Grossberger
Cardschat Elite
Silver Level
Ok so last night I was playing on pokerstars and 2 players at the table were speaking dutch, I asked them to speak english only which one of them said sorry the other decided to be an idiot and say "shut the F up". I ignored it and continued to play then about 20 minutes later they started speaking dutch again so I called the Mod, after the mod had left the idiot told the other one his MSN name and asked for his in which the other responded. Now I'm starting to think these two could be cheating. So I emailed support and let them know so they could check it out. the following emails are what I received back from PS. I took out the players names since they dont feel they were cheating.
Thank you for your report.
The integrity of our games is of utmost importance to PokerStars, and we
employ a large team of Poker Specialists who investigate all collusion
reports received from our players.
We have forwarded your email to a Poker Specialist for review. They will
undertake an extensive investigation into any relationship and past play
between these players. Please allow them some time to research this issue as
it may take several days if the case is particularly complex.
You will receive a response with the results of our investigation as soon as
possible.
Please let us know if we can assist you further, and thanks for playing at
PokerStars!
Regards,
Giuseppe G
PokerStars Support Team
________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your mail.
Based on a preliminary review of the situation you reported, a complete review of the players involved has been initiated. This will include checking on relationships, location and play.
Depending on our findings, the players may be contacted and asked to explain relationships and/or play. The entire process generally takes up to 2 weeks, but can be delayed if we don't receive prompt responses.
The poker specialist handling this review will contact you directly when the review is complete or if there are unusual delays. Thank you for your patience while we complete this process.
Regards,
PokerStars Support Team
____________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your report.
Although we do monitor the games for collusion, we always appreciate it when
players report any strange or unusual play to us for review.
One of the advantages of online poker over brick and mortar poker venues is
that every hand is recorded, including each player's hole cards and how they
are played. If any play is considered suspicious we can then review the
hands with all cards and play showing. As a result, cooperating players are
immediately obvious.
When reviewing tournament play for possible collusion we check for the
following:
1) Best hand play - where colluding players play only the better of their
two hands.
2) Soft play - where colluding players refuse to play aggressively against
each other. For example they may check or fold against each other where they
would normally bet or raise against a stranger.
3) Chip dumping/Stack balancing - where the large stack folds to the small
stack to balance their chips. The idea is to improve the chances of both
players finishing in money positions in a tournament.
Following your report, we have completed an investigation into the accounts
of the players 'XXXX' and 'YYYY'.
One of the most obvious ways to determine a relationship is location. In
this case one of the players lives in Porto Alegre and the other Campo
Grande. Despite this I can tell you that location alone is generally not a
good indicator as to whether cooperative play is occurring. With
communication technology these days two players can be on opposite sides of
the world and still be cooperating. Instead we prefer to use a number of
technological tools to assist us in finding relationships between players.
We also look at how often players play with each other to see if they are
playing together more often than might be expected from strangers. As you
may understand, cooperating players would certainly prefer to play with each
other. On a site the size of PokerStars however, it might be considered a
little unusual if two players played together frequently.
I can tell you that after reviewing the account and playing history of these
players, I can find no reason to believe that they are related or seeking
each other out at our tables.
Of course the only way to know for certain if players are working together
as a team is to review their actual play. In this case no suspicious play
could be found.
In conclusion, given the lack of any relationship between their accounts,
the minimal amount of play together, and the lack of any suspiciously played
hands, there is no evidence to suggest these two players are cooperating at
our tables. I have placed notes in both player's accounts indicating this
review and your concerns, so if any future suspicious play is noted between
them there will be a record of this investigation.
Once again, thanks for your report, and best of luck at the tables!
Regards,
Teymour
Poker Specialist
PokerStars Support Team
Thank you for your report.
The integrity of our games is of utmost importance to PokerStars, and we
employ a large team of Poker Specialists who investigate all collusion
reports received from our players.
We have forwarded your email to a Poker Specialist for review. They will
undertake an extensive investigation into any relationship and past play
between these players. Please allow them some time to research this issue as
it may take several days if the case is particularly complex.
You will receive a response with the results of our investigation as soon as
possible.
Please let us know if we can assist you further, and thanks for playing at
PokerStars!
Regards,
Giuseppe G
PokerStars Support Team
________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your mail.
Based on a preliminary review of the situation you reported, a complete review of the players involved has been initiated. This will include checking on relationships, location and play.
Depending on our findings, the players may be contacted and asked to explain relationships and/or play. The entire process generally takes up to 2 weeks, but can be delayed if we don't receive prompt responses.
The poker specialist handling this review will contact you directly when the review is complete or if there are unusual delays. Thank you for your patience while we complete this process.
Regards,
PokerStars Support Team
____________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your report.
Although we do monitor the games for collusion, we always appreciate it when
players report any strange or unusual play to us for review.
One of the advantages of online poker over brick and mortar poker venues is
that every hand is recorded, including each player's hole cards and how they
are played. If any play is considered suspicious we can then review the
hands with all cards and play showing. As a result, cooperating players are
immediately obvious.
When reviewing tournament play for possible collusion we check for the
following:
1) Best hand play - where colluding players play only the better of their
two hands.
2) Soft play - where colluding players refuse to play aggressively against
each other. For example they may check or fold against each other where they
would normally bet or raise against a stranger.
3) Chip dumping/Stack balancing - where the large stack folds to the small
stack to balance their chips. The idea is to improve the chances of both
players finishing in money positions in a tournament.
Following your report, we have completed an investigation into the accounts
of the players 'XXXX' and 'YYYY'.
One of the most obvious ways to determine a relationship is location. In
this case one of the players lives in Porto Alegre and the other Campo
Grande. Despite this I can tell you that location alone is generally not a
good indicator as to whether cooperative play is occurring. With
communication technology these days two players can be on opposite sides of
the world and still be cooperating. Instead we prefer to use a number of
technological tools to assist us in finding relationships between players.
We also look at how often players play with each other to see if they are
playing together more often than might be expected from strangers. As you
may understand, cooperating players would certainly prefer to play with each
other. On a site the size of PokerStars however, it might be considered a
little unusual if two players played together frequently.
I can tell you that after reviewing the account and playing history of these
players, I can find no reason to believe that they are related or seeking
each other out at our tables.
Of course the only way to know for certain if players are working together
as a team is to review their actual play. In this case no suspicious play
could be found.
In conclusion, given the lack of any relationship between their accounts,
the minimal amount of play together, and the lack of any suspiciously played
hands, there is no evidence to suggest these two players are cooperating at
our tables. I have placed notes in both player's accounts indicating this
review and your concerns, so if any future suspicious play is noted between
them there will be a record of this investigation.
Once again, thanks for your report, and best of luck at the tables!
Regards,
Teymour
Poker Specialist
PokerStars Support Team
