Resolution of the Stars investigation.

[Buzz-cp]

Teddy,

Glad to hear it got resolved. I still have concerns about Stars, and think that this was handled quickly only because you are a respected 2+2er, and the thread had so much action. I wonder about all of the non-connected players on stars. I don't expect Stars/LJ to post in this thread, as it seems to have become a diplomatic/PR sort of thing which would either help/hurt their image (WA/WB).

Buzz

[MicroBob]

Teddy - Congrats and well done.

Stars - Allow me to add my voice to those who would like for you guys to issue ANY kind of response here.

I haven't read the whole thread. Just scanned through it to read Lee's (or other Stars' rep) response.

I'm extremely disappointed that there has been NOTHING.

An explanation as to how all this happened and how you will attempt to ensure it doesn't happen again IS very much warranted here.


I love Stars. But I might not feel comfortable playing on your site again until I get at least SOME kind of assurance that these issues are being taken care of and that you guys care enough about your concerned customers to respond.


I also think a public apology to Teddy and his Mom would be appropriate here as well.
But just some explanation as to how the hell this stuff happened and what you guys are doing about it would be a decent start.


Thanks.

[Met Knup]

[ QUOTE ]
Teddy - Congrats and well done.

Stars - Allow me to add my voice to those who would like for you guys to issue ANY kind of response here.

I haven't read the whole thread. Just scanned through it to read Lee's (or other Stars' rep) response.

I'm extremely disappointed that there has been NOTHING.



[/ QUOTE ]

1) Stars is always right

2) Unless we're outted on this forum for being wrong

3) But we won't say so publicly

4) because Stars is always right.

[SleepingDragon]

As this whole thing enters a sweetness and light phase, with all the nice people apologizing and congratulating each other, I want to throw in a splash of cold water:

I certainly won't compliment Stars for their resolution of this. Their hand was forced. It has become clear to me that in their current state they wouldn't recognize a bot if it jumped out of a screen and said "byte me." This incident pretty much announces open season for bot writers at Stars I think.

teddyFBI, congratulations on clearing your Mom and on being proven right.

But not on how you handled this. In American Idol terminology "it was a complete and utter mess." Your credibility was questioned because you weren't credible. I was amazed after the original thread had gone on for a long time already when you posted "I would suspect there wouldn't be all that much actionable info in those two anyway: prob just a generic 'security msg' from stars, and her sending whatever log files they requested back. I don't know, I have not seen them." After seeing that, it was no surprise to see your later post "I just received the full array of emails from my mom (there was more back and forth with Jeff, she just had not sent them to me) It was 3:30 in the morning when she forwarded them so I didn't have time to format and post them but I will later today. They are potentially crucial to this matter and a fascinating read".

The picture you'd presented obviously had something wrong with it. I (and perhaps many others) assumed you'd looked at the whole picture before coming out swinging, and couldn't help wondering why you weren't presenting it all. It seemed clear that there was a lot more evidence (one way or the other) somewhere and you weren't presenting it.

I may be boo'd for saying this but teddyFBI, you could have handled this thing a lot better and then it wouldn't have been a soap opera, your good name wouldn't have been questioned, and you'd have spared yourself a lot of heartache. I don't think apologies are owed to you when it is your own fault that you were questioned.

[mayday4379]

I just cashed out a few K out of Stars (its a lot for me). this is just an example that the site can do whatever they choose with my money after I deposit it and stars have proven that they will.

[teddyFBI]

Thanks Bob.
I also thought that a response from Stars here would be appropriate, but just wanted to update the situation based on an email I got from Lee this morning. He says that he does not anticipate making any appearance in this thread, but believes that posting Jeff's apology will give some insight into just what went wrong and how, along with clearing my own name (if there remain any doubters). So for those who are waiting for an official Stars response here, I am afraid you may be out of luck.

