Dear PokerStrategy members and staff,
Since the thread was created in hope to reveal some information regarding my resignation, I would like to share my own perspective as well.
First, in response to…
Originally posted by SvenBe
But I would also like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you to veriz for over 2 years of outstanding service. Without him we would not be there, would not have that many magnificent contributors in the forum. Thank you & keep on rocking the tables - we always have a open door to come back!
… I would like to add that there is a lot of positive to say about my two years as a PokerStrategy freelancer. The PokerStrategy and I had a wonderful opportunity to create a better and more stimulating learning environment for many community members.
However, referring to the previous post again …
Originally posted by SvenBe
In a nutshell, PokerStrategy.com and Veriz could not find a mutual agreement to continue our relationship as pokerstrategy+freelancer for the time being
This saddens us and you can be sure that we tried taking reasonable measures in keeping him on board.
… I have to conclude that the Pokerstrategy and I must have different definitions of “a reasonable measure”. The resignation has nothing to do with me asking for something unfair or unreasonable, but rather with how I was treated in the last two months that culminated in the termination of our contract. As a proof of my perspective, please feel free getting acquainted to facts.
Missing 5000 posts
The first negative experience was about me not getting paid for over 5000 posts in the Hand Evaluation forum. I will not go into the technical details of how that happened but, in the end, the amount of posts is equal to two months of work. It is only fair to say that after extensive negotiations I did receive a minor raise, however, the profit made from a raise still does not cover my losses.
However, at a time, my belief in the benevolence of my employer and my desire to continue co-operation pushed me towards putting the issue aside and returning to the forums.
Veriz – the machine
For the past two years, I was by far the most prolific hand evaluator while trying to keep the content’s quality at its best. Some community members went even as far as calling me “a machine” or “a grinder”.
Although, the last remark is not the whole point. After my resignation, the all-star coach team started appearing at the Hand Evaluation forum, helping out new judges and supporting the job I did. In general, that is excellent! But… even a machine needs help sometimes and I sure did express desire to be helped out here and there. However, my requests were turned down. Where was this fabulous all-star team when I needed it?
Even more, I heard rumors that there were people from other language communities willing to help me out at the HE forum but their requests were also denied with responses like “veriz is doing fine, he does not need any help”. In the end, it is understandable that this is business and when you have a cow that you can milk for a cheaper price then it makes no sense showing that cow that it is worth more. However, it also shows the attitude towards my service.
Cancelling the Sunday coaching
There was no “more time needed to pursuit some life goals”. I was just trying to be as polite as possible and sustain my co-operation with PokerStrategy. In reality, I just graduated from university, finished my driver’s school and I was already doing really well at Sunday coaching sessions. Why would I cancel it then?
After I moved to Gibraltar, I did not have a proper computer at home to run coaching sessions and I proposed an alternative: to do my work from the PS office on Sunday. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a real fuss. Is it really that hard to get one guy coming over and handling me the key and giving me the simple directions?
As the time passed, the whole ordeal started getting more out of the hand. For three weeks in a row the guy responsible for my coaching schedule could not re-schedule my coaching sessions, despite the fact that I asked him to do so every single week. During the last week I had prepared an important appointment on Sunday and yet again I was surprised to find out that my coaching was not re-scheduled. However, the following reaction seemed like an attack against me with questions like “why did you cancel the coaching?” and so on. I even started negotiations to get my old supervisor back, but the discussion ended without any positive resolution.
In the end, I decided to stop being a babysitter for people who are supposed to be my supervisors and resigned the Sunday coaching position.
Losing the post count… again
At the beginning of November, I was provided with a post count that was a basis for calculating my monthly salary. There, however, I discovered that it did not include another 200 posts that I actually made during the previous month. I double checked it with forum post ranking system and their number did not match with my calculations nor the ranking system. I also used the ranking system to compare my older calculations and my intuition did not let me down.
When I reported my findings to my supervisors, they did not provide me with a simple and logical answer of why their number was smaller than it should have been. They referred to some “two separate counter system” that they use for their estimates but even after analyzing their counter systems, it still could not explain the shortage. Even more, the usage of those counter systems does not make sense in this scenario and I asked about why they use it. Unfortunately, I did not receive an answer for the latter question as well.
I will not get into what those systems where because it is a waste of character space but if this subject is going to be picked on, I am more than glad to elaborate on the matter and get the answers I still have not received. All in all, it seemed that I am losing posts without any reasonable explanations and, hence, money for already evaluated hands. Was this intentional or a merely technical error? One way or another, the lack of interest to resolve the issue did not help as well. At this point I got quite frustrated and tried to start negotiations regarding some fundamental changes in our contract.
The negotiations
While being frustrated, I was emotional yet I preserved a clear understanding of what I was trying to pursue by initiating negotiations and trying to resolve the issues. On several occasions, I proposed a face-to-face meeting, yet my proposal was turned down. They told me that “we do things over the internet” or “over Skype”. In other words, “we do not want to see you”.
We finally settled for a Skype conversation and my terms were more demanding yet fair in light of what was happening recently: I decided to drastically cut the amount of work that I was dying at the forums and concentrate more on my own poker game. That way I wanted to recover from all the negative while preserving my co-operation with PokerStrategy.
However, instead of considering my proposal, they made a “counter-offer” where they proposed to “end it in a professional way”.
In light of the recent events, I can only speculate about similar “professional” treatment in cases like Gerv and TwiceT. Even though that will be just a speculation, one has a constitutional liberty to express his opinion in public, right?
In the end, this whole endeavor seems like a big joke. Just two months ago I moved to Gibraltar to help the PokerStrategy out. There were big words like “making new videos”, “revising beginners’ course content”, “going through some new projects”, but instead, two months later, I got a service that I never expected. It was not my intention to end it that way and I am sorry for that. Unfortunately, life is sometimes a bit more complicated.
I still wish all the best to PokerStrategy and the community members. If anyone wants to stay in touch and discuss some ideas with me, feel free contacting me. Edited by ExternalUseOnly: Please don't post private email addys on public forum contact can be made through community tool, thanks. and I will change Skype contact with you.
Good luck and best of all,
Veriz