On August 1st, Reddit user Wholetthedawgsout69 posted an edited video which accuses Martinez himself of utilising this knowledge by keeping mapped packs sorted off-screen, which allowed him to consistently pull whichever energy he needed to avoid a bounty being hit. All that is necessary for potential abuse is to know what the pattern was, and to keep the packs in order. Outrage began to hit a fever pitch after collectors started to share online that many Pokémon energy cards can be mapped inside their packs to a specific pattern. These games were the bedrock of Blake’s Breaks business. It is common for people to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars nightly chasing these bounties. In another game called 'Match the Energy,' users bid on a pack with the hope that the energy card they pull matches the one previously pulled.īids for these games on Whatnot frequently reach very high dollar amounts for even a single guess. In one common game called 'Guess the Energy,' users bid on unopened packs of Pokémon cards and attempt to guess which color energy card from the (typically) eight potential energies hidden inside the pack that they purchase. Prizes typically range from single items to giant piles, and are often comprised of professionally graded cards, sealed boxes, vintage cards, and more. What are Whatnot bounties? Image: Alex Olney / Nintendo LifeĪ common technique for Whatnot streamers is to feature what is known as bounties,´' games with prizes users can win under certain conditions. Snee issued an apology on her Instagram account. I know the type of business I run… I made a good amount of money - everybody knows, in the NFL - I knew stepping into this was going to have a target on my back. I understand the optics…I understand how it looks, trust me. In response to this video’s reaction, Martinez issued a statement live on stream defending Snee’s behavior while still announcing her removal from streaming on his channel, though ultimately neither confirming nor denying the overall allegations. (Snee was also profiled in the piece by The Athletic, characterised as a young business phenom it is unclear what her status with the company currently is.) How long will Whatnot allow this? Online sentiment for Martinez’ company remained checkered after this accusation, only to substantially swell after a Reddit post on July 25th by Reddit user DirtSty13, which featured a video detailing how they believe Blake’s Break streamer 'Snee' (real name Marisa Snee) was using sleight of hand to manipulate “bounty” games. If this was a small streamer… /ind4c2GYz2- □Sakuras Card Shop□ April 17, 2023 They won’t dare touch their pretty little boy.ĭamage control…. Y’all know something else that’s crazy… I made a complaint about breaks Blake’s breaks stealing alt arts from a local who bought packs… whatnot kept deleting my messages in discord. According to the poster, this was a tactic which allowed Blake’s Breaks to keep high-value cards it allegedly stole, while the buyer’s only recourse was to obtain a refund for the value of the pack itself. A series of posts by multiple users across various social media platforms allege that Blake’s Breaks has been elaborately scamming many of its customers.Ī former seller on Whatnot titled 'Sakura’s Card Shop' posted on a public Whatnot Discord channel back in April of this year seeking recourse, claiming Blake’s Whatnot channel had removed cards from his order that he had pulled live on stream. Now, only a week after the Athletic profile, a potentially incriminating picture is being painted with those same sales figures. The Athletic reported that his newly founded company Blake’s Break’s, fueled by “nearly 20 full-time staff” streaming “16 hours of live streams per day,” made a blistering $11.5 million in revenue in less than a single year by distributing and re-selling trading cards on Whatnot, a popular, live-streamed marketplace. On July 14th, The Athletic published a profile on Blake Martinez, an ex-NFL player who last year made the unusual decision to retire in the middle of a guaranteed, multi-million dollar NFL contract in order to pursue selling Pokemon and sports cards. After a comprehensive investigation into Blakesbreaks’ operations we have decided to permanently remove the seller from our platform, including the individual employees involved in misconduct. Our priority is ensuring a fair and honest experience for customers and upholding our community guidelines. We really appreciate the community’s commitment to reporting trust & safety issues.
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