USPPA Reno players, did they get paid?

[ABall]

I am one of the players who is owed $550 for my 9th place finish in the tournament. I am very disappointing at Tony who has repeatedly told us that the checks were going to be mailed out every week, and they have not been sent out to anyone who has won more than $300. I have confirmation from 2 players who both received checks this last week in the amounts of $100 and $300. These checks were written from a personal checking account of Tony and not from a USPPA checking account. That made me a little concerned, but I am happy they got paid.

As far as what people are saying in this thread or speculating, most of it is untrue. Tony has not ignored the players who are owed the money. He personally called everyone, and he will return phone calls if you leave a message. What is really disappointing is that there is no clear reason from him for why all of this happened. He told some people that the Peppermill was holding the money for the rooms that were blocked out for this event as a deposit. This is untrue. I had a friend who talked to the event coordinator at the Peppermill, and she said the hotel never held or had any of the money for this tournament. The Peppermill was also not responsible for adding the $15,000 to this tournament, as was previously the case at the Sands Regency when we had the USPPA tournaments there.

This whole event has caused a lot of us much unwanted stress. If I had known this, I wouldn't have taken unpaid time off of work, and spent over $700 on my trip to Reno. I am hoping for a quick resolution, as in payment, for everyone involved!! I talked with Tony this last Monday, and he told me that my check would be in the mail by Friday 1/8/11. I will wait and see.

-Alex Bradley

 

[TATE]

Alex,

Thanks for having the courage to come forward and post this.

It truly is an unfortunate situation for everybody involved.

Chris

 

[cardiac kid]

I am one of the players who is owed $550 for my 9th place finish in the tournament. I am very disappointing at Tony who has repeatedly told us that the checks were going to be mailed out every week, and they have not been sent out to anyone who has won more than $300. I have confirmation from 2 players who both received checks this last week in the amounts of $100 and $300. These checks were written from a personal checking account of Tony and not from a USPPA checking account. That made me a little concerned, but I am happy they got paid.

As far as what people are saying in this thread or speculating, most of it is untrue. Tony has not ignored the players who are owed the money. He personally called everyone, and he will return phone calls if you leave a message. What is really disappointing is that there is no clear reason from him for why all of this happened. He told some people that the Peppermill was holding the money for the rooms that were blocked out for this event as a deposit. This is untrue. I had a friend who talked to the event coordinator at the Peppermill, and she said the hotel never held or had any of the money for this tournament. The Peppermill was also not responsible for adding the $15,000 to this tournament, as was previously the case at the Sands Regency when we had the USPPA tournaments there.

This whole event has caused a lot of us much unwanted stress. If I had known this, I wouldn't have taken unpaid time off of work, and spent over $700 on my trip to Reno. I am hoping for a quick resolution, as in payment, for everyone involved!! I talked with Tony this last Monday, and he told me that my check would be in the mail by Friday 1/8/11. I will wait and see.

-Alex Bradley

Alex,

Thanks for the update. Sincerely hope you get the monies owed to you.

Congratulations on what must have been an excellent performance. 9 - 12 in any event of this stature is well done! Keep playing and posting!

Lyn

 

[justadub]

Finally we have some real facts of the matter.

Thanks for posting, Alex. Hopefully this will stop some of the rampant speculating.

And more specifically, I hope you and the others get paid, SOON!

 

[bumpypickle]

Doesn't Tony owe something around 25k? Who were the players that got paid? Do they play out of the room he works? If they do play out of his room then of course he is going to pay them off because he has to see them on a daily basis. I have not heard of Tony returning calls as stated, in fact quite the opposite has been happening. All I know is 25k is a ton of money when you are working for a pool hall in the middle of nowhere. Does Tony have a source of mystery money that we don't know about. Didn't he spout off about investing 3 million dollars in the USPPA at the tournament in Reno. Didn't he publicly blame Frank (Diagarno) for the non payment during the tournament? Sorry about the spelling of that name.

