PurePoker did a hit-and-run?

[Jay]

I emailed him because my Poker account was 'inactive' as I posted ealier. He replied that with all the negative postings he's been reading he may be backing out of the deal. Sounds like he's dumping PurePoker too.

All I want is my damn deposit back now.

Well, when he decides to keep people's winnings (and says that he's doing it at a profit to himself), and has everyone's accounts locked for weeks without answering emails.. Is he expecting postive posts?

Anyway, why would anyone want to take over a casino that's only claim to fame is screwing its customers?

[TrixSlice]

How come I get the unsettling feeling that I'm just being stalled long enough for NETELLER to release my funds and for someone to then withdrawal that money to their own bank account. I hope NETELLER won't let that happen. I'm looking forward to seeing some money.

[hogua]

FWIW, my account is once again active. Not sure why is was deactivated for second time (or even the first time for that matter) nor do I know why it was reactivated.

I'm not complaining about my account once again being active, but there is something unsettling about accounts being activated/deactivated without any explaination. Since I'm still looking for a silver lining (and my missing $2700+) I'm going to convince myself that this is progress.. however slight it may be.

[jetset]

How come I get the unsettling feeling that I'm just being stalled long enough for NETELLER to release my funds and for someone to then withdrawal that money to their own bank account. I hope NETELLER won't let that happen. I'm looking forward to seeing some money.

That's a good point. TrixSlice. I've alerted a contact at Neteller to this thread as a precaution against that.

[winbig]

How come I get the unsettling feeling that I'm just being stalled long enough for NETELLER to release my funds and for someone to then withdrawal that money to their own bank account. I hope NETELLER won't let that happen. I'm looking forward to seeing some money.

Might want to (if you haven't already) contact Neteller and explain this situation to them....maybe they can help that *not* happen.

[jetset]

My contact is apparently travelling until mid-week, but I've arranged with his assistant to have this passed to his deputy.

[Jay]

Well, when he decides to keep people's winnings (and says that he's doing it at a profit to himself), and has everyone's accounts locked for weeks without answering emails.. Is he expecting postive posts?

Anyway, why would anyone want to take over a casino that's only claim to fame is screwing its customers?

After talking with Pino again, I get no indication that he's making any profit off this. He hasn't taken over PurePoker; he's just trying to unwind things at FB's request and his own expense for what's not sitting in FB's escrow account for the site.

Hopefully FB will step in and make things right, and maybe increase their oversight of licensees so there aren't a few dozen more of these failures.

Plus I want the money I won

The worst thing for me is that I signed up, played, then withdrew a little of my money after clearing all the requirements, but I left a LOT in there so I could keep playing.. If I'd just cashed out everything (and redeposited later), I would've gotten all the money!

(I assume all the players are on board with the concept of getting back deposit+winnings (or -losings), without any bonus money.. I'm fine with that, and I'd even continue playing at the site if (a) it was under new management and (b) FB changed something in their program to keep a tighter control over who they sell their software to -- it sounds like they don't even have a physical address for the thieves who own PurePoker at the moment!)

[bb1webs]

How can anyone know? There are numerous operations that seem fancy and reliable with good bonus offers that eventually rip their players off...

its true you can't predict the future but you can learn from history to avoid repeating the same mistake.

By that I mean it's always a good idea to do a search for the name of the site in question and then add a few keywords into the search like "complaints", "ripped-off", "didn't pay", "under investigation" etc.

if they've been screwing people for any extended amount of time before you got there ... it is likely somebody has published a page to warn others but you've got to know what to look for in your search.

hope that helps somebody avoid trouble somewhere down the line.

[TrixSlice]

Thanks webs, that's solid advice. Wish it helped me before this, PurePoker didn't show up under any search prior to this incident, and I had no idea what Futurebet was prior to this thread. I just assumed a Poker site with thousands of players had to be funded well enough. I didn't know poker sites were networked like they are to share players.
BTW, CM I assume you are a very busy person but we havn't heard from you since Futurebet was supposed to call. You might be staying away until you know more or have found this to be a helpless matter - just curious.

[Casinomeister]

Thanks webs, that's solid advice. Wish it helped me before this, PurePoker didn't show up under any search prior to this incident, and I had no idea what Futurebet was prior to this thread. I just assumed a Poker site with thousands of players had to be funded well enough. I didn't know poker sites were networked like they are to share players.
BTW, CM I assume you are a very busy person but we havn't heard from you since Futurebet was supposed to call. You might be staying away until you know more or have found this to be a helpless matter - just curious.

I've been here just watching this unfold, and all it does is piss me off.

Yes, Futurebet has been in contact with me - I responded to their last email on the 17th telling them more or less that making "deals' with the players is out of the question. Pay these people and move on. That was Friday.

I expect something to be happening behind the scenes, and I expect the players to be paid - no strings attached. It's beyond me why this has been drawn out for so long.

And again, we are witnessing casino operators/software provider failing to learn from their and others' mistakes. How many times have we witnessed scenes like this? And it could have been handled way differently. The guys at Futurebet didn't just jump off some boat from China, they've been in this business for years. They know better.

And watching from the sidelines, all I can do is shake my head and wonder what the hell.