"Stealing" isn't the best word. He didn't go and grab people's wallets. All money he had was to run the tournament, which included payouts and venue fee. He just prioritized paying off the large corporation first before paying off individual people first. People generally don't hire debt collectors.
Sad truth right there^^^^
I'm sorry, but I can't agree with this train of thought. When I purchased my pass for Pound 5, there were separate purchases where I specified what I was buying.
I paid the venue fee. I payed this to Plank. This is money that I am directly giving to Plank in exchange for letting me enter the venue he rented. That's me paying Plank money for a service. What he does with that money is up to him. Naturally, it's in his best interest to use it to pay off the debt he acquired from renting the venue in the first place. My point is, that money is his.
However, when I purchased my entry into the tournament, it's already widely agreed by everyone that this money does not belong to Plank. This money belongs to the Tournament Victors. As the Tournament Director, he is responsible for collecting the money and giving it to it's rightful owners once the victors are decided, but that money was never his. No one would purchase entry fee into the tournament if they were aware that the entry was not going into the pot. If Plank wanted to include an additional charge as a fee to enter the tournament, he could've chose to done that. More tactfully, he could've just increased the venue fee. But to take entry fee? That money is not his, and for him to take it is stealing.
Also, I would not be mad if Plank said there would be a delay in paying out the tourney, but Plank clearly stated that there would be no payouts for Pound V. Since individuals are less likely to send debt collectors after him, he has decided to steal from them to solve his problems. That is wrong.
Plank said "no payouts
at this time"
I'm pretty sure that he is BROKE at the moment from this hotel fiasco.
I know that this will NOT be popular to hear but...would you guys have rather he had payed out all of the money, and then have had his entire life screwed over by the hotel? I mean, I know this isn't easy to think about, but what would you have done in that situation? They surely would have taken legal action to SUE HIS DUMB, IRRESPONSIBLE ***. For whatever reason, he promised X amount of hotel rooms to be bought and payed for by smashers (keep in mind, at a reduced rate. He signed contracts and everything IIRC. If he did not pay off the hotel for the money rightfully owed to them, They would have nailed his *** to the ground, legally, and probably ruined his credit rating/the rest of his financial life.
If you were Plank would you
A) Pay off smashers but have major hotel chain ready to metaphorically shank the S*** out of you
B) Pay off hotel, but not pay off smashers.Be able to work off debt, maybe get in the green, maybe get back to the smash community, get a loan, something or another, and then pay the smashers back in the forseeable future.
Take a harder look at yourself and
ask what you would have done.
I also do not want to hear "well I would not have been so irresponsible in the first place!" That is USELESS at the moment, what's done is done.
Now I'm trying NOT to defend Plank too much but as far as "shady tournament dealings" go this is probably the least-shady. Yes he should have been more upfront about the situation in the days/weeks after the tourney. Yes he should have been more transparent about the deal with the hotel, etc. Maybe he should have gotten a cheaper venue, ETC ETC ETC.
But that's all done and gone yo, there is unforutnately nothing anybody can do about Planks mistakes.
But I think Plank can come back from this. He can work off the debt to the smashers... As long as he has some sort of income from which he can save small amounts of money from, He MIGHT be able to pay the smashers back. I would suggest a 1st place, first, With interest, pay out scheme over the next year or so.
It's better than nothing, right?
but yeah guys, Don't trust plank anymore, But don't throw him under the bus because he got himself into a horrible situation. I'm sorry but the guy ran too many great tourneys in the past to be entirely blackballed by the community like the
other scumbags (who, do I need to say, deserved it)