At first, I really wasn't planning on posting here the apologies that Stars sent to my mom...I did not think it would do much other than embarrass the parties involved, but I have changed course on this because I now actually believe that it would be doing a service to Jeff to post his email here. He bore the brunt (perhaps rightly so at the time) of a lot of character assassination in the other thread, and the fact that he ultimately owned up to his mistake and apologized in a classy and professional manner deserves to be acknowledged. While there is no doubt that Stars deserves the blame for the initial error, I will be the first to say that if ever there was a CORRECT way to RECTIFY such a mistake, this is it. Own up to it, apologize, and learn from it. Thank you for this, Jeff. So I post here (with Lee's explicit permission, for whatever it's worth) Jeff's email to my mom. From my perspective, this whirlwind matter is now closed.

<font color="blue"> Hello ,

My name is Jeff, Support Supervisor at PokerStars... and I owe you two separate apologies.

First and foremost, I badly mistreated you throughout our Email exchange before Lee Jones received your son's Email. I've been re-reading my messages to you now for the past couple days, and I'm appalled at the things I said to you. I really have no excuse for my demeanor and the arrogance in my writings. That's so unlike me, and I regret that you fell victim to my lapse in judgment. I am truly sorry for the way I treated you.

A second apology is owed for my finding. Upon further review of your records, you are clearly not using a bot. Even I am convinced beyond any doubt of that now. I mis-read certain aspects of the evidence, notably regarding the 43 hour session of play -- I was looking for "sleep" breaks of 6 hours or more, rather than for non-stop play. I was also latching onto similarities between your playing behaviour and that of a particularly clear bot case of past (one in which the bot "plead guilty"). I failed to take into account some other, mitigating evidence as well. I made a less-than-thorough job of it. I expect a great deal better from myself, as does PokerStars. I apologize for the mishandling of the case.

I hope you will accept these apologies. Please rest assured that this case will weigh on my mind each and every time I undertake this sort of review in the future. I have learned a great deal from this experience, and I will not forget for one day how badly I botched this case, nor how badly I treated you.

Most Sincerely,

Jeff
PokerStars Support Supervisor </font>

[smoore]

I'm glad no one h4x3d ur m0m. I was 90% sure it was this sort of problem with a full 70% given to someone she knows... you, your brother, whoever. My apologies, I'm a suspicious fool.

Jeff screwed up horribly. Not so much the mistake but his handling of Teddy's mom and the situation in general. I'd suspend him without pay for a week and put him on probation. If he screws up again, he's gone.

Lee got caught in a classic "leader given misinformation" trap. Managers must sometimes take what thier subordinates give them on faith. We are talking about a nano-limit account. I would like to think that if it were a "real" account that generated hundereds or thousands of dollars per month in rake that there would be some corroboration of Jeff's findings. After this, I imagine there will be.

Sounds like a good rewrite of the brush and floor software is in order, eh 'stars? I play SnG's "stacked" and have a lot of reactive clicks. If your software fails to detect me getting up from a table tuesday night and Jeff makes another mistake wednesday night I may be labelled a bot. I find it hard to believe that mature, production quality software can make this kind of error. Players want resizable windows and skins but they need consistency and fairness.

So... when can we expect this matronly click-machine to be back on the nanos? 'stars should send her a big'ol monitor and one of those nice foo-foo gift baskets. Designer. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[mbpoker]

[ QUOTE ]
It has become clear to me that in their current state they wouldn't recognize a bot if it jumped out of a screen and said "byte me."

[/ QUOTE ]

So you assumed that Stars was using well programmed bots in their security, and were astonished that there were real humans working there who could make mistakes. I agree it's shocking.

[brazilio]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ColdCaller=biggest nit ever

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a difference between being a nit and being factually accurate. I avoided slandering Teddy because his integrity is not in question here, just the side of the story.

[/ QUOTE ]

Coldcaller r00lz, jason_t dr00lz

[UATrewqaz]

Teddy, you should definately go with a new avatar after this incident... might I suggest?