what’s the point of the guy in the upper right (Bret?). He doesn’t ever say anything. Does it really take two ‘hosts’ to stroke the turtle’s giant ego?
Random Dude (August 8th, 2010 at 5:01 pm)
Hi, I really like the show and all that…, but could you please make EB’s mic volume lower (or Brett and Nick higher).
Always gotta make the volume louder to be able to hear Brett and Nick and then POW IT’S EB AND IT’s SUPERBLASTINGLOUD!
Thanks
Josh (August 8th, 2010 at 5:07 pm)
Mad Poker does seem to be the Rainey vs. 2+2 podcast lately. Anyway, I would never spend ten seconds with this guy. Degen magnet, delusions of grandeur.
N012 (August 8th, 2010 at 5:17 pm)
I agree Bret is much more quiet than EB, he still ads value to the show and is a cool dude. I just think he smokes up right before every show.
Benny (August 8th, 2010 at 6:17 pm)
sup guys i just want to say I love seeing these shows every week! God bless! Gonna go get food and watch it after i come back lol can’t wait! Entertainment!
Zach (August 8th, 2010 at 6:24 pm)
Nick says he lost money during the staking deal but that can’t be true. One of the guys cashed for $5,000 roughly. That money alone would of given Nick a profit.
jeff (August 8th, 2010 at 6:38 pm)
come on. I donate money to a hospital in Texas and never is it cool to just hand money to a family member that works there. You want to raise money with others theres a duty to have the paper work, especially if one was 5k. You don’t hand someone a 5k donation with out paperwork. I listen to you dudes on junks 106.7, i think you guys do a great job.
Hayden (August 8th, 2010 at 7:21 pm)
I was undecided about Nick, but after this I’m not a fan. He calls people sheep for “trolling” on forums and twitter, but then he goes back and does the exact same thing, but then when hes doing it he says how he’s just having fun and people shouldnt be bothered by it. He seems pretty immature and I’m glad EB sort of tryed to pull him up about it instead of having an hour of listening to how good of a guy Nick tries to make himself out to be. Yea, he probably does a lot of good things so good for him. Sounds like he dishes out a lot of shit and cant handle when it comes back to him.
mr. wolf (August 8th, 2010 at 8:01 pm)
first off, body language is a bitch nicky…
second, how stupid do you think people are? none of the issues are addressed here. did you keep the moneys and not pass them on? of course you did. did you split up with 70% of your coaching staff? cuz they bought a car? come on… how come your mega-super-turbo web course is “sold out” all of a sudden? what about not playing on stars no more? and what is up with your stats dude? 10% ROI? that’s the best you can do? I mean, being a non-loser and all…
for a guy who doesn’t care about what other think you sure spend a lot of time talking to those same people… and can you two yokels at least TRY to be impartial and objective? too hard a task, huh? are you two journalists or nick’s publicists?
jake (August 8th, 2010 at 9:31 pm)
I have been following the charity scandal on the 2+2 forums and do believe there is a personal feud between Nick and the Lizard King. I still do not think that Nick clearly answered the questions regarding the donation of money to charity. His answers varied from doing it for his girlfriend, on behalf of poker players, through family, and finally, not knowing if any or all of it had been donated by the uncle. It would be interesting to see paperwork of a donation Nick doesn’t even know was delivered or not. Charitable donations mean a lot to people, and when someone says they are going to help a great cause, people want to trust that there is follow-through.
Dean (August 8th, 2010 at 10:48 pm)
i get a mention in the episode for being a hater, which i am. I was trying to be nicks asst but after getting him 500+ followers and some other web work for him and aaron, i was blown off and jerked around, in the two weeks before i made the post on poker statics site i sent him 5 or 6 emails, two pms on 2p2, and tweeted at him like a hundo times. I was a huge fanboy prior to that, i wish him the best of luck. Still a hugh bruiser and pokerstatic fan though, and if you like bret and eb check them out on 106.7 the junkies at http://1067thefandc.cbslocal.com/shows/the-sports-junkies/
wade (August 9th, 2010 at 12:23 am)
i think the song youre looking for is all i do is win by dj khaled
great show, i hope everything gets sorted out soon
MyOwnHorse (August 9th, 2010 at 6:20 am)
I really take offense to Nick saying how worthless Bodeye and Aaron were…If it weren’t for them and myself, there would not be a house in Vegas, Nick was evidently “too busy” to go with us….why would he trust 2 guys and myself to go scope out a house if he thought they were so worthless? He also had Aaron do TONS of things for him while I was there…Why give someone so much responsibility if they were so worthless? Now I don’t know what Aaron was like in Vegas, but he seemed to be handling more of Nick’s business than he did grind….
SHAUN DEEB (August 9th, 2010 at 9:41 am)
even tho we’ve had our misunderstandings Nick is a good guy and i doubt he would run with the so called chairty $. That said i agree with him on the fact that he doesnt owe anyone an explanation nor proof as he was risking 500$ every sunday on the sunday. 1 clown on the forums makes it his life goal to prove this donation he is a F%ing Sheep ie mr lizard king ray. WAFFLECRUSH!!!
mike (August 9th, 2010 at 9:42 am)
lol, if u listen to their morning show, EB dominates over 3 other guys and is even more loud.
Brett isa more behind the scenes guy.
Ray (August 9th, 2010 at 11:23 am)
The Charity…
EB and Bret, I believe you heard from “ericnathan” on Twitter and others before you ever heard from me. In fact, I only just contacted EB a day or two ago via Twitter (first and only contact) and never contacted Bret (at anytime unless one of my shots in the dark worked). I sent one email to the general pokerstatic and mediocrepokerradio email addresses (and maybe one other update email) but I don’t know who reads those. Onto my shots in the dark, I think I may have tried (XXXXX) and (XXXXX) and the like but I don’t know if those worked (because I don’t know if the accounts exist) and you never responded so I don’t know if you heard from me. Also, I only use one email address and use either my first name “Ray” or the TheLizardKing on 2+2.
Nick, I had no idea that you could be capable of not donating the money UNTIL after I left your house in Las Vegas and I started talking to a current coach (HINT), former coaches, current students/stakees, former students, etc. and they started painting a different picture than you portray. It really dawned on me when I was talking to “MyOwnHorse” (your former coach who posts here) the week after I left and I said “Oh my god, there is a good chance the money never made it to the hospital and I need to talk to Nick about this ASAP”. I think I even said this directly to him while we were talking. You should really hear what people say about you behind closed doors because not everything has been posted on 2+2. I think it is a little closer to the truth. I wish I could tell all that I know. As for your current students and stakees, why would they publicly (or directly to you) bite the hand that feeds them? It makes no sense.
Also, I talked to Dr. Feusner’s (Channing’s uncle) office and Dr. Feusner is who you claim you gave the money to and they are the ones who researched this and decided to refer this to the hospital’s legal department for further investigation. I would assume they talked to Dr. Feusner before they forwarded it on to their legal department.
It was not just your money. Other people gave money to you for the hospital (ie, they never took a dime from you) and other people funded extra spots (no money from you either) and others donated up to 100% of their winnings. I tried to handle this privately but you ignored my emails and Skype messages. Not until I threatened to put it on 2+2, did you respond by saying basically I made the donation so leave me alone. Then, once I threatened to verify the donations with the hospital, you said, “Ray who put a timeline on when the donation had to be sent in? The plan was to raise money and I have actually sent emails back and forth with Stars about matching the donation.” Also, previously you said it was our donations (the players and 2p2ers) that we agreed to give the money to the hospital through you (ie, you were going to pool the money) not that it would be your donation(s) or that it was your money that we were returning to you for the stake. I wish your “Best Day of the Year” blog entry was out there still because you made this perfectly clear but it is also clear in the charity thread on 2+2.
I think this whole charity thing was just your way of building up your image, your “school” and staking business, and your quest to become a pro with either PokerStars or FullTilt. This is an excellent and cheap way (and possibly profitable way if you didn’t donate the money) to get the publicity that you could use to do all of this (or hopefully do all of this).
Also, do we know for a fact that the money ultimately came from you to stake the players in the tournament for the charity? It is true that it came from your PokerStars account but it could have easily come from Bodeye or Aaron ultimately. I say this because when I was in Las Vegas living with you, Bodeye and Aaron (primarily Bodeye) paid for almost every single thing (furniture, dinners, Cirque Du Soleil tickets, cell phones, probably the rent at the Las Vegas “mansion” and airline tickets for students, etc., etc.) from what I could tell. Also, all (100%) of the staking money for your staking business came directly from Aaron and Bodeye from what I could tell, too. I pose the same question/concern on any money that you have “given away” recently. I would like to hear from Aaron and Bodeye on this but Bodeye is still your coach and probably trying to recoup all of the money he invested and would not like to comment on this. From what I hear, you have many backers and stakers and owe them a lot of money. EB and Bret, don’t you see the nicer he is to you (hotel rooms, etc.), the better your opinions will be, and in turn, the better his publicity will be and the more likely he will expand his own business or become an online pro? It seems so simple to me.
I hope I am wrong and just tainted and jaded. The absolutely only thing that I am concerned about is the money ($6,000+) got to those kids. Nick, please prove me wrong. Thanks.
Ray (August 9th, 2010 at 12:28 pm)
Nick’s “Mansion”…
By the way, I don’t live with my parents anymore and was only there for a short while because I was looking for a job in the area so why should I sign a lease when there may be no good jobs in the smaller area where they live?
Onto your poker “mansion”, at the beginning, many people were very upset about the fact that it seemed like a poker sweatshop. In fact, you were even going to put the grind stations in the garage (and they initially were set up in the garage and organized by the electrical outlets) which you knew was not air conditioned and routinely reached 100+ degrees. I told you it was crazy and that I was not going to play out there. Also, the students at the house wanted to go out and have some freedom and I was the only one who stood up to you on this and things did get better. I almost got kicked out for this mutiny and at the same time, I was even defending you to people who were looking to book early flights home. People came up to me right and left and said thankfully you are here and have a car because if we were left with Aaron and Nick, we would not be able to do anything except play poker and sleep. You even said at one point that people on PokerStars would have to play a minimum of 700 games a week. However, like I said, after a bunch of stuff went down, it did get better.
