Poker Stars not Regulated?

jerseypoker. · #1 01-27-2006, 04:09 PM

Last night a friend of mine stated that he thought that Poker Stars wasn't regulated by any governing body. We all told him that it couldn't be, but it looks like he was right.

Although Poker Stars random number generator has been verified by Cigital and BMM International, the company is located and is a "registered legal business located in San José, Costa Rica". There about us page says that they "...abide by the laws and regulations where we do business".

Doing a little internet searching I found out that gambling is only regulated in Costa Rica "when people within the physical borders of the country place wagers, or if money is exchanged within the area." What a company like Poker Stars does is block Costa Ricans from playing the games, and as such is not subject to regulation by the Costa Rican government. Weird. I can't believe that such a big site is not regulated.

cardcounter0 · #2 01-27-2006, 04:13 PM

That settles it. I am only going to play on internet poker sites located in, and regulated by, the good ol' United States.

rivered · #3 01-27-2006, 04:26 PM

I thought it's pretty well known that none of the sites are regulated with the possible exception of Crpyto and the UK sites on it.

jerseypoker. · #4 01-27-2006, 04:31 PM

Well I know a majority aren't, but I always thought the top few were regulated (however weak) in some way. Party is a publically traded company in the UK, so there is some regulation there. But Poker Stars being so big, it surprised me that there is no real regulatory body. If they decide to go offline with all the cash, there's no where to go.

Bluffoon · #5 01-27-2006, 04:32 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Well I know a majority aren't, but I always thought the top few were regulated (however weak) in some way. Party is a publically traded company in the UK, so there is some regulation there. But Poker Stars being so big, it surprised me that there is no real regulatory body. If they decide to go offline with all the cash, there's no where to go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Duh

Dunkman · #6 01-27-2006, 04:45 PM

With the amount of money they take in, and their squeaky clean reputation, it's bad business for them to do anything shady. Capitalism is the greatest form of regulation anyway, their not gonna do anything that would cost them money, count on it.

Pokeraddict · #7 01-27-2006, 05:09 PM

Are you really that concerned with Stars running off with your cash? I would be more worried about the sky falling if you are that paranoid.

Pokerstars is moving to Isle of Man (if they havent already) and they are already licensed there.

jerseypoker. · #8 01-27-2006, 05:13 PM

For the most part I agree, but Enron and Worldcom both had great images, and look what happened there.

Pokeraddict · #9 01-27-2006, 05:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
For the most part I agree, but Enron and Worldcom both had great images, and look what happened there.

[/ QUOTE ]

.....and both of them were regulated too. So how does regulation help? Either you trust them or you dont.

Bluffoon · #10 01-27-2006, 05:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
For the most part I agree, but Enron and Worldcom both had great images, and look what happened there.

[/ QUOTE ]

.....and both of them were regulated too. So how does regulation help? Either you trust them or you dont.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would go with a shade of gray. Trust them a little but not 100%. I only keep enough in the sites I play to fund the current limit I am playing and I withdraw the rest.