Online Casino Blog

How Poker History Repeats Itself: The Attack of Black Friday

Mike Smack — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:00:09 +0000

Poker, the world’s number one game has been around for many centuries. The ancient Chinese and Egyptians played games similar to Poker, but the game that is considered to be the mother of Poker, as we know it today, is Primero. The game of Primero goes back to the year 1526 in Spain. A basic part of the game of Primero was to bluff, meaning that one would bet high stakes even though they held a poor hand. When the French colonials migrated from Canada to the Louisiana Territories in the United States they brought the game of Poker with them. When it hit the riverboats on the Mississippi River it had become known as “the cheating game.” Poker was born when a man named Johnatthan H. Green wrote a book entitled An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling, in which he documents the “Cheating Game.”

Poker is the world’s most played game. It is played at private home parties and get togethers, school dormitories, in back rooms of taverns and restaurants, in legal and illegal poker parlors, casinos, and online all over the world. As time went by there became many variations of the game of Poker such as: Five Card Draw, Stud Poker, Seven Card Stud, Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Mania and Razz to name a few.

Today Poker is played for more than just the fun of playing a card game. For some people it has become big business and for others a means of support. Many people have made the game of Poker into a livelihood. They follow the casinos and play professionally. Now, with the onset of online Poker these professional Poker players can earn even more money than they can in casinos because they can go online and play in more than one Poker game. Online Poker players can earn from thousands to millions if they play as if it were a forty hour a week job. Many of these players ages are in the late twenties to late thirties and older as well. True, it can be a fun way to earn a living if you are good at it. It can also plunge you deep into debt if you are not good at it.

As do most games, Poker has a game that rounds out a year of Poker playing from various areas; it is called the “World Series of Poker.” In 2003 the World Series of Poker was won by a twenty-seven year old Nashville accountant. He won two and a half million dollars. This man was an amateur that managed to qualify for the World Series of Poker. This was an inspiration to many Americans, who decided to quit their jobs and enter into the Poker arena. In a period of three years the World Series of Poker attendees grew from Eight Hundred and Thirty Nine players to Eight Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Three players. There were more players in the year 2006 than there were in the last Thirty Three years combining all the Series.

As of April 15, 2011, known as Black Friday in the online Poker communities, this has all changed when the United States Government shut down the large online Poker sites. You can no longer play Poker with the big boys and girls online. Some of the smaller online Poker games still exist. Unfortunately, some of the people that depended on the online Poker games for their livelihood have to find other ways to maintain themselves. Some have returned to playing at casinos, however; playing at the casinos is not as lucrative as playing online. These players were able to take part in more than one game at a time online, while now at the casino they are restricted to playing one game at a time. Revenues in this way are much smaller, although still good enough to be able to live with it.

The Poker Casinos that were shutdown on Black Friday were:

PokerStars
Full Tilt Poker
Absolute Poker

Most of the online gambling sites were operated from other countries which made it difficult for the U.S. Government taxing agencies to know how to tax them. Now they are forbidden to operate here in the United States. Many of these websites were blocked and no longer operational. Having read some of the commentaries by people that depend on online Poker for their livelihood; it seems that they have no qualms about leaving the United States to play Poker in countries where it is allowed. The draw back here is that since you do not have a work permit you have to leave that country at certain intervals and then reapply for a visa in order to return. It does seem like a lot to do but I guess if it means your livelihood it may not be so much to do. It is believed that there are between 1.3 Million to 15 Million online Poker players that play for real money.

There is presently a bill on the political table that would bring back the online Poker games however; it is also said that if the online Poker players think there is a possibility of its being passed, they are being delusional. There is no telling at present, whether online Poker will have resurgence and another Poker boom will take place, or if online Poker will go by way of many other online gambling games and disappear into oblivion.

In the meantime, those Poker players that depended on the online Poker games and tournaments will have to change their strategies. If they want to pursue the Poker way to sustain themselves they will have to search for other avenues and if they cannot find a different avenue then, they will have to find a different way to sustain themselves. It appears they have the same choice that anyone that has lost a job and that is to find another career. It is neither and easy choice nor an easy task but there is no other choice. There is no sense in waiting for the ban to be lifted because it seems the ban is here to stay.

Luckily, there are are poker websites that still accept players from the USA for real money betting. Check out our Best USA Friendly Online Poker Rooms Page!

Thank you for reading How Poker History Repeats Itself: The Attack of Black Friday from Online Casino Blog.

