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Thread: Non-American player with $15k cash detained at PCA, sent to nightmarish refugee camp

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Non-American player with $15k cash detained at PCA, sent to nightmarish refugee camp

    Crazy story, and really long, so make sure you have about 20 minutes before clicking on this 2+2 link:

    http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...g-pca-1587268/

    Cliffs:

    - Non-US citizen has to pass through the US to get back to his home country from Bahamas, after the PCA. He doesn't state his nationality, but I am guessing Canadian.

    - US cash reporting requirement threshold is $10k. He decides to give $7k to a friend to carry for him, and carry $8k himself, thus avoiding the reporting threshold. This was dumb, as he claimed in the post that his country doesn't tax gambling winnings. So what was the point of this ruse? No idea.

    - He notices a ton of poker players detained in a side room for questioning. His friend is also detained. Like a moron, he spills the beans that he gave his friend money to carry for him. At this point, he is arrested and handed over to Bahamian authorities.

    - He and the friend spend the night in an airport jail. They are almost transferred to a rough general jail in Nassau, but he manages to get a poker friend to pay the $6000 bail to get him out.

    - He is fined for all of the money he is holding.

    - Just as he is about to leave court and go to the airport, an immigration officer grabs his arm when he's 20 feet from the taxicab. He is told that they just have to complete a few things and they can be on their way.

    - They get held up at immigration and put back in jail while things are being processed/figured out.

    - After getting released, they are told that they can "only be escorted to the airport on Fridays" (what?), and must stay in police custody until that day comes. They are brought to a "dorm" which is described as "not that bad, where you can buy food and stuff".

    - The "dorm" turns out to be a refugee camp full of Haitians and others caught trying to sneak into the country. They are also required to give up their phones and passports while in the camp.

    - The conditions are squalid, to say the least. Drinking water is not clean. Barely any food is given, and it's terrible. Bathrooms are backed up, and there are literally piles of shit on the ground. Bathrooms are also full of shit water all over the ground. Many people there appear to be sick or infected. There is no medical staff on premises.

    - They are finally rescued from the camp after 5 days, thanks to a text message he sent to his mom just minutes before his phone was taken away. His mom got a hold of the embassy and got him released.

    - Pokerstars, as usual, washed their hands of the situation, making a brief, insincere phone call to him. While this is not directly Pokerstars' fault, they do a piss poor job at explaining cash-brought-into-US rules, and naive young poker players keep getting targeted like this. Pokerstars should really just move this whole event out of the Bahamas, but they won't because they are entrenched there and it makes a lot of money.

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    This appears on the PokerStars PCA FAQ:

    Name:  pca faq customs.JPG
Views: 920
Size:  28.8 KB

    I haven't been to the PCA in several years, but this situation appears to happen every year (this was the 2nd thread in NVG recently about players getting popped at Customs) so don't know how much they strongly advise players not to do this.

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    Platinum FRANKRIZZO's Avatar
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    Yeah they did all this because didn't want to pay exorbitant wire fees! How much could the wire fees be ?

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Pokerstars employee Michael Josem tweeted at me that this story was 4 years old.

    I found that claim to be odd, given that the post was on 2-2-16, and nothing in the LONG story claimed it happened years ago.

    Sure enough, Timex (Mike McDonald) said in post #216 of the thread that, while the story is truthful, it occurred "a few years ago".

    No idea why we are just hearing about this now.


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    Silver The Shrink's Avatar
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    I'm pretty sure the OP mentioned several times (at least in his replies to the thread) that it was several years old. He had moved on from the incident and poker and had heard about the recent story about Americans leaving PCA this year which led him to post his story from a few years ago. It's an incredible story. And lol at the 2+2 nerds chastising him for trying to get away with structuring. The point of the story isn't to complain about the law. As if he doesn't understand that he broke it. It's more of a cautionary tale for others not to be so naive when traveling abroad and to highlight the appalling treatment and conditions that can go down in a third world country like the Bahamas.

