Posted by
JeVoOOo:
I <3 Pokerstars Support.
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Hi guys,
I just played in this tournament and would like you to look into these two guys at my table. They didn't play a hand against each other from what I can see, they support the same football team, Aston Villa as pictured in their avatars and live in the same town place, of course they both made it to heads up.
Please see screen shots.
Thanks
Joe
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Hello Joe,
Again, thank you very much for your report. Our review of Player1* and Player2* is now complete.
We confirmed a relationship and found that they did go easy on one another (known as soft play) on
occasion. This is a violation of our tournament rule #20 as posted at:
http://www.pokerstars.com/tournamentsrules.htmlWe have the advantage of being able to replay the games with all cards exposed. We carefully reviewed
all events in which at least one of the two finished in the money. As a result of our findings,
players who were likely harmed by the unfair play have been advanced and have received credits
consistent with their new finish position. Because we found reason to believe that they were not aware
of the seriousness of the unfair play, the cost to advance these players has been paid by PokerStars.
You finished 3rd in *T#X behind both Player1* and Player2*. As such we have advanced you
into 1st and I have credited your account with $X to reflect your new finish.
It is not uncommon to find that players are not aware of the seriousness of such action in tournament
play. The overall review, which included requests for explanations from the players and consideration
of all account information, led us to conclude that their action was not malicious. Therefore they
will be allowed to continue playing on the site. That said, we did take action to see that they do not
play in the same Sit & Go Tournaments in the future, or at the same cash game table for that matter.
The integrity of our games is of utmost importance as is fair resolution of situations such as this.
Our primary concern is to assure our players of a fair and secure environment in which to enjoy online
poker. Your vigilance in noticing the situation and reporting your concerns are appreciated. Please
don't hesitate to let us know anytime you have questions or concerns.
Regards,
James H
PokerStars Support Team