Eugene Katchalov Signs With PokerStars: MyRabbiFoo Becomes E Katchalov

Mike Smack — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:00:37 +0000

Eugene Katchalov, also known as “MyRabbiFoo” (which means “My Rabbit Foot”), joins the PokerStars Pro Team. Katchalov hails from Ukraine, but resides in New York. At 29, he has already won roughly $400,000 in his live tournament circuit from 2004 to 2007. In December 2007, he won the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, winning around $2.5 million, as well as winning the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2008 and 2009. His other achievements include placing third in the High Roller Event of the European Poker Tour (EPT), where he won $300,000. Joining the WSOP final table featuring $10,000 buy-ins or higher in 2010, Katchalov showcased his skills by playing three different games of HORSE, Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em, and Omaha Hi/Lo.

For 2011, playing the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at the High Roller daily double, he won $100,000. He garnered $1.5 million in the Super High Roller, and was runner-up in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max High Roller event for $131,920. Adding up all winnings throughout his career, he is in the 38th place at $6.1 million from live tournaments.

His online achievements include winning the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in 2009 taking home $140,000. Summing up all his winnings from PokerStars, he has earned more than $500,000.

Although consistently winning from both online and live games, Katchalov has a memorable loss against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom when they played against each other on the Superstar Showdown. Katchalov lost $111,750 to Blom in this even. The two will soon be teammates in the PokerStars Pro Team.

PokerStars proudly introduces their new member stating that : “Eugene has always flown under the radar, but among his peers, his game is well-respected and he is considered one of the best in the world, both in tournaments and cash games. I’m thrilled to see Eugene as part of the team. He’s a great guy and an excellent poker ambassador.”

In one of his interviews, Katchalov says that being a part of the PokerStars Pro team “…means being a part of what I believe to be a great team of players and a very professional and serious poker site that opens up many opportunities to its players and pros. I also have a sense of achievement since I am given the opportunity to represent the largest and most successful poker site around. This also gives me the opportunity to grow even further as a worldwide player.” Katchalov has changed his online moniker from “MyRabbiFoo” to “E. Katchalov” since joining the team and will begin representing PokerStars, the largest online poker site, at the Russian Poker Series.

Wynn Resorts and PokerStars Merge to Become Online Poker Mega Casino

Mike Smack — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:00:02 +0000

Wynn Resorts of Las Vegas has finalized its affiliation with PokerStars Online for the United States market. The two companies have reached an agreement to form a partnership and become perhaps the biggest name that is staking their future on providing online poker in the United States once the industry is legalized.

The proposed website name and address for the partnership will be PokerStarsWynn.com. Wynn Resorts Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Wynn tells the press that after an extensive research on the matter, they have become convinced that stricter security with regards to internet gaming in the U.S. should be applied and strictly enforced to stop gaming security breaches. The company stated that they firmly believe a highly secure venue for poker can be provided for their patrons online.

PokerStarsWinn.com was triggered after the news about a collaboration between Caesars Entertainment and 888 was announced. The two companies plan to expand to the U.S. as well once legal matters regarding internet poker in the country have been finalized.

In the press release attended by Wynn Resorts and PokerStars representatives, Mark Scheinberg, PokerStars CEO, said that they have expressed their support for the regulatory measures being set in order to protect clients, as well as to provide much needed tax revenues and more jobs. PokerStars in European countries are being strictly regulated. They have, as well, suggested that adopting the same system done in the European countries might serve the United States well since they have been following those regulations for years.

With all preparations still ongoing, PokerStarsWynn.com remains to be a site to watch out for. Chairman William Horne pushed a bill to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary, where PokerStars participated in pushing for AB 258 to be discussed. The bill pertains to the creation of the first U.S. interstate online poker market. Congressmen Barney Frank and John Campbell in Capitol Hill passed HR 1174 to push for the creation of a nationwide internet gambling framework.

Two years prior to the decision from Wynn Resorts to collaborate with PokerStars, they expressed their agreement, Wynn expressed their opposition against legalizing internet gambling, which was published in the New York Times. Being one of the owners of several casinos, it was significantly affected by the recession in the U.S. It can be noted that Wynn’s personal wealth dropped by 50% between 2008 and 2011, equivalent to a $2 billion.

Wynn will be collaborating with the largest poker online companies, having roughly 40 million members worldwide. It has also hosted more than 300 million tournaments and will be reaching its 60 billionth hand anytime soon.

