Thanks to Ari Engel (BodogAri) for bringing this to my attention.
Read this Pokernews article (which seems to be more of a paid advertisement for 888): https://www.pokernews.com/news/2016/...iers-26673.htm
The relevant part:
So what's the problem?The highlight of the poker festival is the AUD $10,600 Aussie Millions Main Event taking place from Jan. 22 to 29.
.
.
.
For players not already in Australia, trying to qualify into the Aussie Millions Main Event online, is probably the best initial path. 888poker offers two options, one that is for a seat only, valued at $8,250, and the other for a $10,000 package that includes the buy-in for the Main Event, three-night hotel accommodation at the Crown Promenade Hotel from Jan. 24-26 and $1,000 in cash for travel expenses.
The current exchange rate of $10,600 Australian dollars to US dollars is as follows, according to Google results right now (12/28/16 at 9:30pm PT):
This means the seat is not "valued" at $8250! It's actually valued at $7637!
Keep in mind that the difference ($613) does NOT include any extras such as hotel or travel. That's only part of the more expensive package, which we are not discussing here.
I am talking about the seat only, which they claim is $8250, when it's actually $7637. On the day the Pokernews article was written (December 23), the exchange rate was very similar, so it's not a matter of a falling Australian dollar. (In fact, the Aussie dollar was worth LESS on December 23 than it is today, so the mistake was even worse on the day the article was published!)
What's the problem with overstating the seat's value?
Presumably 888.com is taking $8250 out of the prize pool for each seat awarded, PLUS the standard satellite tournament rake.
This is straight up cheating the players. It's like stealing from the prize pool.
Ari has asked both Pokernews and 888 for clarification, but has not received a response.
https://twitter.com/twt/status/813869468896133122
Ari also mentioned that Pokerstars made the same "mistake" last year, but at least they made it right when called out:
https://twitter.com/twt/status/813872977624399873
Will 888 make it right for their satellite entrants, or are they just going to keep stealing from their players?
Will Pokernews keep promoting this tournament, given the skimming going on?
Hopefully this will be corrected very soon.