$1,000,000 FreeRoll Fiasco at The Palms

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pkrboz1

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I don't know how many of you are aware that upper management at The Palms in Las Vegas cost George Maloof over $1,000,000 and the Poker Room Manager, Mike Vento his job when they signed a contract with the "River King" group to host a $1,000,000 plus FreeRoll reality TV show. The "River King" group turned out to be a fly by night outfit and George Maloof was stuck having to pay the $1,000,000 plus prize fund off or lose face. The finals of this event is being held at The Palms on August 15, 2007. Mike Vento became the fall guy for upper management's miscue of not having the prize fund from the "River King" group in hand before the FreeRoll promotion began in January of 2007. The GM that signed the contract for The Palms and the VP of Table Games for The Palms who oversees Poker Operations are both still employed at The Palms. Either George Maloof is not the sharpest casino operator in the business to think a lower management level like the poker manager could be responsible for this type of fiasco or upper management did a good job of pulling the wool over his eyes. Either way, the poker room at The Palms is a dead issue and has lost 65-70% of it's business. This is another example of how upper management's lack of poker operations hurts the industry. Please respond with thoughts or questions
 
Tammy

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Well, of course they should have done their homework on this company before ever agreeing to the deal. I think that George is right in firing his Poker Room Manager, if he was put solely in charge of the project. I think a $1,000,000 mistake is definitely worthy of that. But like you say, why in the world would you put lower management in charge of something this huge.

It looks like George needs to be a little more involved in the operations of the casino. It is never a good idea to hand any of your own financial business on to someone else. He should have had a big role to play in carrying out this promotion.

(BTW, LOL @ FRW's getting a reality show..."Hi, my name is Billy....um...Where's the password??" ;) )
 
beardyian

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I expect they only let 'special' friends from tv land enter first and everyone else had to make 15 decent bets in the casino before being allowed near the game :rolleyes: :D
 
Monoxide

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The casino made George the $1m back in 32.44 seconds.
 
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pkrboz1

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The players qualified for this FreeRoll by playing 300 hours between Jan1st and June 30th. I was one of the qualifiers, but was knocked out in the preliminary round. I played at The Palms 4-5 days a week and got to know Mike Vento pretty well. He's one of just a few managers that was constantly out in the room talking to players, making them feel special. The rooms themselves were kinda dumpy and dingy. I had several talks with Mike and he tried to talk upper management into construction of a new room, but he sais it fell on deaf and dumb ears. I will not return to The Palms because I feel that the Maloofs don't care about poker and they got rid of two of the better management people I've seen in this town. I'm a no-limit player and really notice when a floorperson knows his stuff. They had a Supervisor by the name of Mike Palm that was outstanding at his job and they (upper management) forced him off the floor. I guy by the name of CJ Graham is the director of table games at The Palms and I know from talking to Mike Vento and meeting this guy myself that he's one of the main reasons this room will fail. The guy is arrogant and self indulgent. There weren't many people that worked in the poker room that liked this guy. I hope my fellow $2-$5 no-limit players take their action somewhere else, I did.
 
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I agree with Pkrboz1. I also played at the Palms on a regular basis and what they did to Mike Vento is outright wrong. They also have some nasty dealers there. Mike was the best thing that happened to that room and I moved my play to the Redrock and the Orleans.
 
RammerJammer

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I never heard of this "River King" group. Are they still up and running, or did they fold prior to the live event in Vegas, leaving Maloof holding the tab?
 
Dotde

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Red Rock has a good poker room. The Suncoast Poker Room is good too, but hard to find a good game there since it's relatively new and that's a locals casino anyway. If you are going to play for highstakes anywhere in Vegas go to the Bellagio. No better place to play. Can't wait until I'm old enough to actually hit the tables.
 
Wonka22

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Red Rock has a good poker room. The Suncoast Poker Room is good too, but hard to find a good game there since it's relatively new and that's a locals casino anyway. If you are going to play for highstakes anywhere in Vegas go to the Bellagio. No better place to play. Can't wait until I'm old enough to actually hit the tables.