However, even after things got better, many people came in from Europe and all over the place and they complained to me and others that they were looking for hands-on training (that was promised) and all they got was a sweatshop for the most part. There were a few people who had received no hands-on training until I said something to you and Bodeye that people were upset. One guy, in fact, received his first hands-on training on the day before he left (after being there for 2 weeks or so). I also stood up and said something about the fact that you were billing people on a weekly basis and were not carrying the losses (e.g., someone makes $5000 one week and pays you $2500 for your 50% cut and loses $5000 the next-you would not give them their $2500 back or give them credit for their $2500 payment but instead you would just give them new stake money which would have to be paid back to you). People depend on you for training, staking, a place to live, etc. so most of them are going to be the last people on the face of the planet to complain (and the first to defend you) especially after the example you made out of me. Like I said, things were much better when I left and I would say my loud mouth and actions had something to do with that (sorry, if I am taking too much credit).
I admit that I did not play for like 10 days in July. I was out trying to obtain funding for the WSOP Main Event-full time for 5-6 days and I was then playing in the WSOP for 3 days (Day 1D, day off, and Day 2B) and needed a day or two off afterwards. Is that so wrong? In June, I put in more games than many of your other top students-more than fried liver, way more than foxyshazam, way more than Chip210, more than Ketan7581, more than YX32Mike, and basically the same amount as benpprice and a little less than Vertek and 1987Snowman but almost everyone of these guys plays on PokerStars and I play on Full Tilt. You might even be able to say that I put in more games than benpprice, 1987snowman, or vertek if you make the PokerStars to Full Tilt adjustment (they load faster, you can play more simultaneously, and on average, and they take a lot less time). I also finished 16th on the Full Tilt tournament leaderboard in June so it is funny that you actually say I was not putting in good volume. The June volume/results table is here…
Finally, who kicks someone out of their house when they ask for a reduced staking fee? That is the only real thing that I brought up to you. I asked if I might be able to coach or something to get it reduced and then I did not grovel to you when you threatened to kick me out (again) for “complaining” about it. Maybe I would have played more if you reduced the staking fee-did you ever consider that? You said, look at all I give you and you still complain. I was just trying to open a dialog on the subject because there were many “elite” students who pay less than 50%. And what do you do? You kick me out on the streets 2000+ miles from home and give me less than 3 hours to get out and didn’t ask if I have any money on hand to handle it. Also, you did this all via Skype and I didn’t see you except when you jumped in the car and hauled off. You knew I just shelled out $1,000+ to play in the WSOP Main Event and you should know that online players keep a lot of funds online and may not have the cash on hand to take care of this situation.
You were mad about getting knocked out of the main event and not getting a deal from Full Tilt or PokerStars and so you were on the rampage against PokerStars, Aaron, people on 2+2, and anyone who you felt got in your way (i.e., me). I would like to see how you would respond if some of the guys in the house started asking for you to change things, too. I am sure it would not be pretty especially if you were not in the “mood”. However, I don’t think they would stand up and say anything anyways so they are safe. Have any of them even asked you about the money that was supposed to go to the hospital? Do they even care?
There are many other details and subjects that could get discussed about the house but I will leave it at that.
Ray (August 9th, 2010 at 12:35 pm)
I posted a “Charity” comment first but it is awaiting moderation so hopefully it will show up…
I just talked to the hospital and the attorney in charge of investigating these donations will be out of the office until next week. I also talked to Dr. Feusner’s office (where Nick supposedly made the donations) and Ms. Cheryl Cox assured me that Dr. Feusner is well aware of what is going on and he was the one who had it sent to their legal department. Also, Dr. Feusner’s office (including Dr. Feusner himself-Channing’s uncle) said they found absolutely nothing and know nothing regarding any donations from Nick Rainey or anything corresponding to the supposed donation amounts.
Toolbox Fan (August 9th, 2010 at 3:08 pm)
I don’t know how your gf lives with you. God bless her.
lolaments (August 9th, 2010 at 3:21 pm)
ray, get a life.
BruisersNo1Fan (August 9th, 2010 at 3:23 pm)
Bickel, TURN YOUR MICROPHONE VOLUME DOWN!!!! Preferably to zero.
highchair (August 9th, 2010 at 4:11 pm)
Nicks correct. This guy does need to get a life.
MsLuvs2Bong (August 9th, 2010 at 5:36 pm)
Hard to believe that the above comment is by the same Shaundeeb who posted this on 2+2:
“nick you’re a douche everyone tells you that you keep having to hype yourself up just to feel better. Sorry your life does suck as much as the brags you have to keep pointing out to try to impress the “sheep”.
I hope people like you get kicked out of poker what stars did to you was awesome I will applaud those who turned you down stars has plenty of good people to rep them. You aren’t as big of a deal as you hope to be 5 years ago I too used to brag about tlb solely thinking that made me better then people. But it doesn’t you are washed up hasbeen without ever being known by 90% of the poker community good job going back to being an assistant then at least you’d have 1 persons respect.
As for your mansion and overall shadiness you are why we get bad reps for taking advantage of people, you remind me of a bad motivational speaker I feel bad for the lost souls who enter your “mansion” and hope they forget whatever they experience there.
Update he is no longer welcome at 2+2 ”
I sincerely hope it isn’t.
.
jordan (August 9th, 2010 at 6:42 pm)
guy in red needs to talk fucking lower or make hism ic lower cause hes to dam loud
ff2017 (August 9th, 2010 at 7:38 pm)
” I also stood up and said something about the fact that you were billing people on a weekly basis and were not carrying the losses (e.g., someone makes $5000 one week and pays you $2500 for your 50% cut and loses $5000 the next-you would not give them their $2500 back or give them credit for their $2500 payment but instead you would just give them new stake money which would have to be paid back to you).”
Uhh, this appears to be use of sound financial management principles fwiw. Anyone who isn’t doing this won’t be very successful in the long term.
ff2017 (August 9th, 2010 at 8:03 pm)
This whole shipping money to an online account in the poker world strikes me as very rudimentary and immature (the strict definition not today’s pop culture defintion). I mean I read stories of people passing just giving pity money through PS or FT to other people, or like Nick, randomly transferring $300 to Bret and EB with no explanation. Even if people intended to give money to charity, with all that money going back and forth how is anyone legally going to know what the purpose of the money is for? ESPECIALLY for what appears to be a very high trafficked account like MI_Turtle and also for someone who is spending a bulk of their time grinding hundreds of SNGs and receives tons of emails and tweets from random fan boys, leaving other mundane affairs, like paying bills to unpaid assistants.
In the developed world, you would make a donation via check or some other banking product and make a notation e.g. “for Nick Rainey Donation Pool” so the charity or institution in question can pool the contributions for things like matching and record keeping. That’s part of their job, so they have the infrastructure and staff to support this. Just the video of Nick’s mansion tour (with the unprofessional and fraternity atmosphere) shows that he and his team simply isn’t equipped to handle these kind of transactions from a knowledge and physical support basis.
Without know the details of the inner sanctum … How can you believe that a guy grinding 500 tourney’s a day with apparently dozens of daily money transfer (staking etc) to and from his account (mere speculation on my part) supposed to keep track of all this? Geez just think about it, he found his assistant via you tube who happened to be some guy who hopped on a phane and waited on a sidewalk for him to pick up. The sad part is that this is pretty common, the online poker world mature, but then I say this cause I’m an old guy.
Nick (August 9th, 2010 at 8:20 pm)
Ray I think there were 7-10 weeks where I staked 45-55 players so I spent about $5000 in entry fees, how are you coming up with $6000+. I am going through trying to find all the transfers sent directly to me from nice people and will match those with my own funds to donate as well.
Bodeye did pay for a lot of things when you were here Ray and that is because he had not paid for one thing up until that point, he had an issue with his bank and was unable to use his debit card the first two months in the states.
bo (August 10th, 2010 at 4:01 am)
Nick came off as a cool person at first but the sweat shop in the garage deal if true makes him a fool. Wow. Still like EB Bret tho even tho they on his jock for some odd reason.
MyOwnHorse (August 10th, 2010 at 4:28 am)
@bo it is most definitely true…his initial idea was to have everyone out there because then he wouldn’t be distracted by the noise. While I was with him in LA, during my final days there, he was referring to the Vegas house as “Poker Prison”
Ray (August 10th, 2010 at 8:49 am)
So let me get this straight, ff2017, from your post…
“Uhh, this appears to be use of sound financial management principles fwiw. Anyone who isn’t doing this won’t be very successful in the long term.”
So what you are saying is that stakees should pay on all of their profits but not be able to offset their losses against the profits (which, as far as I know, is how normal staking deals go) except for whatever period of time Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker come up with? Because they changed the deal on us but never seemed to let us change the deal. The billing was every two weeks and then it became weekly. Two weeks is a lot better than one due to the variance of poker (ie, larger sample size). Let’s say he/RP started billing daily and people started paying on just their winning days and received no credit for the losing days. Or, what if he did it by the game so people just paid profits on the games they won and not get any credit for the games they lost? I hope you see where I am going with this. While weekly is not as extreme as daily or by the game, it still can result in huge payments way greater than 100% of net profits (ie, the player’s net income without a stake) if you win one week and lose the next and especially if people were keeping some or all of their profits in their Full Tilt/PokerStars accounts which they were greatly encouraged to do by Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker. It also creates loans (new stakes) for the stakees and so now they have a loan they have to repay so instead of getting their overpayment back, they now get a bright, shiny new loan just waiting to be repaid. This makes no sense if you are trying to “help” people like Mr. Rainey claims. Normal business relationships are based on percentages of net profits (ie, net income) and very few are based on gross profits (except certain movie deals, certain royalties, etc.). I hope you now understand how vicious and difficult this calculation system is especially for low-stakes grinders. I guess one of the major solutions is for Rainman players never to use any of their profits to play with even though we were encouraged to use that money as our bankroll and play with it. However, they still would have overpaid and have to ask for new stake/loan money if they wanted to continue.
Also, some people told me about being billed for a few days (less than a week) where they were hugely profitable and one person told me that they got double billed for a couple of their best days ever. However, those may have been mistakes though.
Slappz (August 10th, 2010 at 9:40 am)
Interesting interview, first Mad Poker I’ve seen (cuz of this controversy) but what’s the deal with ragging on other poker players.
Old guy in the red at the end of the ep. “If Nick wanted to stake ppl, which he already does… he wouldn’t just give every LOSER with his hand out… ” That whole statement comes off so pathetic, aren’t the 2 interviewers small stakes players themselves? No one wants to listen to people with that attitude. The ending soured it for me.
