MQF and Exchange Rates

[trishan]

I just had a question regarding exchange rates and GF packages. Last night I won a package and noticed that the $750US prize is made up of a seat and $250US cash. This would value the GF seat at $500US which is clearly overvalued. Mike has brought this up in the past but there was no official answer:

My question is in regards to the value of the 888pl GF ticket. The 888 lobby says it will be paying 1 x 888pl GF ticket + US$250 for every US$750 in the pool. This values the GF ticket at US$500 instead of US$450 like last season. [...] are we sacrificing a percentage to the conversion gods?

Using the currency converter on XE.com $500AUD is equal to $423.95US. Even if you allow for small movements and say the seat is worth $450US, we should receive $300US cash. I'd imagine for the interstaters making the trip over this extra $60AUD would be handy.

[bennymacca]

its a good point trishan

[Garth Kay]

But I do need to ask again, The $250 that dropped in was in US dollars. I know the pay structure during the tournament was in US dollars so again I need to ask what happens to the money from the difference in currencies.

there were 99 players, each posted $46 + $4 in entry fees which equals $46 x 99 players = $4554.
6 players got a $750 package = $4500
the remaining $54 was split over 7th 8th and 9th respectivley in sums of $27, $16 & $11.

The six placegetters each got $250 US deposited into their accounts leaving $3000 towards the six $500 seats.

My argument is this if entry into the GF is $500 Australian dollars what happens to the left over money after the currency convert?

$3000 US equates to $3439.82 Australian, meaning that after entry fees approx $439 australian dollars are left over which when converted back to US dollars is about $382 US that should theoretically be distributed over the 6 placegetters and deposited into their accounts which is around the $60 US.

Who actually gets this money? Is it 888pl or do the poker room get it? It has to go somewhere.

Just wanted to point that out as it seems a little strange that a site that runs in United States dollars would make a mistake like that.... I have been playing online poker for over 3 years and any packages that have been won by me at other sites have always been in US dollars. There are funds missing here and i feel we the players should get that money.

Please correct me if i am wrong.... I may have oversighted something.

looking forward to discussing this further

Apologies for the delay in addressing this matter; I was on leave when this email landed and it seems that it has been sitting in my action folder unnoticed.

At this time our MQF’s and Satellites are put into the system well in advance (approx 3 – 6 months). The projection at the beginning of the year (when we created these tournaments) was that the aussie dollar would reach parity by midyear. We used this advice to ensure that our buy ins to the MQF would equate to $50AU as much as possible.

It must also be noted that the majority of qualifiers (72 in the MQF you use in your example) won their seat through Challenge Away events conducted in SA. $50 Australian is removed from the prize pool for these seats. As you can see most of the qualifiers through our live events are gaining a substantial “discount” with $50 AU currently equating to $40.90 US today.

In most cases when the operating client is using US $’s and the majority of qualifiers for online events have “paid” using Aussie dollars then there is quite often going to be some funds lost in translation. We try to use accurate currency forecast to ensure these issues do not arise.

In the case of the below scenario I will explain the process:

We upload 72 usernames manually and pay 888 $50 US for each player in this case it is $3600US which equates to $4400 Australian approx. For these tickets we actually received $3600 Australian dollars from our removal of prize pools.

Overall there was $4554 US used in prizes which 888PL pay 888 for, 888 then purchase the Grand Final seats of us @ $500AU. The conversion from AU to US dollars and back again does cause some confusion, but overall 888PL ends up wearing a lot of the cost. As you can see, there is a further $800 Australian that we pay out of our own pocket due to the Away game qualifiers.

I can assure you that if in the end there is any overlay in the prize pools it will be absorbed by FHG and used to supplement our welcome packs for Grand Final qualifiers or is actually added to the bar at the Grand Final welcome party. Neither company absorbs any of the extra funds that may be generated via currency conversion and it is returned to players via their experience or rewards at the Grand Final. It is just shared by all qualifiers.

Sorry I missed Mikes question, but I have been asked this question previously.

[bennymacca]

good reply garth, fair enough

just one of those things that we have to live with i guess

[trishan]

Sorry I missed Mikes question, but I have been asked this question previously.

Thanks Garth. You are a gentleman and a squire.