Got My Money Back From PokerStars

[Rockyfour]

INTRO

After a few weeks, I have finally gotten my money back from PokerStars. This has been an absolute nightmare and I implore anyone reading this to reconsider whether you want to do business with them in the future.

Basically what happened, is PokerStars Global had previously banned me for 'responsible gaming' reasons. They stated this decision was made based on my excessive play and a comment on the table I made many months prior stating that I hated the game and playing it was probably bad for my health. Conveniently for them they decided to ban me not after I made that comment, but right before I was about to cash out for a $300 promo which required me to generate $600 of rake. At the time I was playing PLO10 so you can imagine this required a TON of grinding. When I made that comment I was actually a losing player and very fresh to Poker.

Anyways, that situation made me realize that these sites will look at you under a microscope if you are a winning player for any reason to deny you action, as too many winning players is quite bad for a healthy poker ecosystem. Since then I have not said or done anything even remotely disrespectful to any of these sites and thankfully have been able to continue my play mostly unhampered. Up til now.

GRINDING UP THE BANKROLL

PokerStars took over the market for Ontario. They were boasting a new App, new player pool, new website, and that they were fully regulated by igaming. I originally tried to log into my previous banned account to see if I could play as I noticed that very few people seemed to be on the site and thought maybe they would want my action again.

I got a email prompt to create a new account. I did using the same email address as my previously banned account. I then filled out all the information, sent in my ID for verification, and inquired about if there would be any problems with me playing on the site.

I was told everything was good to go. I then deposited $600 on the site. Immediately after depositing $600 on the site, my account got frozen for 'additional security checks'. I thought to myself they probably are going to tell me I can't play and return my money. However that is not what happened. After inquiring about why my account was frozen they sent me an email stating sorry for the inconvenience and that I'm good to go. This freeze lasted I believe 1-2 days.

I was like cool, I can play on PokerStars again. Usually I wouldn't want to play on PokerStars as there were far better options out there, but since Ontario had restricted the market so severely I was happy to have as many sites as possible to choose from.

So I would play on PokerStars when I couldn't find enough games on wsop.ca over about a 4 month period. I grinded up my $600 to $3730 during that time playing PLO25 and PLO50. I believe I dabbled in PLO100 as well for maybe 1000 hands before deciding I didn't feel comfortable playing for that amount of money yet.

I then decided I needed a break from the game. My mentality was drained and every time I sat down for a few minutes I felt like I was going to snap. That was my que to take probably a 2 week - 1 month long break from the game.

THE SCAM

I clicked withdraw, and seconds after clicking withdraw I got a notice stating that my account has temporarily been denied the ability to withdraw or deposit.

I then got an email asking me who 'TenFourGoodBudd' was (my old account). I told them that it was me and waited a few days.

They then emailed me stating that I had previously been banned for 'responsible gaming' reasons and that they were confiscating my full balance. They stated that I was dishonest with the information I used when I created the account. I told them I wasn't dishonest at all, I used the exact same info as the previous account and even used the same email address. They continued to tell me that they were confiscating my money and stating that I gave them misleading information while quoting their ToS.
At a certain point they offered me my initial deposit back which I declined stating that they are going to send me all of it or I don't want to hear it.

I also repeatedly tried to initiate their escalation process for the complaint which is required to do a formal complaint with igaming (the government regulator), and they would continuously ignore my requests and just email me back some cookie cutter email.

I tried to escalate my complaint with chat, and also with the email igaming provided me, and also with there support email, all was ignored.

Eventually after hours on the phone with igaming and explaining to them that I can't escalate the complaint with them because they just ignore all of my requests to do it, they said they would step in and review the case.

I forwarded them all of my emails with them, along with any information I had in regards to this case. At the start of the following week, PokerStars emailed me stating that they are going to pay the $3730. Igaming also followed up and informed me that they had agreed to pay my money.

NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET

I was like thank goodness, Finally I will be getting my money. I honestly couldn't believe it. At this point I really believed these scammers were just gonna just run off with my money and tell me to go F myself more or less. However I still had to deal with a bit more toxicity from PokerStars in a last ditch effort to keep my money.

They sent me a list of ways they could pay out my money. I said okay cool, send me an e-transfer. They emailed me back stating that e-transfer would not work. I then said fine pay me with a direct wire transfer.

They said sorry we are experiencing technical difficulties with that as well, we cannot do that.
I said okay then pay me with instadebit. They emailed me back telling me that wouldn't work either. I said okay well then pay me with paypal. They told me that wouldn't work as well. I said okay well how about e-check? Also e-check is apparently no good.

