Why does a poker site need to know this?

[Colbefc]

I have just joined a new poker site called Run It Once, owned by Phil Galfond.
I mainly joined to play through a bonus and get $100 credit to get the new HM3.

The site is ok though the traffic is not great but as it is a new site this is understandable.

Last week I got an email from them asking me to verify my account before I could make any more deposits or withdrawals which is fine.

The next part of the email was this :

Further to the above, we also need to confirm your source of wealth:

In our endeavor to abide by our Regulatory Obligations as well as meeting our Social Responsibility and Affordability commitment, we need to verify your source of wealth information. We kindly ask you to fill in this form for us to get a general idea of how you have accumulated the funds you have deposited to your account. Please note that at some point in the future there might be the need to request supporting documentation to fulfill our license's regulations. Kindly provide unambiguous and accurate answers to reduce back and forth clarification emails. For example, avoid using terms like “self-employed” or “personal business”. Should you need to use generic terms, kindly provide further information of what your role entails in the box provided.


So they are actually asking me where I get my income from, big brother is really here. Of course I told them to get lost and pointed out that I had worked in bars and shops for 50 years and never once have a asked someone to tell me where they got the money to buy something from....what a @@@@@@@@@ cheek.


In my reply I also told them that is all poker sites asked this I would stop playing poker immediately.


Am I being over sensitive or do other people think this is absolutely none of their business and that no-one should answer such questions ?

 

[steve01991]

leave that site, omg, never in my life have i read such bs.

 

[Vlaad]

Yeah, that's a red flag. You should immediately leave the site imo.

 

[hugh blair]

Yes pokerstars did something similar to me interfered with my transfer receive facility and my deposit limits against my wishes and requested personal information like this out of an abundance of caution due to pandemic.
I have stopped depositing and playing there anything except freerolls for 7 months due to being annoyed by this.
I think they are trying to suss out how much they can take you to the cleaners for in rake and fees probably before they restrict you as a pensioner putting on $100 is hardly money laundering or anything got to do with regulations or is it?
I could understand if thought it was amounts like over €10,000 which raise flags with banks and other institutions in line with money laundering regulations.
Bad idea for poker sites to be interfering with customers like this as they will lose a lot of players who are made feel uncomfortable.
They might say as your a pensioner for example $10 a month or something is your maximum deposit limit too this Social Responsibility and Affordability commitment thing they mention.
Judging by what the idiotic people in the Pokerstars responsible gambling team did to my account against my wishes.
Earning a good wage = $100 a month max deposit and no longer can I receive transfers there dreamed up by them too to make it impossible for me to do staking there.
What happens if we win a few k on a bet though somewhere else but are still ridiculously restricted and it is not considered?
I now hate the site Pokerstars due to to this unrequested interference and do not want to give them a dime in rake.
What that sentence by them Colbefc is saying in layman terms is they plan to control you or decide for you restrict you against your wishes possibly for what you can play and how often and how much and personally I detest that type of nanny treatment.

 

[Lena M]

Hello.
That is why I prefer reliable, time-tested sites. Reliable sites are more than enough for a full game. Bonuses do not matter to me, I am able to increase my bankroll by playing in regular tournaments.

 

[COMIRRR]

It has no relevance where I get my money to play on a poker site! I don't have to explain to them about my money! There are institutions authorized to investigate in case of frauds, I should give them such explanations but not to gambling site administrators! I only play at PS, so far I have deposited money there to play but I have never tried to make a withdrawal, it would seem silly if I tried to withdraw some funds from them now and they ask me for information about the money my ... I hope it won't be like that when I want to make a withdrawal!

 

[EvertonGirl]

I have just joined a new poker site called Run It Once, owned by Phil Galfond.
I mainly joined to play through a bonus and get $100 credit to get the new HM3.

The site is ok though the traffic is not great but as it is a new site this is understandable.

Last week I got an email from them asking me to verify my account before I could make any more deposits or withdrawals which is fine.

