Sick Move by The EPT

(Photo: Youtube.com)

What would you do if you plunked down the €5300 entry fee to play in the EPT Prague Main Event but suddenly became violently ill the day before cards were in the air?

The most likely option would be to attempt to unregister and obtain a refund rather than to slog through the tournament in a condition that could prove hazardous to yourself and those seated around you, right?

A 2+2 poster tried to do exactly that after vomiting nearly half a dozen times and calling an ambulance to take him to the hospital the evening prior to taking his seat on Day 1B. The hospitalized player, who suspects that he came down with a case of food poisoning, sent a friend to unregister from the ME for him.

Failure to Communicate?

Apparently, an unnamed registration manager informed the buddy a couple of hours before Day 1B got underway that his sick pal would receive his buy-in back and that he "should return my tournament ticket untill 11:45 am of day 2 and I would be unregistered."

According to the ill wannabe player, his accommodating friend did as he was told and returned at about 7:00 p.m. on Day 1B, only to be informed by the same registration manager that "there was no way of unregistering as the stack was already in play." He was advised that his pal's chips would be frozen at 24k, blinded down from the 30k initial stack, and that an appearance on Day 2 was necessary lest he would lose the remaining chips as well.

Who's to Blame?

As you can imagine, our sick subject was disheartened and angry to say the least, directing his wrath at the EPT sponsor, PokerStars. As a longtime 'Stars player, he called his treatment in this particular situation both shocking and devastating.

"The staff wants me to play tomorrow, which is not only a danger to my own health, but also to everyone who is at my table," he reasoned. "My body is not even close to the condition to be able to play long hours of stressfull poker, not to mention that I can barely move. Forcing me to play is abusive and inhuman."

Happy Ending

While many reading this may be prepared to add this incident to the growing list of wrongs committed by PokerStars as of late, at least in the eyes of some loyal grinders, I am happy to report that this story does have a happy ending.

A 2+2 post by the OP just this morning revealed that tournament director Thomas Lamatsch "apologized repeatedly for the missunderstanding" and was more than happy to provide a refund to the still ill player. Apparently, there was extreme miscommunication by those involved before the TD took charge and smoothed everything out.

Let's chalk one up for PokerStars on this one, satisfying the concerns of a loyal player and perhaps grabbing some brownie points toward next year's Poker Operator of the Year award.