Poker : It’s all over for the Partouche Poker Tour, CEO vents anger in press conference
The 2012 edition of the Partouche Poker Tour was the last ever, Patrick Partouche (pictured, right) announced Wedneday afternoon in a press conference at the Casino Palm Beach in Cannes, where the event concludes on Sunday. The news comes the day after the controversy over the €5m-guaranteed-prize-pool-that-wasn’t.
Partouche said the reaction of some of the players, who said the €700K prize pool shortfall meant the group had misled them and was cheating them of the guaranteed prize pool, was so upsetting that he has decided to close the whole thing down. He added that the “€5m prize pool was never guaranteed anywhere in our communication ». He admits, however, to a « clumsy and euphoric bit of communication » after the 2011 event which mentions the figure.
This point is countered by a number of screenshots iGamingFrance has published showing clearly the figure being mentioned.
The closure of the event is a blow to the French and international live poker scene as PPT was one of the most important events of the poker calendar in France.
However, some players were wondering if his year’s edition would be the last even before the prize pool controversy played out, while some are already concluding that the group has used yesterday’s events as an excuse to bring to a halt an event which was popular and well-attended but did not generate any profit. The 2012 PPT has also been critcised for the format of the pay out and for allowing re-buys when it shouldn’t have.
The Winamax blog reports him as saying: « For 40 years I have dedicated my life, my name, my family, to gaming, all gaming, including poker, a true passion. And now I hear that what we do is not enough, is not honest. The Partouche Poker Tour bears my name, that of my family. I will not accept, my staff will not accept, that people can say ‘Partouche are thiefs’, ‘Partouche are cheats’. As a result, this week you attended the last edition of the Partouche Poker Tour. We hope that others will invest the same energy, the same desire, the same love so that this game continues.
« For the first time this year, more foreign players registered than French players. Over the past five years, we were the only group able to compete with US tournaments. And I can say without a doubt that, outside the Partouche Poker Tour, no French tournament has hosted as many stars (at their tables).”
Patrick Partouche went on to excoriate « young players with a lot of ego and in need of recognition, who have not even made the final table and call us cheats and thieves » and concluded his speech in French with an enigmatic proverb (« When you spit, you never have to say it’s raining »).
He added in English: « Guarantee? Guarantee no? Whatever, whatever! » and told players he would see them at the International Stadiums Poker Tour event at Wembley next year. He certainly can’t say the group never mentioned that figure in any official capacity.