I don't know Tony at all. I've been playing pool on the peninsula for about 17 years and I honestly have never heard a good story about this guy. Every story is about how he screwed this guy or that investor and he always somehow comes out on top. Not on top really but not really losing anything of his own but his time.

I've recently heard stories of him bad mouthing The Broken Rack because he felt the equipment wasn't good enough for the USPPA. I went to the cue show at The Broken Rack and the place is really nice and the tables are fine. He should be kissing their feet because they are one of the only places that still bother with the USPPA. When I started playing pool there was a USPPA tournament every day of the week I think. Maybe not Friday. The fields were like 40-60 players for just a little tournament. Reno was every 6 months and it was the funnest thing ever. Then, Tony got involved and it was pretty much downhill from there. The endless non payment of the bonus money in Reno was an ongoing problem and pretty soon people just started not playing in it anymore. It seems to me like any business venture this guy gets involved in turns to crap with a quickness. Crimi is on here talking about him helping kids or whatever but that doesn't make up for all the crap he has pulled in the actual pool community. Non of us are going to quit playing anytime soon and we all have to get treat each other with a high level of respect. It is just plain old disrespectful for Tony to not disclose the payout situation before the tournament started and even more disrespectful to let all the players just float around with half a dozen lame excuses as to why this happened or when the money will come. Maybe now we all are seeing how he handles these types of situations and it may also help us understand how he handled things at the Sand's or other pool halls where Tony is no longer really welcome.

 

[FranCrimi]

No, it's not illegal.

It would be a civil breach of contract if the person was a party to the agreement and had agreed not to disclose details. Many contracts have privacy clauses but they are only binding between the contracted parties.

Chris

Chris, I remember checking with my lawyer friend about something similar a while back. She referred to it as illegally disclosing the contents of a contract with malicious intent or something like that. I think she used the term 'malicious interference'. Divulging details of Tony's contract with the Sands and then making an assumption about his present contract with the Peppermill in this forum is indeed questionable, especially given that Mark is a promoter and has/had a relationship with the Sands and a presence in Reno.

 

[justnum]

Doesn't Tony owe something around 25k? Who were the players that got paid? Do they play out of the room he works? If they do play out of his room then of course he is going to pay them off because he has to see them on a daily basis. I have not heard of Tony returning calls as stated, in fact quite the opposite has been happening. All I know is 25k is a ton of money when you are working for a pool hall in the middle of nowhere. Does Tony have a source of mystery money that we don't know about. Didn't he spout off about investing 3 million dollars in the USPPA at the tournament in Reno. Didn't he publicly blame Frank (Diagarno) for the non payment during the tournament? Sorry about the spelling of that name.

I don't know Tony at all. I've been playing pool on the peninsula for about 17 years and I honestly have never heard a good story about this guy. Every story is about how he screwed this guy or that investor and he always somehow comes out on top. Not on top really but not really losing anything of his own but his time.

I've recently heard stories of him bad mouthing The Broken Rack because he felt the equipment wasn't good enough for the USPPA. I went to the cue show at The Broken Rack and the place is really nice and the tables are fine. He should be kissing their feet because they are one of the only places that still bother with the USPPA. When I started playing pool there was a USPPA tournament every day of the week I think. Maybe not Friday. The fields were like 40-60 players for just a little tournament. Reno was every 6 months and it was the funnest thing ever. Then, Tony got involved and it was pretty much downhill from there. The endless non payment of the bonus money in Reno was an ongoing problem and pretty soon people just started not playing in it anymore. It seems to me like any business venture this guy gets involved in turns to crap with a quickness. Crimi is on here talking about him helping kids or whatever but that doesn't make up for all the crap he has pulled in the actual pool community. Non of us are going to quit playing anytime soon and we all have to get treat each other with a high level of respect. It is just plain old disrespectful for Tony to not disclose the payout situation before the tournament started and even more disrespectful to let all the players just float around with half a dozen lame excuses as to why this happened or when the money will come. Maybe now we all are seeing how he handles these types of situations and it may also help us understand how he handled things at the Sand's or other pool halls where Tony is no longer really welcome.