Ray (August 10th, 2010 at 9:56 am)
I misstated, “You even said at one point that people on PokerStars would have to play a minimum of 700 games a week”. Sorry, actually it was 1,000 from you and Aaron…
OMG LET IT GO. It’s over & done with, now move on.
Ray (August 10th, 2010 at 2:27 pm)
Just so everyone knows how serious I am about this. I just posted this on 2+2…
Nick said the money was the players’ donations (not his and made it clear in his blog and charity thread). I want to make sure the money got there. Otherwise, I am going to raise it on 2+2 and fill in all of the gaps, at least, to $6,000 (it may take me awhile but I am going to do it). That is a promise. I already said I am donating at least $200 to the Children’s Hospital…I would go back and read my initial posts on the subject and I clearly state I am going to run another fundraiser if we cannot get evidence to verify that the donations were made. People will be on the honor system and I will not collect the money but we will have a name (so it will make it easier to track for the hospital) and I will personally verify the donations and fill in the missing FROM MY OWN POCKET.
MyOwnHorse (August 10th, 2010 at 2:35 pm)
The lies keep coming ehh Nick? Bodeye’s card worked perfectly fine the entire 5 weeks I was there…Saw him pay for quite a few things actually while I was there….wanna try again??
JRo (August 10th, 2010 at 3:04 pm)
Nick,
Thanks for chasing Ray out of the house. He has been a completely awesome member on my team and I couldn’t be happier with both his results and productivity. If you have any other proven winners who are sick of asking permission to eat or go to the bathroom, please also send them my way!! [no RB pros please] Also, I think you had good intentions originally with the hospital money (or at least not looking to steal it obv.. in it some to get your name out, nothing wrong with that) but it seems like you have said that you have sent it (and more), and also that you haven’t sent it because you have been trying to get a match. I think this is the part that is confusing people. Also, you were definitely looking to put the sweat into poker sweatshop with that garage plan.. lol.
Everyone: LOL at saying get over it; you weren’t involved, you weren’t part of the negative situation, or put out on the street [effectively simultaneously evicted and fired] thousands of miles from home. I don’t blame Ray for being ticked.and at least making sure money he sent at least got to where it should have.
-jro
Nick (August 10th, 2010 at 3:18 pm)
Horse are you referring to the car that we paid to have repaired for you and then you took off without paying us back. Yes Bodeye did use his card for that, but feel free to ask him yourself if he had a lot of problems using his card in Vegas.
You were so disgusting and creepy I had to ask you to leave my house and you refused since my girlfriend was uncomfortable being alone in the house with you.
MyOwnHorse (August 10th, 2010 at 3:56 pm)
he used it at the grocery store a few times, used it at the movies, and other places..the spa as well I believe…He even bought dinner with it one night when it was just him and I….it was definitely used plenty. So don’t say he wasn’t able to use it for anything….For the record, the car repairs are between him and I and I am going to be paying him back.
If I was so disgusting and creepy, then why didn’t you find a place for me like you said you were going to, instead of making me sleep on your couch for 5 weeks?!? Now you make it sound like you threw me out too?? whatever makes you feel better…I had a place to go either way, and was more than happy to get away from you!!
Btw, I like the way you tried to hijack the 14k that belonged to me….Too bad for you it didn’t work…
Skinwalker (August 10th, 2010 at 4:04 pm)
“You were so disgusting and creepy I had to ask you to leave my house and you refused since my girlfriend was uncomfortable being alone in the house with you.” Nice, fairly typical , “school yard” reply from Nick.
Chad (August 10th, 2010 at 5:00 pm)
i have a question.
if you have so much money, why dont you pay the 7k to the charity? by doing this you make yourself, phil galfond, bret and eric look bad. When i looked up Mi_turtle on OPR it says youve only made 16k this year, ( http://www.officialpokerrankings.com/pokerstars/MI_turtle/poker/results/EE71CAF12ABD47F599FD40102FF8E57F.html?t=2 ) im sure youve made money in other areas but i doesnt look like your all that rich. If your training site was super profitable you wouldnt shut it down, same with the staking operation, you sold 60/70 % of you self in the wsop main event, and i sounds like youve blown all the big money youve won live and by your own admission in an interview with daleroxxu your an awful cash game player. When ever something that make it look like you dont have alot of money happens theres always an excuse, car gets reposed “bad asst”, business partner owed money and quits “hes a loser”, banned from tilt ” bad investigation”, cant get site deal because of cheating allegations “donks mad at me”. I think your just a hustler, chipwalkers was a hustle, golf was a hustle, poker is a hustle, you were trying to get a site deal to legitimize yourself and they saw though you. what about the landlord that kicked you out in cali?what about the other car repo? what happened with poker VT? are you banned from stars? I liked the thought of a poker player keeping it real, you seem to have to make skeletons in the closet your hiding though.
Chad
BruisersNo1Fan (August 10th, 2010 at 9:03 pm)
Ray you seem somewhat delusional how staking works. If you’re looking at a 50-50 split of profits then you’re going to have make-up too. In other words any lost stakes of the backer are repaid in full before any profit sharing begins. If you want to be essentially freerolling on the backer’s money then you’re only looking at 20% (or less) of any profits.
Nick is cool (August 10th, 2010 at 10:36 pm)
Ray, Nick already said he’s going to get the paperwork and match your 5k donation. This is about the kids and not about how you didn’t want to give him 50 % of your profits. Yeah it sucks giving someone thousands of dollars of your hard owned work but that’s what happens when you use someone else’s capital to profit. Without Nick you probably wouldn’t have been able to play in the main event this year.
But at the same time I’m glad that you are putting pressure on Nick about the money he was suppose to donate to Children’s Hospital. From watching the episode, it’s clear that Nick did not send the money when he was suppose to. Nick was extremely uncomfortable when asked about making the donations. Just look at his responses.
At the end of the day it’s about doing the right thing. I’m glad that this issue was brought up in pokerstatic. Hopefully we’ll be seeing at least a 10k donation to Children’s hospital from Nick Rainey.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 8:32 am)
I am saying if the player lost his own profits not stake money. I am assuming that the stake money was repaid so therefore is irrelevant. I am also assuming this is a winning player (on a weekly basis previously) so they had $7500 in total profits (e.g., they had the $5000 in total profits from the current week and had $2500 in retained profits after paying Nick back from previous weeks) and they gave Nick $2500 for their $5000 week. Now, after paying Nick $2500, they have a total of $5000 in their account which is 100% the player’s own profits. It was a pure player profit-based scenario that I was talking about including the losses so the player had his own previous profits of $5000 in the account and subsequently lost that $5000 the next week but he had paid $2500 to Nick in the previous week so the net profit between those weeks is 0 but the player paid $2500 in profit sharing and his account balance is now 0 and he must get a new stake in order to continue. However, if the player would have been billed once a month, these weeks would have washed and no payment of $2500 would have gone to Nick. Otherwise, if profits and losses were carried week to week, the player would have a $2500 credit with Nick or should be able to get his money back. This is only one example and the same thing can happen in many different scenarios and in smaller amounts but it will result in overpayments and possibly more stake money being required as long as there are winning weeks combined with losing weeks for the player.
Thanks for the “delusional” here and “paranoid” and your other comments in the PokerStatic forum. Nick doesn’t seem to think so, at least, not when I talked to him yesterday. Ryan McGarvey is that you (BruisersNo1Fan)? I remember walking over to your computer and you were always on Bruiser’s Facebook, Twitter, etc. (I know other people saw it) and you know the unofficial Nick Rainey “mansion” motto in the Mad Poker forums on PokerStatic. Ryan also made similar “delusional” and “paranoid” accusations on 2+2. I think it has to be. If you are not Ryan, you have a lot in common (hate me, stalk Bruiser, know the motto, etc.). And, like I said in the Mad Poker forums, I don’t think it matters that I use his name anyways because I know for a fact Ryan was harassing me on 2+2 (his account is Stoop Kid over there).
PokerStatic asked me if I wanted you banned (BruisersNo1Fan) for your comments in the Mad Poker forums but I said that they can wait. Are you going to stop this name calling, etc. or should I ask them to ban you? Thanks.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 8:35 am)
correction: “if the player would have been billed once a month” *(assuming those weeks are in the same month)*
Mr. X (August 11th, 2010 at 9:20 am)
Why are you even responding to all of these people Ray? I mean really. Its a waste of time. Its like being in a High school cafeteria. I think you like all of this drama and are thriving on all this confrontation. I have heard you say multiple times you are “done” posting about anything but updates on the charity issue. But you continue to respond and continue various conflicts with people and issues. And what is the point to try to “call” people out by there real name? Just seems petty.
ff2017 (August 11th, 2010 at 9:38 am)
re: Ray
“So what you are saying is that stakees should pay on all of their profits but not be able to offset their losses against the profits (which, as far as I know, is how normal staking deals go) except for whatever period of time Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker come up with”
Yes, as I suggested in my long post, the money management aspect of the online poker world is still in its infancy. Essentially Nick is running something analogous to a Fund of Funds in the investment world or a Hedge Fund with dozens of internal portfolio managers. While brutal from a humanity aspect, the creed is you are only as good as your last trade. The reason for this is due to the potential for escalating losses on an manager who has lost his edge even if he was once profitable. So yes, Nick is applying sound risk management principles, however brutal.
“Because they changed the deal on us but never seemed to let us change the deal” I don’t see the problem here. Again, from the real world he is the employer, you are the portfolio manager(PM), the only leverage you would have is if you were a supremely gifted where you can try to _AT BEST_ RENEGOTIATE a deal. The intelligent employer would offer a better deal in order to retain a gifted trader or PM.
As far as the choice to choose the time interval of payments. This is a business decision that will effect the profitability and long term survival of the business. As an example you are right, daily, seems like a good way to run the business to the ground, but that’ll be on him as a poor businessman. The best you can do is make your case(assuming it has a strong case), if he chooses to ignore your sound advice … well you can’t do much except take heart that he won’t last very long and then take steps to protect your self by…
“if you win one week and lose the next and especially if people were keeping some or all of their profits in their Full Tilt/PokerStars accounts which they were greatly encouraged to do by Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker. It also creates loans (new stakes) for the stakees and so now they have a loan they have to repay so instead of getting their overpayment back, they now get a bright, shiny new loan just waiting to be repaid. ”
Double check the fine print. In the investments sales world, this is called a draw and is pretty standard too. Salespeople aka stock brokers often are on 100% commission, even when they start out. Sometimes the firm will pay the sales people a small amount of money for start up costs etc that is in fact a loan and not a salary. So, you’re still paying out net profits only as far as I am concerned, you’re still making money on the other percentage.
