Marc Karam is a well-known online poker personality who has been playing professionally for a number of years. His final table run during the 2006 European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final launched him to a new status of stardom. Recently, his sponsored site, Eurolinx, went into liquidation on the Microgaming Network and potentially thousands of players won’t see a dime of the bankrolls they held on the site for the foreseeable future. Poker News Daily discussed the matter with Karam in this exclusive interview.
Poker News Daily: How far back did your affiliation with Eurolinx go and at what point did you become a sponsored player?
Karam: After I made the final table of EPT Monte Carlo in April of 2006, I was approached by a Eurolinx representative and asked if I was interested in entering a sponsorship deal with the site. I said I was and he put me in contact with Eurolinx’s VIP manager at the time. After some negotiations, we agreed to a deal.
PND: As one of the site’s sponsored players, what benefits did you receive and what did you bring to the table for them?
Karam: As a sponsored player, I was getting 100% rakeback, a better-than-normal affiliate deal, and paid live tournament entries. In return, I referred over 1,000 players to them through my blog, forum, and local bar league freerolls.
PND: It seems a lot of the nosebleed action at the site dried up a while ago.
Karam: The nosebleed action dried up around mid-2008. Almost everyone moved to Full Tilt and only a few regulars remained. I’m not sure of the exact circumstances, but it was probably just that the games were juicier on Full Tilt.
PND: Eurolinx’s owner/manager Jo Remme made a lot of promises to you to help his poker site. What were some of those promises and do you know of any agreements made with other people?
Karam: He asked me to borrow money in mid-2008. I lent him $200,000 and, in return, Eurolinx was supposed to cover all expenses related to launching my own skin on the Microgaming Network. I would get to keep all of the players I referred and Eurolinx would receive 25% of my net profit for running the backend. I had websites created, merchandise and gear ordered with my logos, etc., for the new site. From what I have heard, he sold a few shares of Eurolinx to high-stakes players who were playing on or sponsored by the site at the time.
PND: What was your reaction when you heard about the liquidation and what legal options did you have to protect your assets?
Karam: They actually asked to borrow the money in 2008. They recovered for a while and then started having financial trouble again earlier this year. When I heard they were shutting down and in liquidation, I felt sick to my stomach. It was anger, hurt, and shock. I knew I didn’t have many legal options because the money was most likely already gone. I did immediately contact a few lawyers.
PND: Now that Eurolinx has gone into liquidation, you’ve most likely suffered the biggest financial loss of anyone involved. Do you mind speaking about your financial losses?
Karam: I’d rather not say exactly how much I lost, but it was not $1 million as was mentioned on the TwoPlusTwo Podcast. In my statement, I said I had $1 million at one time when I gave the loan. Withdrawals and a pretty ugly downswing left me with less than that.
PND: Where do you go from here in terms of trying to recoup lost funds?
Karam: Right now, I have pretty much written off my losses and anything I do recover will be looked at as a bonus. After seeing what resulted from the Tusk scandal, my hopes are not high.
PND: What’s your guess as to what happened to the millions of dollars that apparently have vanished?
Karam: There are really only two likely scenarios: bad investments or theft.
PND: It seems like you weren’t the only high-stakes player to lose six- or seven-figures, as Tom “durrrr” Dwan himself posted in the thread. Are you pooling your resources to fight for lost funds?
Karam: We spoke briefly; there are people who are pooling resources and I am considering joining them shortly.
PND: You are still a well-known commodity in the poker world who has a lot of clout with players. Once the dust settles, there are surely going to be offers for you to sign on at a new poker room. What are you going to look for out of a potential deal?
Karam: The first thing I would look at in a potential sponsor would be a widely-trusted reputation and the security of players’ funds. I definitely won’t be jumping at the first deal that comes my way. Of course, the money is important too, but I will never put my or my referred players’ funds in a risky situation again.
PND: There have been a lot of well-wishers in the poker industry to you and others taken advantage of in this scandal. Have their comments helped in any way?
Karam: Their comments mean a lot to me. I also received many PMs and e-mails offering support. At a time when I was feeling depressed and somewhat embarrassed, reading the comments was very comforting and helped put this terrible situation behind me.
PND: What’s the plan moving into the future?
Karam: Right now, I’m just trying to put the whole situation behind me and start fresh. I’ve been playing a lot of poker, but I also won’t let what happened discourage me from continuing to work on the affiliate side of things. I have learned many lessons from this.
PND: Do you have any final statements aimed at others affected by the situation?
Karam: While this situation is extremely unfortunate, I hope it wakes up not only the people who were victimized by it, but also the entire poker world, and puts a lot more pressure onto sites and networks to ensure it never happens again. I’d also like to thank a lot of the ex-staff at Eurolinx who have helped out in the investigation.
