Gossip Column: Joey Ingram Harassed by Phone Charger Salespeople; Tim Reilly Outs Nicholas Palma on Twitter & More
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- PG News June 7, 2018
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8 mins Read
WSOP continues and in its wake, it raises controversies, so we begin with the latest from the grand-daddy of tournaments. In this edition of the PokerGuru Gossip Column, we start with how Joey Ingram was on the wrong side of some aggressive salesmanship leading him to post a YouTube video ranting against the harrassment. Followed by Tim Reilly’s tweet that resulted in Nicholas Palma’s ban from YouStake.
Then we take on the incredible journey that Bart Hason experienced when he went from losing a poker tournament to winning $200,000 in video poker. And finally, we get to see how Kristy Arnett goes about achieving her dream of a WSOP bracelet through her newly launched vlog channel.
Read on to catch all the mad crazy antics in the poker land….
Joey Ingram Claims Harrasment By WSOP Phone Charger Salespeople
YouTuber and poker player Joey Ingram recently found himself in an unpleasant situation with phone charger selling salespeople. In a YouTube video posted on June 4, Ingram discussed the harassment meted out by the phone charger and headphones salespeople at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino during the ongoing World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2018.
He stated, “The cell phone charger and headphone salespeople at the Rio World Series of Poker 2018 must be stopped. The verbal and sexual harassment that has been going on for these first few days of the World Series of Poker 2018 cannot go on any longer. Anyone that’s been at the World Series of Poker this year or in recent years has had to deal with these annoying-ass cell phone charger, cell phone salespeople in the hallway constantly yelling about their cell phone chargers.”
The poker pro even said that he had spoken to women who claimed to have been sexually harassed by the salespeople and had also witnessed many women experiencing the same. The incident got so bad that most women started avoiding the halls in the hotel where the salespeople had set up their kiosks.
Fellow poker player Kristy Arnett commented on his video in support of his statement. She wrote, “LOL omg, I actually just left the Rio feeling super uncomfortable from these dudes. It feels bad, honestly, but sadly, I didn’t think much of it. Just kept walking. TY for saying something.”
Regarding the incident the WSOP stated that while they do not have the authority to remove the employees of another company, they are against the use of aggressive sales tactics and will be monitoring the company that has indulged in it.
Caesars Vice President of Corporate Communications Seth Panasky also stated, “We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment. We would use our rights in our contract to terminate the relationship. We would take any complaints seriously. If anyone has had or has an issue, they should immediately report it to any security team member in a yellow shirt, and it would be handled from there following company protocols.” But no formal complaints regarding sexual harassment have been made yet.
Concerning the harassment claims and aggressive salesmanship, the owner of iGadget Planet Mark Agarunov said, “It’s lies, 100 percent. If one of my employees did something wrong, then I will be happy to place a report with the police about it. Aggressive maybe, and we’ve taken action about that. We’ve spoken with our employees and are trying to be less aggressive. We’re trying to control everything the right way. But about sexual harassment … no sexual harassment.”
The response from the poker community on Ingram’s video has been mostly positive with views reaching over 164,000 and several people commenting in his support. Yet, the video has also received around 2,000 dislikes. Ingram believes that the high number of dislikes is due to a bot network started by the booth owner iGadget Planet.
It looks like the phone charger guys sent in an army of views and dislikes as the video yesterday has 160k views in 24 hours and 2k dislikes 😂😂
I’m guessing it’s to try to look “natural” but there are no negative comments 😂😂
Thank you for your bots, I know you’re out there pic.twitter.com/ANyrC5Gipe
— Joey Ingram (@Joeingram1) June 5, 2018
Tim Reilly’s Tweet Leads YouStake to Ban Nicholas Palma
Poker pro Nicholas Palma seems to have landed himself in a soup. In a tweet posted on June 3, fellow player and investor Tim Reilly discusses how he had been buying his action and supporting him out of empathy, only to feel betrayed in the end.
This post is long overdue. It’s time we take a stand against people that hurt our community. Do the right thing and get the word out. pic.twitter.com/Vseb1J50V4
— Tim Reilly (@TimReillyPoker) June 3, 2018
Reilly claimed that he was investing in Palma’s action, but Palma himself was investing into the action of other players, while still being in debt to multiple investors. Reilly did say that Palma had paid back some of the money he owned but also stated that a large sum was still left unpaid.
Several other poker players were able to relate to Reilly’s situation, including Alex Foxen and Michael Wang.
