Collusion Scandel at PokerStars

[CaliNaughti]

Collusion scandal at PokerStars DoN sit & gos
08.07.2010 13:14
A large scale Chinese cheating ring has been discovered operating at the PokerStars' $52 through $108 Double or Nothing sit & gos from the summer of 2009 until February 2010. PokerStars have already agreed to pay $587,000 compensation to those players affected by collusion.


Things started to unfold in public when the user Jane0123 appeared on the 2+2 forum complaining that his account on PokerStars had been unfairly frozen with $10,000 in it. Jane0123 got an icy reception, one user responding, "Ya finally got busted huh? Well it's about time. I sent about 25 emails complaining about you ****ing clowns." Jane0123's Sharkscope data showed that he had played 11,766 DoN's with an average stake of $87 and a profit of $56,300.

It soon became apparent that many of the suspected cheaters dominated the DoN Leaderboard on PokerStars. The nickname wudiyg was the site's biggest winner at DoN games in 2009 with a profit of $96,000.

The total sum won by the suspected ring is somewhere around $750,000. Often half of the players in any given game have been part of the ring, most of them coming from the Chinese town of Hangzhou. Several dozens of players are involved.

Users on 2+2 accuse PokerStars of not acting as decisively as they could have in investigating the cheating. However, the company have started paying compensation to affected players. Approximately $85,000 in cash or FPP have been confiscated from the cheaters, but since the total sum to be paid is $587,000 at this point, it's obvious PokerStars will have to pay most of it themselves.

Many players are not happy with the compensation promised or already paid to them. The user Simplicity8 says, "I've played about 7000 $52-$108 dons in the first 6 weeks of 2010. I kind of felt like something was up, but I assumed I was a losing player and just gave up. If true, this makes me pretty sick as they have not only just stolen money from me, but they have taken away future earning power from me. I was on a pretty nice pace to hit SNE (Supernova Elite)."

According to some calculations, the cheaters have generated $600,000 rake to PokerStars. While users on 2+2 admit that DoN's are an easy target for colluders and such collusion can be difficult to detect, others say that the cheating happened on such a scale and duration that PokerStars' security should have put their sensors up much sooner.

Investigation is still ongoing, but many suspect that so is the cheating possibly by another group of Chinese players. In recent weeks a lot of players from the Wenzhou area in China have joined the $52 through $108 DoN's on the site.

Any player suspecting that they have been affected by collusion shoud contact PokerStars at email address gamesecurity@pokerstars.com.

Timeline of the scandal here; the original thread started by Jane0123 here.




I copied this article from google when I goolded it.
There is alot more like the names of the players etc..So I may post more as I get the info

[CaliNaughti]

Here is some more info I found out. I copied this from another place I found on Google. Makes for some interesting reading. I have never played the larger SNG's. I have played $50 SNG's but dont recall any of the names listed below. Im just glad to see some justice done to the colluders.[Edit/MH: See "Time Line" thread.

* * *

[Edit/MH: See also similar post to OP's by wenpk15888: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=808]

* * *

My ID Jane1023 was in the first place of sharkscope leaderboard in Double and Nothing game in Jan this year.PS locked my account nearly 4 months and finally closed my account with 10000$.They did this without any hard evidence like any hands.Here is the email between me and PS.

Hello,

We apologize for the severe delay in responding to you about your pending case. Your account, along with many others, has been thoroughly reviewed, and the long delay was due to several factors, including the numbers of players that we reviewed. Many of these players did not respond, and many who did respond were not honest in their responses.

The review of your account and your play is complete. We have come to the conclusion that you worked with others as a team to the detriment of other players while playing at the tables.

The integrity of our games is critical to the success of PokerStars. Based on our findings, we have decided that your account will remain closed. The funds in your account will be used to compensate those players that were harmed by your actions. Such action is not taken lightly. My findings went to a review board made up of other poker specialists who, after looking at the evidence, agree that such action is appropriate.

This conclusion is based on a careful review of your play with all cards exposed. 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. After reviewing several hands, for several players, it became obvious that this was part of some kind of agreed-upon strategy.

As stated on our website, "Poker is an individual (not a team) game. Any action or chat intended to help another player is unethical and is prohibited".

Unfair play cannot be tolerated on PokerStars. The funds remaining in your account will be used to reimburse players affected by unfair play.