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    Platinum ftpjesus's Avatar
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    The thing is these stories both show some shady goings on with the CBP guys in the Bahamas honestly. Seems odd somehow that they try to 'enter the US" with undeclared money yet the funds are seized and taken by the Bahamian authorties (10k is a shitload of money to those guys). Yet if they enter the US legitimately on US land its seized and there is a way to get it back.. In the case of one of the guys he wasn't trying to hide it and actually just undercounted his funds and was BARELY over the 10k (something like hundo). The guys were all allowed in a hotel and hired the best lawyer on the island and essentially the Bahamian authorites legally stole the funds.. Why is a foreign country getting to keep funds regarding something that amounted to a US crime.. Just sounds fucking shady as hell to me don't know about anybodyelse..

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    Diamond Tellafriend's Avatar
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    - He notices a ton of poker players detained in a side room for questioning. His friend is also detained. Like a moron, he spills the beans that he gave his friend money to carry for him. At this point, he is arrested and handed over to Bahamian authorities.

    I'm calling bullshit. The Bahamians don't question you about taking US currency back to the US as I recall. And once in the US, the US certainly isn't sending you back to the Bahamas for lying about a US currency declaration.

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    Platinum ftpjesus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tellafriend View Post
    - He notices a ton of poker players detained in a side room for questioning. His friend is also detained. Like a moron, he spills the beans that he gave his friend money to carry for him. At this point, he is arrested and handed over to Bahamian authorities.

    I'm calling bullshit. The Bahamians don't question you about taking US currency back to the US as I recall. And once in the US, the US certainly isn't sending you back to the Bahamas for lying about a US currency declaration.

    Did you read the story about the PCA guys this year??.. Apparently the deal is you 'clear US customs' in the Bahamas when traveling to the US. The guys that this happened to were then turned over to Bahamian authorities right there in Nassau hence why I said its something shady as fuck going on with our supposed Customs agents based there in Nassau and the local authorities.

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    Diamond Tellafriend's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ftpjesus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Tellafriend View Post
    - He notices a ton of poker players detained in a side room for questioning. His friend is also detained. Like a moron, he spills the beans that he gave his friend money to carry for him. At this point, he is arrested and handed over to Bahamian authorities.

    I'm calling bullshit. The Bahamians don't question you about taking US currency back to the US as I recall. And once in the US, the US certainly isn't sending you back to the Bahamas for lying about a US currency declaration.

    Did you read the story about the PCA guys this year??.. Apparently the deal is you 'clear US customs' in the Bahamas when traveling to the US. The guys that this happened to were then turned over to Bahamian authorities right there in Nassau hence why I said its something shady as fuck going on with our supposed Customs agents based there in Nassau and the local authorities.

    no, I haven't read about this year's issue. Last time I went through Nassau you cleared US customs in the US. That could have changed granted. But the bigger issue, as you noted, is that if any law was broken it was US law. So something is rotten in Denmark.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    The flight from the Bahamas to the US after the PCA has been targeted by the US government for years.

    For awhile, they were nailing people in the US, but sometime recently they started doing customs in the Bahamas before you board the airplane, which is common in certain countries where many travelers are going to the US.

    So you start with US Customs agents, and then they hand you over to Bahamian authorities if you've broken the law, because I guess that's what they have to do, since you're not on US soil yet.

    There must be some incentive for the US government here, because there's no chance they would be targeting their own citizens like this, just to enrich the Bahamian government. Probably the US government gets some of the money seized.

    Pokerstars needs to do more than just make a FAQ entry about this. They need to have CLEAR and VERY VISIBLE notification of this all over the PCA, so even the most dim and naive of players understand not to fuck around with this. This is especially problematic because many of the PCA players are young, so they lack life experience in matters like this.

    Also, a reputable company would either make sure everyone is repeatedly notified of this cash carrying situation, or would move the entire tournament out of the Bahamas. It's ridiculous that Pokerstars has been aware of this issue for many years, but continues to treat it lightly. It's their tournament, and they should make the maximum effort to inform their players of the dangers. More proof positive that Pokerstars absolutely sucks at live events.

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    Diamond Tellafriend's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    The flight from the Bahamas to the US after the PCA has been targeted by the US government for years.

