by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor
The Casino Affiliate Programs, responsible for a number of online poker rooms, have much to say about the police bust on a freeroll tournament earlier this week (dubbed the Affiliate Series of Poker). The tournament, held to entertain affiliate marketers attending a conference in Barcelona, was shut down shortly after opening.
Spanish law enforcement confiscated gambling equipment from the venue (Hotel Princess Sofia) where some 42 players who had previously qualified in online poker competitions were participating. Jamie Gold, the biggest ever WSOP winner was scheduled to be running an exclusive poker coaching session for qualifiers, as well as an autograph signing section.
But spokespersons for the Affiliate Program say that the event organizers were more than taken aback by the raid, as much work had gone into ensuring the legality of the tournament. The organization had done everything in their power to remain within the limits of Spanish law, having a legal team cover all bases prior to the event, and enforcing a private freeroll tournament closed to the public.
“We do not put these tournaments on without permission, which is exactly why we have a specific registration system and a number of checks that affiliates go through to gain the password,” argued Alex Pratt of the CAP. “This is on top of a number of other components to ensure we run an event that is completely legal.
“We obviously checked on Catalan and Spanish law prior to this event. The issue at this point seems to have arisen from a little-publicized change in Catalan law that occurred within the past year.”
According to the online poker network affiliate program, although the organizers were detained, no one was arrested and the fines that ensued were minimal.
The undercover police have not kept the organization from holding its big event. Rather, because of the unexpected raid, the CAP has decided to continue to ASOP tournament in an online poker room, where affiliated will have a chance to earn greater compensation for the incident. Additionally, the company has expressed that it intends to increase the size of the ASOP scheduled for January of next year as part of CAP Euro London, its annual London-based trade show that includes the CAP Awards Ceremony.
It was also noted that police raids on gambling activities, particularly poker, are regular occurrence in Europe and North America where a tournament’s organizers stand to profit from the rake.
Pratt added, “This unfortunate event does nothing to detract from the prestige of the Affiliate Series of Poker tournament. We will ensure that all participants can resume their games in an online format, and as a gesture of goodwill, we are increasing the prize pool for the online event.”
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