If you're not old enough to hit the tables....how do you know that there is no better place to play??
 
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rocks hard

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The players qualified for this FreeRoll by playing 300 hours between Jan1st and June 30th. I was one of the qualifiers, but was knocked out in the preliminary round. I played at The Palms 4-5 days a week and got to know Mike Vento pretty well. He's one of just a few managers that was constantly out in the room talking to players, making them feel special. The rooms themselves were kinda dumpy and dingy. I had several talks with Mike and he tried to talk upper management into construction of a new room, but he sais it fell on deaf and dumb ears. I will not return to The Palms because I feel that the Maloofs don't care about poker and they got rid of two of the better management people I've seen in this town. I'm a no-limit player and really notice when a floorperson knows his stuff. They had a Supervisor by the name of Mike Palm that was outstanding at his job and they (upper management) forced him off the floor. I guy by the name of CJ Graham is the director of table games at The Palms and I know from talking to Mike Vento and meeting this guy myself that he's one of the main reasons this room will fail. The guy is arrogant and self indulgent. There weren't many people that worked in the poker room that liked this guy. I hope my fellow $2-$5 no-limit players take their action somewhere else, I did.
Sorry Guy.
Vento was a clown and a crook.I'm a dealer at The Palms and he was the worst manager I have ever worked for in any industry.He was short to the customers,rude to the staff and just downright incompetant.Many 2-5 players told me directly that they would never play there again while Vento was there.Vento was terminated for hiring and staff problems regarding discrimation.If he had been fired for the fiasco that was the 1,000,000.freeroll how could any blame the Maloofs for it.It was Mike Vento's lack of ANY skills and unwillingness to listen to ANYONE that led to only 160 players making the cut in the biggest poker giveaway EVER!!!
During Vento's time there he mananged to squander well over 100,000 in jackpot surplus to no end at all.Vento left The Plams poker room with almost no surplus at all.His promotions ideas were just stupid Riddle me this Guy, If Vento is such a genius were did all our business go?It was gone long before he was fired.The only amazing thing is that he lasted so long.
If Vento was so great at The Orleans why did he have to leave?Guess it had nothing to do with a bunch of missing money.
Mike Vento is just another example of the disease that "Old Vegas Guys"are.Now that the clown is gone we can get back to running a fun,exciting and honest room.
 
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rocks hard

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I never heard of this "River King" group. Are they still up and running, or did they fold prior to the live event in Vegas, leaving Maloof holding the tab?



The "River King Group" are two degenrate friends of Mike Vento's.How anyone thought they could get ahold of a 1.000,000 is a mystery to me.George Maloof got screwed by someone in his employ.
 
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rocks hard

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I don't know how many of you are aware that upper management at The Palms in Las Vegas cost George Maloof over $1,000,000 and the Poker Room Manager, Mike Vento his job when they signed a contract with the "River King" group to host a $1,000,000 plus FreeRoll reality TV show. The "River King" group turned out to be a fly by night outfit and George Maloof was stuck having to pay the $1,000,000 plus prize fund off or lose face. The finals of this event is being held at The Palms on August 15, 2007. Mike Vento became the fall guy for upper management's miscue of not having the prize fund from the "River King" group in hand before the FreeRoll promotion began in January of 2007. The GM that signed the contract for The Palms and the VP of Table Games for The Palms who oversees Poker Operations are both still employed at The Palms. Either George Maloof is not the sharpest casino operator in the business to think a lower management level like the poker manager could be responsible for this type of fiasco or upper management did a good job of pulling the wool over his eyes. Either way, the poker room at The Palms is a dead issue and has lost 65-70% of it's business. This is another example of how upper management's lack of poker operations hurts the industry. Please respond with thoughts or questions


We lost all that business as a result of Mike Vento's incompetance.
 
oluaris

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such rage for your first few posts...
 
larkem

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lol no kidding i sense there is a tiny bit of dislike here!!
 