You are barred from future play at PokerStars.

Do not attempt to open another account or play using someone else's account. Any account you use is subject to being closed without notice.

Regards,

Dan M.
Supervisor
PokerStars Game Security


Hello Xia,

Thank you for your email and apologies in any delay in our response to you.

I can assure you that the department in charge of handling such matters is
in possession of your email and will respond to you as soon as possible.
Unfortunately we cannot give you a guaranteed time for this response as all
emails are placed in a queue in order to be fair to our players.

Thank you for your patience and co-operation regarding this matter, it is
very much appreciated.

Regards,

Timmo
PokerStars Support Team




----- Original Message -----
From: xfy5822@yahoo.cn
Sent: 2010/05/06 11:13:03
To: support@pokerstars.com
Subject: 回复： PokerStars Support - Forwarded to Case Manager

> That's your way to treat a winner player in the first place of
Double&Nothing leaderboard? Locked my account nearly three month without any
hard evidence? I guess I have to let as many people know all about this as
I can.
>
>
>--- 10年4月24日，周六, PokerStars Support <support@pokerstars.com> 写道：
>
>
>发件人: PokerStars Support <support@pokerstars.com>
>主题: PokerStars Support - Forwarded to Case Manager
>收件人: xfy5822@yahoo.cn
>日期: 2010年4月24日,周六,下午3:25
>
>
>Hello Feng Yu,
>
>We have forwarded your email directly to the Poker Specialist handling your
>case. They will review your email and respond to you as soon as possible.
>
>Your patience is appreciated.
>
>Regards,
>
>Rinders P
>PokerStars Support Team
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: xfy5822@yahoo.cn
>Sent: 2010/04/24 03:20:22
>To: support@pokerstars.com
>Subject: 回复： PokerStars Support - Your Account
>
>>Hello
>>
>> You guys had locked down my account more than two month.Give me
>some real reason like a few hands to prove I deserve that. I always has high
>respect for your site but it would gone if this thing going any more longer.
>>
>>best regards
>>
>>--- 10年3月25日，周四, PokerStars Support <support@pokerstars.com> 写道：
>>
>>
>>发件人: PokerStars Support <support@pokerstars.com>
>>主题: PokerStars Support - Your Account
>>收件人: xfy5822@yahoo.cn
>>日期: 2010年3月25日,周四,上午12:54
>>
>>
>>Hello Xia,
>>
>>Thank you for your email. I sincerely apologize for the delay in
>>responding regarding your account. Please be assured that we are
>>working diligently on your case to determine a resolution and
>>once we have done so, I will notify you immediately.
>>
>>Thank you for your continued patience in this matter.
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Larry
>>PokerStars Support Team
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: xfy5822@yahoo.cn
>>Sent: 2010/03/22 21:17:25
>>To: support@pokerstars.com
>>Subject: =?utf-8?B?
>>5Zue5aSN77yaIFBva2VyU3RhcnMgU3VwcG9ydCAtIEFjY291 bnQgQXNzaXN0?= =?
>>utf-8?B?YW5jZSAoZm9yd2FyZGVkKQ==?=
>>
>>>Hello
>>>
>>>My account has been frozen more than a month,I don't know what
>>had happened. I've been playing by the rules in the game all the
>>time.Please do this thing as quickly as you can. because every
>>day is very important to me.
>>>
>>>
>>>best regards.
>>> Jane
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>--- 10年2月19日，周五, PokerStars Support
>><support@pokerstars.com> 写道：
>>>
>>>
>>>发件人: PokerStars Support <support@pokerstars.com>
>>>主题: PokerStars Support - Account Assistance (forwarded)
>>>收件人: xfy5822@yahoo.cn
>>>日期: 2010年2月19日,周五,下午10:23
>>>
>>>
>>>Hello Jane,
>>>
>>>Thank you for your email and for your explanation.
>>>
>>>We have forwarded your email to the team responsible for
>>handling this
>>>issue. You will receive a reply as soon as possible.
>>>
>>>Your patience is highly appreciated.
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>
>>>Lyubima
>>>PokerStars Support Team
>>>
>>>
>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>From: xfy5822@yahoo.cn
>>>Sent: 2010/02/19 09:20:20
>>>To: support@pokerstars.com
>>>Subject: 回复： PokerStars: Your Account (Response Requested)
>>>
>>>>Hi Larry
>>>>
>>>> I do not know anyone of them in real life.I am
>>trying to reach one
>>>million VPP points in this year.So eveyday is very important to
>>me.Please do
>>>this thing as quickly as you can.
>>>>
>>>>best regards.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Jane
>>>>
>>>>--- 10年2月19日，周五, PokerStarsSupport
>><support@pokerstars.com> 写道：
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>发件人: PokerStarsSupport <support@pokerstars.com>
>>>>主题: PokerStars: Your Account (Response Requested)
>>>>收件人: xfy5822@yahoo.cn
>>>>日期: 2010年2月19日,周五,上午5:14
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Hello Xia,
>>>>
>>>>Based on a routine review of your account which indicated
>>unusual play
>>>>patterns, we have started a more in depth review of your
>>account and
>>>>play. At this point we must ask that you provide us with some
>>>>information that will help us to resolve this issue.
>>>>
>>>>Please explain in detail your relationship, if any, to the
>>players:
>>>>
>>>>renhe88
>>>>Xiah.G
>>>>wzhongz
>>>>MNBQWE12
>>>>wzem618800
>>>>147222
>>>>chijianli
>>>>xiawenju
>>>>guiliang
>>>>Leaders668
>>>>Psnyls
>>>>yutian
>>>>golovorez777
>>>>hslj001
>>>>maomao1832
>>>>wenpk15888
>>>>coroinpu
>>>>pakerster
>>>>yutian
>>>>linyin
>>>>yangguangze
>>>>rara999
>>>>cjwqq
>>>>DCBM288
>>>>phy188002
>>>>liuli888
>>>>jinse888
>>>>wudiyg
>>>>ellena054
>>>>Xuanyu.L
>>>>chenxr
>>>>flypretty
>>>>nayouyi
>>>>hzlsl
>>>>Gucci53
>>>>Jessica318
>>>>Lazzzzzzy
>>>>Aladin888
>>>>strong arm A
>>>>Degreexia
>>>>suckfirst
>>>>skystory
>>>>microsoft25
>>>>wenpk15888
>>>>freetime1955
>>>>xxwpk168
>>>>
>>>>Your account privileges have been suspended pending the outcome
>>of our
>>>>review. Please respond fully and completely within 48 hours.
>>Your
>>>>cooperation will help to bring the matter to a close
>>promptly.
>>>>
>>>>Regards,
>>>>
>>>>Larry
>>>>PokerStars Support Team