It looks like it’s a pretty bad deal from your perspective, right? Well … as ugly as it sounds, this is Nick’s (whether he knows consciously or intuitively) backdoor way of having the stakees pay rent to cover the start up costs.
“if you win one week and lose the next and especially if people were keeping some or all of their profits in their Full Tilt/PokerStars accounts which they were greatly encouraged to do by Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker.” It’s on you not to reinvest your own money back into the business. (I have never heard of a broker putting his/her own money back into the business when they are not part owners of said business. This is just part of the financial sophistication that has yet come to the online poker world. (I keep using online, because as implied in “The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King”, the live pros (the Corporation) have long figured this out by never putting money back into poker once they’ve taken it out, the only exception apparently being matches against Andy Beal.
“I guess one of the major solutions is for Rainman players never to use any of their profits to play with even though we were encouraged to use that money as our bankroll and play with it.” You are correct, see above paragraph. This is NOT your money, don’t be fool by encouraging comments. Basically when it comes to money, that should be handled separately than normal from all other social conventions (eg I borrow some/a from a friend, do I have to return it? I am holding a friend’s do I have to give back immediately? Money is always yes, anything else can be subject to additionaly consideration). Stick to the letter of the law/contract.
“This makes no sense if you are trying to ‘help’ people like Mr. Rainey claims.” Oops, you fell for the marketing pitch. No different then A Bank of America TV ad or any Charles Schwab, Td Ameritrade/E-trade, Merrill Lynch, Met Life, Prudential, Geico, All State… etc TV advertisement. They all purport to help investors/customers when their only goal is to make profit. If you’re actually looking to help someone… you do it for … FREE! E.g. forums like Two Plus Two and Pocket Fives. Otherwise it’s always business. How a tutoring business maintains loyalty is how well the “helpfulness” persona is conveyed and maintained.
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to be thorough in my treatment, I mean… it’s money.
ff2017 (August 11th, 2010 at 9:43 am)
Apparently the forums can’t handle centain text. In my second to last paragraph, it should be read as:
Basically when it comes to money, that should be handled separately than normal from all other social conventions (eg I borrow some/a [object(s)] from a friend, do I have to return it? I am holding a friend’s [object(s)] do I have to give back immediately? Money is always yes, anything else can be subject to additionaly consideration). Stick to the letter of the law/contract.
BruisersNo1Fan (August 11th, 2010 at 9:45 am)
I called you paranoid and delusional because you repeatedly assert that I am someone I’ve never heard of or associated with them in some way.
I have absolutely no connection with Nick, or anyone else at the house, or anyone else that you know.
I’ve used the phrase “hookers and blow” for years, usually in a reference to degenerate poker players and probably picked it up from 2+2. It does not denote any connection to Nick’s house and seeing “hidden meanings” in casual random phrases is classic paranoid behaviour.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 9:53 am)
ff, I skimmed your comments. Nick unilaterally changed the deal (frequency of payments from monthly for some to every two weeks to weekly and I believe he used to carry the losses), the living arrangements (volume numbers, from no expense to $25 for food/day that was not optional but then made it optional after complaints, etc.). That is truly my point. Nick does what he wants and if you ask or suggest otherwise as a business partner (that is what staking is really), for the most part your opinion doesn’t matter with the exception of the food deal. Anyways, I escaped from the Rainman and just giving my side of all of this and my opinion on various matters. I wish the best of luck to those still doing business with Nick and those that will do business with Nick and I suggest you get everything in writing considering his history of business relationship changes that he unilaterally made in his favor.
ff2017 (August 11th, 2010 at 9:58 am)
I appeared to have lost the context of your argument when writing my post with regards to:
“I guess one of the major solutions is for Rainman players never to use any of their profits to play with even though we were encouraged to use that money as our bankroll and play with it.”
I should have written, This is YOUR money, don’t be fool by encouraging comments someone else with regards to YOUR money. If he is going to be so ruthless as to demand weekly … daily profit withdrawals, then you may have to ask for weekly and daily stakes to hedge your risk while squirreling away your profits to yor bank while leaving the stake in. There’s just way too much risk there for you with regards to stop-loss mistakes while you try to segregate the two pools of money (stake money and your profits)
My Apologies.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 10:02 am)
BruisersNo1Fan, no problem you were super nasty in the forums. We said “hookers and blow” all the time in the Rainey “mansion”. And, you and Ryan have a lot in common-stalk bruiser, nasty/negative disposition, use the term “hookers and blow”, hate or are at least nasty to me (your initial comments in the forums were about as nasty as can be), etc. Maybe I should put you guys in contact. You would have a lot to talk about and probably have similar opinions. I still have his number. You have a lot in common so I thought it might be and that is why I ASKED IF YOU WERE RYAN. Sorry, no biggie though like I said.
ff2017 (August 11th, 2010 at 10:05 am)
Ray
“That is truly my point. Nick does what he wants and if you ask or suggest otherwise as a business partner (that is what staking is really)”
This is probably where we differ with regards to staker-stakee, I view it more like an investor-money manager relationship, whereas you view it more like an slightly unequal partnership. Without giving offense, your view is too simplistic. Of course the guy with the money makes all the rules … he has the money! You, as the stakee, are completely reliant on him to supply the capital while he (assuming proper diversification) hardly needs you at all.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 10:20 am)
BruisersNo1Fan, also no “hidden meaning” ever seen in “hookers in blow”, lol, it is just a term we used all the time so that is why I ASKED if you were Ryan and for the other reasons. You are a nasty one for sure. Thanks.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 10:23 am)
and* blow
Chad (August 11th, 2010 at 5:43 pm)
making the donation now doesnt make you a good guy, you should have done that months ago, and you wouldnt have done it if you were not called out. what a loser!
BruisersNo1Fan (August 11th, 2010 at 6:05 pm)
Chill out Ray. I don’t hate you and I’m not stalking you. Many of Nick’s other horses seem a lot happier with the deal so I feel the truth is not as negative as you depict, but I hope you reach some sort of settlement with Nick.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 6:14 pm)
Good news, it now looks like the donation is finally being made and that is what is ultimately important now…
What is Pokerstatic going to do with Nick Rainey? He openly lied about his donations in his Mad Poker 10 interview. He stated he already gave it to his girlfriend’s uncle and was working on getting the paperwork to prove it. Now it seems one of his in house students has posted on 2+2 that Nick is working on getting the numbers correct from all of his collections on behalf of the charity before he makes his donation. Nick lied to the fans of Pokerstatic and to the hosts of Mad Poker. I think it is time for Pokerstatic to get a class act to represent poker.
str8hust1a (August 12th, 2010 at 2:37 pm)
hey Nick love the show man!! Forget the haters 2+2 is useless anyways its for losers/nerds who are ugly over sensitive and cant get any poon,
shrew (August 12th, 2010 at 4:40 pm)
the first guy REALLY has to turn his mic down —- wayyy too loud compared to nick and 2nd guy
Ray (August 13th, 2010 at 10:20 am)
If anyone sees, the comments above regarding Patrik and Nick still. I have asked pokerstatic to remove them.
bignate904 (August 15th, 2010 at 12:55 pm)
Nick im trying to come to nazi camp
Nick is cool (August 15th, 2010 at 10:46 pm)
Was Ray the one eating the lucky charms in the mansion tour?
static fanboy (August 16th, 2010 at 4:53 am)
This show is so cool!!! Nick has some cool baseball hats, and he can really put a spin on any allegation. If eric and eb vouch for this guy he must be legit, I dont see why there is so much HATE! Everyone needs to lay off Rainman!! Who cares if he started a fake chairity event and kept all the money raised for cancer babies its not like that is ilegal or anything. Rainman is an internet phenom and now that he is playing plo there is no stopping him! I have been watching him on stars and he is tearing it up!! Plus the grind house is churning out some serious cash soon nick wont be renting that mc mansion and he should be able to rent some furniture for it soon. Maybe he will be able to afford new microphones to get the sound on poker static right!!!! This train wreck has been priceless to watch keep up the good work.
Ray (August 16th, 2010 at 5:37 am)
No, I had left before they started filming the “mansion” tour so I am not in the video anywhere.
Al (August 19th, 2010 at 1:23 pm)
So after watching every mad poker episode, reading all this bullshit, I would have to say that nick rainey is a piece of work. Lying to the viewers is not why we watch. We want to know what’s going on, not nick rainey lies. I’ll be the first one to say “FUCK NICK RAINEY”
Johhny Knots (August 20th, 2010 at 4:18 pm)
You fuckin people are like a bunch of school girls
TheTrooper97 (August 31st, 2010 at 12:18 am)
Great show, but I agree with Random dude, turn that damn mic down, you’re killing my ears…
HustleHard (August 31st, 2010 at 6:53 pm)
uhhhh , so Mad Poker has been cancelled..? ..or what?? Some kind of announcement//update would be nice…. as opposed to just NOT doing anything (posting new show OR updating us on status). please fellas, something.
Boogie (August 31st, 2010 at 8:34 pm)
I love you guys’ interviews! Please keep doing them, I was so happy when this site and your show started.
HustleHard (September 1st, 2010 at 11:06 am)
Bret, EB, Phil, or any PokerStatic Management/Member: Please give a response to this – is Mad Poker cancelled, or why has there been such a harsh delay? I truly hope it’s not cancelled, but if it is, it would certainly be nice to know so that we can lower our hopes of another episode.
nadia (August 8th, 2010 at 2:15 pm)
what’s the point of the guy in the upper right (Bret?). He doesn’t ever say anything. Does it really take two ‘hosts’ to stroke the turtle’s giant ego?
Random Dude (August 8th, 2010 at 5:01 pm)
Hi, I really like the show and all that…, but could you please make EB’s mic volume lower (or Brett and Nick higher).
Always gotta make the volume louder to be able to hear Brett and Nick and then POW IT’S EB AND IT’s SUPERBLASTINGLOUD!
