Permanent ban from party poker

[PokerPros]

Hello, I am new here!

Let me start by saying that in 2016 I created a partypoker account. I recall making a big win (25k). I believe I had 2 k left in my bankroll. Life happened, moved on to other things and I tried to login and I couldn’t.

Contacted support and got told it was because I was underage. Like what?!

I was 23

And then they sent me a generic link of terms to say fraud. I’m so confused. I tried to say I’m a victim of fraud, they escalated only to say the decision is a final decision with no possibility to change it after the escalation due to a “business decision”

They are being so vague and I’m not sure what I can do.

I’m so upset

 

[antonis32123]

When they say the decision is final , they mean it . Only way to bypass this is to go to a court room , try legally to get justice . But does it worth the money and time to go after a poker room ?? I don't think so ..... Except if we are talking about hundreds of thousands of money . And if you are wealthy enough you can do this then .

 

[skaterick]

a ' business decision' to benefit the company's bottom line !

 

[fundiver199]

Were you 23 years old, when you opened the account in 2016? Or are you 23 years old now? In the latter case you might have been underage (17), when you opened the account, and then this is the reason, why it was closed. Also many poker sites have rules about inactivity. So if you are not playing on a particular site for an extended period of time, its best to withdraw your funds and then redeposit, if you want to play again.

 

[PokerPros]

Were you 23 years old, when you opened the account in 2016? Or are you 23 years old now? In the latter case you might have been underage (17), when you opened the account, and then this is the reason, why it was closed. Also many poker sites have rules about inactivity. So if you are not playing on a particular site for an extended period of time, its best to withdraw your funds and then redeposit, if you want to play again.

I was 23 at that time.

I didn’t know how to play poker at 18. Learned to play at 19. Opened the account in 2016. I’m 30 now.

I believe I opened the account and won my very first tournament for the 25k.

I never got any emails from them from then to now regarding an account closure or a reason. Very vague. But they can seize my funds for no reason I guess.

Sadge.

Yana (partypoker.com)

Jul 22, 2023, 11:43 GMT+2

Dear Keegan,

We hope this e-mail finds you well. We are contacting you in regards to your partypoker.com account.

Please be advised that the request to have your account reopened has been thoroughly reviewed by the relevant department, and we regret to inform you that it was denied. Based on a review of your account, we believe that it would be irresponsible to reopen your account at this point in time. Please rest assured that this decision has not been taken lightly and based on a lot of factors, as well as your interests taken in mind.

Accordingly, we have employed reasonable automated checks to endeavor to ensure that you can no longer transact with us. However, you have an equal undertaking not to seek to circumvent the exclusion agreement by entering or continuing (or asking a 3rd party on your behalf) to participate in gambling or betting services via the Entain Group online operations.

If you inadvertently receive marketing material and continue to gamble, or you circumvent the exclusion by, for example, continuing to gamble, opening and operating new accounts, and/or our automated checks and/or IT or software programs fail to recognize any attempt by you to circumvent the exclusion, we are under no obligation to return any deposits, winnings, or other funds in respect of such activity online. Any accounts found to be in breach of exclusion will be closed as soon as they are discovered and any funds frozen.

You can find some useful information here: Responsible Gaming

We hope that we have helped you with your situation.


If you need any further help, please contact us.

Best regards,

Yana

Customer Service

 

[PokerPros]

If I only played one game and won that tournament, and haven’t played since, how would it be “irresponsible?”

 

[PokerPros]

a ' business decision' to benefit the company's bottom line !

100 percent!

The staff told me they are not allowed to tell me anything more than it being a “business decision”

They’re lining up their pockets from people’s winnings.

 

[dreamer13]

If they decide so, then it is useless to do something, the courts will not give anything either, everything has been bought from them.

 

[PokerPros]

If they decide so, then it is useless to do something, the courts will not give anything either, everything has been bought from them.

What do you mean?