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I got to tell you that the moron dealer that made these absurd comments about the past manager was probably one of many of the prima donnas that deal at The Palms. I played there a lot and his or her comments are ridiculous. A lot of these dealers were the rudest, self interested, and unskilled dealers in town. They wanted it all their way and gave very little to the players. When someone doesn't like someone, it's easy to make accusations against a person. The fool that wrote the comment about the Orleans and the missing money should get his or her story right before showing their stupidity. The manager they are talking about was David H. My advise is stick to dealing because you obviously know nothing about managing, maybe little about dealing too
 
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To the dealer at The Palms

My name is Mike Vento and a friend asked me to visit this site and look at the postings regarding The Palms $1,000,000 Free roll. It’s obvious that the Free roll was a bust for George Maloof and I was made the patsy by upper management’s failure to do their due diligence in procuring a proper contract between The Palms and the “River King” company. I have no ill feeling towards The Palms, this is the way this type of business works. I am perturbed at the accusations made about me by a dealer at The Palms. In trying to read his statement, my first thoughts are that he is illiterate because some of his sentences make no sense whatsoever. To say I’m the worst he’s ever worked for tells me that he probably has very little work experience. I had a great relationship with most of our guests and would constantly make conversation with them on all shifts. My staff was treated fairly and I overcame organizational deficiencies that were rampant in that department. This person’s personal dislike for me is his option, but his attacks on my work ethics are fabricated lies. During my 14 months as Manager this room averaged about $250,000 gross revenue monthly. It was similar to the previous year except then they were holding 13-16% to their bottom line and I was holding 24-28% to the bottom line. I would love to hear what type of discrimination could possibly have existed in this room. The full time dealers and the extra board dealers had schedules based on their seniority. The person doing the scheduling right now was aware that the extra board was too large, but was explicit in stating that they needed to maintain their insurance by working three days a week. He now shares a different view on the matter. This dealer mentions that only 160 people qualified for the free roll due to my lack of skills as a manager. Well, the number was 184, and I did not establish the qualifying criteria of 500 hours in six months, this was part of the contract. I did, however, ask management to reduce the qualifying hours to 300 and then proposed that we give players double hours on Mondays and Tuesdays. He also mentions squandering a surplus of about $100,000 in senseless promotion. Little does he know that most of the promotional ideas came from staff members and upper management. Tomorrow, the room is giving away a mustang. This is a promotion I tried to sanction, but it came from Jim Hughes and you don’t buck the GM. When I left The Palms, their surplus promotional account was over $65,000. Again, this dealer isn’t getting it right. It is true that I knew the principals of “River King”, but so did most members of my staff. This dealer is evidently unaware that my job is to bring proposals like this to upper management. I brought four such proposals to them and this was the only one they moved on. I don’t have a say so in the matter. I never saw this contract, never signed it on behalf of the casino, and was not privy to any of the detail. This was solely upper management’s black eye. The one accusation that really signifies this dealer’s stupidity is the referral to The Orleans. The Beaver said it right, you got the wrong guy. I took over after the money and David H. were gone at The Orleans. Besides, anyone with any common sense would know that the Gaming Control Board would not allow me to be licensed if his accusations were true. It’s apparent that you know very little about management so take the Beaver’s advise and stick to dealing. Your competence level there is probably suspect too. I’m sure you’ll respond, let’s see if you have the integrity to identify yourself in the same way I did.
 
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Rocks Hard

I didn't believe that Rocks Hard would step up and identify himself. He probably doesn't have much to say since The Palms poker room is a dead issue. Many of the locals that played there have seen the first hand inconsistencies displayed by management since my departure. The high side almost never has a $2-$5 no-limit game during the week and the low side may get a game or two on a nightly basis during the week. I'm sure that the current managing staff is down 30-40% since I left The Palms. Upper Management protected their own asses and are seeing the results of their lack luster knowledge of running a poker operation. Good Luck!
 