Thanks
Josh (August 8th, 2010 at 5:07 pm)
Mad Poker does seem to be the Rainey vs. 2+2 podcast lately. Anyway, I would never spend ten seconds with this guy. Degen magnet, delusions of grandeur.
N012 (August 8th, 2010 at 5:17 pm)
I agree Bret is much more quiet than EB, he still ads value to the show and is a cool dude. I just think he smokes up right before every show.
Benny (August 8th, 2010 at 6:17 pm)
sup guys i just want to say I love seeing these shows every week! God bless! Gonna go get food and watch it after i come back lol can’t wait! Entertainment!
Zach (August 8th, 2010 at 6:24 pm)
Nick says he lost money during the staking deal but that can’t be true. One of the guys cashed for $5,000 roughly. That money alone would of given Nick a profit.
jeff (August 8th, 2010 at 6:38 pm)
come on. I donate money to a hospital in Texas and never is it cool to just hand money to a family member that works there. You want to raise money with others theres a duty to have the paper work, especially if one was 5k. You don’t hand someone a 5k donation with out paperwork. I listen to you dudes on junks 106.7, i think you guys do a great job.
Hayden (August 8th, 2010 at 7:21 pm)
I was undecided about Nick, but after this I’m not a fan. He calls people sheep for “trolling” on forums and twitter, but then he goes back and does the exact same thing, but then when hes doing it he says how he’s just having fun and people shouldnt be bothered by it. He seems pretty immature and I’m glad EB sort of tryed to pull him up about it instead of having an hour of listening to how good of a guy Nick tries to make himself out to be. Yea, he probably does a lot of good things so good for him. Sounds like he dishes out a lot of shit and cant handle when it comes back to him.
mr. wolf (August 8th, 2010 at 8:01 pm)
first off, body language is a bitch nicky…
second, how stupid do you think people are? none of the issues are addressed here. did you keep the moneys and not pass them on? of course you did. did you split up with 70% of your coaching staff? cuz they bought a car? come on… how come your mega-super-turbo web course is “sold out” all of a sudden? what about not playing on stars no more? and what is up with your stats dude? 10% ROI? that’s the best you can do? I mean, being a non-loser and all…
for a guy who doesn’t care about what other think you sure spend a lot of time talking to those same people… and can you two yokels at least TRY to be impartial and objective? too hard a task, huh? are you two journalists or nick’s publicists?
jake (August 8th, 2010 at 9:31 pm)
I have been following the charity scandal on the 2+2 forums and do believe there is a personal feud between Nick and the Lizard King. I still do not think that Nick clearly answered the questions regarding the donation of money to charity. His answers varied from doing it for his girlfriend, on behalf of poker players, through family, and finally, not knowing if any or all of it had been donated by the uncle. It would be interesting to see paperwork of a donation Nick doesn’t even know was delivered or not. Charitable donations mean a lot to people, and when someone says they are going to help a great cause, people want to trust that there is follow-through.
Dean (August 8th, 2010 at 10:48 pm)
i get a mention in the episode for being a hater, which i am. I was trying to be nicks asst but after getting him 500+ followers and some other web work for him and aaron, i was blown off and jerked around, in the two weeks before i made the post on poker statics site i sent him 5 or 6 emails, two pms on 2p2, and tweeted at him like a hundo times. I was a huge fanboy prior to that, i wish him the best of luck. Still a hugh bruiser and pokerstatic fan though, and if you like bret and eb check them out on 106.7 the junkies at http://1067thefandc.cbslocal.com/shows/the-sports-junkies/
wade (August 9th, 2010 at 12:23 am)
i think the song youre looking for is all i do is win by dj khaled
great show, i hope everything gets sorted out soon
MyOwnHorse (August 9th, 2010 at 6:20 am)
I really take offense to Nick saying how worthless Bodeye and Aaron were…If it weren’t for them and myself, there would not be a house in Vegas, Nick was evidently “too busy” to go with us….why would he trust 2 guys and myself to go scope out a house if he thought they were so worthless? He also had Aaron do TONS of things for him while I was there…Why give someone so much responsibility if they were so worthless? Now I don’t know what Aaron was like in Vegas, but he seemed to be handling more of Nick’s business than he did grind….
SHAUN DEEB (August 9th, 2010 at 9:41 am)
even tho we’ve had our misunderstandings Nick is a good guy and i doubt he would run with the so called chairty $. That said i agree with him on the fact that he doesnt owe anyone an explanation nor proof as he was risking 500$ every sunday on the sunday. 1 clown on the forums makes it his life goal to prove this donation he is a F%ing Sheep ie mr lizard king ray. WAFFLECRUSH!!!
mike (August 9th, 2010 at 9:42 am)
lol, if u listen to their morning show, EB dominates over 3 other guys and is even more loud.
Brett isa more behind the scenes guy.
Ray (August 9th, 2010 at 11:23 am)
The Charity…
EB and Bret, I believe you heard from “ericnathan” on Twitter and others before you ever heard from me. In fact, I only just contacted EB a day or two ago via Twitter (first and only contact) and never contacted Bret (at anytime unless one of my shots in the dark worked). I sent one email to the general pokerstatic and mediocrepokerradio email addresses (and maybe one other update email) but I don’t know who reads those. Onto my shots in the dark, I think I may have tried (XXXXX) and (XXXXX) and the like but I don’t know if those worked (because I don’t know if the accounts exist) and you never responded so I don’t know if you heard from me. Also, I only use one email address and use either my first name “Ray” or the TheLizardKing on 2+2.
Nick, I had no idea that you could be capable of not donating the money UNTIL after I left your house in Las Vegas and I started talking to a current coach (HINT), former coaches, current students/stakees, former students, etc. and they started painting a different picture than you portray. It really dawned on me when I was talking to “MyOwnHorse” (your former coach who posts here) the week after I left and I said “Oh my god, there is a good chance the money never made it to the hospital and I need to talk to Nick about this ASAP”. I think I even said this directly to him while we were talking. You should really hear what people say about you behind closed doors because not everything has been posted on 2+2. I think it is a little closer to the truth. I wish I could tell all that I know. As for your current students and stakees, why would they publicly (or directly to you) bite the hand that feeds them? It makes no sense.
Also, I talked to Dr. Feusner’s (Channing’s uncle) office and Dr. Feusner is who you claim you gave the money to and they are the ones who researched this and decided to refer this to the hospital’s legal department for further investigation. I would assume they talked to Dr. Feusner before they forwarded it on to their legal department.
It was not just your money. Other people gave money to you for the hospital (ie, they never took a dime from you) and other people funded extra spots (no money from you either) and others donated up to 100% of their winnings. I tried to handle this privately but you ignored my emails and Skype messages. Not until I threatened to put it on 2+2, did you respond by saying basically I made the donation so leave me alone. Then, once I threatened to verify the donations with the hospital, you said, “Ray who put a timeline on when the donation had to be sent in? The plan was to raise money and I have actually sent emails back and forth with Stars about matching the donation.” Also, previously you said it was our donations (the players and 2p2ers) that we agreed to give the money to the hospital through you (ie, you were going to pool the money) not that it would be your donation(s) or that it was your money that we were returning to you for the stake. I wish your “Best Day of the Year” blog entry was out there still because you made this perfectly clear but it is also clear in the charity thread on 2+2.
I think this whole charity thing was just your way of building up your image, your “school” and staking business, and your quest to become a pro with either PokerStars or FullTilt. This is an excellent and cheap way (and possibly profitable way if you didn’t donate the money) to get the publicity that you could use to do all of this (or hopefully do all of this).
Also, do we know for a fact that the money ultimately came from you to stake the players in the tournament for the charity? It is true that it came from your PokerStars account but it could have easily come from Bodeye or Aaron ultimately. I say this because when I was in Las Vegas living with you, Bodeye and Aaron (primarily Bodeye) paid for almost every single thing (furniture, dinners, Cirque Du Soleil tickets, cell phones, probably the rent at the Las Vegas “mansion” and airline tickets for students, etc., etc.) from what I could tell. Also, all (100%) of the staking money for your staking business came directly from Aaron and Bodeye from what I could tell, too. I pose the same question/concern on any money that you have “given away” recently. I would like to hear from Aaron and Bodeye on this but Bodeye is still your coach and probably trying to recoup all of the money he invested and would not like to comment on this. From what I hear, you have many backers and stakers and owe them a lot of money. EB and Bret, don’t you see the nicer he is to you (hotel rooms, etc.), the better your opinions will be, and in turn, the better his publicity will be and the more likely he will expand his own business or become an online pro? It seems so simple to me.
I hope I am wrong and just tainted and jaded. The absolutely only thing that I am concerned about is the money ($6,000+) got to those kids. Nick, please prove me wrong. Thanks.
Ray (August 9th, 2010 at 12:28 pm)
Nick’s “Mansion”…
By the way, I don’t live with my parents anymore and was only there for a short while because I was looking for a job in the area so why should I sign a lease when there may be no good jobs in the smaller area where they live?
Onto your poker “mansion”, at the beginning, many people were very upset about the fact that it seemed like a poker sweatshop. In fact, you were even going to put the grind stations in the garage (and they initially were set up in the garage and organized by the electrical outlets) which you knew was not air conditioned and routinely reached 100+ degrees. I told you it was crazy and that I was not going to play out there. Also, the students at the house wanted to go out and have some freedom and I was the only one who stood up to you on this and things did get better. I almost got kicked out for this mutiny and at the same time, I was even defending you to people who were looking to book early flights home. People came up to me right and left and said thankfully you are here and have a car because if we were left with Aaron and Nick, we would not be able to do anything except play poker and sleep. You even said at one point that people on PokerStars would have to play a minimum of 700 games a week. However, like I said, after a bunch of stuff went down, it did get better.
However, even after things got better, many people came in from Europe and all over the place and they complained to me and others that they were looking for hands-on training (that was promised) and all they got was a sweatshop for the most part. There were a few people who had received no hands-on training until I said something to you and Bodeye that people were upset. One guy, in fact, received his first hands-on training on the day before he left (after being there for 2 weeks or so). I also stood up and said something about the fact that you were billing people on a weekly basis and were not carrying the losses (e.g., someone makes $5000 one week and pays you $2500 for your 50% cut and loses $5000 the next-you would not give them their $2500 back or give them credit for their $2500 payment but instead you would just give them new stake money which would have to be paid back to you). People depend on you for training, staking, a place to live, etc. so most of them are going to be the last people on the face of the planet to complain (and the first to defend you) especially after the example you made out of me. Like I said, things were much better when I left and I would say my loud mouth and actions had something to do with that (sorry, if I am taking too much credit).
