Naughty Mansion (affiliate freerolls for props, not affiliates!)

[vix]

Hey guys I was in two minds about posting this largely because I have a friend who works for Mansion and I don't want to upset her. However, although this information has been in the public domain for a while now, I don't think you guys have stumbled across it. About a month ago, Mansion advertised two affiliate free rolls. One for a $5000 and another for a seat to the Poker Dome. Both were labelled as 'Affiliate' freerolls and neither gave further information as to which affiliates were included. At the time, I thought this was suspect and so googled various combinations. I found nothing, so then decided to google usernames already registered to the tournament (in the past when I've googled usernames of opponents I've come up with good information). What I came up with was this:- http://groups.google.fm/group/rec.gambling.poker/browse_thread/thread/6ecc2c0be22d6078/2f28dffccbddd2b3 Looking between the players on the list and those registered for the tournament I saw that of the 7 registered for the Dome freeroll, 4 appeared on that list. And of the 11 registered for the 5k invitational, 7 appeared on the list. With so many "props/known colluders" registered for "affiliate invitationals" that no-one else had access to, I felt it pertinent to bring it to Mansion's attenion and sent Mansion the following email:-

Hi I was looking at the 2 poker invitationals that have been posted - the $5000 Invitational and the Poker Dome Invitational. Unclear on how to be included, I googled some of the usernames and was shocked to find this page pop-up posted way back on 28th May regarding Mansion prop players and known colluders:- http://www.recpoker.com/index.php?search_id=83141&view=collapsed&sort=thread_date&order=dsc It's the second thread down. Having read that, I was surprised to see how many of these props and colluders have been included in the 'affiliate invitiationals'. 7 of the 11 registered in the 5k invitational appear on this list. While 4 of the 7 in the Dome invitational qualifier appear. Please advise as to how these people have been given seats. Victoria

They replied to me with:-

Hello Victoria, Further to you email of earlier today firstly may we thank you for your email and the information you provided, We confirm we are currently using the services of prop players, to ensure an adequate level of action on the MANSION poker site and whilst we build up level of active players.. We assure you that we use a reputable 3rd party prop management company who constantly monitor the props, added to this we have a highly skilled security team who monitor all play on the site and anyone suspected of colluding or any other activity that is not in keeping with fair gaming would be immediatley suspended from play until a thorough investigation was completed. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention, it is very much appreciated. Should you have any further concerns or queries please contact us. Kindest regards, Julie MANSION Member Services

So they admitted to using props, and within a matter of days the original web-site that I had emailed to them had been removed. If you check the link: http://www.recpoker.com/index.php?search_id=83141&view=collapsed&sort=thread_date&order=dsc it no longer exists. It's fortunate we can still locate it through google's cache. In the actual tournaments that took place, only 13 played the Dome tournament and 18 or so played the $5k. The pay-out structure however for the $5k was changed to top 12 ....... rather than the normal payout. Over the past month, I've used the list and enjoyed marking off those on there who I come across in my player notes. On one occasion I was sat with 3 of them at a table in a tournament and witnessed soft playing which I immediately reported to support. I've never had a reply from that. In annoyance to being ignored I spoke to another during a cash game and asked him which Prop Management company he worked for. He ignored me and left the table once the hand was completed. Soooo I had forgotten about this over the past few weeks. I had games to play and things to do etc! I see however that this week, yet again Mansion have posted another spurious "affiliate" freeroll for both the Dome and $5k. And, surprise surprise, the same players are registered. Check the players off from the 'props/colluders' list and those who play the tournament ........ Mansion bingo!!! Food for thought? Cheers Vic x

[runadrum]

Re: Naughty Mansion (affiliate freerolls for props, not affiliates!) Presume these guys are playing mostly non-freerolls as I haven't come across more than one or two of them. I'm not sure what Mansion get out of it - more money than sense springs to mind. :unsure