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Barron40]

Interesting.

I have played several games at those stakes but most S-n-G with only a few Double or Nothing games. But I could never win the DoN games. Glad I only played a few of those. But now I have to check.

Thanks cali.

[CaliNaughti]

Interesting.

I have played several games at those stakes but most S-n-G with only a few Double or Nothing games. But I could never win the DoN games. Glad I only played a few of those. But now I have to check.

Thanks cali.

Your welcome. You should see his ROI chart OMG!!! Not sure if this link will take you to the chart but you can try. Scroll way down. http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28/internet-poker/chinese-don-collusion-ring-stars-791760/index3.html

Anyway...check to see if you have ever played with him/them because PS is refunding money back into players accounts.

[Barron40]

More interesting I was reading this blog from a person that was cheated. He received the same e-mail I did a few months ago. I did not get as much back as he did but the e-mail did state the exact same as his and did not mention names of cheaters. Hmmmmmm.

Here is his blog.

http://daleroxxu.blogspot.com/2010/05/49-player-chinese-cheating-scandal-on.html

[Kat]

The only time Stars sends a list of player names is when they are investigating your account. When they send you a e-m telling you you're getting a refund due to collusion I've never heard of them including names of suspected cheaters.

Incidentally, this may be a good time to mention that it is very easy to trigger their anti-collusion software simply by playing a large number of public SNGs and cash games with the same people. They are dealing with a massive amount of data obviously, so when their red flags go off they simply freeze accounts and then investigate. And if they decide that your patterns look suspect they simply take your funds and disburse them to those they feel have been cheated. It's therefore quite possible to have your bankroll grabbed without doing anything wrong other than being careless.

[Peteyweestro]

Sure glad i cant afford those big money SnG,lol that must suck to get cheated by a bunch of chinese munchkins