The next part of the email was this :

Further to the above, we also need to confirm your source of wealth:

In our endeavor to abide by our Regulatory Obligations as well as meeting our Social Responsibility and Affordability commitment, we need to verify your source of wealth information. We kindly ask you tofill in this form for us to get a general idea of how you have accumulated the funds you have deposited to your account. Please note that at some point in the future there might be the need to request supporting documentation to fulfill our license's regulations. Kindly provide unambiguous and accurate answers to reduce back and forth clarification emails. For example, avoid using terms like “self-employed” or “personal business”. Should you need to use generic terms, kindly provide further information of what your role entails in the box provided.


So they are actually asking me where I get my income from, big brother is really here. Of course I told them to get lost and pointed out that I had worked in bars and shops for 50 years and never once have a asked someone to tell me where they got the money to buy something from....what a @@@@@@@@@ cheek.


In my reply I also told them that is all poker sites asked this I would stop playing poker immediately.


Am I being over sensitive or do other people think this is absolutely none of their business and that no-one should answer such questions ?

I don't think you are being over sensitive at all, that's just too much information to give out. I hope pokerstars stops doing it too, they have already wrecked a good poker room for forcing a graphics that the majority don't want, if they carry on doing this, it will be the final nail in the coffin!!

 

[Debi]

They explain in their email why they want/need it. Your alternative is not to play there - but I don't get people telling you not to trust the site. Phil Galfond is one of the most respected poker pros in the world - I would 100% trust his site personally.

 

[fundiver199]

It sounds like, you were just requested to fill out some form, where you were supposed to write something like "salary - is currently working for...." And if you are only going to deposit a few houndred dollars now and then, probably nothing more will ever be needed. I fail to see, why this is a big deal, and as Debi say, its explained in the email, why they do this. You will probably need to comply with this to withdraw your funds from the site, so if you have any sort of meaningfull money sitting there, I suggest, you calm yourself down and get it done.

 

[slicheri93]

Yeah few sites due it out of the blue from what i have read online,

Kinda stupid if its about small deposits, if its 10k each month i would probably understand it but most people don't deposit that much

 

[Colbefc]

I am not saying I do not trust the site or Phil Galfond. What I am saying is what has it got to do with them where I get my money from?


If I go to a store to buy a TV the salesman doesn't ask me where I got the money to buy it.


Then they say they are "
meeting our Social Responsibility and Affordability Commitment"

They have no social responsibility and affordability commitment to me. Who do they think they are, my parents or my bank manager?

This is the nanny state gone mad.

I have closed my account and if another site does it I will do the same and in the end if it means I cannot play online poker ce la vie.

I bet in the WSOP they don't ask all the people paying $10,000 to enter where they get their money from ?

It is, for now, a free world and it people are happy giving this information away no problem but I will not.

 

[woodeng]

Follow your gut on this one . . .

 

[RDHartsoe]

I would find another site if you are uncomfortable giving out that info. Plenty others to play on.

 

[Psyanide14]

Wow I’ve never seen this before. Maybe they think you are a terrorist funneling $100 to buy a nuclear weapon? Usually they require a photo Id and proof of address but never seen anything beyond that. You did right by not providing info IMO.

 

[najisami]

I have just joined a new poker site called Run It Once, owned by Phil Galfond.
I mainly joined to play through a bonus and get $100 credit to get the new HM3.

The site is ok though the traffic is not great but as it is a new site this is understandable.

Last week I got an email from them asking me to verify my account before I could make any more deposits or withdrawals which is fine.

The next part of the email was this :

Further to the above, we also need to confirm your source of wealth:

In our endeavor to abide by our Regulatory Obligations as well as meeting our Social Responsibility and Affordability commitment, we need to verify your source of wealth information. We kindly ask you tofill in this form for us to get a general idea of how you have accumulated the funds you have deposited to your account. Please note that at some point in the future there might be the need to request supporting documentation to fulfill our license's regulations. Kindly provide unambiguous and accurate answers to reduce back and forth clarification emails. For example, avoid using terms like “self-employed” or “personal business”. Should you need to use generic terms, kindly provide further information of what your role entails in the box provided.


