Another fiscal new year is in the books here at PFA.
I just got finished popping and guzzling the champagne, and I rolled a ball off my balcony at midnight and watched it drop.
With the festivities now in the rear view mirror, let's take a look at how PFA performed financially during FY 2025:
Wins:
- Near the end of Q3 FY 2025, we successfully negotiated a lower rate for our leased server. The company we used has long held the position of, "If you want to stay on your old equipment, you have to pay the ever-escalating prices we charge to maintain it." Contrary to popular belief, PFA runs on a "bare metal" type of leased server, meaning we aren't simply leasing a virtual machine which is part of a bigger overall server. The company has long argued that this incurs additional cost when it goes obsolete or semi-obsolete. With the prices rapidly escalating in recent years, I finally got tired of opening the Jew wallet wider and wider, and cried foul. First I asked for a quote for a server of similar size and performance, and received a much cheaper amount than I was currently paying. I then offered that, instead of putting me (and them) through the hassle of moving everything over, how about they just match that price to my existing server? After some back and forth, they agreed. This has saved enough monthly to pay for several pizzas and hamburgers for the entire PFA employee base!
- In Q4 FY 2025, PFA was one of the first to cover the tragic shooting of YouTuber "Finny", who was murdered right on the strip in front of Bellagio, by rival YouTuber "Manny". PFA jumped on this story and quickly released viral tweets and a 19-minute YouTube video covering the matter. The tweet achieved 1.6 million views -- a PFA/Druff record -- and the YouTube video quickly reached about 18,500 views, another PFA/Druff record for original YouTube content. A second short video about the matter garnered an addition 7,500 views. While not exactly Mr. Beast numbers, the traffic did generate enough money to pay for a few weeks of the PFA server expenses, which again meant more pizzas and burgers for the PFA employee base! In addition, PFA's contribution to the story was featured in the Las Vegas Review Journal, and other publications.
- After many battles with Russian and Chinese bots which were badly bogging down the PFA server, we are happy to report that the company has achieved victory over that foe. Sure, it required blocking the IPs of the vast majority of the world, but a win is a win, right?
- For the second time in less than 3 years, PFA rescued an online casino/sportsbook player who was being cheated by Bovada. After recovering about $250k for "Mandy" in 2022, we also recovered $87k for an anonymous radio listener during 3Q FY 2025. This gives CEO Dan Druff yet another piece of ammunition against Twitter trolls who question this site's mission, where he can ask them, "How much have you recovered for people who got cheated by online casinos?" and "How many ESPN articles were written about your contributions to bringing down a San Diego based bank theft ring?"
Losses:
- Our plans for growth during FY 2025 were foiled. Despite the aforementioned wins annotated above, and despite other successful ventures we have omitted for brevity's sake, PFA remains an eighth tier poker forum, while our second venture "Vegas Casino Talk" remains a haven for trolls within the casino advantage play community (as well as a weird continuation of a forum started by a now-dead guy).
- Jungleman, of all people, has moved in on the "expose fraud in poker" schtick, threatening our position in the industry.
- The beloved PFA Radio show, once a reliable program which aired almost every single week, now appears erratically, averaging once per month, and usually without prior warning.
- The demographic PFA served has gotten older, and now threads about nasal congestion and colonoscopies are among the most popular.
- Approximately 10 undocumented immigrants, who were working for PFA behind the scenes, were deported near the end of 4Q FY 2025, due to President Trump's ICE activites.
Regardless of the ups and downs, we would like to thank you for your interest in Poker Fraud Alert, and we once again wish you a Happy Fiscal New Year.