The PokerStars WCOOP Scandal
The winner of the WCOOP was TheV0id.
Keyword in that sentence is was.
What’s the WCOOP?
WCOOP stands for the World Championship of Online Poker and it’s an online poker tournament series sponsored by PokerStars. It started in 2002 as the online version of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
So you said “was”. TheVoid isn’t the winner anymore?
TheV0id was found to be guilty of multi-accounting and has been disqualified as the winner of WCOOP 2007 Main Event.
What does it mean to have multi-accounts?
You are only allowed one account per person on most online casino and poker sites. Some people cheat the system by having multiple player accounts and using it to their advantage.
“A single player is not allowed to have multiple accounts,” says PokerStars Poker Room Manager Lee Jones. “We have had (for years now) a dedicated collusion team that catches colluders. We also have software that proactively searches out colluders and multi-accounters. Our team reviews any hits that software produces, plus (of course) any complaints we get from players, reports we read on the Internet, etc. When we find colluders, we close their accounts, confiscate their funds, and restore funds to the victims. We do permit people in the same household to play in a multi-table tournament together at PokerStars (wife/husband, college roommates, etc). However, they can’t play in cash games or sit-and-go’s together. We have software to block that. Furthermore, that couple (roommates, whatever) have to play absolutely independently (as any two players must). We will punish any soft play or chip dumping.”
What do professional poker players feel about multi-accounting?
“It’s a shame that the raw pursuit of money causes people to act unethically, but I think that’s what it comes down to,” says poker pro Shane Schleger. “I talked to many players about multi-playering and was quite surprised that most people didn’t consider it blatant cheating, but rather some ambiguous ethical issue, that the brave new world of online poker is one without ethics or boundaries. I am secretly relieved that multi-playering has been clearly identified as a non-ambiguous method of cheating.”
WSOP bracelet winner and online professional Brett Jungblutt says, “The issue of it being possibly unenforceable is not a valid reason for justifying it. Bottom line is that a man is only as strong as his values, and a society is only as strong as its accepted values, or customs, and I am not prepared to let the very poor and selfish minds of a few players lead to compromising the integrity of our great game.”
“Using multiple accounts in one tournament is 100% cheating. No gray areas,” said Paradise Poker player ambassador Todd Arnold.
Pro David Cossio said about the situation, “For me, this is my job. The one that allows me to feed my family. We cannot let the greed of a few destroy our job. We should do as much as we can to help Internet poker grow. I think a lot of younger players don’t understand this point.”
Has PokerStars released an official statement on this cheating?
The investigation into the WCOOP Main Event has now been concluded.
We have determined, based on the totality of evidence, that the tournament winner “TheV0id” was in breach of the PokerStars Terms of Service.
In the interests of Game Integrity, “TheV0id” has been disqualified from first place.
All other WCOOP Main Event prizewinners in addition to the player who originally bubbled in 415th place will therefore advance one place in the prize pool. The necessary financial adjustments to reflect the revised tournament places will be made within the next 24 hours.
Please note that we are unable to release further details of this investigation, for reasons of confidentiality and privacy.
How did the cheating suspicion of The Void start?
These cheating rumors first started after poker community members discovered that TheV0id had never played in a tournament at PokerStars before this championship and in his first appearance he won the biggest online poker tournament of the year.
Now that’s he’s disqualifed from the WCOOP, who’s the new winner?
The runner-up ka$ino is now the WCOOP 2007 winner and will collect a $1.378 million first prize, which is $530,000 more than what he would have won as a runner-up. TheV0id is now banned from PokerStars.
How does this affect Poker Stars?
Well this obviously is not a great situation for the poker company. Having said that, they handled this situation in the best way possible. They immediately reached out to their players and explained the situation while being completely transparent as to what they planned to do. Once they discovered TheV0id was cheating, PokerStars immediately took corrective action. It’s a tough situation, but they’ve made a great impression on their public relations on this one. Here’s hoping this is the last time we hear about a situation like this.
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I often wondered about this site as well as others. A person can win for a little bit, but then if you get too much money in your account, all of a sudden you go forever without winning a pot….then your account goes to 0.00. In real-life, your cards just don’t do that consistantly.
Why would these motherfuckers not cheat, they do not have a phone nymber , a address, or a complaint dept,….they could steal anything they want
Total junk, theVoid had a ton of real skill. All those complainers on PS who can’t play need to get a life. Also the section “What do professional poker players feel about multi-accounting?” How much of a joke is that, we are talking about POKER here. Everyone of those guys is on the take LITERALLY with at least one and sometimes four or five online poker sites, what did you expect them to say??? theVoid didn’t break a single law just a silly TOS that nobody reads and lost a lot of cash. Look at the trounament history he had real skill. Of course 99.9% of those playing will never have a positive ROI so lets listen to the masses again and have yet another crucifixion, history repeates endlessly etc.