All that was left was MuchBetter, but to get a MuchBetter withdrawal you need to prove you deposited to PokerStars with MuchBetter. Obviously since I have been banned that is impossible so guess i can't do that one either.

So we have 6 payment methods that I have sent in documents for, and all have been denied lol. You can't make this stuff up. All the documents were fine, they just said it won't work for whatever reason.
I then said whatever, I will escalate my complaint with igaming again and let them know of your new little scam. They then emailed me back saying they can make an exception for MuchBetter and that I don't need to provide proof of deposit.

CONCLUSION

Finally after being hit with every angle shoot under the sun by some clowns from PokerStars who were essentially trying to defraud me, I have had my money returned to me using MuchBetter.

This has been the worst experience I have ever had in my life with a company. I felt like I was dealing with Nigerian scammers (and still do). Just because these guys are doing everything 'legally', doesn't mean that they aren't trying to scam you. I just watched a documentary the BBC put out in the last few days about a group called 'Milton' which are essentially 'legally' scamming people all across the world out of millions upon millions of dollars hiding behind obscure laws and off-shore bank accounts. It's called 'The Billion Dollar Scam' if anyone's interested.

So in closing, I don't recommend anyone playing on PokerStars.

I don't spite anyone for playing on PokerStars, but I think there are better options. I think we all deserve companies to have more respect for their customers, rather than trying to figure out ways to steal from them (or run angles). Just the fact that they think it's okay to confiscate someones money because they previously were flagged as a gambling addict is really messed up imo.

I think my message to everyone after going through all of this would be to consider if it's really okay to let any company behave like this.

Poker deserves better.

 

[G0930]

INTRO

After a few weeks, I have finally gotten my money back from PokerStars. This has been an absolute nightmare and I implore anyone reading this to reconsider whether you want to do business with them in the future.

Basically what happened, is PokerStars Global had previously banned me for 'responsible gaming' reasons. They stated this decision was made based on my excessive play and a comment on the table I made many months prior stating that I hated the game and playing it was probably bad for my health. Conveniently for them they decided to ban me not after I made that comment, but right before I was about to cash out for a $300 promo which required me to generate $600 of rake. At the time I was playing PLO10 so you can imagine this required a TON of grinding. When I made that comment I was actually a losing player and very fresh to Poker.

Anyways, that situation made me realize that these sites will look at you under a microscope if you are a winning player for any reason to deny you action, as too many winning players is very bad for the Poker ecosystem. Since then I have not done anything even remotely disrespectful to any of these sites and thankfully have been able to continue my play mostly unhampered. Up til now.

GRINDING UP THE BANKROLL

PokerStars took over the market for Ontario. They were boasting a new app, new player pool, new website, and that they were fully regulated by igaming. I originally tried to log into my previous banned account to see if I could play as I noticed that very few people seemed to be on the site and thought maybe they would want my action again.

I got a email prompt to create a new account. I did using the same email address as my previously banned account. I then filled out all the information, sent in my ID for verification, and inquired about if there would be any problems with me playing on the site.

I was told everything was good to go. I then deposited $600 on the site. Immediately after depositing $600 on the site, my account got frozen for 'additional security checks'. I thought to myself they probably are going to tell me I can't play and return my money. However that is not what happened. After inquiring about why my account was frozen they sent me an email stating sorry for the inconvenience and that I'm good to go. This freeze lasted I believe 1-2 days.

I was like cool, I can play on PokerStars again. Usually I wouldn't want to play on PokerStars as there were far better options out there, but since Ontario had restricted the market so severely I was happy to have as many sites as possible to choose from.

So I played on PokerStars when I couldn't find enough games on WSOP.ca over about a 4 month period. I grinded up my $600 to $3730 during that time playing PLO25 and PLO50. I believe I dabbled in PLO100 as well for maybe 1000 hands before deciding I didn't feel comfortable playing for that amount of money yet.

I then decided I needed a break from the game. My mentality was drained and every time I sat down for a few minutes I felt like I was going to snap. That is a good que for me to take probably a 2 week - 1 month long break from the game.

THE SCAM

I clicked withdraw, and seconds after clicking withdraw I got a notice stating that my account has temporarily been denied the ability to withdraw or deposit. I then got an email asking me who 'TenFourGoodBudd' was (my old account). I told them that it was me and waited a few days.

They then emailed me stating that I had previously been banned for 'responsible gaming' reasons and that they were confinscating my full balance. They stated that I was dishonest with the information I used when I created the account. I told them I wasn't dishonest at all, I used the exact same info as the previous account and even used the same email address. They continued to tell me that they were confiscating my money and stating that I gave them misleading information while quoting their ToS.

At a certain point they offered me my initial deposit back which I declined stating that they are going to send me all of it or I don't want to hear it.