And I wish I had recourse, but I guess I will just go to another site. Any recommendations?

Just makes me overthink the possibilities of what could have gone wrong 😑

They’re being so secretive it’s kind of unnerving. No email until now and haven’t played since 2016. Not to mention I hardly gamble.

 

[fundiver199]

From that email it sounds like, you were banned for responsible gaming reasons. In that case you might try to get them to pay out the balance in your closed account, but you can not expect to be able to play there again.

 

[PokerPros]

I only played one table from what I remember and they said ina chat message a week ago it was because I opened an account underage. They have a different reason every time I contact.

So I just sent them this:

 

[fundiver199]

I never got any emails from them from then to now regarding an account closure or a reason.

Its far more likely, you did get an email but failed to read it. Maybe it ended up in your spam folder, or you just missed it. Or you had not given them the correct email adress. I opened an account on PartyPoker around the same time as you, and it was closed, because I failed to verify it within 30 days. Which of course they informed me about by email, and they also refunded my deposit but kept my winnings. Which I cant say is unfair, since it was my fault, that I failed to comply with a clearly stated requirement to verify my account.

If I only played one game and won that tournament, and haven’t played since, how would it be “irresponsible?”

I am sorry, but I simply do not believe this. If people bink their very first tournament, they usually get very excited and continue to play. Often they move up as well and end up losing most of the winning again. If you want me to beleive this, you need to tell your username, so I can look you up on sharkscope and verify this highly unusual story.

They’re lining up their pockets from people’s winnings.

Poker sites make money, when people play, so they dont randomly ban people for no reason. The reason might not be clear to you, but its not to just randomly steal $2k from a customer.

 

[PokerPros]

Its far more likely, you did get an email but failed to read it. Maybe it ended up in your spam folder, or you just missed it. Or you had not given them the correct email adress. I opened an account on PartyPoker around the same time as you, and it was closed, because I failed to verify it within 30 days. Which of course they informed me about by email, and they also refunded my deposit but kept my winnings. Which I cant say is unfair, since it was my fault, that I failed to comply with a clearly stated requirement to verify my account.

I am sorry, but I simply do not believe this. If people bink their very first tournament, they usually get very excited and continue to play. Often they move up as well and end up losing most of the winning again. If you want me to beleive this, you need to tell your username, so I can look you up on Sharkscope and verify this highly unusual story.

Poker sites make money, when people play, so they dont randomly ban people for no reason. The reason might not be clear to you, but its not to just randomly steal $2k from a customer.

Yes, I agree.

But the emails I can find are requesting identification and I submitted the documents immediately in the email. That’s the only message I can find.

My username I don’t remember what it was as it’s been nearly 8 years, but I can tell you my style of gambling is “take the money and run.”

I used the money to buy a house.

 

[PokerPros]

Its far more likely, you did get an email but failed to read it. Maybe it ended up in your spam folder, or you just missed it. Or you had not given them the correct email adress. I opened an account on PartyPoker around the same time as you, and it was closed, because I failed to verify it within 30 days. Which of course they informed me about by email, and they also refunded my deposit but kept my winnings. Which I cant say is unfair, since it was my fault, that I failed to comply with a clearly stated requirement to verify my account.

I am sorry, but I simply do not believe this. If people bink their very first tournament, they usually get very excited and continue to play. Often they move up as well and end up losing most of the winning again. If you want me to beleive this, you need to tell your username, so I can look you up on Sharkscope and verify this highly unusual story.

Poker sites make money, when people play, so they dont randomly ban people for no reason. The reason might not be clear to you, but it’s not to just randomly steal $2k from a customer.

I just requested my username via the chat of PartyPoker customer service.

They are being vague again.

I will push back and hopefully be able to give it to you.

 

[fundiver199]

Its possible, your account got closed due to inactivity for 7 years. This has happened to other forum members and is indeed a "business decision", since someone not playing for years is not generating any revenue, and for all, they know, the person could even be dead. But then it is a bit strange, they dont just say so, but talk about responsible gaming and underage accounts, which is that case has nothing to do with the situation.

