It is with a very heavy heart that I have to write this open letter. Looks like after more than 23 years, Venture Games Paintball will be no more. It seems we have been played for a sucker, set up...Let me tell you a very sad story.

Venture Games started off in April 1986 as an Ironmen paintball field (pre Bob Long). We wanted to have a field free of some of the rules and restrictions imposed by the NSG that ran the local fields. At that time Venture Games was located on the foothills of Mt. Diablo, just outside of Clayton ca. so the field was know by Diablo Venture Games.

From the first day we were open we had no idea how popular our field would become, soon our games grew in size. Some of the very best paintballers came out of Diablo, from Bob Long to Dave Baines, Glenn Takamoto and countless others.

Venture Games was force to close down on January 31st 2009. The property owner of the Diablo field sold the property next door to our property in 2007. Even though we had a contract stating that I was to be given 1 year notice to terminate my lease; he never disclosed the terms of the sale to me until late September of 2008. Before the sale of the property was signed, the current owner had to close down the paintball field for the sale to go through.

That was our first slap in the face, but the terrible part of the Venture Games saga is what happened next, to be precise, last week.

Mr. "A", a parent of one of my customers in hearing about our pending closure in January approached me in late November with an offer to use his land to host Venture Games. He said he had a vacant 10 acre parcel not to far away in Byron Ca. He asked me what my terms were with the current land owner and general business information. I told him and showed him my payment schedule, amount of games I've hosted that year, my current lease and insurance requirements.

After our initial conversation I emailed him to set up a formal meeting at his property in December. He explained, that his property is nothing like the Diablo field, its flat farm land with not a single tree. I agreed to meet him at the property to discuss it and go over again the terms and what would be needed to be done if we both agree to use his land.

After going back to the Byron property, talking to the neighbors, taking pictures and coming up with a site plan, I decided to go for it. I called him to accept his offer. We met in January while his son was playing to accept his offer and again on January 31st; our last game on Diablo and I introduced him as the property owner of the new Venture Games field.

Fast forward to March where he helped us move our structures to his Byron property and he gave me a key to the property. We didn't start building until May, we were delayed due to weather and a county irrigation pipe left open, flooding half the field during April. We had the grass cut in end of April and started work in the 1st week in May.

The field was finished in mid July; on July 19th I sent him a copy of the terms on what we agreed on for his signature. Insurance was purchased and in place and a copy sent to Mr. "A". I thought everything was fine. I get a call from my insurance agent telling me Mr. "A" contacted him with all kinds of questions, most of which he could answer but some he could not due to confidentiality and then stating he wanted more insurance and then questioning the whole insurance.

After trying to contact Mr. "A" without any replies, I received a registered letter from him. He explained his financial situation, that he had not paid the mortgage in 9 months or the property taxes. He was not comfortable with the current terms and insurance (same insurance terms I've had for 23 years and standard for the industry) and proposed new terms.

I did know that he had the property for sale, and thought early on that I may be able to purchase it at some point. What I did not know until March was that the loan was being carried by the original owner of the property, a Mr. "B". I called Mr. "B" about perhaps purchasing the property, but after a quick conversation we agreed to just rent the property from Mr. "A" and later try to purchase it with a conventional loan. I relayed that info to Mr. "A" and nothing came of it.

Last Thursday I contacted Mr. "B" to get the full story and perhaps try to make sense of what’s going on and try to sort out a deal. We met this Monday at his office where Mr. "A" was also present. What was presented to me was no less than a dagger at my throat. It appears that Mr. "A" and Mr. "B" are very close friends, which explains why Mr. "B" has not foreclosed on Mr. "A" and has been carrying Mr. "A" for so long. Mr. "B" offered to help me by having me put X amount down payment and X amount per month and assume Mr. "As'" 800k loan and a piece of property unfortunately only worth half that. Plus I needed to put up my home as collateral and in the end after only 5 years I would have been responsible for the balance. Not much of a deal.

So, as you can see and might of surmised, looks like I was set up! If Mr. "A" really had any reservations, he should have expressed those back in January when I gave him all my information; he shouldn't have invited me to his property if he was not comfortable. Since Mr. "A" could not sell his property for what he owned on it, (underwater). He might have thought Venture Games would generate enough income to keep him making payments, but perhaps after crunching the numbers it wasn't’t enough, his loan was just too high. Maybe Venture Games would take over the loan from Mr."A"?

So now I have exhausted the last of my cash reserve in building the new field. I've not had an income since January. The field is set and ready to play with a large turn out expected this Saturday the 15th for our grand opening. I have been forbidden to enter the property and not allowed to run games unless I purchase the property. The current lien holders Mr. “B” is only interested in helping his friend out and not ruin his credit (his words). I have not been told yet but I’m waiting for a notice to tear down and vacate. My big problem is I don’t have the money to start moving again.

The only actions I see are talking to a lawyer and see what my options are. I didn't want to sue the property owner of the Diablo field for breaking our lease on Diablo; I’ve known the family for over 30 years, besides I thought I had a new home and friend in Mr. "A". But this time I may have to explore my rights, because if he deliberately planned all this, it’s not right and can’t be legal. But I don’t know, I don’t want to believe it, but I have my family to think about and protect.

Finally, I want to thank Mike, Douglas, Keith and Martin, former customers for giving up their valuable time these past several months. They along with several other loyal customers came up most every weekend to help build the new field. We took great care in designing and building a safe and enjoyable playing field. It’s a shame it had to come to this, my wife and kids took the news very hard. Brenda, my wife was most upset because of all the hard work my customers did for me.

Thank you for the friendship and memories. I’ll keep the site up as long as I can afford it and will post any news as to the outcome of this situation.

May the Gods guide all your journeys safely!

Thank you
Michael
venturegames@sbcglobal.net