Fulltilt froze my account with 47 grand in it

[shahmat]

These sites have way too much control over what they can and cannot do with our funds. There is no accountability and their decisions are always final. There should be 3rd party company who handles situations like this, or at least a company based somewhere where we as players have rights. Back when I lost over 40K on Full Tilt they told me that my comp was compromised and that someone did access my account and dump all the funds but there was nothing they could do. Their word is always law and it really frustrates me, I've had money frozen on Ongame as well without even getting an email about it. My situation with Ongame worked out but it was very frustrating. I hope everything turns out ok for you.

[PartyGirlUK]

Given their existing revenues it is strongly in FT's best interests not to confiscate funds without extremely good reason. I am confident they will do the right thing here.

[Pyrosis]

[ QUOTE ]
These sites have way too much control over what they can and cannot do with our funds. There is no accountability and their decisions are always final. There should be 3rd party company who handles situations like this, or at least a company based somewhere where we as players have rights. Back when I lost over 40K on Full Tilt they told me that my comp was compromised and that someone did access my account and dump all the funds but there was nothing they could do. Their word is always law and it really frustrates me, I've had money frozen on Ongame as well without even getting an email about it. My situation with Ongame worked out but it was very frustrating. I hope everything turns out ok for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're right. Sites shouldn't control what you do with your own money and I don't think most sites do. They haven't confiscated the funds yet, the funds are most likely just sitting in the account awaiting a resolution one way or another.

One recommendation I can make to OP to expedite the investigation is to speak with your lawyer and perhaps issue an official legal letter stating that immediate action needs to be taken by Full Tilt Poker to reopen the account. If it is one thing that I have learned from many years as a CS manager, it is that poker sites do not enjoy receiving threats of legal action against the sites. It should give more than enough incentive for Full Tilt to finish off the case, or at the least to give better communication as to what is going on with the account. I would recommend this to all players if you feel you are being treated unfairly and poorly by any site's policies when they are holding your account under suspension and you have no idea why.

[sillysal]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
These sites have way too much control over what they can and cannot do with our funds. There is no accountability and their decisions are always final. There should be 3rd party company who handles situations like this, or at least a company based somewhere where we as players have rights. Back when I lost over 40K on Full Tilt they told me that my comp was compromised and that someone did access my account and dump all the funds but there was nothing they could do. Their word is always law and it really frustrates me, I've had money frozen on Ongame as well without even getting an email about it. My situation with Ongame worked out but it was very frustrating. I hope everything turns out ok for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're right. Sites shouldn't control what you do with your own money and I don't think most sites do. They haven't confiscated the funds yet, the funds are most likely just sitting in the account awaiting a resolution one way or another.

One recommendation I can make to OP to expedite the investigation is to speak with your lawyer and perhaps issue an official legal letter stating that immediate action needs to be taken by Full Tilt Poker to reopen the account. If it is one thing that I have learned from many years as a CS manager, it is that poker sites do not enjoy receiving threats of legal action against the sites. It should give more than enough incentive for Full Tilt to finish off the case, or at the least to give better communication as to what is going on with the account. I would recommend this to all players if you feel you are being treated unfairly and poorly by any site's policies when they are holding your account under suspension and you have no idea why.

[/ QUOTE ]

I appreciate your post as well as those who have posted in hopes of helping me find a solution. I believe it is time to make a change in the way Poker sites have dealt with situations similar to this one. Don't get me wrong, I understand the sites have a responsibility to the players, and that protection of all players should be paramount. The way it's being done now, is just wrong.

Perhaps, we as a community can find a way to make communication a two way street. Maybe an outside unbiased auditiong company. Maybe a phone line where we could actually talk to a live person, as bouglas suggessted. This would help assuage the stress level of a person who is in this position. I'm throwing it out to you all.

Clearly , there have been situations where a site has frozen an account. This person was left in the dark from days to up to 6 weeks. Only to have their account reinstated with no explanation and then expected to resume playing as if nothing ever happened.

