Collusion at Low Limit on Stars

So last week I sat down at a 5c 10c table and within one round I suspected two of the players of colluding. They were both from the same country and seemed to playin in a manner where the two of them were in a hand with just one other player. Then they would raise up the ying yang on the flop and try to win a pot. If the third player bowed out then all of a sudden they would check it down to the river and you would be amazed at what they had. Oh and they left at EXACTLY at the same time. Well naturally I reported them to Stars and I must say I am rather pleased with the way that Stars handled the whole situation.

First they sent me an email almost immediately letting me know that there was enough evidence to warrant further investigation. They told me it might take two weeks , etc.. Well this am I got an email from stars stating that indeed there was collusion, the players have been banned from stars and they have refunded to me the ill gotten gains. So I get back the money I lost.. but the money I would have won without the collusion is lost forever.. Here is the full text of the email from Stars:

First allow me to apologize for the delay in responding to your report. This
particular case was quite involved and more time than usual was required for the
review.

We have concluded that the play of 'true_wert' and 'Doge5611' violated the integrity of
our games. They have been informed that they are no longer welcome to play on our
site.

In addition, we have 'rolled back' hands in which they won money unfairly and
redistributed the funds to the players who were affected. Overall, you lost $6.05
to these players at the table that you might not have ordinarily lost if they had
been playing fairly. I have credited this amount to your account, so that you will
not have been financially disadvantaged by playing at the same table as them.

The integrity of the games at PokerStars is of paramount importance to us and we
will not abide unfair play in our games. We work hard to police our games to assure
our players of a fair, secure place to play. In the rare cases where violations of
our Terms of Service have occurred we make sure that any players affected are
compensated appropriately.

Thank you for your continued play here on PokerStars. Please do not hesitate to let
us know any time we can be of help.



h

Excellent. I'm glad you got your money back and that the two dirtbags were kicked off Stars. I hate cheaters.

So which Third-World dump were these creeps from? Russia, Vietnam or the Philippines?

Germany... not exactly third world..

Considering it took me all of like 6 hands to figure out they were colluding, I assume that they were :

1) really really dumb

2) really young (when I looked them up on ptr they didnt have many hands)

3) unsophisticated

4) really really dumb

I even wrote in chat that I thought they were colluding and they still stayed at the table. I stayed at the table so that I could get more evidence of what they were doing. One guy who had a weak made hand would either bet or raise and the other who had the better draw would bet or raise the other guy. This would of course squeeze the person(s) in the middle. On one hand I was the initial raiser with AK sooted and they both called me .. Flop came with two to my suit. #1 bet I raised and #2 goes all in and #1 calls and so do I. #1 won the hand with bottom pair of 5s on a J 5 x board and #2 had I think a st draw.. I decided to call because I wanted to see their cards and I thought I had a lot of equity in the pot with the flush and two overs.

I really dont think anyone who is a really good colluder would get caught so easily and so quickly.. I mean it really took me only one round to figure out what they were doing. I am very pleased with the response I got from stars and as players we have to help the sites catch the cheaters.

h

So stupid of them. I'm glad it came to a good resolution for you.

In live casinos, I watch for team play and collusion at the poker tables, but generally don't see much of it. What I do see, though, are two people -- usually a husband/wife or bf/gf sitting together. The guy is usually playing and the woman is seated in a chair behind him, not playing. I don't like people sitting right behind me at the table, especially when they are talking a foreign language between hands. You can do what you want to protect your cards, but let me sit in a chair behind you, and I'll be able to get a peek at your cards. One partner could warn the other with something as innocuous as a cough at opportune times, as a warning.

I also occasionally see one playing partner whispering advice to the other playing partner. I'll usually say something about it to the dealer, who is invariably clueless about what is happening at the table, other than whose turn it is to act. Once in a while, the dealer will issue some lame warning about it, but doesn't do much beyond that. Not much I can do about it other than withholding his tips and complaining to the floor supervisor on my way out.

Glad you reported this and that Stars dealt with the matter. There is a lot of opportunity for collusion online, like this, or in more subtle ways (like softplaying a friend). I'm sure for every incident that is reported and resolved there are 20 more that go unnoticed, but every cheater removed from the game is a plus. It's nice to hear how a site handles these situations when they see them.

Good work...