The idea you had to start a discussion on determining whether the players were paid in full or not on time or at all was great. It is unfortunate when people just decide to wait things out, it makes them powerless over what is happening.

As for my speculation about what has or has not been happening it is more of the entertainment nature and should not offend anyone experienced with these matters.

After reading the posts it is easy to tell who works for the money and who actually puts up the money.

 

[jay helfert]

I am one of the players who is owed $550 for my 9th place finish in the tournament. I am very disappointing at Tony who has repeatedly told us that the checks were going to be mailed out every week, and they have not been sent out to anyone who has won more than $300. I have confirmation from 2 players who both received checks this last week in the amounts of $100 and $300. These checks were written from a personal checking account of Tony and not from a USPPA checking account. That made me a little concerned, but I am happy they got paid.

As far as what people are saying in this thread or speculating, most of it is untrue. Tony has not ignored the players who are owed the money. He personally called everyone, and he will return phone calls if you leave a message. What is really disappointing is that there is no clear reason from him for why all of this happened. He told some people that the Peppermill was holding the money for the rooms that were blocked out for this event as a deposit. This is untrue. I had a friend who talked to the event coordinator at the Peppermill, and she said the hotel never held or had any of the money for this tournament. The Peppermill was also not responsible for adding the $15,000 to this tournament, as was previously the case at the Sands Regency when we had the USPPA tournaments there.

This whole event has caused a lot of us much unwanted stress. If I had known this, I wouldn't have taken unpaid time off of work, and spent over $700 on my trip to Reno. I am hoping for a quick resolution, as in payment, for everyone involved!! I talked with Tony this last Monday, and he told me that my check would be in the mail by Friday 1/8/11. I will wait and see.

-Alex Bradley

Thanks Alex for letting us all know this. In my post #283 from two days ago I said essentially the same thing. My sources were telling me that some of the lower finishers were being paid. Now if only the higher finishers can get their money, this situation will be concluded. But not without damage to the entire USPPA system.

 

[nfty9er]

Does everyone know how usppa works?

Doesn't Tony owe something around 25k? Who were the players that got paid? Do they play out of the room he works? If they do play out of his room then of course he is going to pay them off because he has to see them on a daily basis. I have not heard of Tony returning calls as stated, in fact quite the opposite has been happening. All I know is 25k is a ton of money when you are working for a pool hall in the middle of nowhere. Does Tony have a source of mystery money that we don't know about. Didn't he spout off about investing 3 million dollars in the USPPA at the tournament in Reno. Didn't he publicly blame Frank (Diagarno) for the non payment during the tournament? Sorry about the spelling of that name.

I don't know Tony at all. I've been playing pool on the peninsula for about 17 years and I honestly have never heard a good story about this guy. Every story is about how he screwed this guy or that investor and he always somehow comes out on top. Not on top really but not really losing anything of his own but his time.

I've recently heard stories of him bad mouthing The Broken Rack because he felt the equipment wasn't good enough for the USPPA. I went to the cue show at The Broken Rack and the place is really nice and the tables are fine. He should be kissing their feet because they are one of the only places that still bother with the USPPA. When I started playing pool there was a USPPA tournament every day of the week I think. Maybe not Friday. The fields were like 40-60 players for just a little tournament. Reno was every 6 months and it was the funnest thing ever. Then, Tony got involved and it was pretty much downhill from there. The endless non payment of the bonus money in Reno was an ongoing problem and pretty soon people just started not playing in it anymore. It seems to me like any business venture this guy gets involved in turns to crap with a quickness. Crimi is on here talking about him helping kids or whatever but that doesn't make up for all the crap he has pulled in the actual pool community. Non of us are going to quit playing anytime soon and we all have to get treat each other with a high level of respect. It is just plain old disrespectful for Tony to not disclose the payout situation before the tournament started and even more disrespectful to let all the players just float around with half a dozen lame excuses as to why this happened or when the money will come. Maybe now we all are seeing how he handles these types of situations and it may also help us understand how he handled things at the Sand's or other pool halls where Tony is no longer really welcome.