If it were that easy to get my lawyer to write a letter, I would do it in a heartbeat. As the sites are not on American soil, American lawyers have no jurisdiciton. I'm a poker player, not a law student so if I'm off base here,let me know.

It is my understanding that I have 2 options. Either I sit and wait till the site contacts me, or I contact the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. I know nothing about the latter. For all I know , they are controlled by the sites, in which case, I'm back to square one.

Has anyone , for whatever reason, contacted the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. If so, why and what was the outcome.

I am not big on regulation, but I do believe that from the tone of these posts that we all are ready for some kind of structure. Situations like mine are only going to increase.

While I'm not a big fan of our current administration, I know that if this situation happened on US soil, I would not be treated like I live in a 3rd world country.

[Dorothy Mantooth]

[ QUOTE ]
I too would be curious how you know that this player is on 2 accounts.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pretty obvious he lost to 2 people this week, they must be the same account.

[Wilco666]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
These sites have way too much control over what they can and cannot do with our funds. There is no accountability and their decisions are always final. There should be 3rd party company who handles situations like this, or at least a company based somewhere where we as players have rights. Back when I lost over 40K on Full Tilt they told me that my comp was compromised and that someone did access my account and dump all the funds but there was nothing they could do. Their word is always law and it really frustrates me, I've had money frozen on Ongame as well without even getting an email about it. My situation with Ongame worked out but it was very frustrating. I hope everything turns out ok for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're right. Sites shouldn't control what you do with your own money and I don't think most sites do. They haven't confiscated the funds yet, the funds are most likely just sitting in the account awaiting a resolution one way or another.

One recommendation I can make to OP to expedite the investigation is to speak with your lawyer and perhaps issue an official legal letter stating that immediate action needs to be taken by Full Tilt Poker to reopen the account. If it is one thing that I have learned from many years as a CS manager, it is that poker sites do not enjoy receiving threats of legal action against the sites. It should give more than enough incentive for Full Tilt to finish off the case, or at the least to give better communication as to what is going on with the account. I would recommend this to all players if you feel you are being treated unfairly and poorly by any site's policies when they are holding your account under suspension and you have no idea why.

[/ QUOTE ]

I appreciate your post as well as those who have posted in hopes of helping me find a solution. I believe it is time to make a change in the way Poker sites have dealt with situations similar to this one. Don't get me wrong, I understand the sites have a responsibility to the players, and that protection of all players should be paramount. The way it's being done now, is just wrong.

Perhaps, we as a community can find a way to make communication a two way street. Maybe an outside unbiased auditiong company. Maybe a phone line where we could actually talk to a live person, as bouglas suggessted. This would help assuage the stress level of a person who is in this position. I'm throwing it out to you all.

Clearly , there have been situations where a site has frozen an account. This person was left in the dark from days to up to 6 weeks. Only to have their account reinstated with no explanation and then expected to resume playing as if nothing ever happened.

If it were that easy to get my lawyer to write a letter, I would do it in a heartbeat. As the sites are not on American soil, American lawyers have no jurisdiciton. I'm a poker player, not a law student so if I'm off base here,let me know.

It is my understanding that I have 2 options. Either I sit and wait till the site contacts me, or I contact the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. I know nothing about the latter. For all I know , they are controlled by the sites, in which case, I'm back to square one.

Has anyone , for whatever reason, contacted the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. If so, why and what was the outcome.

I am not big on regulation, but I do believe that from the tone of these posts that we all are ready for some kind of structure. Situations like mine are only going to increase.

While I'm not a big fan of our current administration, I know that if this situation happened on US soil, I would not be treated like I live in a 3rd world country.

[/ QUOTE ]
Maybe you should just quit playing on a site with substandard customer service.

[Johny Poker]

Well, a few comments about jurisdiction. An internet web site which is accessible in a certain forum can be subject to personal jurisdiction in the forum even when the web site has no physical presence in the forum or even in the US. This gets a little complicated, but to make a long story short, a web site doing business with residents of a particular forum entering into contracts with the repeated transmission of computer files over the internet will likely to be found by a court in that forum to be subject to personal jurisdiction of the court. It is likely that a court in your state would hold that it had personal jurisdiction over FTP based on your situation. So a letter from an attorney may have some significant affect. A suit over defrauding a player over a substantial sum could have severe adverse consequences, including bad publicity and the threat of US government crackdown. This is the last thing they want.