Regardless as others have said, if they wont pay you the money, there is realistically not much, you can do. Only Ontario has regulated poker sites in canada, and that was only recently. So your account was opened on an unregulated site, which mean, no authorities in Canada can help you. And obviously its not cost-effective to try to open any sort of case overseas for 2K. So just learn from it and dont let money sit on sites, where you dont play.

 

[PokerPros]

Its possible, your account got closed due to inactivity for 7 years. This has happened to other forum members and is indeed a "business decision", since someone not playing for years is not generating any revenue, and for all, they know, the person could even be dead. But then it is a bit strange, they dont just say so, but talk about responsible gaming and underage accounts, which is that case has nothing to do with the situation.

Regardless as others have said, if they wont pay you the money, there is realistically not much, you can do. Only Ontario has regulated poker sites in Canada, and that was only recently. So your account was opened on an unregulated site, which mean, no authorities in Canada can help you. And obviously its not cost-effective to try to open any sort of case overseas for 2K. So just learn from it and dont let money sit on sites, where you dont play.

It’s definitely a learning lesson.

Understandably it just feels prejudice and strange when the answer is not very clear and seems to be different with each interaction.

 

[markdias]

they did something similar to me but it was at 888, I had created the account about 4 years ago, I played for a while then I stopped for more than 3 years, then I came back, I played a freeroll and I won 23 dollars, I tried to withdraw, they asked me to send documents, when I sent it I was blocked for no reason, I tried to re-send more documents, but I couldn't get the account back, and I left it at that, 888 never again...

 

[PokerPros]

It’s definitely a learning lesson.

Understandably it just feels prejudice and strange when the answer is not very clear and seems to be different with each interaction.

At this point, I don’t really care about the money. I just care about the principle of it and being put on a list and an automatic system in the network to block me when I don’t believe I’ve done any wrong doing. That hurts me more than the money to be honest.

 

[fundiver199]

Understandably it just feels prejudice and strange when the answer is not very clear and seems to be different with each interaction.

Unfortunately that is quite common with large companies, where support staff is usually underpaid and often dont even know the real story of, what actually happened. They have some standard emails, and then they just send those instead of investigating the matter and giving an actual reply. A few years ago I had my Youtube account closed, allegedly for violating their TOS, and to this day I honestly have no idea, what I am supposed to have done wrong.

 

[ancakeul]

how you can leave 2000 in your account so many years ?

 

[Debi]

What do you mean?

And I wish I had recourse, but I guess I will just go to another site. Any recommendations?

I have had multiple accounts closed due to inactivity and my balances were lost. They weren't as big as yours but I consider my lesson learned - when I stop playing I just go ahead and withdraw now.

I will message you about an opportunity at another site.

 

[Martin]

I recall making a big win (25k). I believe I had 2 k left in my bankroll.

Were you able to withdraw the 23k? If so you would have had to go through a verification process before withdrawing so they would have been able to determine your age that way.

If you gambled away that 23k in a short time that might be why you're getting responsible gambling messages.

 

[bowserdon]

WOW ,We gamble when we play at these offshore sites

 

[najisami]

Let me start by saying that in 2016 I created a PartyPoker account. I recall making a big win (25k). I believe I had 2 k left in my bankroll. Life happened, moved on to other things and I tried to login and I couldn’t.

If you won 25K and you only had 2K when you tried to get back, it means that you've already cashed 23K out. If that's the case, consider yourself lucky and leave them alone, that site always sucked anyway.

 

[PokerPros]

From that email it sounds like, you were banned for responsible gaming reasons. In that case you might try to get them to pay out the balance in your closed account, but you can not expect to be able to play there again.

How can it? I have not been involved in gambling for almost 8 years

Honestly I never was worried about the money. But what really bothers me is the principal behind it and the way they went about it.