So they are actually asking me where I get my income from, big brother is really here. Of course I told them to get lost and pointed out that I had worked in bars and shops for 50 years and never once have a asked someone to tell me where they got the money to buy something from....what a @@@@@@@@@ cheek.


In my reply I also told them that is all poker sites asked this I would stop playing poker immediately.


Am I being over sensitive or do other people think this is absolutely none of their business and that no-one should answer such questions ?

Wow ! This is a first ! I'm actually asking myself if what you are saying is true or you just want to have some fun here.
What does it matter to them where your/our money comes from ? They mentioned some social commitment, but that's BS. It's absolutely none of their business and you are not being over sensitive. I hope they lose all their players...

 

[Rockyfour]

At least Phil Galfond famous enough that if he rips you off you could probably find him down in Las Vegas or wherever he hangs out and punch him in the mouth

 

[darthjewel]

You may need to realize that poker rooms do not care where you money is coming from, but they are required by the law to check it.
There are several reasons why, but that depends on the country of the license, or the country of the player's residence.

In case of Run it Once they explain in the email
...to fulfill our license's regulations....

and you are quite right it is not their business.
But that is the business of some sad creatures in grey raincoats ,who are evaluating you wealth.

I think in US they are called IRS, or maybe they are from a different floor.

 

[Rockyfour]

You may need to realize that poker rooms do not care where you money is coming from, but they are required by the law to check it.

I don't understand why they care about law, federal law in canada states they aren't supposed to be collecting rake from any game of chance, but they do it anyways lol.

 

[EvertonGirl]

Just goes to show how crazy this world is going, we have to by law tell a poker room where our money is coming from.

If it's a poker site I'm not sure about them I wouldn't give it out but if it's a trust worthy site and I want to play on it, then that's what I will have to do.

Like Debz said this site is a good one and the rule is in an email you would have been given so give it a read and then decide.

 

[Colbefc]

Of course, everyone has the right to do what they like and if anyone feels happy telling
a poker site where they get their money that is up to them.

On my part I will NEVER tell a poker site where I got my money from no more than I would tell a salesman where I got the money to buy a TV. To me it is a big brother step too far, but I guess I am just getting old.
Governments are taking control of more and more aspects of our life, in the UK it is "Drink Responsibly" "Eat Responsibly" "Bet Responsibly".

If governments spent more time trying to run the country instead of trying to control our lives the world would be a better place and people seem to be happy to to let them take away our free choices bit by bit and do nothing about it?

That is my rant for the year

 

[blake2702]

yeah iv had the same bs

 

[wpilson70]

They explain in their email why they want/need it. Your alternative is not to play there - but I don't get people telling you not to trust the site. Phil Galfond is one of the most respected poker pros in the world - I would 100% trust his site personally.

Said it before, I’ll say it again

I learned a long time ago not to ever take advice from randoms in a random poker forum as they probably don’t know anything more than I do.

I’m surprised that any of the freerollers on here actually know who Phil Galfond is. I doubt he plays the super duper way more awesome than other shitty sites freerolls here at CC.

Lol at “big brother”. That’s the red flag of an idiot right there. “Don’t do it man. Big brother is watching you”

Enough of those types of people out there as it is. We need more thinkers and less “watch out for big brother” knuckle draggers

 

[Rockyfour]

Lol at “big brother”. That’s the red flag of an idiot right there. “Don’t do it man. Big brother is watching you”

You're an idiot lol.

 

[7thseal]

Big Red Flag! I don't care if you get your money from slinging weed on the streets. Bottom line it is none of their business. I understanding verifying an address or license, and even the credit card you make deposits with to deter thieves and such, but to ask someone their line of work is pushing the boundaries of privacy. I hope for the sake of online poker this isn't the new norm. I think I am not the only one who might think twice about playing.

 

[Colbefc]

There is always one village idiot with nothing to add to a thread that feels he has to say something, even if it is complete rubbish. I guess this thread has wpilson70