

[Peteyweestro]

I feel much better about my $12 on FT now,!! I am only playing around, i know some of us have a lot of money tied up there and that my measly little 412 don't matter in the scheme of things but i still would like it back

[scrawnybob]

hi

make no mistake I can totally understand semi pro players loss -

I've lost $xxxx's pa of business out of all this and gaining a headache to second guess everything.

I dont think things are +ive for US generally but despite some making more drama I dont think FT will fold and I DO think their US players will get paid eventually

more thoughts in the poker blog

cheers SB