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(CLIFF NOTES) - player X is most likely a bot. He is easy to beat, and plays 20 tables at a time. Three questions come out of my rant below, and are the following:
1. Is this player a bot, and/or what are the chances he is?
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Zero.
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2. Since he isn't very good regardless, is it still my obligation to report him?
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You just did. <grin> My "short" finding is above. My long one is below.
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3. Am I violating any T/Cs if I choose to just follow him around and try to clean him out assuming I don't report him?
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No.
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Here is what happened last night on Pokerstars (Cliff notes):
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You saw a player playing 20 tables, acting slowly (10-15 secs at each one). You chatted him up and challenged him and though it took him a while, he eventually responded.
I believe this is the chat in question. I have edited it to protect the identity of all involved. OP, please correct me if I am wrong about this being the session:
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OP you put down the abacus i see <userID>
OP i appreciate it
.
.
.
OP hah, <userID> - you need to tweak your bot's "crafty" setting
OP alright, this has to be the worst bot ever
P2 Bot? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
OP you dont find the play "odd"
P1 are you aking me?
P2 Uhm, never though of it
OP he can feel free to say "hey guys, im a person"
P3 <userID> = BOTTTT
OP no, was talking to P2
MrX your all morons
OP there you are
MrX i love how stupid these limits are
OP i knew i'd set off the script
P2 Haha
OP its ok
P2 <userID>, how much you winning at these limits?
OP just adjust the default tmer to not take as long
OP he's at 20 tables
MrX indeed...
MrX who cares
OP i tell you what
OP transfer me some cash
OP or maybe i just pop it up on 2p2 and let them figure out
OP hahaha
.
.
.
OP i dont see any transfers
MrX y the f would i do that?
MrX -ev
OP getting your funds frozen = -ev
MrX rofl
MrX k u can try
OP those 2p2 peeps love bot hunting
MrX u arent the 1st
OP ahhh
OP i see
MrX dont give a [censored] if u think im a bot
MrX tell support let them figure it out
OP i really don't care
OP i just wanted you to speed up
OP it was annoying
MrX u obv do...
OP no, dont
OP i really dont
OP because you have not won money
OP in fact
OP P1 has taken like $50 from you
MrX at 1 table...
OP right
OP my table, and i dont like waiting for you to make simple decisions
OP and so far, i'm winning
OP because A. you're now here
OP and B. you sped up your game
OP that is all
P2 Give him/her a break
P2 Playing 20 tables
P2 You said it yourself [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
MrX its not that difficult
MrX unless i gotta pis
OP all - it's over, i just wanted the game to move faster
OP mission accomplished
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Assuming "MrX" is the guy you saw (and I'd go all-in on that), I can assure you with absolute certainty that this player is not a bot. You seem to base your supposition on the fact that he plays 20 tables, and that he didn't answer your chat immediately, but later did so and began acting faster.
Without going into the nitty gritty detail of what we look at to make this determination, your observations are in fact rather exonerating themselves. A player who is playing 20 tables is frequently at the edge of his capabilities, with actions "stacked up", awaiting his input at multiple tables. Such a player rarely has time to chat -- a table pops up, they assess, make a snap decision and move on to the next game.
When he happened to note your chat, he sat out at several tables in order to slow down his decisions per hour in order to talk to you. When he felt the conversation was over, he returned to his full complement of games.
Based upon the proactive bot hunting tools we have, and a complete bot review of MrX, I can say with complete certainty that he's human. Playing 20 tables without chatting is nothing unusual (as 'edfurlong' noted in this thread, there is an unlimited supply of players doing "extreme multi-tabling"), nor is any of the other data we examine as a routine part of bot reviews. This player wouldn't have ever come up on our radar at all, so few flags does he raise (none).
In any case, thanks for your report, OP. Whether you report them directly to
support@pokerstars.com (preferred) or just mention them here, we welcome the opportunity to perform an in-depth examination of any player suspected of being a bot.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Best Regards,
Jeff
PokerStars Game Security
P.S. No "PWNED" followups, please.