    For awhile, they were nailing people in the US, but sometime recently they started doing customs in the Bahamas before you board the airplane, which is common in certain countries where many travelers are going to the US.

    So you start with US Customs agents, and then they hand you over to Bahamian authorities if you've broken the law, because I guess that's what they have to do, since you're not on US soil yet.

    There must be some incentive for the US government here, because there's no chance they would be targeting their own citizens like this, just to enrich the Bahamian government. Probably the US government gets some of the money seized.

    Pokerstars needs to do more than just make a FAQ entry about this. They need to have CLEAR and VERY VISIBLE notification of this all over the PCA, so even the most dim and naive of players understand not to fuck around with this. This is especially problematic because many of the PCA players are young, so they lack life experience in matters like this.

    Also, a reputable company would either make sure everyone is repeatedly notified of this cash carrying situation, or would move the entire tournament out of the Bahamas. It's ridiculous that Pokerstars has been aware of this issue for many years, but continues to treat it lightly. It's their tournament, and they should make the maximum effort to inform their players of the dangers. More proof positive that Pokerstars absolutely sucks at live events.

    Don't hold me to this, but I believe that you don't even have to declare checks from Atlantis so long as they aren't negotiated prior to traveling.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Shrink View Post
    I'm pretty sure the OP mentioned several times (at least in his replies to the thread) that it was several years old. He had moved on from the incident and poker and had heard about the recent story about Americans leaving PCA this year which led him to post his story from a few years ago. It's an incredible story. And lol at the 2+2 nerds chastising him for trying to get away with structuring. The point of the story isn't to complain about the law. As if he doesn't understand that he broke it. It's more of a cautionary tale for others not to be so naive when traveling abroad and to highlight the appalling treatment and conditions that can go down in a third world country like the Bahamas.
    Perfect summary. This story is more about human rights issues.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    At the very least, this refugee camp exists.

    We called during Brandon's Into the Night radio show, and asked the hard hitting questions.

    (242) 341-5223

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    At the very least, this refugee camp exists.

    We called during Brandon's Into the Night radio show, and asked the hard hitting questions.

    (242) 341-5223
    It def exists. He posted this in the thread yesterday

    http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publ...mas38828.shtml

    I need to hit your transcripts and listen to it.

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    Cubic Zirconia ChoakMyDee's Avatar
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    Very shady is right. US Immigration is funneling lambs to the slaughter in a corrupt shithole(with palm trees). Lot of naive people posting in that 2+2 thread.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChoakMyDee View Post
    Very shady is right. US Immigration is funneling lambs to the slaughter in a corrupt shithole(with palm trees). Lot of naive people posting in that 2+2 thread.
    Looks like this is true. I imagine that US Customs is getting a kickback from whatever money is seized.

    There should be a big deal made over this in the US media.


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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    On 2+2, the OP of that thread (the victim of all this) is very upset with us for calling the refugee camp on radio and pretending that someone texted us about the conditions there. He is concerned that they will beat people until they find the hidden phone.

    I disagree. I claimed I was calling for a Canadian, but they immediately told us that there were no Canadians there. So they have no suspects.

    They have nowhere to start looking, and no one to beat for this supposed phone.

    Furthermore, I did not speak to anyone high up in the chain. I spoke to some clearly lazy guy on the phone, who likely forgot the call minutes after it ended.

    Finally, as evidenced by this article posted from late 2014, the conditions in this camp are hardly a secret. They are not in the mass media yet (which is a shame), but clearly the problems are known. So it's not a secret. In fact, it couldn't be a secret because anyone released is likely to complain/report what went on there.

    If anything, they probably thought (semi-accurately) that we were just annoying reporters trying to get information with a BS premise of getting info from the inside.

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    Platinum ftpjesus's Avatar
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    I love how PS is claiming the PCA is just stale and they are moving on. Yeah the numbers don't completely bear that out. It's a potential resort destination for folks trying to get away from the cold and snow after the holidays especially for those who can't afford to go to Aussie Millions. I'm thinking after all this bad press over what's happened to people traveling back Amaya decided to just cut bait and figure something out as a better option. Ironically maybe Aruba or another Carribean location with adequate gaming options.

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