Partouche Reduces Guaranteed Prize Pool

Friday September 7. 2012 : PARTOUCHE IN POKER GUARANTEE ROW
 
Message boards and social media explode with indignation as French group chops a Euro 5 million guarantee by Euro 700,000.
 
The French gambling group Partouche is currently at the centre of a growing row over its guaranteed prize pool in the Partouche Poker Tour main event currently underway in Cannes, France.
 
After making much in a marketing sense of the Euro 5 million it had set aside for the prize pool, the company advised players Tuesday that the guarantee on the Euro 8,500 buy-in event was now Euro 4.3 million – a reduction that immediately triggered indignation and recriminations across social media, message boards and internet news outlets.
 
The company appears to have underestimated the vigour and skill with which players can detect and debunk questionable responses in embarrassing situations like this.
 
There are allegations that website references to the amount of the guarantee were changed….but not thoroughly, and the services of the "way back" archive facilities offered by the internet were soon put to use to prove that the previously advertised guarantee had been Euro 5 million.
 
The publication iGaming France contacted organiser Maxime Masquelier, who appeared unmoved by player indignation, commenting: “For a buy-in of Euro 8,500 I think we can be proud of the final figure. At no time did we say that Euro 5 million was secured when it is guaranteed in writing.”
 
Extensively marketed as a major European live poker tournament, the PPT is the culmination of months of satellites and preparations, and attracted some 580 players to the main event.
 
Judging by the online reactions, a substantial number of them are outraged at the unilateral nature of the change and allegations that attempts were made to remove previous references to the guarantee.