theANMATOR
Legend
Bronze Level
Short version;
5Dimes has very strict policies - but seems to listen to the player and upholds fairness.
Long version;
When ACR updated software several months ago the freeroll/micro events were essentially wiped out, minus the Venom steps, SnG OD micros and the 50gtd. There were other micro events available over 1 buck buy-in, but those were beyond my BR buy-in cap at that time.
Being an active reg. freeroll/micro tourney player I decided to look around for other rooms I could participate in until ACR update was sorted out.
I found several US friendly clients, intertops, BOL and 64spades being the most notable.
Up to this point I was unaware of the poker networks that had different clients but were essentially the same back end network.
So when I downloaded Black Chip Poker - it resulted in the same 'network' as ACR and True Poker. juicy stakes = Intertops and Sports Betting = BetOnline.
Continuing my search I found a pretty obscure client called GRAND SportsBetting. Initially I thought this was Sports Betting (BOL alt client) but it was not. The software was completely different and the terms of service had sections specifically for US players - so I was happy to find another US friendly client.
As always I read through the terms & conditions and they seemed very standard to other sites so I downloaded it.
GRAND hosted a couple freerolls per day and had some other games that were micro events that I found enjoyable to play in. The software was about the same quality as Intertops - adequate and responsive but nothing special, and that was fine for me.
Side note: I have a standard value that I will not deposit on ANY client until I have performed an extensive hands on review and looked into how the 'company' operates regarding deposits, bonus stuff, withdrawals, and updates.
I participated in about 2 freerolls per week on GRAND and ended up with a tiny bankroll. The community of players seemed quite friendly and fun to play with, and the software, although different was/is very stable and - works just fine.
I had earned roughly $10 dollars from the freerolls I played in and I decided to 'take a shot' in a couple of the bigger buy in events on this site. I bought into a $5.00, $250gtd because I noticed the field was quite small compared to other events going on on other clients.
It turns out I won the event for a nice $140 payday! Very nice!
I was having a good time playing on this site and had plans to deposit in the near future so I could look forward to withdrawing when I had reached my personal BR threshold.
I participated in one Sports Bet event this weekend and ended up placing 4th-5th? which earned me $40 in sports betting currency.
I do not participate in sports betting but the event was only a penny to play - and I was just playing poker to have fun in that event - and ended up winning those $40 dollars.
The next day (yesterday) I went to sign on to GRAND and I received an Unauthorized Access error. Hmm I must have typed the password in wrong. Sign in again - same thing - ?? Attempt to sign in one more time - same sign in error? OK - maybe they are updating the software. I waited for an hour and attempted to sign in again only to receive the same error.
OK - lets see if live support can help.
I opened the live support section of the software and the first Tech Support fellow proceeded to tell me that I had been locked out of the poker client because I had been identified as a freeroll abuser!! In addition to being labeled a freeroll abuser my winnings which at this point were approximately $150.00 were being confiscated by 'upper management'.
I questioned all of this with the Tech Support fellow, and he said I should have read through the 'rules' of the site. I said I did in fact read the terms of service and rules extensively before playing - because I am a US player and I wanted to make sure I'm able to play on this site and withdraw if I'm able to build up a worthy bankroll.
The Tech Support fellow sent me a link to the poker rules - and here is where things get a little more interesting - The link was to 5dimes......rules/html.
I said I am not a 5dimes player - I play on GRAND poker ---- eventually the 'network' lesson I learned previously sunk into my soul. I was playing on 5dimes - GRAND poker was a mirror client of 5dimes.
I continued the discussion with the poker support supervisor who was adamant that I should have read the rules before playing on the site. I told him THOSE rules from the 5dimes website were not on the GRAND poker website - and he told me to wait while he looked into the matter.
After several minutes the poker support supervisor relayed that I was correct - the rules for 5dimes were not accessible through the GRAND poker website - and he was going to restore my poker account and - return the funds I had won playing poker.
BUT - I have to deposit to continue to play - and keep the winnings I had already won.
At this point - my poker access has been restored - and my winnings have been put back into my account.
I will be depositing into GRAND - to uphold my end of the agreement made with the support supervisor.
I'm very grateful that the poker supervisor was fair and saw that I was not attempting to 'take advantage' or get around the rules that were outlined.
I wanted to make the community aware of this point - it is VERY important to read all the rules associated with any poker client and make sure you read through the entire terms of service, and the lesson I have relearned - confirm all the rules of the client you are playing on and the network that poker client is associated with.
Here is the poker 'rules' for GRAND poker
Collusion in all its forms, soft play, whipsawing, chip dumping and trading information are strictly prohibited in our poker rooms. Chip dumping schemes or any other cheating system used will always result in all accounts involved being deleted and any profited funds forfeited.
