Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Tournament Organizer Gary Warren

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I think it's quite likely that Pokemon has already sent him a letter.
If the ban took effect on the 8th, then that's probably when the letter was sent, and it would get to him with Monday's mail.

We're not going to hear from Pokemon on this at all, so we'll only get to hear Gary's side, if and when he chooses to share that with the public.
 
I really hope they have PokePop...I really hope so.

And knowing Gary, I'm sure he'll share it with us (of course he doesn't have to), but you do bring up a good point...we will only hear Gary's side (if he does choose to disclose the reason)
 
PokePop said:
I think it's quite likely that Pokemon has already sent him a letter.
If the ban took effect on the 8th, then that's probably when the letter was sent, and it would get to him with Monday's mail.

We're not going to hear from Pokemon on this at all, so we'll only get to hear Gary's side, if and when he chooses to share that with the public.
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I am fairly certain he got a letter the day the ban was issued, and the letter detailed nothing whatsoever about the ban, but merely that it was determined that it was warranted, and to follow through by physical letter only.

Even if we don't hear from any brass, they can at least know we completely disapprove of this process. Even if it was totally warranted, this was handled with a lack of professionalism. The means for communication were cut with someone who worked very hard for them. Even if a company fires an employee, for example, if they have any decency and professionalism they will give a valid reason and hear the employee out. That is the decent and professional thing to do.

I support Gary, and I disagree with how TPCi handled this. Cutting off communication and serving out a harsh sentence with no reasoning whatsoever is not cool at all.

I'm almost afraid to speak my mind, lest I get some letter in the mail and an update on a website saying I can't participate whatsoever in the game I love, without any fair recourse of action or explanation.

We should all be afraid with this precedent. You can be banned with no explanation, and no reasonable way to defend yourself, or communicate effectively or efficiently.
 
Ryan, you make a great point about fearing that anyone could be banned without reason. Hopefully this kind of unprofessionalism will end soon. All they need to do is include the reasoning within the letter. How hard is that? What does that violate that we're not understanding?
 
PokePop said:
I think it's quite likely that Pokemon has already sent him a letter.
If the ban took effect on the 8th, then that's probably when the letter was sent, and it would get to him with Monday's mail.

We're not going to hear from Pokemon on this at all, so we'll only get to hear Gary's side, if and when he chooses to share that with the public.
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ryanvergel said:
<3

I love how reasonable and cool headed you are. I envy it sometimes.
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No mail on Veterans Day POP
 
I have known Gary for many many years. He has traveled all over the USA going to events, helping out whenever he can and made Alabama a state where Pokemon is relevant. He came up with the GA marathon idea along with Greg Wyman and made it happen. He has been a faithful player, LL, TO and judge over many years. He doesnt know why this happened.

There may be a valid reason why this ban was put down. I hope he gets some info soon so he knows what he has to defend against and why. IF he did wrong, pay the piper. If he didnt, let him back in.

Whatever the outcome, Gary will still be my friend. All we can do is send him support and hope for a swift resolution so he can more forward with or without Pokemon in his life. I know it will hurt him deeply to have no involvement with a game he loves to his core, if this ban does not change. I hope Gary gets his questions answered very soon.

Keith
 
Regarding email, Mail can be certified legally through the post office, email does not have the same legal weight in litigation that mail that has been signed for does.
 
cabd said:
Regarding email, Mail can be certified legally through the post office, email does not have the same legal weight in litigation that mail that has been signed for does.
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The problem with that is that whomever signs for a document would be the mail facility- not the addressee, IF anyone actually signs for it.

I worked in a facility with 6500+ boxholders, and an addressee NEVER signed for a single item. Having an item come through as certified does not mean the addressee will sign for it, and does not actually do *anything*.
 
Not to say that it's ok, but there is likely language in the NDA that PTOs keep with TPCi that stipulates for this sort of thing. Some clause along the lines of "You can be terminated at any time with no warning or stated reason." Likely something done up by that lovely red tape department they have to deal with when making any announcement.

