Party Poker getting desperate?

[chopstick]

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They still have to treat their customers with respect, no matter how many dollars they earn each year.

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Who enforces that?

[darom03]

Ok, I'll tell it as it is then.

I really don't know how I can start this, so that you won't jump at my throat, telling me, I got what I deserved etc. So I am just going to tell it as it is.

I have been a long time member of Party Poker, and had always been satisfied with their customer care and the level of security they provided.

However I am also studying to be a danish journalist, and, interested in poker as I am, I wanted to test how secure the poker sites really are regarding poker-bots.

A couple of friends of mine have told me that they are certain they are playing against bots, so I wanted to see how easy it would be to use a poker-bot on the micro-tables that would make money. Me thesis was: "If I am able to make money off a bot, everybody can do it, and that would be a big problem for the online poker industri that claims that it's very safe to play at their sites. I wanted to write an article about it, to be published in a danish newspaper. and whatever money I would possible make, I would, as a gimmick, donate to a just cause. (although it would only be a few dollars, since it would be tested at some of the smallest stakes, but it would be symbolic none the less)

All this I posted on a danish pokerforum. First off I wanted to hear from people who had experiences with bots and secondly I wanted to hear from people, who feel that they have played against bots. I wanted to get a feel for how widespread the use of bots were, and which sites people felt had the most bots.

That thread boosted a lot of discussion regarding the ethics of the project, and I stated all along that it would be done as a journalistic experiment and not to harm the poker players.

As a journalist I feel that we have an obligation to put things to the test. Be it by writing about someone who does it, or by doing it ourselves.

Then a couple of days later, I tried to log on to my Party Poker account, but I found it blocked.

I mailed them, asking for the reason behind the block, but I didn't get any reply.

Two days later they called me up on my cellphone. An asian sounding guy told me that they had read the danish pokerforum, and that they then had decided, that my intent of breaking any C&C was enough to get me blocked from Party Gaming Inc. He admitted that he did not think, I would play the bot at Party Poker, as I have been very open with the whole project, writing under my screenname and by telling about it in my personal blog. But still, I was banned from Party Poker, and they were refunding the money I had on my account to my bank. They refused however to exchange my Party Points to cash. I should consider them lost, they told me (no biggie, but still weird)

But the question is why Party Poker would go to these lenghts?

I mean, I never stated what site I wanted to try my experiment on, and they even admitted that they didn't think I would misuse my Party Poker account, as I had been so open about it.

So why ban me?

Do they really need to block out any potential bad publicity by banning people from their sites?

Or do a company, that makes yearly revenues in the region of 900 million dollars, need to ban users on suspision alone in order to keep the site safe. Do they not trust their own software or security?

I am, to be honest, a bit puzzled by the whole thing.

I have tried to mail the person that handles press affairs and the support team in generel in hope of an answer, but no responses yet.

Please, before you flame me with the usual "making a bot is the worst... you deserve to go to hell etc." please don't, since that is not the real issue I want to adress here.

The issue is, I believe: They ban me and then refuse to talk to me, refuse to refund my Party Points and refuse to give me a straight answer about why did felt they needed to ban me for something I wrote on a danish poker-forum.

[JCCARL]

This thread is useless without some general information or subject matter that got you into trouble in the first place. This is NVG forum, we need details.

[BluffTHIS!]

They banned you for using a bot, not writing about it. And you aren't entitlted to any points from using a bot since it's against their T&C. And there's nothing for them to talk to you about.

[darom03]

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They banned you for using a bot, not writing about it. And you aren't entitlted to any points from using a bot since it's against their T&C. And there's nothing for them to talk to you about.

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Honestly, I haven't tried to use a bot. I don't even know how to do it yet, as I am swamped with my study (Writing my bachelor as we speak), so no, I have not used a poker-bot.

That's the whole point!

[JCCARL]

WOW. You really missed the boat here dude. You deserve to be banned from Party.

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Or do a company, that makes yearly revenues in the region of 900 million dollars, need to ban users on suspision alone in order to keep the site safe. Do they not trust their own software or security?

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Ban users because they will cheat in the future?

Are you seriously asking this?

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Do they not trust their own software or security?

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I think security performed quite well in your case.
Regards,
Carl

[Nick B.]

I'm glad they banned you.

[Canard]

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Or do a company, that makes yearly revenues in the region of 900 million dollars, need to ban users on suspision alone in order to keep the site safe. Do they not trust their own software or security?


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Their revenues are irrelevant. I completely approve of banning on this basis. If you walk into a bank and tell them you're going to come back tomorrow to rob them, I doubt they'd wait until you did it before taking some pre-emptive action.

[THAY3R]

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I'm glad they banned you.

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[darom03]

My.god.

How can you all say that it's good they ban people for what they write in blogs or forums?

It baffles me...