I admit that I did not play for like 10 days in July. I was out trying to obtain funding for the WSOP Main Event-full time for 5-6 days and I was then playing in the WSOP for 3 days (Day 1D, day off, and Day 2B) and needed a day or two off afterwards. Is that so wrong? In June, I put in more games than many of your other top students-more than fried liver, way more than foxyshazam, way more than Chip210, more than Ketan7581, more than YX32Mike, and basically the same amount as benpprice and a little less than Vertek and 1987Snowman but almost everyone of these guys plays on PokerStars and I play on Full Tilt. You might even be able to say that I put in more games than benpprice, 1987snowman, or vertek if you make the PokerStars to Full Tilt adjustment (they load faster, you can play more simultaneously, and on average, and they take a lot less time). I also finished 16th on the Full Tilt tournament leaderboard in June so it is funny that you actually say I was not putting in good volume. The June volume/results table is here…
http://a.imageshack.us/img29/2/volumecomparison.png
Finally, who kicks someone out of their house when they ask for a reduced staking fee? That is the only real thing that I brought up to you. I asked if I might be able to coach or something to get it reduced and then I did not grovel to you when you threatened to kick me out (again) for “complaining” about it. Maybe I would have played more if you reduced the staking fee-did you ever consider that? You said, look at all I give you and you still complain. I was just trying to open a dialog on the subject because there were many “elite” students who pay less than 50%. And what do you do? You kick me out on the streets 2000+ miles from home and give me less than 3 hours to get out and didn’t ask if I have any money on hand to handle it. Also, you did this all via Skype and I didn’t see you except when you jumped in the car and hauled off. You knew I just shelled out $1,000+ to play in the WSOP Main Event and you should know that online players keep a lot of funds online and may not have the cash on hand to take care of this situation.
You were mad about getting knocked out of the main event and not getting a deal from Full Tilt or PokerStars and so you were on the rampage against PokerStars, Aaron, people on 2+2, and anyone who you felt got in your way (i.e., me). I would like to see how you would respond if some of the guys in the house started asking for you to change things, too. I am sure it would not be pretty especially if you were not in the “mood”. However, I don’t think they would stand up and say anything anyways so they are safe. Have any of them even asked you about the money that was supposed to go to the hospital? Do they even care?
There are many other details and subjects that could get discussed about the house but I will leave it at that.
Ray (August 9th, 2010 at 12:35 pm)
I posted a “Charity” comment first but it is awaiting moderation so hopefully it will show up…
Ray (August 9th, 2010 at 1:33 pm)
New 2+2 thread…
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/mad-poker-episode-10-a-849097/
Ray (August 9th, 2010 at 2:28 pm)
I just talked to the hospital and the attorney in charge of investigating these donations will be out of the office until next week. I also talked to Dr. Feusner’s office (where Nick supposedly made the donations) and Ms. Cheryl Cox assured me that Dr. Feusner is well aware of what is going on and he was the one who had it sent to their legal department. Also, Dr. Feusner’s office (including Dr. Feusner himself-Channing’s uncle) said they found absolutely nothing and know nothing regarding any donations from Nick Rainey or anything corresponding to the supposed donation amounts.
Toolbox Fan (August 9th, 2010 at 3:08 pm)
I don’t know how your gf lives with you. God bless her.
lolaments (August 9th, 2010 at 3:21 pm)
ray, get a life.
BruisersNo1Fan (August 9th, 2010 at 3:23 pm)
Bickel, TURN YOUR MICROPHONE VOLUME DOWN!!!! Preferably to zero.
highchair (August 9th, 2010 at 4:11 pm)
Nicks correct. This guy does need to get a life.
MsLuvs2Bong (August 9th, 2010 at 5:36 pm)
Hard to believe that the above comment is by the same Shaundeeb who posted this on 2+2:
“nick you’re a douche everyone tells you that you keep having to hype yourself up just to feel better. Sorry your life does suck as much as the brags you have to keep pointing out to try to impress the “sheep”.
I hope people like you get kicked out of poker what stars did to you was awesome I will applaud those who turned you down stars has plenty of good people to rep them. You aren’t as big of a deal as you hope to be 5 years ago I too used to brag about tlb solely thinking that made me better then people. But it doesn’t you are washed up hasbeen without ever being known by 90% of the poker community good job going back to being an assistant then at least you’d have 1 persons respect.
As for your mansion and overall shadiness you are why we get bad reps for taking advantage of people, you remind me of a bad motivational speaker I feel bad for the lost souls who enter your “mansion” and hope they forget whatever they experience there.
Update he is no longer welcome at 2+2 ”
I sincerely hope it isn’t.
.
jordan (August 9th, 2010 at 6:42 pm)
guy in red needs to talk fucking lower or make hism ic lower cause hes to dam loud
ff2017 (August 9th, 2010 at 7:38 pm)
” I also stood up and said something about the fact that you were billing people on a weekly basis and were not carrying the losses (e.g., someone makes $5000 one week and pays you $2500 for your 50% cut and loses $5000 the next-you would not give them their $2500 back or give them credit for their $2500 payment but instead you would just give them new stake money which would have to be paid back to you).”
Uhh, this appears to be use of sound financial management principles fwiw. Anyone who isn’t doing this won’t be very successful in the long term.
ff2017 (August 9th, 2010 at 8:03 pm)
This whole shipping money to an online account in the poker world strikes me as very rudimentary and immature (the strict definition not today’s pop culture defintion). I mean I read stories of people passing just giving pity money through PS or FT to other people, or like Nick, randomly transferring $300 to Bret and EB with no explanation. Even if people intended to give money to charity, with all that money going back and forth how is anyone legally going to know what the purpose of the money is for? ESPECIALLY for what appears to be a very high trafficked account like MI_Turtle and also for someone who is spending a bulk of their time grinding hundreds of SNGs and receives tons of emails and tweets from random fan boys, leaving other mundane affairs, like paying bills to unpaid assistants.
In the developed world, you would make a donation via check or some other banking product and make a notation e.g. “for Nick Rainey Donation Pool” so the charity or institution in question can pool the contributions for things like matching and record keeping. That’s part of their job, so they have the infrastructure and staff to support this. Just the video of Nick’s mansion tour (with the unprofessional and fraternity atmosphere) shows that he and his team simply isn’t equipped to handle these kind of transactions from a knowledge and physical support basis.
Without know the details of the inner sanctum … How can you believe that a guy grinding 500 tourney’s a day with apparently dozens of daily money transfer (staking etc) to and from his account (mere speculation on my part) supposed to keep track of all this? Geez just think about it, he found his assistant via you tube who happened to be some guy who hopped on a phane and waited on a sidewalk for him to pick up. The sad part is that this is pretty common, the online poker world mature, but then I say this cause I’m an old guy.
Nick (August 9th, 2010 at 8:20 pm)
Ray I think there were 7-10 weeks where I staked 45-55 players so I spent about $5000 in entry fees, how are you coming up with $6000+. I am going through trying to find all the transfers sent directly to me from nice people and will match those with my own funds to donate as well.
Bodeye did pay for a lot of things when you were here Ray and that is because he had not paid for one thing up until that point, he had an issue with his bank and was unable to use his debit card the first two months in the states.
bo (August 10th, 2010 at 4:01 am)
Nick came off as a cool person at first but the sweat shop in the garage deal if true makes him a fool. Wow. Still like EB Bret tho even tho they on his jock for some odd reason.
MyOwnHorse (August 10th, 2010 at 4:28 am)
@bo it is most definitely true…his initial idea was to have everyone out there because then he wouldn’t be distracted by the noise. While I was with him in LA, during my final days there, he was referring to the Vegas house as “Poker Prison”
Ray (August 10th, 2010 at 8:49 am)
So let me get this straight, ff2017, from your post…
“Uhh, this appears to be use of sound financial management principles fwiw. Anyone who isn’t doing this won’t be very successful in the long term.”
So what you are saying is that stakees should pay on all of their profits but not be able to offset their losses against the profits (which, as far as I know, is how normal staking deals go) except for whatever period of time Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker come up with? Because they changed the deal on us but never seemed to let us change the deal. The billing was every two weeks and then it became weekly. Two weeks is a lot better than one due to the variance of poker (ie, larger sample size). Let’s say he/RP started billing daily and people started paying on just their winning days and received no credit for the losing days. Or, what if he did it by the game so people just paid profits on the games they won and not get any credit for the games they lost? I hope you see where I am going with this. While weekly is not as extreme as daily or by the game, it still can result in huge payments way greater than 100% of net profits (ie, the player’s net income without a stake) if you win one week and lose the next and especially if people were keeping some or all of their profits in their Full Tilt/PokerStars accounts which they were greatly encouraged to do by Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker. It also creates loans (new stakes) for the stakees and so now they have a loan they have to repay so instead of getting their overpayment back, they now get a bright, shiny new loan just waiting to be repaid. This makes no sense if you are trying to “help” people like Mr. Rainey claims. Normal business relationships are based on percentages of net profits (ie, net income) and very few are based on gross profits (except certain movie deals, certain royalties, etc.). I hope you now understand how vicious and difficult this calculation system is especially for low-stakes grinders. I guess one of the major solutions is for Rainman players never to use any of their profits to play with even though we were encouraged to use that money as our bankroll and play with it. However, they still would have overpaid and have to ask for new stake/loan money if they wanted to continue.
Also, some people told me about being billed for a few days (less than a week) where they were hugely profitable and one person told me that they got double billed for a couple of their best days ever. However, those may have been mistakes though.
Slappz (August 10th, 2010 at 9:40 am)
Interesting interview, first Mad Poker I’ve seen (cuz of this controversy) but what’s the deal with ragging on other poker players.
Old guy in the red at the end of the ep. “If Nick wanted to stake ppl, which he already does… he wouldn’t just give every LOSER with his hand out… ” That whole statement comes off so pathetic, aren’t the 2 interviewers small stakes players themselves? No one wants to listen to people with that attitude. The ending soured it for me.
