- Following an incident of collusion being discovered on WSOP.com, a player unsatisfied with the resolution is spearheading efforts to change the way online poker operators handle cheaters and their victims.
- Players have gathered at popular poker forum 2+2 to craft and refine revisions to the Nevada gaming regulations that pertain to cheating in online poker.
Following an incident of collusion being discovered on WSOP.com, a player unsatisfied with the resolution is spearheading efforts to change the way online poker operators handle cheaters and their victims.
Players have gathered at popular poker forum 2+2 to craft and refine revisions to the Nevada gaming regulations that pertain to cheating in online poker.
A disgruntled player known as “psasjc” on the forums has lead the effort and has been joined by renowned poker player advocate Martin Shapiro (aka PokerXanadu), who authored his own of draft of a federal online poker bill and presented a substantial response to the consultation on New Jersey regulations.
Fair Reimbursement and Redistribution
Many of the proposed changes concern the mechanism for player reimbursements following incidents of cheating.
Players thought it unfair that no reimbursements were distributed to victims of collusion detected on WSOP.com earlier this year.
In a response to the issue, Seth Palansky, Director of Media Relations at WSOP explained that the distribution of money in cheaters’ accounts was based on state law and not up to the operator.
Cheating Should Have Serious Consequences
The proposed changes to the regulations demand that personal details of cheaters be shared with all other operators licensed by the state regulator, and that all players are informed of the consequences of cheating when they open their accounts.
An option that is available to jurisdictions which restrict play to customers in one state or country, is that of criminal or civil prosecution. Svenska Spel has provided evidence for at least two criminal prosecutions of cheaters in Sweden.
The proposal demands that the Nevada Gaming Control Board hand out regulatory punishments to cheaters, for example banning them from play on all regulated sites.
It also calls for the regulator to make the decision on whether or not to to prosecute those found cheating rather than leaving the decision to operators.
This type of player activism, employed through involvement in the regulatory consultation processes, has the potential to have an impact and attract the regulator’s attention to issues that politicians care little about.