I have heard nice things about Gary from a friend who is in Gary's area and will speak of his events. On the other hand some of the things I hear I'm not sure if they are reported issues or "thank Arceus that my area's OP doesn't do that" issues, but I do hear not everything is sunshine and lollipops at his events all the time. That's not to say it should be grounds for banning, but if there are a ton of reported issues I would imagine that may have something to do with it.

Would be nice to assume he has been given his reasons, and at the wish of the company, and out of his respect for the company, he won't discuss the matter. I half imagine he could right easily just tell someone "I was given my reasons, but I won't talk about them," but I'm not sure that will happen.

All the best and hope it is either a misunderstanding or Gary at least gets to find out what's up with what's going on.
 
Trican said:
Not to say that it's ok, but there is likely language in the NDA that PTOs keep with TPCi that stipulates for this sort of thing. Some clause along the lines of "You can be terminated at any time with no warning or stated reason." Likely something done up by that lovely red tape department they have to deal with when making any announcement.

I have heard nice things about Gary from a friend who is in Gary's area and will speak of his events. On the other hand some of the things I hear I'm not sure if they are reported issues or "thank Arceus that my area's OP doesn't do that" issues, but I do hear not everything is sunshine and lollipops at his events all the time. That's not to say it should be grounds for banning, but if there are a ton of reported issues I would imagine that may have something to do with it.

Would be nice to assume he has been given his reasons, and at the wish of the company, and out of his respect for the company, he won't discuss the matter. I half imagine he could right easily just tell someone "I was given my reasons, but I won't talk about them," but I'm not sure that will happen.

All the best and hope it is either a misunderstanding or Gary at least gets to find out what's up with what's going on.
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Gary is a TO, not a PTO. There is a difference. TOs can run some lower level tourneys, but are not on the same level as a PTO. Just sayin'


Keith
 
Lawman said:
Gary is a TO, not a PTO. There is a difference. TOs can run some lower level tourneys, but are not on the same level as a PTO. Just sayin'


Keith
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And, for the record, regular TOs are allowed to run certain Premier level events, such as Battle Roads or City Championships, by themselves if they have permission from TPCi. That's about the only way my previous area was able to get any sort of Premier level tournament support.
 
I sincerely hope that Gary gets some answers soon because, as Ryan has already pointed out, this is both poor and shows that no one is safe - even the people that actually run the events for TPCi. The timing couldn't be worse either considering that his ban has occurred right before Cities. If the ban isn't resolved soon, the players will suffer, whether it be those just GA and in neighboring states, or those that had intentions of traveling for Gary's part of the marathon.

For the good of the game, I hope this is resolved. Like many in this thread, I have known Gary for years, and known nothing but a great guy. Thus, in posting this, I have plenty of bias. But, that being said, I doubt considerably that Gary has done something that is worth a ban.

Whatever the case, Gary will always have my support.
 
I have known Mr. Gary for three or four years and have never seen him do anything that would make me question his integrity. I am a league leader and he has done several tournaments with us. He was always very professional, kind, and supportive of the players in the tournament. If a player lost a round he would give them encouragement that they could win the next round.

I hope he gets the answers he needs and can get this straightened out. Pokemon is in his blood. He loves the game and the kids that play.
 
To provide a little bit of context, Gary's grandson, Khi plays competitive. He went to Texas Regionals this year, for example.

To an extent, I am a little worried about Khi as well, as this may impact his future ability to possibly judge or run events, and even play.

The various leagues that Gary has started, and of course the marathon which was a brainchild between him and Georgia organizers Tymon and Greg. This will definitely affect a lot of players in Alabama, which like Keith pointed out, had a nonexistent playerbase for a long time. They actually had a states last year (whcih I attended), and this is undoubtedly due to the efforts of Gary and another AL TO in building up that region's playerbase.

The players do lose in this situation, as they lose a man, and potentially his grandson (who supports his play, at least partially financially), and all of their support and dedication to this game.
 