After news broke out regarding the partnership, the WYNN stock rose by 1.64% in the stock market, affecting the Dow Jones Industrial Average into an increase of 0.36% that same day.

Learn the Differences in Poker Tournaments: Live Poker & Online Poker

Mike Smack — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:00:11 +0000

Playing live poker tournaments are incomparable to playing online. For exclusive online players, there are a lot of differences between the two types of tournaments apart from the fact that one is done in the comfort of your own home, while the other is done face-to-face with your opponent.

Structures in live tournaments are more difficult in live tournaments compared to those online. Live tournaments tend to have longer blind levels and chip stacks start larger compared to its online counterpart. Casino tournaments, much to some people’s disappointment, are not as skill-dependent as they thought it would be because of the blind jumps and hands per hour.

Differences in Tournament Structures

Typical in casino tournaments, blinds increase faster than the chips you hold compared to the online tournaments. The blinds, for example, would start off at 25/50 where the big blind would jump to 2,000 once you reach Level 10. This is a high 13% jump on the blinds. For this tournament, levels are played at 25 minutes each and start off with 15,000 chips.

Online, taking Full Tilt Poker’s $750,000 Guaranteed weekly tournament, blind levels last for 12 minutes and chips start off at 5,000 chips. Here, Level 10 rise by 4% of the starting chip stack equivalent to 200.

Casino live games differ from one to the other, some even have lower starting chips and shorter play time on blind levels, but still increase blinds exponentially. An example of this is the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas where the starting stack is at 4,500 chips (or 3,000 if you don’t avail of the rebuy option). Each level is played at 15 minutes, where each level increase blinds. In this particular tournament, Level 10 reaches up to 8,000. The optional 2,000 chips amount insignificantly compared to the three big blinds.

What makes it even harder is that in live poker, fewer hands are dealt per hour compared to the online version. For online games, the hands are faster, probably more than twice as much as that of the live version.

The Matter of Style

Poker being poker, players from live games tend to take more precaution and want to make the most of their game early on. Their goal has more to do with how long they will be able to stay on the game and how far they will be able to keep their money than winning the game outright.

Compared to the live tournaments, online tournaments occur faster than the live ones. People play one game and have another game lined up right after their game finishes. They don’t worry too much about running out of “chips”. It is even normal to have large raises online as compared to live tournaments.

Another difficulty in live games is that bluffs don’t happen that often since people tend to pay safe and be tight towards their stack. It will also be easy to notice that when they raise in live, it only means that they are holding significant cards. For online players, there is no fear of losing, nor do they have to go home without anything since they are already home, nor would they feel the difficulty of facing other people after losing when they play online.

The Factor of Environment

Online games have a variable environment, but it will definitely be at a place where you are comfortable at. Basically, the high pressure involved in live games are eliminated. Live games are often nerve racking. The live games often involve the five senses. This means that the live environment elevates all senses adding to the pressure of the game. Console yourself though because you won’t be the only one who’ll be feeling that way. Poker is a game to experience, whether live or online, you just have to learn which one works best for you.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Online Gambling Posts 2010 Earnings

Mike Smack — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:00:23 +0000

Despite the decrease in earnings for the last quarter of 2010, bwin reflected strong growth for the cumulative fiscal year in 2010. Company earnings dropped by 1.6% for the fourth quarter from gross gaming revenues. Net gaming revenues however, dropped by 6.1%. Despite the reported decrease in earnings, the company’s overall earnings were up by 16.6% from 2009’s last quarter reports. Earnings were said to have earned from their sports betting segment.

Poker earnings slipped by 5.8% from Q4 2009. Reporting other earnings of bwin that contributed to the 15% rise are the 22% earnings from online poker from tournaments, mainly in Italy. Casino games, on the other hand, contributed to the dip when revenues from that segment decreased by 3.9%.

After pulling out their online casino service to French Customers at towards the last quarter of 2010, the move greatly affected the gross revenue of the company. If numbers from other sources were summed up and compared, the numbers would show only growth in earnings. Also contributing to the increase is the 66% increase in gross gaming revenue from the previous year’s figures.

Despite the 9.4% increase in revenue from net gaming amounting to a total of $731.6M, sports betting were still the largest contributor to the 2010 revenue. The 15.2% was largely from half of the sports betting earnings, while the other half were from the other gaming sources.

The whole poker online industry grew between 2009 and 2010 increasing revenue from €118.8 million to €139.5 million. Majority of the success, especially for bwin, is credited to their Italian and French patrons.

