Nevada poker player Paul Dewald claims WSOP.com did special promotional drawing on wrong date

Yesterday, Paul Dewald tweeted, "Join me in contacting Nevada Gaming at 702-486-2000. WSOP.com Super Bowl promotion drawn on an incorrect date with no proof it was random or a fair drawing. Demand rake they took during this period from each player to be given back to the players who played.."

https://twitter.com/Pokerisallluck/s...36960833179648

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EO4WMm2U...name=4096x4096
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EO4WMm1V...name=4096x4096


As you see from the circled parts, "Tiffany B" from support claimed on 1/20/19 that the Superbowl promotion ended on 1/19/19, and therefore his 2584 entries earned (from play on the site) were now useless.

However, in the second graphic, you can see that the drawing was to take place on 1/21/19, which means they ended the drawing two days early, unless Tiffany B was mistaken.

Dewald claims this is against Nevada law, and wants people to call to complain, and "demand the rake they paid back".

I am not sure if he has legal standing here if he's correct.

It is possible that the support rep was incorrect, because WSOP.com tends to outsource its e-mail support, and it has been notoriously bad/inaccurate over the years.

John Mehaffey, who is no fan of WSOP.com by any stretch of the imagination, is actually on WSOP's side on this one:

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Another tweeter questioned why they would need to end the drawing early if they were planning to rig it in some way, which is actually a good point.

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My opinion: While secretly ending the promo two days early is very weird (especially because it's a drawing, and their exposure is already known), I don't believe it's illegal. Furthermore, as was pointed out, if the drawing was rigged in some way, the last thing they'd do would be end it early and arouse suspicion of something not being right.

I can't venture to guess why they ended it early, but they probably have a right to do so. I suppose a case could be made by Dewald that any play he made after the drawing should result in a rake refund for those hands, because he was playing with the expectation of earning promo tickets. However, as he found this out on January 20th (one day after they ended the promo early), I can't imagine we're talking about a lot of rake here. Additionally, he would still probably have a hard time getting Nevada Gaming to go along with this rake refund demand.

Where are the results from the promotion showing who won?

I have since received information that the date of the drawing was changed from 1/21 to 1/19 in order to give the winner more time to book flights.

The earning period was always announced through the end of 1/19, so Mr. Dewald didn't get cheated here, from what I can see.

While I admit this was handled poorly by WSOP.com from a communications standpoint (they should have just been up front with everyone that the drawing was taking place earlier than first stated, but that the earning period didn't change), I don't think anything shady occurred here.

I do understand why Mr. Dewald was alarmed by the date change, but when it's all said and done, he wasn't ripped off, nor was anyone else.

Also, apparently the screen name of the winner of the contest WAS announced.

I ask about where the results are posted because I can't find the winners posted anywhere.

In NJ I often see in terms for drawings like this that 'for a list of winners, please send a self addressed envelope with a stamp and we will send it back to you with the list of winners within 90 days' or something.

Also, fun side story -

A few years ago I noticed a kind of weird looking email in my spam box.

Subject: Big news from Caesars Greener Than Yesterday!
Sent from some weird address but the name was Caesers.

They said I won a car for opting in to get my bills sent to my email instead of paper, had to fill out an affidavit and get it notarized to prove I was eligible.

Long story short, 6 months later and a ton of back and forth, being ignored by caesars for months, I got a check for $25k, the value of the car. Was dumb luck I even saw the email, and then bothered to open it, and then didn't just instantly close it, and didn't just give up when caesars literally stonewalled me for months...

The terms of the promo said they would redraw up to 3 or 4 grand prize winners if whoever they drew wasn't eligible or didn't claim their prize.

I later found the list of winners, it was like 500 $20 Home Depot gift cards, and a car for me.