That being said, your lawyer may advise you not to take such action for other reasons. If FTP does not resolve this, you may want to talk to an attorney.

This is not legal advice, although I can point you to cases on personal jurisidction conferred by web sites if you want more info.

[sillysal]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, a few comments about jurisdiction. An internet web site which is accessible in a certain forum can be subject to personal jurisdiction in the forum even when the web site has no physical presence in the forum or even in the US. This gets a little complicated, but to make a long story short, a web site doing business with residents of a particular forum entering into contracts with the repeated transmission of computer files over the internet will likely to be found by a court in that forum to be subject to personal jurisdiction of the court. It is likely that a court in your state would hold that it had personal jurisdiction over FTP based on your situation. So a letter from an attorney may have some significant affect. A suit over defrauding a player over a substantial sum could have severe adverse consequences, including bad publicity and the threat of US government crackdown. This is the last thing they want.

That being said, your lawyer may advise you not to take such action for other reasons. If FTP does not resolve this, you may want to talk to an attorney.

This is not legal advice, although I can point you to cases on personal jurisidction conferred by web sites if you want more info.

[/ QUOTE ]

Johny Poker.... Thanks so much for that info. If this does not get resolved shortly, if you don't mind, I will be contacting you. Thanks for your post.

[Rek]

We are only hearing a one-sided argument here and don't really know what is being investigated. If this involves a complex chain of events then 2/3 weeks to investigate is not unreasonable.

sillysal, I don't know you but others here obviously do. It sounds, from what you are saying, that you are innocent of any wrongdoing. If that is the case then I hope this gets resolved for you as soon as possible. That said, the sites need to ensure the honesty of their games (would anyone be objecting to Absolute having blocked accounts in their recent scandal?).

The real issue for me is the customer service and this is where Stars excel. The sites can't give out too much information as to what is being investigated for obvious reasons. But keeping you updated on realistic timescales would go some way to allieviating people's concerns.

IMHO firing off solicitors letters at this early stage would achieve nothing except costing you money. They will still complete their investigation.

Surely nobody here is suggesting that FTP is trying to rip sillysal off. She has been an excellent customer to them over a number of years. They would hate to see her go - even so, something is amiss and they want to get to the bottom of it and personally I am ok with that.

sillysal, I sincerely hope they sort this out for you as soon as possible but the timescales at the moment are not unrealistic considering the complexities that may be involved. FTP's lack of information as to how long this is going to take is not right however.

I can understand that FTP do not want to publish phone numbers because they would be innundated with all sorts of minor issues. However, for something serious like this I cannot see why they cannot telephone the player and speak direct, keeping their number confidential.

[El_Hombre_Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, a few comments about jurisdiction. An internet web site which is accessible in a certain forum can be subject to personal jurisdiction in the forum even when the web site has no physical presence in the forum or even in the US. This gets a little complicated, but to make a long story short, a web site doing business with residents of a particular forum entering into contracts with the repeated transmission of computer files over the internet will likely to be found by a court in that forum to be subject to personal jurisdiction of the court. It is likely that a court in your state would hold that it had personal jurisdiction over FTP based on your situation. So a letter from an attorney may have some significant affect. A suit over defrauding a player over a substantial sum could have severe adverse consequences, including bad publicity and the threat of US government crackdown. This is the last thing they want.

That being said, your lawyer may advise you not to take such action for other reasons. If FTP does not resolve this, you may want to talk to an attorney.

This is not legal advice, although I can point you to cases on personal jurisidction conferred by web sites if you want more info.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. But one thing I would point out is that in a few states online poker is probably illegal, unlike the majority of states where it is probably legal with the DOJ claiming it is illegal. If you are in a "probably illegal" state, that could impact you as well.