If Tony is paying out some players it could be coming from the weekly tournaments that are still going on in about 20 northern California rooms and one in Oregon that are current members. If you do not know he receives 2 bucks for every score sheet of every tournament so that means if each room has about 20 players lets say he gets about $40 each week from 20 rooms. That is up to $800 a week at most. So it has been 4 weeks so he can pay out to the lower now. Where the so called added money and the entry fees went I would have no idea.
I am sure this was not a room issue not met. After all there were 3 tournaments in that 2 week period. The juniors and wheelchair. Originally there was going to be the Reno open but that was cancelled, maybe that was a prolem. Did Tony just on his own claim all those thousands added but not guranteed. That would be crazy. The Peppermill is so far out of town there is no doubt everyone would be staying there and considering our economy now the Pepermill would love that and not worry about room guarantees. The casinos just want the business and they want the players to get paid so they gamble it away. And believe me they do. I know many people that went broke a few hours after getting paid. And that is no lie when you personally witness it and lend money for people to get home. There was added money for a poker tournament and another tournament, was that money paid out? I have not heard any complaints from the juniors or wheelchair people.
From what I know when Tony visited Santa Cruz a couple of weeks ago he had a flyer for next year with him. Go figure.
It is nothing but a nightmare.

 

[TATE]

Chris, I remember checking with my lawyer friend about something similar a while back. She referred to it as illegally disclosing the contents of a contract with malicious intent or something like that. I think she used the term 'malicious interference'. Divulging details of Tony's contract with the Sands and then making an assumption about his present contract with the Peppermill in this forum is indeed questionable, especially given that Mark is a promoter and has/had a relationship with the Sands and a presence in Reno.

He would have to interfere with an existing contract with the intention of harming USPPA. So if someone went to Peppermill and induced them to cancel a contract, for example, for the (malicious) purpose of harming USPPA, that would be the situation. It might have civil liability if damages could be proven and the intent were malicious. This would be similar to slander or libel, very difficult to prove.

That being said, Tony and the USPPA aren't going to be suing anybody if they can't pay the winners. They are obviously hurting. I just think this is a tough business and money must be really tight for them. I am confident if the money were there, it would be paid immediately.

Looking back, I am glad they cancelled the Reno Open because it would have been an even bigger mess. I hope USPPA recovers. For the record, I've never sued anybody and don't ever plan on it.

Chris

 

[Mark Griffin]

what????

Chris, I remember checking with my lawyer friend about something similar a while back. She referred to it as illegally disclosing the contents of a contract with malicious intent or something like that. I think she used the term 'malicious interference'. Divulging details of Tony's contract with the Sands and then making an assumption about his present contract with the Peppermill in this forum is indeed questionable, especially given that Mark is a promoter and has/had a relationship with the Sands and a presence in Reno.

Fran. I have known you for several years. I don't understand where you are going with your comments about divulging terms of someone's contract. If you will note, this is what the first line said: Here is my take (on what could have happened)

You know that Tony and I do not speak much - so how/why would I know (or care) what his contract terms are? You are bringing in things that make NO DIFFERENCE is the topic at hand - which is paying the players and correcting the BIG BLACK EYE he has single handed given the entire pool industry.

In post #309, you said don't assume I am a better negotiator than Tony - but your comment (the truth might prove a bit embarassing) tends to make us believe you know what HIS terms are. So how come he did not pay? I don't assume I get a better deal than Tony - all I know is his wasn't good enough!

