Florida Poker Tournament Marred By Alleged Chip Controversy

[Shizzmoney]

The Hialeah Park Casino in Miami (pictured) was the spot of a $250 buy-in tournament that featured a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool and a $60,000 payout for the eventual champion. The tournament was to have five Day 1s with two starting flights each day. From August 25 to 29, these ten flights ran, building a prize pool that had never been seen in that particular poker room.

From the beginning, however, something didn't seem right about the tournament, at least to one poster on the Two Plus Two forums. Poster Bob Bernstein took to the forum for a long inaugural post on the many issues that allegedly plagued the event.

"The structure sheet was not posted online nor was it freely available in the poker room," Bernstein stated to the readers. "It was posted at the tournament podium where players went to register. This podium was where buy-ins were exchanged instead of the cashier's cage, which had no sign (for the tournament)."

After Bernstein broke down the distribution of the buy-in money, he stated that rebuys were available and, at the end of nine levels, a final add-on was also offered. With all of this information given to the players, the problems didn't seem to arrive until the final day of the tournament, Day 2, was held on August 30.

The chip counts were posted prior to the start of the day's play which stated that the prize pool in the event had cracked the guarantee at $215,002, that 163 players had made it through the ten flights held, and that 90 players would earn a cash from the tournament.

The total number of entries was never released to the players nor was there any information given regarding the number of rebuys or add-ons. Watchful players did the math and found that the total number of chips in the Day 2 lists did not jive with what was posted on the tournament clock in the Hialeah Park poker room, a difference of 696,000 chips.

http://www.pocketfives.com/articles/...oversy-591291/

[Dan Druff]

This sounds less like a "chip controversy" and more like Hileah Casino directly stealing from the prize pool.

[delaware]

as for me i never dumped those chips to tyde.i was trying to make him lay his hand down

[Shizzmoney]

Hialeah Park casino fined $20,000 (lol) after poker investigation

Hialeah Park casino will pay a $20,000 fine to settle alleged violations stemming from a August 2015 poker tournament, according to an agreement approved by state gambling regulators this month.

State investigators found that Hialeah's card room violated 11 rules during the August 25-30 tournament with a $250 entry fee and guaranteed $200,000 prize pool. Participants called the Sun Sentinel with complaints soon after the tournament, saying the final prize pool, chip counts and number of entrants didn't add up.

Hialeah "neither admits nor denies the violations," according to the settlement signed by casino president John J. Brunetti Jr. The "stipulation and consent order" approved by the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering noted that Hialeah officials cooperated with the investigation and voluntarily made personnel and procedural changes since the event.

But the document did not spell out how many employees were involved, whether they lost their licenses to work in state-regulated casinos and poker rooms, or whether they might face criminal investigation or other sanctions.

A $20,000 fine might seem like a slap on the wrist for a poker room that raked in over $8 million last year, the most lucrative parimutuel cardroom in Miami-Dade. But Hialeah might be paying in other ways, with monthly state figures showing a dropoff in overall play (both cash games and tournaments) at Hialeah's card room.

In August, Hialeah's poker room took in $802,000. Last month, during peak tourist season, the card room took in $699,000.

And this interesting tidbit seen by Kevmath:

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