With the exclusion of the French market later in 2010 led to the less successful Casino games that decreased its total revenue. It is hoped that 2011 will be a good year for casino table games since it will be launched in Italy.

The mini games and bingo garnered an increase of 47.7%, equivalent to €41.0 million. The mobile gaming on the other hand earned a huge increase of 82.9%, amounting to $17.6 million from 2009’s $9.7 million revenue.

This year, the ongoing merger between bwin and Party Gaming (PartyCasino and PartyPoker) is still expected to happen at the end of the month. The merger was approved on January 28 of this year, and took effect March 31 the same year.

PartyPoker, part of the merged company, ranks third in online poker rooms for cash games. bwin has decided to sell Ongame Network, which means that its current ranking is not yet known after the merger and when they sell the said asset. The current rankings do not include both company’s French and Italian products, but it is expected that they will focus in their most patronized cash games, which are PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

731.6

Ultimate Bet Scandal: The NioNio Superuser Cheating Scam

Mike Smack — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:00:53 +0000

After much investigation in response to fraudulent activities in the poker site Ultimate Bet (UB), as well as its sister site, Absolute Poker (AP), it has been confirmed that there have been player accounts swindling money from high limit games. They have been found to be former employees of the site, who worked for the previous owners before it was sold to Tokwiro in 2006.

Ultimate Bet relates that the illegal activities were operated by using unauthorized software codes allowing violators to get information during live play. It was not until February 2008 that these illegal activities were found, and were discovered to be part of the old auditing system used by the previous management, and have been maintained and controlled by the violators.

In January, an account under “NioNio” was suspended and investigated after winning large amounts of money, getting 13 out of 14 of his last 14 sessions ending up with $135,000 worth of winnings. Their suspicions were confirmed, and further found that the accounts involved were owned by former employees under the former ownership. As per UB investigation, the said activities began in March 6, 2006 and went on until December 3, 2007. During that 20-month period, violator account names included NioNio, erick456, FireNTexas, flatbroke33, FlipFlop2, HeadKase01, ilike2win, LetsPatttty, monizzle, NoPaddles, nvtease, NYMobster, RockStarLA, Sleepless, stoned2nite, UtakeIt2, WhackMe44, and WhoWhereWhen.

In February 2008, following the discovery of the said illegal activities, the said codes were removed and began processing refunds to customers. To further appease clients, as well as secure their systems, UB decided not to allow account name changes, unless justifiable circumstances are presented for them to do so. UB further assures clients that “Accounts related to the fraudulent activity have been disabled, and the individuals associated with those accounts permanently banned from the site.” As an added measure, UB’s parent company is in the process of imposing legal action against violators.

The future of UltimateBet after the scandal has pushed them into investing in a cutting-edge Security Center, which will focus primarily on fraud detection. The development of this new-age Security Center involves the participation of gaming experts, poker professionals and security software developers. This new Security Center will work side-by-side with the Poker Security team in order to prevent fraud.

Related posts:

Thank you for reading Ultimate Bet Scandal: The NioNio Superuser Cheating Scam from Online Casino Blog.

PokerStars DoN Scandal: Million Dollar Compensation Revealed

Mike Smack — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:00:15 +0000

In response to the illegal activities claimed to have been happening in PokerStars’ “Double or Nothing” (DoN) sit and gos, a member of PokerStars Game Security team clarified the issue regarding the posts made by a payer at the Two Plus Two poker forum under the name “Jane0123”. The posts, which detailed the cheating using the “whipsaw” technique, was responded to by “Jackson” answering six questions about the matter, but evaded answering as to when it all started, but acknowledges that they only started investigating after the initial report was made in January and concluding their findings in February. “Jackson” says that during the period of investigation, the accounts involved have been closed.

As the forums claimed that the scam only occurred in the DoN sit and gos, PokerStars confirms that other stakes have been affected, apart from the high level stakes reported, such as the $50 and $100 levels. Other stakes involved are as low as the $10 and $20 bets.

PokerStars have closed 38 accounts involved in the scam, and have only been concerned with the Chinese collusion ring, compensating affected players and figuring out how much money was involved. The number reported by PokerStars slightly conflict the numbers stated in the forum thread by 8, and the company has did not provide further information regarding the account holders involved.

In the report made by their spokesman “Jackson”, the scammers were able to profit as much as $494,000. In the end, PokerStars paid $2,100,000 to compensate their affected players. These numbers reported by PokerStars are not exact, but are close to the numbers reported in the forums. With this security issue, the most crucial is to resolve and something which PokerStars addressed. Their response was to fortify their game security in order to prevent such scams from happening again, and further encourages their patrons to give feedback regarding the matter.