If intentional internet disconnections are detected, management reserves the right to block permanently the poker room(s) for such players.
Poker action is always subject to review prior the approval of payout requests. Poker action review could take from 24-48 hours.
Abusive or inappropriate language considered offensive will not be tolerated. The use of any language other than English or Spanish on the chat is forbidden. Bad behavior or the use of disrespecting language identified by the Poker Rooms or that has been brought to our attention, will be taken care of immediately and may result in account suspension or whichever other sanction determined by Management.
Sportbet customer service department is available at any time to assist players with any issues or concerns. Please phone us at .........., send us an email or contact Live Chat for more information.
Customers from North America are required to complete at least a ONE time rollover of the deposited amount in order to have a payout processed without incurring on a penalty fee. If this requirement is not fulfilled, the account will not qualify for a free redemption, credit card deposits, if any, will be refunded, and an administrative fee will be charged without exceptions.
Why can I enter some of the Freeroll tournaments and not others?
Although most of the Freeroll tournaments at Poker are completely free to enter, some require you to have earned a certain number of Grand Poker Points before you are allowed to register. This is how we reward our regular players for their loyalty and support. These tournaments are called "GPPs Freerolls".
Some Freeroll tournaments require passwords. How do I get one?
These special Freerolls are organized on request either from our marketing partners or players who have set up their own tournaments. In these cases Sportbet Grand Poker simply provides the playing platform and has no access to the passwords, which are distributed by the independent tournament organizers.
Where can I see how many Poker Points I have?
Please log into the SportbetGrandPoker cardroom and click on Cashier. Your Poker Points will be listed on the right side of the Cashier screen.
How Poker Points are calculated?
You get 1 Poker Point for every 10 cents that you contribute to the rake. For details please see Poker Points.
What is a "Poker Point Freeroll"?
Some Freeroll tournaments require you to have earned a certain number of Poker Points before you are allowed to register. This is intended to reward our regular players for their loyalty and support. These tournaments are called "Poker Point Freerolls" since no money is required in order to play.
And here is the additional section that is from the 5dimes 'rules' that were not included on the GRAND poker site;
Money coming from the poker room can only be withdrawn by active customers. By active, we refer to players who deposited cash into their 5Dimes accounts. 5dimes reserves the right to confiscate funds and prizes from inactive accounts. Also freeroll abusers will have their poker option removed until they become active by depositing.
5Dimes has very strict policies - but seems to listen to the player and upholds fairness.
Long version;
When ACR updated software several months ago the freeroll/micro events were essentially wiped out, minus the Venom steps, SnG OD micros and the 50gtd. There were other micro events available over 1 buck buy-in, but those were beyond my BR buy-in cap at that time.
Being an active reg. freeroll/micro tourney player I decided to look around for other rooms I could participate in until ACR update was sorted out.
I found several US friendly clients, intertops, BOL and 64spades being the most notable.
Up to this point I was unaware of the poker networks that had different clients but were essentially the same back end network.
So when I downloaded Black Chip Poker - it resulted in the same 'network' as ACR and True Poker. juicy stakes = Intertops and Sports Betting = BetOnline.
Continuing my search I found a pretty obscure client called GRAND SportsBetting. Initially I thought this was Sports Betting (BOL alt client) but it was not. The software was completely different and the terms of service had sections specifically for US players - so I was happy to find another US friendly client.
As always I read through the terms & conditions and they seemed very standard to other sites so I downloaded it.
GRAND hosted a couple freerolls per day and had some other games that were micro events that I found enjoyable to play in. The software was about the same quality as Intertops - adequate and responsive but nothing special, and that was fine for me.
Side note: I have a standard value that I will not deposit on ANY client until I have performed an extensive hands on review and looked into how the 'company' operates regarding deposits, bonus stuff, withdrawals, and updates.
I participated in about 2 freerolls per week on GRAND and ended up with a tiny bankroll. The community of players seemed quite friendly and fun to play with, and the software, although different was/is very stable and - works just fine.
I had earned roughly $10 dollars from the freerolls I played in and I decided to 'take a shot' in a couple of the bigger buy in events on this site. I bought into a $5.00, $250gtd because I noticed the field was quite small compared to other events going on on other clients.
It turns out I won the event for a nice $140 payday! Very nice!
I was having a good time playing on this site and had plans to deposit in the near future so I could look forward to withdrawing when I had reached my personal BR threshold.
I participated in one Sports Bet event this weekend and ended up placing 4th-5th? which earned me $40 in sports betting currency.
I do not participate in sports betting but the event was only a penny to play - and I was just playing poker to have fun in that event - and ended up winning those $40 dollars.