I'm VERY interested in seeing what comes of this.

There is a "termination without notice or stated reason" clause - for TOs, PTOs, Professors, AND players of Play! Pokemon. Anyone can be banned at any time if they feel like it. It is expected for ethical and PR reasons that they do not do this, but they can.

The question is, why? I've seen people regarded as good TOs doing shady stuff behind the scenes that no one knows about, and getting banned; in fact probably half of the guys on the banned organizers list have controversy like that and a lot of public support. That said, there's usually a valid reason to ban them...though a personal quarrel up at TPCi is not something that would surprise me TOO much either.
 
TPCi seems to have made it their job to make horrible decisions at least every other week. Their decision to ban Gary without a clear reason is downright disrespectful and further hurts the customers that play their game. From what I've heard on Facebook, Gary has paid out of his pocket to help grow the game and start leagues in his area. He can basically be called one of the founding fathers of City Championship marathons, with the original Georgia Marathon drawing in 100s of players daily from dozens of different states. This man's ban is just another slap to the face of the pokemon community.

My friend's dad, Guy Buonocore was met with the same fate as Gary years ago, and while he hadn't put as much time and money into the community he supported as Gary, He still went out of his way to cover for another tournament organizer who continually skipped out on tournaments he was told to hold in order to make sure the players in our area could participate in the events. He also took time out of his week to run a league weekly without much help from anyone else. Guy was unjustly banned for an illegitimate reason. Unfortunately, regardless of all the emails my friends and I sent to TPCi, Guy was never unbanned.

I hope for the sake of this community that Gary's story does not end the same way. I encourage everyone to support Mr Warren and fight for his right to continue his participation with the Pokemon TCG.
 
GodBlessAmerica said:
TPCi seems to have made it their job to make horrible decisions at least every other week. Their decision to ban Gary without a clear reason is downright disrespectful and further hurts the customers that play their game.
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Jason, we truly don't know what happened. Judging by some of the people TPCi hasn't banned yet, I'd venture to say that there either is something very serious (which we really don't need to know about), or a misunderstanding (which will be resolved in the upcoming weeks through communication).

Keep in mind that the reason for the ban may not be Pokemon-related at all. For the sake of Gary's privacy, we should try to avoid speculating on what the reason for the ban is. In due time, word will spread one way or another.

GodBlessAmerica said:
I hope for the sake of this community that Gary's story does not end the same way. I encourage everyone to support Mr Warren and fight for his right to continue his participation with the Pokemon TCG.
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I will neither support Mr. Warren nor be against him until we get more facts. I think one would be too quick to judge if they immediately supported Mr. Warren without knowing the complete picture of what happened, regardless of his previous contributions to the game. Participation in the Pokemon TCG is not a right, it's a privilege. Some people, like Newman, lost that privilege. Likewise, before we know exactly what happened, we shouldn't assume that Mr. Warren also did not lose his privilege to participate in the Pokemon TCG, nor should we assume that he lost it.
 
ryanvergel said:
To provide a little bit of context, Gary's grandson, Khi plays competitive. He went to Texas Regionals this year, for example.

To an extent, I am a little worried about Khi as well, as this may impact his future ability to possibly judge or run events, and even play.

The various leagues that Gary has started, and of course the marathon which was a brainchild between him and Georgia organizers Tymon and Greg. This will definitely affect a lot of players in Alabama, which like Keith pointed out, had a nonexistent playerbase for a long time. They actually had a states last year (whcih I attended), and this is undoubtedly due to the efforts of Gary and another AL TO in building up that region's playerbase.

The players do lose in this situation, as they lose a man, and potentially his grandson (who supports his play, at least partially financially), and all of their support and dedication to this game.
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For the record, me being the PTO of Alabama. Gary was only running a BR up north of Alabama. I will still have events up that way and I will still have an Alabama states this season. That being said, it is sad to see Gary go and I wish him the best no matter the reason for this.
 
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