In order to resolve some of the security issues, PokerStars have limited the countries allowed to play in the same Double or Nothing games. Jackson says that “This restriction will ensure that only one player from each of several countries (those countries involved in this restriction were not given) will be able to play in these events.” Another step taken by PokerStars is to now closely monitor each game to ensure that players are secure when playing their games. Furthermore, PokerStars has completed investigation on the accounts involved and compensating their players.

Viktor Blom Gets Hit With $150M Tax Bill by Swedish Tax Authority

Mike Smack — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:00:19 +0000

Viktor Blom (Isildur1) may owe Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Authority) roughly $150 million worth of taxes, as stated in the newspaper Dagens Industri. Blom might be under investigation, following the revelation of his online identity “Isildur1” last weekend at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (previously revealed here on Casino Smack in our post: Isildur1 (Victor Blom) vs Brian Hastings: $4M Cheating). Blom’s move to London from last year might not have any effect in preventing the Swedish Tax Authority from pushing through with investigations.

The Swedish Government Puts the Hit on Online Gambling

Swedish government authorities have extended their intention to infiltrate online gambling sites operated outside their jurisdiction. Swedish residents are required by law to pay gambling tax unless winnings were played on European Union or Svenska Spel sites. The newspaper alleges that Skatteverket will be searching online poker companies where Blom was associated with prior to his deal with PokerStars.

Winnings are taxable for professional Swedish players playing outside the European Union. A 30% tax rate is imposed on each winning, and this ruling may technically subject Blom to paying an estimated amount of $150 million after winning around $4.5 billion under the name “Isildur1” on Full Tilt Poker, should the Swedish government ends up collecting.

According to Dag Hardyson of the Swedish Tax Authority believes that Full Tilt Poker is outside the European Union, which will give them reason to collect taxes on his winnings. Erik Bonman, another spokesperson said that “Internet poker is something we’re looking into and I know this poker player, but I can’t comment on whether we’ve opened a case.”

Viktor Blom: Rise and Fall

Before the end of 2009, Blom, 20 turned $2,000 to $2 million after high-stakes battles with players such as Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Phil Ivey, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Brian Townsend and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo. In December of that year, he lost over $4 million to Brian Hasings, a CardRunners instructor which caused him to disappear after drying his Full Tilt Poker account.

Apart from the estimated $2.5 million overall losses on Full Tilt Poker, he now faces an additional estimated $150 million to the Swedish government. TwoPlusTwo forum posters react stating: “How is it that these tax people can assumedly be competent and well-educated when it comes to numbers and money yet fail miserably at learning/grasping elementary gambling concepts? For an actual educated official to suggest that he owes $150 million is just such outrageous infantile buffoonery on stilts on parade, it is ridiculous.”

Gambling is non-taxable in London, where Blom is currently residing, but nonetheless, he is considered as a Swedish national, and may be required to remit the one amount of one billion Kroner due to the government, amounting to roughly $149 million. Viktor Blum is believed to have been hiding his identity to evade the brutal taxes in Sweden, especially if we talk about million-dollar amounts.

Blom will not be alone in paying these 30% tax bills, as there have been professional poker players from Sweden who have been subjected to paying these taxes, such as former World Poker Tour champion Martin de Knijff and Daniel Larsson.

The Million Dollar Bellagio Las Vegas Robbery: Anthony Michael Carleo

Mike Smack — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:00:18 +0000

Las Vegas Wednesday night was lit with a different light after the arrest of Anthony Michael Carleo, the man allegedly responsible for the $1.5 million armed robbery at the Bellagio. Carleo, 29 years old and son of Municipal Court Judge George Assad of Las Vegas, was arrested after attempting to sell high-value chips to undercover officers. He was a guest at the Bellagio during the arrest, and has now taken residence at the Clark County jail due to court tomorrow.

Las Vegas Sun reports that Carleo is being charged for “robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, burglary with the use of a deadly weapon, and trafficking of a controlled substance.”

The Bellagio Hotel & Casino Robbery Story

Early December 14, a man armed with a gun and hiding his face under a motorcycle helmet approached the craps table, took the money and left with $1.5 million worth of chips, some valued at $25,000.