I also repeatedly tried to initiate there escalation process for their complaints which is required to do a formal complaint with igaming (the government regulator), and they would continuously ignore my requests and just email me back some cookie cutter email. I tried to escalate my complaint with chat, and also with the email igaming provided me, and also with there support email, all was ignored.

Eventually after hours on the phone with igaming and explaining to them that I can't escalate the complaint with them because they just ignore all of my requests to do it, they said they would step in and review the case.

I forwarded them all of my emails with them, along with any information I had in regards to this. At the start of the next week, PokerStars had emailed me stating that they are going to pay me my money. Igaming also followed up and told me that they had agreed to pay my money.

NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET

Finally I was like thank goodness I will be getting my money. I honestly couldn't believe it. At this point I really believed these scammers were gonna just run off with my money and tell me to go F myself more or less. However I still had to deal with some more toxicity from PokerStars in a last ditch effort to keep my money.

They sent me a list of ways they could pay out my money. I said okay cool, send me an e-transfer. They emailed me back stating that e-transfer would not work. I then said fine pay me with direct wire transfer. They said sorry we are experiencing technical difficulties with that as well, we cannot do that.

I said okay then pay me with instadebit. They emailed me back telling me that wouldn't work either. I said okay well then pay me with PayPal. They told me that wouldn't work as well. I said okay well how about e-check? Also e-check apparently no good.

All that was left was MuchBetter, but to get a MuchBetter withdrawal you need to prove you deposited to PokerStars with MuchBetter. Obviously since I have been banned that is impossible so guess i can't do that one either.

So we have 6 payment methods, that I all sent in documents for, that all have been denied lol. You can't make this stuff up. All the documents were fine, they just said it won't work for whatever reason.

I then said whatever, I will escalate my complaint with igaming again and let them know of your new little scam. They then emailed me back saying they can make an exception for MuchBetter and that I don't need to provide proof of deposit.

CONCLUSION

Finally after being hit with every angle shoot by some clowns from PokerStars who were essentially trying to defraud me, I have had my my money returned to me via MuchBetter.

This has been the worst experience I have ever had in my life with a company. I felt like I was dealing with Nigerian scammers (and still do). Just because these guys are doing everything 'legally', doesn't mean that they aren't trying to scam you. I just watched a documentary the BBC put out in the last few days about a group called 'Milton' which are essentially 'legally' scamming people all across the world for millions upon millions of dollars hiding behind obscure laws and off shore bank accounts. It's called 'The Billion Dollar Scam' if anyone's interested.

So in closing, I don't recommend anyone playing on PokerStars.

I don't spite anyone for playing on their. But I think there are better options. I think we all deserve companies to have more respect for their customers than to try and figure out ways to steal from them, or run angles. Just the fact that they think it's okay to confiscate someones money because they previously were flagged as a gambling addict is really messed up.

I think my message to everyone after going through all of this would be to consider if it's really okay to let any company behave like this.

Poker deserves better.

Sooo... If you got it back it's literally no scam just a tricky situation.
Congrats for getting it back

 

[Sunz of Beaches]

Sooo... If you got it back it's literally no scam just a tricky situation.
Congrats for getting it back

It was never a scam. He can ve very happy pokerstars stood up to their mistake (and that was letting him play after verification. They should have seen that he was previously banned) and made an exception in his case.

He will obv never understand or admit that he should have never tried to register again or ask them first because its always the others who are at fault.

So its more easy to go on a crusade to what scammers they are than looking in the mirror first i guess 😄

 

[Dmitriy_rus7]

It was never a scam. He can ve very happy pokerstars stood up to their mistake (and that was letting him play after verification. They should have seen that he was previously banned) and made an exception in his case.

He will obv never understand or admit that he should have never tried to register again or ask them first because its always the others who are at fault.

So its more easy to go on a crusade to what scammers they are than looking in the mirror first i guess 😄

fully agree with you. And they had every right to refuse to pay money.

 

[Dmitriy_rus7]

I am very glad that they went to meet you. I read your previous post, I didn’t write anything there, but for some reason I was sure that in the end they would pay you this money.
I have a pokerstars account since 2012. Believe me, I contacted support many times, they are always loyal with customers and resolve issues very quickly.
In your case, the question is very controversial, you knew that you were banned and still came there again.And still they went to meet you, even though they had every right not to return your winnings. Moreover, you yourself wrote above your deposit of $ 600, they wanted to return you immediately. They immediately wanted you to return your deposit despite the violation. And you say they are bad? This is weird.

 

[Rockyfour]

Sooo... If you got it back it's literally no scam just a tricky situation.
Congrats for getting it back

I got it back because the regulator agreed with me.

