A serious problem, I'm not sure what to do

M

mogg bomber

Guest
This is a long story, but basically I'll start from the beginning....

The local comic store here has had weekly drafts for quite a long time now. I started playing in them once FNM was started. Since the beginning, the store owner had only been giving us one foil, we knew we should have been getting 3, but what could we do? Anyway, the store closed last July. It was reopened under new managment( who are not cheating the customers out). The point of this? At last nights draft, someone brought up the point that we should really be checking our DCI numbers. I hadn't bothered since July, since I haven't played in a sanctioned tournament since then.... or so I thought.

So I check my DCI number, and what do I find? The old store owner has been making up false tournament reports to get more FNM foils. He's even still listing them as happening at the old store, even though he's not here any more... I've apparently been in a FNM tournament every week since July, even the store wasn't there... Even worse, I looked back through my match history, and it's not the first time this has happened. Most of my old records were ligitamate, but then I saw one night were I was listed as having played in both Chambersburg, PA and Windber,PA. That's a pretty amazing feat, considering they're about 3 hours away, and I've never been to Windber.

So anyway, what should I do? In case anyone was wondering, I haven't mentioned any names, but there's a good chance you know this guy(hint: he's the one who runs the Pittsburg ComicCon every year.)
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Boy, this sounds an awful lot like that dude who was talked about in Magic Issues last summer about his being entered in tournaments unbeknownst to him...

I have absolutely no idea what you should do. On one hand, you probably ought to report the guy and this whole thing, but just like in the other guy's case, you're probably going to get flagged and possibly banned for a while since you "are involved". And since you will be the one bringing it up, the DCI will find it a lot easier to go after you than the other guy(s) (if more are involved).

Sorry dude, it's a hard choice. Like I said in that other thread on this, if the DCI didn't punish the whistle-blower, it would be easier, but they chose to affect everyone involved so that just leaves less incentive for you to come forward.
 
L

Lotus Mox

Guest
The DCI only punishes the whistle-blower if they gained something significant out of it (a PT invitation for example). e.g. see Kenny Crawford.

Since you are innocent (at least you claim to be), keeping this tourney fraud for yourself, while being knowledgable about it, would be more punishable.

If I were you I would inform the DCI about this occurence. But I am not you, so do whatever you think should be done. I just hope you don't get punished for something you are not guilty of.
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Tell the DCI. You won`t recieve any punishment whatsoever, because you havent actually been gaining anything from these problems.

If you spot cheating, or fraud, you tell the authorities. If you dont they consider you as guilty as the person who committed the crime when they find out about it.

Tournament fraud like this is a very common thing, Ive played in a number of tournaments a long way from where I live that I didnt even know Id been to. At last year`s nationals JohnO and myself both played and did badly in a side event draft hours after we had left the venue.
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Has he been gaining anything? mogg bomber so far has said "false tourney reports have been made"...

Presumably others are involved... perhaps mogg bomber should check with them from the store?

What did you do about your situation you mentioned, Gizmo?
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
I ignored it. I lost thirteen DCI points in the event, and I`m not about to go and complain about a piddling little thing like that. In my case though there is no way of knowing who was involved in coordinating the fraud (although whoever won the side event would be my guess).
 
M

mogg bomber

Guest
I was hurrying this morning when I wrote that, so some clarification could be used... the new store, with the new management, opened in November, so between July and Nov. there was no store open in this area. The drafts at the new store are currently unsanctioned, because we don't have a judge(the judge for the old store was the owner, though even I knew more about the rules than him :rolleyes: )

As far as I know, no one who's involved knew about it, I'm certainly not gaining anything from it considering how low my ranking is. Obviously someone's rating is benefitting from it though, but I doubt they even know(the reason this got brought up in the first place was that one of the local players was suddenly ranked fifth in rural PA with an 1800+ rating, and he didn't know how it happened...)

I just want to make sure I don't end up getting suspended from the DCI, as the drafts at the new store are likely to be sanctioned soon, and the only time I play magic anymore is at these drafts. I've never had to contact the dci for anything like this before, do they have a support email address or something for things of this nature?
 
A

arhar

Guest
I can tell you what you should NOT do: sit idly and don't do anything. Report it to the DCI, and get whoever did it punished... we don't need people like this in the game.
 
C

Chaos Turtle

Guest
What are you waiting for?

Report this to the DCI, with as much information as you have available. They will investigate. It's quite unlikely that you will be punished at all (Maher only got 6 months, and he was a willing beneficiary).

In fact, you should have reported him months ago, for only giving out one foil when he was receiving more.
 
M

mogg bomber

Guest
It's done...

I couldn't believe it, there are actually an entire 15 drafts listed in my match history which did not happen... Anyway, if you think justice will be served in this case, you're wrong. I did mention he's in charge of the Pittsburg ComiCon right? He's one of the more important retailers on the east coast, every time I was in the store he was getting calls from Wizards... and I happen to know he's got a lot of friends at WotC. I seriously doubt they'll do anything to him.
 
T

theorgg

Guest
But you DID report it, right?

Others can be found. New Wave was getting tons of complaints called on them...

I didn't know why at the time, but it seems they almost never turned in tournament reports.

There will be someone who either thinks they can run the Chicago Comic Con better and will ursurp the guy, or somone who simply loves the subject that will take the reigns.

Anthony Edwards now does things in Atlanta, and he's better than New Wave was...

Somone will rise to the job.

And I hope whoever was bennifiting in those tournaments gets what they deserve.

:[ (
 
M

mogg bomber

Guest
Yes, I turned it in. I always was planning to. I just wasn't sure how to approach the problem at first, but... I just hope its over, the old store owner still has close ties with the new store(one of the customers from the old store is actually who is running the new one), and he still stops in from time to time...
 
Z

Zadok001

Guest
Jesus. Good choice on reporting him. Obviously, nothing can be done for the points you lost, but still. :( Quite an upsetting situation. I should check my rating one of these days.
 
M

mogg bomber

Guest
Here's a surprise, at least to me. The DCI apparently checks this board. Well, either that or someone pointed this thread out to them. Either way, hopefully something will be done.

Oh, and I'd just like to add that this really has nothing to do with my rating. I'm not very good, I just like to draft. The last time I actually won a draft was about a year ago. Not one person involved in this is the type of person who would care or even consider going to the pro tour. The guy who happened to benefitting from this, was as surprised on Wednesday when this was brought up as anyone.
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Have you noticed who the most recent member to the join the CPA is?

Zantides.... hmm... Ive heard that name somewhere before...
;)
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Chris Zantides is (or was, not sure on his precise current job title) the DCI Policy Manager.

ie. he um big important honcho
 
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