Griffen,
I’ve seen a similar thing with PokerStars. I also know those games can be really tough. I’m curious about your limits and BR and time span.
happens all too many times, you can have a lot of success for a bit, but then bam, you get roadblocked and every single hand gets sucked out, or you get setup against a bigger hand. But in the last month, I have been a very consistent casher and money maker in tournaments on pokerstars. Since September 2009, it has gotten really bad. People are playing hands that NEVER should be played at all and are catching miraculously. And I am talking more so about sit and go’s and tourneys. There’s no way that someone like myself who has an 18% cash ratio in tourneys suddenly drop off to 10-12% without something strange going on. Also have been hearing rumors that card machines which reveal hole cards and the community cards are out there. This is making me question my online playing.
Has anyone heard anything negative about spade club poker. I am just wondering.
-Relim
Like the site very much, thanx 4 your efforts webmasters
Nothing wrong with this, at all, people should get it more.
I have a few sites I go to, but the quality is always the best here!
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
So what site do you suggest someone trust to play at, I am not a high buy in player usually under $10 USD stud H/L Omaha HORSE and Hold Em all fixed is my specialty. I play three to four tourneys a day and usually make money in at least one of the tourneys I play in but integrity is key and I am two hours form the nearest casino
Thnaks in Advance
First of all, the reason for the beats is not anything but due to the crappy programs. There is no such thing as random. They aren’t rigging but the program is such where the cards dont matter, the seat does. On line poker is a joke. No site can claim random like live poker. The fact they take rake representing themselves as “poker” should be called “stealing”. Basically, ur not playing poker, ur playing hot seat cold seat cards. If you ask me, ur just wasting ur money unless ur lucky enough to get a few hot seats in a tournament. Stick to live poker, on line poker is a joke.
I tried PokerStars and it is a joke. I’m done with online poker until someone can perfect it… but that will be impossible. Nothing but live poker for me.
pokerstars its rigged for sure.i have won money there but still i am 100% sure its not random like live poker.same patterns keep repeating all the time… no randomness at all, could write a book about the software patterns that keep repating but wont spend my time talking about this mafia… what i cant understand is why an enterprise that wins sooooo much money isn’t legally regulated, its a joke
pokerstars its rigged for sure.i have won money there but still i am 100% sure its not random like live poker.same patterns keep repeating all the time… no randomness at all, could write a book about the software patterns that keep repeating but wont spend my time talking about this mafia… what i cant understand is why an enterprise that wins sooooo much money isn’t legally regulated, its a joke
Pokerstars are the biggest cheaters themselves. I have played there for years and won a few small things but never anything close to what I should be at even with modest expectations. when I analyze my hands over the entire hand history, I am still under performing however I notice little blips where I have like one really good day and my stats are miraculously back to what would be acceptable, so they basically destroy you for weeks and then overnight its like you can’t miss a hand, and this is random yeah right. Not to mention the hands that call your all in with 7 4 off suit and hit the straight or flush on the RIVER always on the RIVER why? Because pokerstars is run by cheats and thieves, they need to be sued.
POKERSTARS is a fuckin thievin site, they feed themselves with site players and bots, and feed the higher limit players to keep the money going in the drag.. People that say they win are fucn liars…. I’ve talked to thousands in live casino play, and no one will touch the internet site……. Why would POKERSTARS steal… ? Why would you do bussiness with a company that has no address, no phone number, and no complaint department??? They steal at every turn.. Make a withdrawal if you don’t believe. And don’t belive those fucs that say they win on the site , and that you don’t play enough hands,,,, These fucs are paid by the sites… Ussually moderators that are asked to rebuff any negatives they see..What a crock of shit… Sure they have their superstars……but that just to promote the site… Do you really believe drrrrrr can play poker. Come on they gave it to him….He is connected, and has money to piss away..
Honestly I have been playing at this site for close to 6 years now and I have won pretty consistently, and its been enough to live off of. I think two concepts a lot of people don’t understand is that variance doesn’t correct itself within 200 hands (unfortunately). Variance can be a total bitch and even the best players in the world have losing months.
The other concept people don’t understand is “not everyone wins in poker.” Sorry, maybe you just suck, or you haven’t played long enough to turn a bad swing upwards. I’m 25, and I hear out of every 18-20 year olds that they’re the next Stu Ungar. No, you’re not. And not everyone is profitable.
Ready for it? Just because you LOSE at poker doesn’t mean online poker is rigged, cheating, or any else of the aforementioned (in comments). The fascinating thing is most people that claim its rigged haven’t even lost more than $1000 (in some cases perhaps $10 at penny tables).
Just because you go to a live poker game and take a bad beat, that means the dealer and player are clearly conspiring against you, right?