RYou

Great article - the author has clearly narrowed down the time of the mistake to the first break of day 7. Now with all the security cameras around, only 3 tables in play and virtually hand by hand chip counts, I surmise they know who the benefactors of the $2M chip error were.

Let's face it, there was a chip count at the break, even if informal. Even if there were 4 - $500,000 errors while coloring up, it would be easily recognized on the chip counts.

I went back to the live updates for day 7 and read the summaries around the time of the break.
http://www.pokerlistings.com/live-to...-updates?day=7

Coloring up occurs before the break clock starts. Each table is colored up simultaneously. Obviously, one table benefitted from the error. I can only presume that play had resumed before Harrahs realized an error occurred and by then they couldn't recall the play.

I am sure that whomever benefitted probably bet big right after the break in order to mask the error from others at the table and intending to either unload the gain by losing it or winning a large pot.

Regardless, WSOP and Harrahs knows who benefitted. It's been proven without doubt exactly when the error occurred. Those security cameras aren't turned off on the break and they recorded the passing of the extra chips.

Obviously Harrahs wants to protect the integrity of the game hence they are sitting on the answer since it was their error in the first place.

I'll bet there are at least 4 names on that list of 21 that remained after the first break that won't be back anytime soon, blacklisted.

LkwdSteve

In most of our local tournaments that is how it's done and it does add to the chip total.

That reminds me that one of the few times an organizer decided on race-offs for small chips instead of "coloring up" cost me my seat in a tournament. I was down to a "chip and a chair" when the timer for the current round went off. The blinds increased to a level that the lowest denomination chips were to be raced off. I lost my final small chip in that race off and was eliminated as a result. What a way to go.

mkm670

RYou - Is this investigation just starting? I read this article in Spetember and I figured it would either be a quick investigation with a slap on the wrist for Harrahs or it would be ignored. For this to be coming up now is surprising. The torunament starts in a few weeks...

Champ Kind

According to the Wikipedia explanation you aren't supposed to be able to lose your last chip in a race off. I definitely would have been pissed if that happened to me, even though you were likely to go out soon anyway you'd like to have a say in it.

__________________
I will smash your face into a car windshield and then take your mother, Dorothy Mantooth, out to a nice seafood dinner and never call her again!

Tell me about it, this morning, I woke up and I shit a squirrel, but what I can't get is the damn thing is still alive. So now, I've got a shit covered squirrel running around my office and I don't know what to name it.

RYou

What I read was just a blurb in the USA Today the other day. I just found this article from Feb which indicates the criminal investigation is over. I believe it says the LV Gaming Commission continues to investigate Harrahs, presumably, to review new procedures that assure this kind of error does not occur again.

The author of this article did some heavy investigation and seems to have identified one of the two million dollar benefactors of the color up error. he identifies Kevin ODonnell as one. Notably, if you go back and read the live reports from this point in time, you'll find ODonnell was one of the short stacks. he had somewhere between 2-3 million in chips at that break. He receives another mil in the color up error and he claims he knows nothing about it. Now C'mon - he may have reduced the total chip count, but when you come back you add up you total value again - there's no way he didn't realize a million was plopped in his place. - soon after he busted out to finish 21.

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2007/2...nths-after.htm

"Here are three facts we now believe to be true:

1) Neither Jamie Gold nor Allen Cunningham was a recipient of extra chips in the color up process. Many people speculated that because Gold and Cunningham were the chip leaders that they were the likely candidates for buying up the other 5K chips at their table, but this was not the case. Gold and Cunningham were colored up separately, prior to the official color-up, using the new 100K "mint and chocolate" colored chips Neither of these players were the designated player at their table to buy-up the 5K chips and therefore they had no opportunity to be the beneficiaries of color-up error which occurred when the wrong number of 5K chips were exchanged for 25K chips.

2) Kevin O'Donnell was one of the players to receive extra chips. He was incorrectly colored-up and received 1 million extra chips. Our chip stack analysis shows good data for Kevin shortly before the color-up break and shortly after; there is a 1.05 million chip increase that is not accounted for. We spoke to Kevin, he and all the other players were away from the table during the color-up. He had no idea that he could have been one of the stacks incorrectly colored-up and was shocked that he might have been. Kevin busted out of the tournament in 21st place to Allen Cunningham less that 30 minutes after the mistake was made. We have several independent sources that agree Kevin O'Donnell was one of two players given extra chips. Every piece of evidence points to Kevin having absolutely no knowledge of the events and no idea this had even occurred.

3) The second player we believe Harrah's will name is not the second player we have identified through our "track back" chip counts. In fact, we can find no evidence that the second name could possibly have been the player to buy up the 5K chips at his table, as he was one of the short stacks. We are not at this time releasing the "second name" nor the name of the player our research shows may be the other recipient. We believe some form of limited viewing of the surveillance tapes will put this matter to rest. We will, of course, report this information as soon as it becomes "officially" available.

It is our hope that we will be writing the final article in this series very shortly and we also believe that it will be written with the full cooperation of Harrah's and WSOP officials."