And I don't think you are being harsh - I just think you are trying to shore up a sinking ship. I have no idea why you jump on Tony's bandwagon when he is obviously hurting the industry with these antics.

I publicly acknowledge that Tony has done great things for the Junior and Wheelchair people. But we still have this non-payment problem.

I do not wnat to get in a public argument with you. If you care to discuss this further, please give me a call - I know you have my number.

Mark Griffin

 

[FLYINGSNAIL]

Unpay 7th winner of U S P P A Reno

I am the 7th winner of $650 the Reno tournament have not got pay yet. Yes Tony told me at Reno Peppermaill send check out this Friday
DEC.8/2010. I waited and never see anything in my mail. Finally few weeks ago Tony call and said check will mail out by this wednesday
Dec. 29, 2010. Up until today is after one month passed of the tournamet and still have not received anything in my mail yet. Me and my wife Carolin took a vaction for me to play this tournament. Between both of us flights , room, and foods is over $1k easy. I am just being very patiently waiting for my mail from Tony for now. Maybe some of these winners that got paid post up there name would be great IMOP.

Kenny
P.S. NO I DID NOT CALL PEPPERMILL YET....

 

[justnum]

I am the 7th winner of $650 the Reno tournament have not got pay yet. Yes Tony told me at Reno Peppermaill send check out this Friday
DEC.8/2010. I waited and never see anything in my mail. Finally few weeks ago Tony call and said check will mail out by this wednesday
Dec. 29, 2010. Up until today is after one month passed of the tournamet and still have not received anything in my mail yet. Me and my wife Carolin took a vaction for me to play this tournament. Between both of us flights , room, and foods is over $1k easy. I am just being very patiently waiting for my mail from Tony for now. Maybe some of these winners that got paid post up there name would be great IMOP.

Kenny
P.S. NO I DID NOT CALL PEPPERMILL YET....

This is a common business experience, or tournament winner experience. What you are experiencing is common and stress levels are most likely high for everyone.

Hopefully this is not the check needed at a critical time in your life but if it is all I am saying is lots of people go through this and just have to come to terms with what is happening and understand that there are some lousy business people in this world.

The things healthy responders do is to move on and find something else. Don't try to fix the situation way, it happened and life goes on. If you want to do something the best thing is usually to get connected with other people from the prize payout group.

Public statements are best reserved for neutral parties.

If you decide to continue in investing in professional pool tournaments please consider how to protect yourself in the future or demand changes to prevent delayed payment. Simple changes like which tournaments you attend or speaking with players that are familiar with the situation.

 

[FLYINGSNAIL]

Just few questions.

This is a common business experience, or tournament winner experience. What you are experiencing is common and stress levels are most likely high for everyone.

Hopefully this is not the check needed at a critical time in your life but if it is all I am saying is lots of people go through this and just have to come to terms with what is happening and understand that there are some lousy business people in this world.

The things healthy responders do is to move on and find something else. Don't try to fix the situation way, it happened and life goes on. If you want to do something the best thing is usually to get connected with other people from the prize payout group.

Public statements are best reserved for neutral parties.

If you decide to continue in investing in professional pool tournaments please consider how to protect yourself in the future or demand changes to prevent delayed payment. Simple changes like which tournaments you attend or speaking with players that are familiar with the situation.

I know you have quite a few comment on this USPPA tournament. I would like to know. If you knew Tony personally? Do you play this USPPA tournaments any where?

 

[cyrex]

usppa

I think something to consider here that the USPPA has had a lot of supporters over the years. Like Bob said, many of us used to go to Reno all the time for the summer and winter events. I've personally had some great times at the Reno events and have always been on good terms with Tony.

But some of the frustration comes from watching it fall apart or at least, become impossible to support any longer. We don't have many tournament here in northern California so losing any of them is tough. I think a lot of the players have done a lot to support the USPPA over the years. Like Flyingsnail said, he paid the entry fee, hotel costs, food, tournament qualifying fees, travel expenses, and loss of income using vacation time to play in this tournament. At the VERY LEAST he deserves is to be paid IMMEDIATELY. As do all the players who placed in the money.