The next day (yesterday) I went to sign on to GRAND and I received an Unauthorized Access error. Hmm I must have typed the password in wrong. Sign in again - same thing - ?? Attempt to sign in one more time - same sign in error? OK - maybe they are updating the software. I waited for an hour and attempted to sign in again only to receive the same error.
OK - lets see if live support can help.
I opened the live support section of the software and the first Tech Support fellow proceeded to tell me that I had been locked out of the poker client because I had been identified as a freeroll abuser!! In addition to being labeled a freeroll abuser my winnings which at this point were approximately $150.00 were being confiscated by 'upper management'.
I questioned all of this with the Tech Support fellow, and he said I should have read through the 'rules' of the site. I said I did in fact read the terms of service and rules extensively before playing - because I am a US player and I wanted to make sure I'm able to play on this site and withdraw if I'm able to build up a worthy bankroll.
The Tech Support fellow sent me a link to the poker rules - and here is where things get a little more interesting - The link was to 5dimes......rules/html.
I said I am not a 5dimes player - I play on GRAND poker ---- eventually the 'network' lesson I learned previously sunk into my soul. I was playing on 5dimes - GRAND poker was a mirror client of 5dimes.
I continued the discussion with the poker support supervisor who was adamant that I should have read the rules before playing on the site. I told him THOSE rules from the 5dimes website were not on the GRAND poker website - and he told me to wait while he looked into the matter.
After several minutes the poker support supervisor relayed that I was correct - the rules for 5dimes were not accessible through the GRAND poker website - and he was going to restore my poker account and - return the funds I had won playing poker.
BUT - I have to deposit to continue to play - and keep the winnings I had already won.
At this point - my poker access has been restored - and my winnings have been put back into my account.
I will be depositing into GRAND - to uphold my end of the agreement made with the support supervisor.
I'm very grateful that the poker supervisor was fair and saw that I was not attempting to 'take advantage' or get around the rules that were outlined.
I wanted to make the community aware of this point - it is VERY important to read all the rules associated with any poker client and make sure you read through the entire terms of service, and the lesson I have relearned - confirm all the rules of the client you are playing on and the network that poker client is associated with.
Here is the poker 'rules' for GRAND poker
Collusion in all its forms, soft play, whipsawing, chip dumping and trading information are strictly prohibited in our poker rooms. Chip dumping schemes or any other cheating system used will always result in all accounts involved being deleted and any profited funds forfeited.
If intentional internet disconnections are detected, management reserves the right to block permanently the poker room(s) for such players.
Poker action is always subject to review prior the approval of payout requests. Poker action review could take from 24-48 hours.
Abusive or inappropriate language considered offensive will not be tolerated. The use of any language other than English or Spanish on the chat is forbidden. Bad behavior or the use of disrespecting language identified by the Poker Rooms or that has been brought to our attention, will be taken care of immediately and may result in account suspension or whichever other sanction determined by Management.
Sportbet customer service department is available at any time to assist players with any issues or concerns. Please phone us at .........., send us an email or contact Live Chat for more information.
Customers from North America are required to complete at least a ONE time rollover of the deposited amount in order to have a payout processed without incurring on a penalty fee. If this requirement is not fulfilled, the account will not qualify for a free redemption, credit card deposits, if any, will be refunded, and an administrative fee will be charged without exceptions.
Why can I enter some of the Freeroll tournaments and not others?
Although most of the Freeroll tournaments at Poker are completely free to enter, some require you to have earned a certain number of Grand Poker Points before you are allowed to register. This is how we reward our regular players for their loyalty and support. These tournaments are called "GPPs Freerolls".
Some Freeroll tournaments require passwords. How do I get one?
These special Freerolls are organized on request either from our marketing partners or players who have set up their own tournaments. In these cases Sportbet Grand Poker simply provides the playing platform and has no access to the passwords, which are distributed by the independent tournament organizers.
Where can I see how many Poker Points I have?
Please log into the SportbetGrandPoker cardroom and click on Cashier. Your Poker Points will be listed on the right side of the Cashier screen.
How Poker Points are calculated?
You get 1 Poker Point for every 10 cents that you contribute to the rake. For details please see Poker Points.
What is a "Poker Point Freeroll"?
Some Freeroll tournaments require you to have earned a certain number of Poker Points before you are allowed to register. This is intended to reward our regular players for their loyalty and support. These tournaments are called "Poker Point Freerolls" since no money is required in order to play.
And here is the additional section that is from the 5dimes 'rules' that were not included on the GRAND poker site;
Money coming from the poker room can only be withdrawn by active customers. By active, we refer to players who deposited cash into their 5Dimes accounts. 5dimes reserves the right to confiscate funds and prizes from inactive accounts. Also freeroll abusers will have their poker option removed until they become active by depositing.