Sad to say I was another victim of this. Thought it was a one off event and warned those whom I knew did business w him. Apologies to any who got got because I didn’t say anything publicly. I still like to think that Nicky p was never malicious in his actions but may be naive
— Alex Foxen (@WAFoxen) June 3, 2018
Nick has owed me money for a while but in my case was a loan he couldn’t repay after going broke. Didn’t think he was doing this kind of stuff until recently. Hope he still makes some steps to do right by everyone he owes
— Michael Wang (@miw210) June 3, 2018
Palma responded to Wang’s tweet admitting that he did owe Wang money and that he would continue to pay him back.
ill comment on this one real quick and the rest later i owed mikey like 25-30k not sure and now owe him a lil over 10k and will continue to pay until its at zero im sorry mikey and youve always treated me the same your a great friend and i really am sorry this happened
— NICKY P (@nicholas_palma) June 3, 2018
YouStake took a stand on the issue and decided to ban Palma stating, “Palma used our site one time, for one tournament, three days ago. He played the even and did not cash. Based on today’s new information from the community, we will be promptly refunding all investors that bought pieces of his event on our site. We didn’t know of any shady past dealing, but we have now excluded him from the site.”
Actions taken today by YouStake – thank you to the community for speaking out. We do our best to vet all players that use our site, based on currently available information. We have never had an instance of YouStake backers not being paid and want to keep it that way. pic.twitter.com/Tlb8lr0aKh
— YouStake (@YouStake) June 3, 2018
Palma responded to the tweet defending himself and stating that no wrongdoing had happened on his part.
I sold 62 percent of this event and played for 38 percent and can show who invested in me and my hhs from the tournament. I have never oversold or scammed anyone I have owed people money though and took time to pay them.
— NICKY P (@nicholas_palma) June 5, 2018
Nice of you to refund your investors but no wrong doing was done
— NICKY P (@nicholas_palma) June 5, 2018
Bart Hanson Ships $200K in Video Poker
When Bart Hanson faced an early elimination from the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship at the WSOP, he probably hadn’t expected to still end up a winner.
Having been a part of the final table at this event three times in the past, Hanson was confident that he may have a favourable outcome.
It’s the big day! The @WSOP Event #10 $10,000 Omaha 8 It’s my best event of the #WSOP. I have final tabled this event three times in the past! Let’s go! #CrushLivePoker ðŸ‘ðŸ»ðŸ‘ðŸ»ðŸ’ª♦ï¸♠ï¸â¤ï¸♣ï¸ #wsop2018 #poker #sundayfunday pic.twitter.com/F6VaGLIi0A
— Bart Hanson (@BartHanson) June 4, 2018
The outcome was favourable, but it wasn’t in the event that he was hoping it would be. After busting out of the WSOP event, he ended up winning $200,000 from hitting a royal flush while playing video poker for $50.
I was so pissed about busting in the $10k O8 tourney last night I decided to let off some steam…😆 #CrushLiveVideoPoker pic.twitter.com/Fj1Zr389Dz
— Bart Hanson (@BartHanson) June 4, 2018
But, this isn’t the first time a player has made money playing video poker. 2017 saw poker pro Kyle Cartwright winning a six-figure amount after hitting a royal flush three times over a period of two months in a video poker heater.
In fact, a day after Hanson’s feat, another poker player Greg Jennings, also found himself winning big with a four of kind of aces.
Well…we got’em AGAIN! VAMOS!! pic.twitter.com/aI8eY8ureN
— Greg Jennings (@ZGregJennings) June 5, 2018
Kristy Arnett Launches WSOP Vlog Channel
Vlogging is the latest trend in the online marketing arena with most media personalities jumping to join the craze. The newest inductee to this trend is the ex-PokerNews host Kristy Arnett. In association with WSOP, Arnett launched her vlog channel to showcase her chase for her debut WSOP bracelet after she decided to turn pro.
In her very first vlog post titled ‘World Series of Poker VLOG #1 – It all starts with a dream’ on her YouTube channel, Arnett discusses her journey through the world of poker starting as an intern at CardPlayer, hosting podcasts for PokerNews and eventually turning pro to pursue her dreams of winning a WSOP bracelet.
While covering the $565 COLOSSUS event for her vlog channel, Arnett explains her belief regarding her WSOP bracelet dream, “If you don’t give yourself a shot, and if you don’t buy yourself a ticket in the lottery, or whatever it is, the chances you’re going to win are 0.”
We leave you to ponder those thoughts in private, but promise to be back soon, with all the gupshup from the wild and crazy world of poker. Ciao!
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