Wild Rivers

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My name is Mike Vento and a friend asked me to visit this site and look at the postings regarding The Palms $1,000,000 Free roll. It’s obvious that the Free roll was a bust for George Maloof and I was made the patsy by upper management’s failure to do their due diligence in procuring a proper contract between The Palms and the “River King” company..."

"...During my 14 months as Manager this room averaged about $250,000 gross revenue monthly. It was similar to the previous year except then they were holding 13-16% to their bottom line and I was holding 24-28% to the bottom line..."

He also mentions squandering a surplus of about $100,000 in senseless promotion. Little does he know that most of the promotional ideas came from staff members and upper management. Tomorrow, the room is giving away a mustang. This is a promotion I tried to sanction, but it came from Jim Hughes and you don’t buck the GM. When I left The Palms, their surplus promotional account was over $65,000. Again, this dealer isn’t getting it right. It is true that I knew the principals of “River King”, but so did most members of my staff. This dealer is evidently unaware that my job is to bring proposals like this to upper management. I brought four such proposals to them and this was the only one they moved on. I don’t have a say so in the matter. I never saw this contract, never signed it on behalf of the casino, and was not privy to any of the detail. This was solely upper management’s black eye. The one accusation that really signifies this dealer’s stupidity is the referral to The Orleans. The Beaver said it right, you got the wrong guy. I took over after the money and David H. were gone at The Orleans. Besides, anyone with any common sense would know that the Gaming Control Board would not allow me to be licensed if his accusations were true. It’s apparent that you know very little about management so take the Beaver’s advise and stick to dealing. Your competence level there is probably suspect too. I’m sure you’ll respond, let’s see if you have the integrity to identify yourself in the same way I did.

I feel for ya, MTV!
I am in the software business and I have seen many business initiatives come and go over the years. Instead of million dollar "promotions" they usually involve creating an extension of a system or a new application (at great expense). All proposals for such initiatives are examined by upper managment and modelled to the Business Case of the company; middle managment marketing and sales people are usually a part of this process, as well as outside consultants, such as attorneys and ad agencies. :deal:

Sometimes these projects fail, and other times they are hugely successful. When they succeed, upper managment takes all the credit. When they fail, middle managment sales and marketing heads will roll.
 
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PokerProBetZip

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Ouch. I wish I could afford a $1000000 mistake.
 
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Palms Poker

I was a regular player at the Palms for a long time using the venue as a friendly place to play social 2-5 or 5-10 NLH with the likes of Keith Quilty, Joe Awada, Alfonse, Jerry etc and some of the local grinders.

I have played poker in EVERY major Vegas room and found the PALMS staff to be the MOST professional, welcoming and likeable group in town. Sharon in particular and most of the dealers were also helpful, charming and professional.

I played around 250 hours in Jan-Feb 2007 before having to return overseas so I did not end up playing the freeroll, however, one can only blame SENIOR management at the casino for not doing the most simple form of basic due diligence on RIVER KING as a group. I did in fact hear of other fisacos in 2004-05 with other promotion tournaments in other casinos so this Poker fiasco is clearly not a first.

Many local grinders only played there (Palms) to build hours for the freeroll as they considered it a "family place" (meaning not a good place for them to make a living as a grinder). I feel more sorry for them and the staff at the Palms as they all were the losers in this fiasco and hopefully the players will slowly return (assuming nice staff are on hand).

For the record I always found Mike Vento to be a charming, diligent guy who always did the right thing by me as did the other Mike who was also dismissed.
 
KingCurtis

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so when is the next CC 1m freeroll?

*asks the person beside him were the password is located*
 
flint

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so when is the next CC 1m freeroll?

*asks the person beside him were the password is located*

I shouldn't be telling you this, but since you asked, it is on the 16th of February at the Bellagio.

(As for the password, we'll be playing nude so you can't get in with your clothes on :D )
 
AlexeiVronsky

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Hmm, I know what I'm pitching to the playboy channel, naked poker tour...
 
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Sounds like the owners or higher management needs to step up before they loose everything. Word of mouth is the biggest killer, and it sounds like word is getting around fast. I know that I will not go there now!
 
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