Ray (August 10th, 2010 at 9:56 am)
I misstated, “You even said at one point that people on PokerStars would have to play a minimum of 700 games a week”. Sorry, actually it was 1,000 from you and Aaron…
http://johnnyhilldo.blogspot.com/2010/06/early-wake-up-call.html
(and those volume numbers changed all the time)
Jamie (August 10th, 2010 at 11:51 am)
OMG LET IT GO. It’s over & done with, now move on.
Ray (August 10th, 2010 at 2:27 pm)
Just so everyone knows how serious I am about this. I just posted this on 2+2…
Nick said the money was the players’ donations (not his and made it clear in his blog and charity thread). I want to make sure the money got there. Otherwise, I am going to raise it on 2+2 and fill in all of the gaps, at least, to $6,000 (it may take me awhile but I am going to do it). That is a promise. I already said I am donating at least $200 to the Children’s Hospital…I would go back and read my initial posts on the subject and I clearly state I am going to run another fundraiser if we cannot get evidence to verify that the donations were made. People will be on the honor system and I will not collect the money but we will have a name (so it will make it easier to track for the hospital) and I will personally verify the donations and fill in the missing FROM MY OWN POCKET.
MyOwnHorse (August 10th, 2010 at 2:35 pm)
The lies keep coming ehh Nick? Bodeye’s card worked perfectly fine the entire 5 weeks I was there…Saw him pay for quite a few things actually while I was there….wanna try again??
JRo (August 10th, 2010 at 3:04 pm)
Nick,
Thanks for chasing Ray out of the house. He has been a completely awesome member on my team and I couldn’t be happier with both his results and productivity. If you have any other proven winners who are sick of asking permission to eat or go to the bathroom, please also send them my way!! [no RB pros please] Also, I think you had good intentions originally with the hospital money (or at least not looking to steal it obv.. in it some to get your name out, nothing wrong with that) but it seems like you have said that you have sent it (and more), and also that you haven’t sent it because you have been trying to get a match. I think this is the part that is confusing people. Also, you were definitely looking to put the sweat into poker sweatshop with that garage plan.. lol.
Everyone: LOL at saying get over it; you weren’t involved, you weren’t part of the negative situation, or put out on the street [effectively simultaneously evicted and fired] thousands of miles from home. I don’t blame Ray for being ticked.and at least making sure money he sent at least got to where it should have.
-jro
Nick (August 10th, 2010 at 3:18 pm)
Horse are you referring to the car that we paid to have repaired for you and then you took off without paying us back. Yes Bodeye did use his card for that, but feel free to ask him yourself if he had a lot of problems using his card in Vegas.
You were so disgusting and creepy I had to ask you to leave my house and you refused since my girlfriend was uncomfortable being alone in the house with you.
MyOwnHorse (August 10th, 2010 at 3:56 pm)
he used it at the grocery store a few times, used it at the movies, and other places..the spa as well I believe…He even bought dinner with it one night when it was just him and I….it was definitely used plenty. So don’t say he wasn’t able to use it for anything….For the record, the car repairs are between him and I and I am going to be paying him back.
If I was so disgusting and creepy, then why didn’t you find a place for me like you said you were going to, instead of making me sleep on your couch for 5 weeks?!? Now you make it sound like you threw me out too?? whatever makes you feel better…I had a place to go either way, and was more than happy to get away from you!!
Btw, I like the way you tried to hijack the 14k that belonged to me….Too bad for you it didn’t work…
Skinwalker (August 10th, 2010 at 4:04 pm)
“You were so disgusting and creepy I had to ask you to leave my house and you refused since my girlfriend was uncomfortable being alone in the house with you.” Nice, fairly typical , “school yard” reply from Nick.
Chad (August 10th, 2010 at 5:00 pm)
i have a question.
if you have so much money, why dont you pay the 7k to the charity? by doing this you make yourself, phil galfond, bret and eric look bad. When i looked up Mi_turtle on OPR it says youve only made 16k this year, ( http://www.officialpokerrankings.com/pokerstars/MI_turtle/poker/results/EE71CAF12ABD47F599FD40102FF8E57F.html?t=2 ) im sure youve made money in other areas but i doesnt look like your all that rich. If your training site was super profitable you wouldnt shut it down, same with the staking operation, you sold 60/70 % of you self in the wsop main event, and i sounds like youve blown all the big money youve won live and by your own admission in an interview with daleroxxu your an awful cash game player. When ever something that make it look like you dont have alot of money happens theres always an excuse, car gets reposed “bad asst”, business partner owed money and quits “hes a loser”, banned from tilt ” bad investigation”, cant get site deal because of cheating allegations “donks mad at me”. I think your just a hustler, chipwalkers was a hustle, golf was a hustle, poker is a hustle, you were trying to get a site deal to legitimize yourself and they saw though you. what about the landlord that kicked you out in cali?what about the other car repo? what happened with poker VT? are you banned from stars? I liked the thought of a poker player keeping it real, you seem to have to make skeletons in the closet your hiding though.
Chad
BruisersNo1Fan (August 10th, 2010 at 9:03 pm)
Ray you seem somewhat delusional how staking works. If you’re looking at a 50-50 split of profits then you’re going to have make-up too. In other words any lost stakes of the backer are repaid in full before any profit sharing begins. If you want to be essentially freerolling on the backer’s money then you’re only looking at 20% (or less) of any profits.
Nick is cool (August 10th, 2010 at 10:36 pm)
Ray, Nick already said he’s going to get the paperwork and match your 5k donation. This is about the kids and not about how you didn’t want to give him 50 % of your profits. Yeah it sucks giving someone thousands of dollars of your hard owned work but that’s what happens when you use someone else’s capital to profit. Without Nick you probably wouldn’t have been able to play in the main event this year.
But at the same time I’m glad that you are putting pressure on Nick about the money he was suppose to donate to Children’s Hospital. From watching the episode, it’s clear that Nick did not send the money when he was suppose to. Nick was extremely uncomfortable when asked about making the donations. Just look at his responses.
At the end of the day it’s about doing the right thing. I’m glad that this issue was brought up in pokerstatic. Hopefully we’ll be seeing at least a 10k donation to Children’s hospital from Nick Rainey.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 8:32 am)
I am saying if the player lost his own profits not stake money. I am assuming that the stake money was repaid so therefore is irrelevant. I am also assuming this is a winning player (on a weekly basis previously) so they had $7500 in total profits (e.g., they had the $5000 in total profits from the current week and had $2500 in retained profits after paying Nick back from previous weeks) and they gave Nick $2500 for their $5000 week. Now, after paying Nick $2500, they have a total of $5000 in their account which is 100% the player’s own profits. It was a pure player profit-based scenario that I was talking about including the losses so the player had his own previous profits of $5000 in the account and subsequently lost that $5000 the next week but he had paid $2500 to Nick in the previous week so the net profit between those weeks is 0 but the player paid $2500 in profit sharing and his account balance is now 0 and he must get a new stake in order to continue. However, if the player would have been billed once a month, these weeks would have washed and no payment of $2500 would have gone to Nick. Otherwise, if profits and losses were carried week to week, the player would have a $2500 credit with Nick or should be able to get his money back. This is only one example and the same thing can happen in many different scenarios and in smaller amounts but it will result in overpayments and possibly more stake money being required as long as there are winning weeks combined with losing weeks for the player.
Thanks for the “delusional” here and “paranoid” and your other comments in the PokerStatic forum. Nick doesn’t seem to think so, at least, not when I talked to him yesterday. Ryan McGarvey is that you (BruisersNo1Fan)? I remember walking over to your computer and you were always on Bruiser’s Facebook, Twitter, etc. (I know other people saw it) and you know the unofficial Nick Rainey “mansion” motto in the Mad Poker forums on PokerStatic. Ryan also made similar “delusional” and “paranoid” accusations on 2+2. I think it has to be. If you are not Ryan, you have a lot in common (hate me, stalk Bruiser, know the motto, etc.). And, like I said in the Mad Poker forums, I don’t think it matters that I use his name anyways because I know for a fact Ryan was harassing me on 2+2 (his account is Stoop Kid over there).
PokerStatic asked me if I wanted you banned (BruisersNo1Fan) for your comments in the Mad Poker forums but I said that they can wait. Are you going to stop this name calling, etc. or should I ask them to ban you? Thanks.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 8:35 am)
correction: “if the player would have been billed once a month” *(assuming those weeks are in the same month)*
Mr. X (August 11th, 2010 at 9:20 am)
Why are you even responding to all of these people Ray? I mean really. Its a waste of time. Its like being in a High school cafeteria. I think you like all of this drama and are thriving on all this confrontation. I have heard you say multiple times you are “done” posting about anything but updates on the charity issue. But you continue to respond and continue various conflicts with people and issues. And what is the point to try to “call” people out by there real name? Just seems petty.
ff2017 (August 11th, 2010 at 9:38 am)
re: Ray
“So what you are saying is that stakees should pay on all of their profits but not be able to offset their losses against the profits (which, as far as I know, is how normal staking deals go) except for whatever period of time Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker come up with”
Yes, as I suggested in my long post, the money management aspect of the online poker world is still in its infancy. Essentially Nick is running something analogous to a Fund of Funds in the investment world or a Hedge Fund with dozens of internal portfolio managers. While brutal from a humanity aspect, the creed is you are only as good as your last trade. The reason for this is due to the potential for escalating losses on an manager who has lost his edge even if he was once profitable. So yes, Nick is applying sound risk management principles, however brutal.
“Because they changed the deal on us but never seemed to let us change the deal” I don’t see the problem here. Again, from the real world he is the employer, you are the portfolio manager(PM), the only leverage you would have is if you were a supremely gifted where you can try to _AT BEST_ RENEGOTIATE a deal. The intelligent employer would offer a better deal in order to retain a gifted trader or PM.
As far as the choice to choose the time interval of payments. This is a business decision that will effect the profitability and long term survival of the business. As an example you are right, daily, seems like a good way to run the business to the ground, but that’ll be on him as a poor businessman. The best you can do is make your case(assuming it has a strong case), if he chooses to ignore your sound advice … well you can’t do much except take heart that he won’t last very long and then take steps to protect your self by…
“if you win one week and lose the next and especially if people were keeping some or all of their profits in their Full Tilt/PokerStars accounts which they were greatly encouraged to do by Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker. It also creates loans (new stakes) for the stakees and so now they have a loan they have to repay so instead of getting their overpayment back, they now get a bright, shiny new loan just waiting to be repaid. ”
Double check the fine print. In the investments sales world, this is called a draw and is pretty standard too. Salespeople aka stock brokers often are on 100% commission, even when they start out. Sometimes the firm will pay the sales people a small amount of money for start up costs etc that is in fact a loan and not a salary. So, you’re still paying out net profits only as far as I am concerned, you’re still making money on the other percentage.
