- Players are preparing a petition to the UKGC to change the technical standard which prohibits the automated rebuy and top-up features in the poker client.
- The stated aim of the rule is not consistent with the feature as used by poker players, in that enabling automatic top-ups does not encourage problem gambling behaviors.
The devil in the detail of the UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) new regulations became apparent when PokerStars explained that UK players would not be able to use the automated rebuy and top-up features in the poker client.
The application of a technical standard has resulted in the loss of a facility of great value for online poker players, the players argue. Just days after the announcement, poker players are preparing to present a petition to the UKGC to create an exemption from the rule for online poker.
The Remote Technical Standard 14 has the stated aim:
Gambling products must not actively encourage customers to chase their losses, increase their stake or increase the amount they have decided to gamble, or continue to gamble after they have indicated that they wish to stop.
To this end, the standard states that “the amount of funds taken into a product should not be topped up without the customer choosing to do so on each occasion, e.g. when a customer buys-in at a poker table they should have to choose to purchase more chips to play at the table – automatic re-buys should not be provided.”
Rule Puts UK Players at a Disadvantage
Players argue that the rule designed to prevent operators from encouraging players to gamble more does not take into account the role automated top-ups play in the strategy of online poker. At a cash game table, automated top-ups can be enabled by the players to ensure that their stack size remains at a minimum level that they specify.
The size of a players chip stack greatly impacts the strategy a player uses at the poker table. Allowing a chip stack to fall below the maximum changes the strategy involved in playing a particular hand. While on its face this situation may seem to involve a different strategy, and not a less optimal strategy, the implementation of the rule may have some unintended consequences.
Having a standardized stack size at the beginning of each hand allows an online poker player to make better decisions more easily and in less time, which in turn allows the online player to play more tables without exceeding the time allotted to make a decision.
Having to evaluate each decision in an online cash game based on an increasing diverse number of starting stacks puts the UK player at a “significant disadvantage [...] compared to the non UK players who do not face this complication,” according to a post by Richard Richardson on the Two Plus Two forums.
Players enable the option to top off their stacks in order to maximize their chances of winning, not as a result of the problem gambling behaviors described in the UKGC’s aim for the technical standard.
Online Petition
Richardson, who is organizing the petition on the 2+2 poker forums, is a player advocate who contributed to the UKGC consultations which led up to the new regulations that will come into force on October 1.
He argues that “the example used does not result in the loss of decision making and gambling control that this rule is designed to address.”
Richas has prepared a variation on the text of the technical standard. He has posted the text and asked for comments and amendments from other players, prior to sending it to the UKGC.
Fellow player advocate, Martin Shapiro, posting as PokerXanadu on Two Plus Two, suggests the petition clearly state: “Auto top-ups in poker cash games are a method for a players to maintain a level wagering fund for optimum game strategy, and not in themselves auto-wagering within the game.”
Auto top-ups in poker cash games are a method for a players to maintain a level wagering fund for optimum game strategy, and not in themselves auto-wagering within the game.