I think this is just the final nail in the coffin and it's sad to see. Who would want to spend more money at another USPPA tourney and hope they get paid? Nobody. Just my .02.

 

[FLYINGSNAIL]

Yes, I have been with USPPA since mid 90's til now. I usually play everyone of there tournaments everywhere in the Bay Area and take a vacation once a year go to Reno in June to play one big tournament. That is the kind of support I gave USPPA.

 

[bfdlad]

Some people on here are saying that they know Tony on a personal basis. Then tell him to come on here and give a explanation.
You may now say "He owes nobody a explanation except the players that have not been paid" That much is kinda true, I think that alot more people are involved here now that just his NON payed players. This is a business decision he has to make to try to clear his name.

I do not know Tony personally and I take people as I find them as a rule. I also understand that to those who know and support him he is a good guy and that something has happened to prevent him from making payment. Things happen sometimes so he needs to come and clear the name of his business.

Until then I say F*^k this guy, he is not doing the right thing. I suggest that all players boycott all his leagues and events until all are paid and a public explanation has been made.

I give you all 5 to one if Griffin or myself (Not putting myself in the same league as Griffin) put on a event and nobody got paid there would be hell to pay.

 

[kybill9]

I am the 7th winner of $650 the Reno tournament have not got pay yet. Yes Tony told me at Reno Peppermaill send check out this Friday
DEC.8/2010. I waited and never see anything in my mail. Finally few weeks ago Tony call and said check will mail out by this wednesday
Dec. 29, 2010. Up until today is after one month passed of the tournamet and still have not received anything in my mail yet. Me and my wife Carolin took a vaction for me to play this tournament. Between both of us flights , room, and foods is over $1k easy. I am just being very patiently waiting for my mail from Tony for now. Maybe some of these winners that got paid post up there name would be great IMOP.

Kenny
P.S. NO I DID NOT CALL PEPPERMILL
....

Peppermill Reno, 866 821 9996 Just kidding Kenny. Are you the famous Kenny Kues Cue Maker? Do you do shafts? It is nice to hear someone who actually played at the tournament have something to say. It's like that scene in Pulp Fiction at Jack Rabbit Slims when she says, when you boys get together, you gossip worse than a bunch of scamps. Taking orders for the one pocket t-shirts from the Ghost. He says they run a size small. Long sleeve, short sleeve, colors. Check out his DCC post.

 

[kybill9]

Some people on here are saying that they know Tony on a personal basis. Then tell him to come on here and give a explanation.
You may now say "He owes nobody a explanation except the players that have not been paid" That much is kinda true, I think that alot more people are involved here now that just his NON payed players. This is a business decision he has to make to try to clear his name.

I do not know Tony personally and I take people as I find them as a rule. I also understand that to those who know and support him he is a good guy and that something has happened to prevent him from making payment. Things happen sometimes so he needs to come and clear the name of his business.


I do know Tony personally but I am not involved in the tournament or the payout. I know him well enough to say that if I did call him, the first question would be, why is this your business? Whether you know him or not is not the point. If you feel the USPPA or Peppermill owe you money, call them or file a small claims suit. If you signed up in your home town, you may be able to file there. Go on line and read the rules for filing a claim. I do know you have to send a written request for payment before filing. Like I said before, Tony has worked on this for years. I am glad he pulled this off, but I also sympathize with those who have not been paid. Besides all that payout money belongs in action and with the right spot, that's my money you're talking about.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[bumpypickle]

Rumors are flying right now.

I'm hearing stuff about Tony paying at least one player who had around $1700 coming with one of the Gold Crowns used as a practice table in Reno. I have also heard that someone did talk to someone at the Peppermill and the Peppermill did not ad any money to this tournament.

All I need now is a $5 shake.