The Journal reports that no attempt on the part of the casino security was made to apprehend the thief during the incident to avoid a probable encounter that may lead to casino patrons getting injured. The Bellagio announced the discontinuance of the $25,000 chips on April 22, and has been urging players to have them cashed in before the said date. The thief’s identity was expected to be revealed while cashing them in.

MGM also released early this year that “anyone walking with one of the old series [chips] is going to be subject to a certain amount of questioning as to how they obtained them – assuming it isn’t someone we know. It’s pretty unusual for someone we don’t know to come strolling up with a handful of $25,000 chips.”

Possible Connection to the Suncoast Casino Robbery

Ten Las Vegas casino robberies have been reported since 2009 of last year and it is now suspected that Carleo may have also been the person who robbed the Suncoast Casino a week before the Bellagio incident. Similarities between crimes were pointed out by the Journal, such as “a man wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet held up a poker room cashier cage, taking $20,000”, as reported by the police. Carleo, a real estate broker from Colorado owns a mobile disk jockey service and a limousine service co-owned by Gino Carleo, his step father.

One poster from the TwoPlusTwo forum expressed surprise that Carleo attempted to sell the stolen chips at a time when the Bellagio will definitely be watching out for them, stating: “I’m genuinely surprised he was dumb enough to try and sell those 25k chips. Should’ve thrown them in the garbage and started selling the 5k chips maybe two years from now.”

His downfall began with his desperation to sell the stolen chips. He created a forum account on Two Plus Two under the username “OceanSpray25“, from Cranada (yes, he spelled it Cranada instead of Canada). What follows is his original post trying to sell the chips: “Know anyone lookin for a bargain on a few pieces of fruit? Great for the liver and kidney and they make great stocking stuffers.”

PokerStars Scammers: The Double or Nothing Chinese Collusion Ring

Mike Smack — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:00:47 +0000

The continuing controversy discovered on PokerStars in China is undergoing scrutiny where the company gives details on how much the imputed cheating was, and the effect it had on the players. The Two Plus Two forums thread detail the scam on the “Double or Nothing” (DoN) sit and gos. It vividly recounts the reactions from the premier poker room where fifty-percent of players win double regardless of the buy-in, while the other fifty-percent end up with nothing. The scam involved zeroing in on high-end DoN sit and gos with buy-ins between $52 to $104.

The Two Plus Two Forum Whistle Blower

“Frobush”, a forum poster, started the thread and rehashed the scam into a reader-friendly account on July 1. Poster “Jane0123” recounts on May 24 that their account was frozen and closed by PokerStars. The said poster, who seem to have vanished from the forum, talked about the questioning they received about “a relationship with 46 other players” located in Hangzhou, China. When the account was closed, PokerStars notified “Jane0123” that “In reviewing hands it is clear that you routinely made team plays to create situations where you were supposed to benefit. You and your friends routinely played four and five players deep, and squeezed the blinds between two or more cooperating players (writer’s note – a technique known as “whipsawing”). After reviewing several hands, for several players, it became obvious that this was part of some kind of agreed-upon strategy.” The poster took hostility from the thread participants on cheating to be never heard from again.

The controversy led to players who have played numerous DoN games to ask for an explanation from PokerStars on the issue. The company countered them with a letter stating that “Due to the complexity of the situation to which you refer and the number of accounts involved, we have not yet begun to pay out compensation for this case. We expect that we will begin to process compensation within the next week, and players who receive a payout will get an email in due course.”

The Chinese Collusion Connection

The altercation took different developments where one of the players included in the original “Jane0123” list resurfaced in the DoN games, and a noticeable number of China-based players have been on the receiving end of above normal success in them. In response, PokerStars, through one of their security team members named “Michael J” tries to appease the other players by stating “the investigation is taking longer than normal due to the unusual nature of the case” and that players will be duly indemnified should the scam be proven.

Affected players were given recompense by the end of June, where PokerStars put up a pool based on the games, including an added bonus amounting to $250,000. An estimated 4,000 players benefited from the pool, that reached $587,000, where players received amounts between $5.20 to $8,424.13. The thread reports through a poster named “nicegame” that the restitution pool reached over $2 million due to PokerStars decision to increase the amount by $1.5 million in August.

The controversy in progress still has the scamming on the DoN felt, where many players having their playing schedule are being questioned for the time reported initially as January 2010, but has been discovered to start as early as November 2009, and to have occurred as late as April. Having the said information on the time-frame led affected players to become displeased with the compensation they received, while others even claim that the scam has been going on for even longer than the time frame discovered.