07:39
19 Apr
The famous All American Dave’s food truck is to close permanently after a decade of servicing hungry poker players at the Rio Casino. Owner and founder Dave Swanson tweeted the news last week, writing that he was holding back the tears while typing out his goodbye message to his loyal customers.
Need help 🙏Was just informed that we will not be at Bally’s for the #wsop +we are not allowed to deliver from our offsite location. Over a decade building & just like that it’s over? Hard to imagine the series without us. There’s gotta be a way, right? @wsop#EatBetter#BeBetter
— David Swanson (@AllAmericanDave) March 2, 2022
For the last 10 years, Swanson and his truck have sat outside the Rio serving customers with high-quality food that is perfect for the strains of an all-day playing session. Now, it seems, Swanson’s dream is over, yet another victim of the pandemic and also union power, it seems.
Fellow businessman and elite poker player, Phil Galfond, was the first to tweet his sympathies, claiming he fully understands the stresses of running a business in a climate where you are waiting for circumstances to change.
Thank you for making the WSOP a better experience for me & so many others.
It’s hard for people (even poker players) to understand how it feels to run a business that’s falling behind, taking on debt, waiting for circumstances to change.
Can’t imagine how the WSOP news felt 💔
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) April 14, 2022
There were initial hopes that an off-site solution could be implemented but union rules on The Strip soon put paid to that idea.
“I spoke to the executives that I’ve worked with at the Rio for information. As I feared, there was an issue with the union on the strip. We would not be allowed to set up on the property or bring meals in…” Once this news came out there was a slew of social media comments pointing out how the WSOP 2022 was going to be a tough one for those who prefer food to grease. The food court options in the past have been reportedly terrible to the point of being inedible.
Carry-Over Balance Controversy
As sad as this news is, there was a mild uproar over what will happen to the balances that were carried over from the previous WSOP. Dave Swanson was apologetic but confirmed that he and his family are now essentially bankrupt both as a business and as a family. “In regards to meal plan balances, especially significant ones, it’s obviously something I feel terrible about and I want to try to give back value. I’m developing a plan where I can share online training and methodology, but we are essentially bankrupt as a company & as a family.” PokerFraudAlert forum owner Todd Witteles expressed his sympathies but wrote that not paying out any outstanding balances is bad form and this should be put right.
“However, non-refunding of account balances is bad form, and will leave everyone with a bad taste in their mouths. Do the community right & pledge to refund these people. …Dave was the business. He succeeded for years because players had a personal trust & connection with him. Their trust & balances should not be a casualty of this bad WSOP decision. He should pledge to pay that back sometime in the future.” Hard but fair many will think, but he didn’t stop there, throwing out a piece of information that will have some players grumbling.
“Seems a little strange that you would take an expensive trip to Fiji this month if you were broke. Sorry but this isn’t adding up. Please just do the right thing and pledge to refund the $. Players had no idea they were putting funds at risk when trusting you to hold them.”
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