It looks like it’s a pretty bad deal from your perspective, right? Well … as ugly as it sounds, this is Nick’s (whether he knows consciously or intuitively) backdoor way of having the stakees pay rent to cover the start up costs.
“if you win one week and lose the next and especially if people were keeping some or all of their profits in their Full Tilt/PokerStars accounts which they were greatly encouraged to do by Mr. Rainey and Rainman Poker.” It’s on you not to reinvest your own money back into the business. (I have never heard of a broker putting his/her own money back into the business when they are not part owners of said business. This is just part of the financial sophistication that has yet come to the online poker world. (I keep using online, because as implied in “The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King”, the live pros (the Corporation) have long figured this out by never putting money back into poker once they’ve taken it out, the only exception apparently being matches against Andy Beal.
“I guess one of the major solutions is for Rainman players never to use any of their profits to play with even though we were encouraged to use that money as our bankroll and play with it.” You are correct, see above paragraph. This is NOT your money, don’t be fool by encouraging comments. Basically when it comes to money, that should be handled separately than normal from all other social conventions (eg I borrow some/a from a friend, do I have to return it? I am holding a friend’s do I have to give back immediately? Money is always yes, anything else can be subject to additionaly consideration). Stick to the letter of the law/contract.
“This makes no sense if you are trying to ‘help’ people like Mr. Rainey claims.” Oops, you fell for the marketing pitch. No different then A Bank of America TV ad or any Charles Schwab, Td Ameritrade/E-trade, Merrill Lynch, Met Life, Prudential, Geico, All State… etc TV advertisement. They all purport to help investors/customers when their only goal is to make profit. If you’re actually looking to help someone… you do it for … FREE! E.g. forums like Two Plus Two and Pocket Fives. Otherwise it’s always business. How a tutoring business maintains loyalty is how well the “helpfulness” persona is conveyed and maintained.
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to be thorough in my treatment, I mean… it’s money.
ff2017 (August 11th, 2010 at 9:43 am)
Apparently the forums can’t handle centain text. In my second to last paragraph, it should be read as:
Basically when it comes to money, that should be handled separately than normal from all other social conventions (eg I borrow some/a [object(s)] from a friend, do I have to return it? I am holding a friend’s [object(s)] do I have to give back immediately? Money is always yes, anything else can be subject to additionaly consideration). Stick to the letter of the law/contract.
BruisersNo1Fan (August 11th, 2010 at 9:45 am)
I called you paranoid and delusional because you repeatedly assert that I am someone I’ve never heard of or associated with them in some way.
I have absolutely no connection with Nick, or anyone else at the house, or anyone else that you know.
I’ve used the phrase “hookers and blow” for years, usually in a reference to degenerate poker players and probably picked it up from 2+2. It does not denote any connection to Nick’s house and seeing “hidden meanings” in casual random phrases is classic paranoid behaviour.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 9:53 am)
ff, I skimmed your comments. Nick unilaterally changed the deal (frequency of payments from monthly for some to every two weeks to weekly and I believe he used to carry the losses), the living arrangements (volume numbers, from no expense to $25 for food/day that was not optional but then made it optional after complaints, etc.). That is truly my point. Nick does what he wants and if you ask or suggest otherwise as a business partner (that is what staking is really), for the most part your opinion doesn’t matter with the exception of the food deal. Anyways, I escaped from the Rainman and just giving my side of all of this and my opinion on various matters. I wish the best of luck to those still doing business with Nick and those that will do business with Nick and I suggest you get everything in writing considering his history of business relationship changes that he unilaterally made in his favor.
ff2017 (August 11th, 2010 at 9:58 am)
I appeared to have lost the context of your argument when writing my post with regards to:
“I guess one of the major solutions is for Rainman players never to use any of their profits to play with even though we were encouraged to use that money as our bankroll and play with it.”
I should have written, This is YOUR money, don’t be fool by encouraging comments someone else with regards to YOUR money. If he is going to be so ruthless as to demand weekly … daily profit withdrawals, then you may have to ask for weekly and daily stakes to hedge your risk while squirreling away your profits to yor bank while leaving the stake in. There’s just way too much risk there for you with regards to stop-loss mistakes while you try to segregate the two pools of money (stake money and your profits)
My Apologies.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 10:02 am)
BruisersNo1Fan, no problem you were super nasty in the forums. We said “hookers and blow” all the time in the Rainey “mansion”. And, you and Ryan have a lot in common-stalk bruiser, nasty/negative disposition, use the term “hookers and blow”, hate or are at least nasty to me (your initial comments in the forums were about as nasty as can be), etc. Maybe I should put you guys in contact. You would have a lot to talk about and probably have similar opinions. I still have his number. You have a lot in common so I thought it might be and that is why I ASKED IF YOU WERE RYAN. Sorry, no biggie though like I said.
ff2017 (August 11th, 2010 at 10:05 am)
Ray
“That is truly my point. Nick does what he wants and if you ask or suggest otherwise as a business partner (that is what staking is really)”
This is probably where we differ with regards to staker-stakee, I view it more like an investor-money manager relationship, whereas you view it more like an slightly unequal partnership. Without giving offense, your view is too simplistic. Of course the guy with the money makes all the rules … he has the money! You, as the stakee, are completely reliant on him to supply the capital while he (assuming proper diversification) hardly needs you at all.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 10:20 am)
BruisersNo1Fan, also no “hidden meaning” ever seen in “hookers in blow”, lol, it is just a term we used all the time so that is why I ASKED if you were Ryan and for the other reasons. You are a nasty one for sure. Thanks.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 10:23 am)
and* blow
Chad (August 11th, 2010 at 5:43 pm)
making the donation now doesnt make you a good guy, you should have done that months ago, and you wouldnt have done it if you were not called out. what a loser!
BruisersNo1Fan (August 11th, 2010 at 6:05 pm)
Chill out Ray. I don’t hate you and I’m not stalking you. Many of Nick’s other horses seem a lot happier with the deal so I feel the truth is not as negative as you depict, but I hope you reach some sort of settlement with Nick.
Ray (August 11th, 2010 at 6:14 pm)
Good news, it now looks like the donation is finally being made and that is what is ultimately important now…
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/61/mtt-community/qtr-million-freeroll-steak-good-cause-746162-post20847268/?highlight=#post20847268
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/mad-poker-episode-10-a-849097-post20851966/?highlight=#post20851966
Ray (August 12th, 2010 at 9:52 am)
Were these really Nick’s donations the way he structured it?
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/61/mtt-community/qtr-million-freeroll-steak-good-cause-746162/index110.html#post20865986
Jake (August 12th, 2010 at 12:40 pm)
What is Pokerstatic going to do with Nick Rainey? He openly lied about his donations in his Mad Poker 10 interview. He stated he already gave it to his girlfriend’s uncle and was working on getting the paperwork to prove it. Now it seems one of his in house students has posted on 2+2 that Nick is working on getting the numbers correct from all of his collections on behalf of the charity before he makes his donation. Nick lied to the fans of Pokerstatic and to the hosts of Mad Poker. I think it is time for Pokerstatic to get a class act to represent poker.
str8hust1a (August 12th, 2010 at 2:37 pm)
hey Nick love the show man!! Forget the haters 2+2 is useless anyways its for losers/nerds who are ugly over sensitive and cant get any poon,
shrew (August 12th, 2010 at 4:40 pm)
the first guy REALLY has to turn his mic down —- wayyy too loud compared to nick and 2nd guy
Ray (August 13th, 2010 at 10:20 am)
If anyone sees, the comments above regarding Patrik and Nick still. I have asked pokerstatic to remove them.
bignate904 (August 15th, 2010 at 12:55 pm)
Nick im trying to come to nazi camp
Nick is cool (August 15th, 2010 at 10:46 pm)
Was Ray the one eating the lucky charms in the mansion tour?
static fanboy (August 16th, 2010 at 4:53 am)
This show is so cool!!! Nick has some cool baseball hats, and he can really put a spin on any allegation. If eric and eb vouch for this guy he must be legit, I dont see why there is so much HATE! Everyone needs to lay off Rainman!! Who cares if he started a fake chairity event and kept all the money raised for cancer babies its not like that is ilegal or anything. Rainman is an internet phenom and now that he is playing plo there is no stopping him! I have been watching him on stars and he is tearing it up!! Plus the grind house is churning out some serious cash soon nick wont be renting that mc mansion and he should be able to rent some furniture for it soon. Maybe he will be able to afford new microphones to get the sound on poker static right!!!! This train wreck has been priceless to watch keep up the good work.
Ray (August 16th, 2010 at 5:37 am)
No, I had left before they started filming the “mansion” tour so I am not in the video anywhere.
Al (August 19th, 2010 at 1:23 pm)
So after watching every mad poker episode, reading all this bullshit, I would have to say that nick rainey is a piece of work. Lying to the viewers is not why we watch. We want to know what’s going on, not nick rainey lies. I’ll be the first one to say “FUCK NICK RAINEY”
Johhny Knots (August 20th, 2010 at 4:18 pm)
You fuckin people are like a bunch of school girls
TheTrooper97 (August 31st, 2010 at 12:18 am)
Great show, but I agree with Random dude, turn that damn mic down, you’re killing my ears…
HustleHard (August 31st, 2010 at 6:53 pm)
uhhhh , so Mad Poker has been cancelled..? ..or what?? Some kind of announcement//update would be nice…. as opposed to just NOT doing anything (posting new show OR updating us on status). please fellas, something.
Boogie (August 31st, 2010 at 8:34 pm)
I love you guys’ interviews! Please keep doing them, I was so happy when this site and your show started.
HustleHard (September 1st, 2010 at 11:06 am)
Bret, EB, Phil, or any PokerStatic Management/Member: Please give a response to this – is Mad Poker cancelled, or why has there been such a harsh delay? I truly hope it’s not cancelled, but if it is, it would certainly be nice to know so that we can lower our hopes of another episode.