Also to the other people who think they had the right to take my money: They didn't have a right to confinscate the money. If they did they wouldn't of been forced to give it back.

 

[G0930]

they had every right not to return your winnings. Moreover, you yourself wrote above your deposit of $ 600, they wanted to return you immediately. They immediately wanted you to return your deposit despite the violation. And you say they are bad? This is weird.

Many including me pointed that out before but he doesn't listen to reason. All he can see is Scam Scam Scam ^^

 

[martinoni]

Ouch this is so weird

 

[G0930]

I got it back because the regulator agreed with me.

Also to the other people who think they had the right to take my money: They didn't have a right to confinscate the money, if they did they wouldn't of been forced to give it back.

You went there despite being banned . Yes they can withhold money in this case .
However , very good for you that they let you withdraw finally .

 

[Gallarado777]

friend only those who have faced such a difficult situation will understand you, because to get through all this how much nerve you need, I understand how difficult it is to communicate with those support and how they send you back here to confuse you and for you to dangle is how much nerve you spend so here who will understand you well done and so congratulations that you got your money back I did not have such a problem with pokerstars but I have 888poker I still suffer from: D everyone is patient but I'm not suffering for money but because they can't verify verification, it's obvious very difficult for them

 

[Dmitriy_rus7]

friend only those who have faced such a difficult situation will understand you, because to get through all this how much nerve you need, I understand how difficult it is to communicate with those support and how they send you back here to confuse you and for you to dangle is how much nerve you spend so here who will understand you well done and so congratulations that you got your money back I did not have such a problem with pokerstars but I have 888poker I still suffer from: D everyone is patient but I'm not suffering for money but because they can't verify verification, it's obvious very difficult for them

I stopped playing 888, which initially seemed very strange to me. they ask me for a photo of my visa to confirm. I just told them GOODBYE🤣

 

[Rockyfour]

You went there despite being banned . Yes they can withhold money in this case .
However , very good for you that they let you withdraw finally .

They can't, that's why I got it back lol. The regulator has ruled in my favor. PokerStars did not give the money back by choice.

 

[Gallarado777]

I stopped playing 888, which seemed really weird at first. They ask me for a photo of my visa to confirm. I just said GOODBYE to them 🤣

here they all asked me for an address payment driver's license they just don't ask for a personal license anymore, although any of these documents are being written I don't know what they will ask for in the future to make sure that I'm also thinking of stopping playing there

 

[Dmitriy_rus7]

here they all asked me for an address payment driver's license they just don't ask for a personal license anymore, although any of these documents are being written I don't know what they will ask for in the future to make sure that I'm also thinking of stopping playing there

complete nonsense. very strange this 888.😂

 

[Gallarado777]

complete nonsense. This is 888 very strange. 😂

I think it's only for our country of Kazakhstan, they ask for all documents so much for verification asked other participants, they say everything is easy to say I don't know, but we suffer

 

[fundiver199]

I think, this was 100 % the right outcome, but I dont think, its fair to call it a "scam". Even OP himself recognize, he should not have signed up again after being banned for "responsible gaming reasons". So PokerStars had no choise other than to close his new account, when they found out about it. They were actually obliged by canadian law to do this. However they were not obliged to confiscate his funds and had no reasonable justification for doing this. So of course they had to pay him his money, which they now finally did. Might have taken a bit longer, than it should, but OP need to accept, that he put himself in this situation to begin with by signing up, even he should have known, this was not ok. Tammy posted the TOS is his original thread, and its pretty clear, he broke them by signing up. So the whole ordeal was easily avoided by frankly just using common sense.

 

[Rockyfour]

To clarify, I would categorize this behavior as being a scam. I would do this based on the fact that I believe PokerStars are using tricks to essentially deprive myself (and others in similar situations) out of money that is rightfully theirs. That is I believe the direct definition of a scam.

If this was a one off incident, I would give PokerStars the benefit of the doubt. But it doesn't take much effort to find countless other examples posted to the internet of people claiming that PokerStars have done similar things resulting in them essentially being ripped off for large sums of money.

Also they didn't try to confiscate the money until the second I clicked withdraw. Literally the second I hit withdraw the process where they attempted to steal my money began.

This to me paints the picture that this all happened by design. This also leads me to believe that someone flagged my account prior, and that they purposefully made the system to only send out the automated email to start the confiscation process after a withdraw in an attempt to freeroll me and the other people who fall victim to this and other similar angles.

These things all lead me to believe this is a legitimate scam. I understand people are skeptical of anyone saying that a big company like PokerStars is running scams, but these people do it all the time.

They have a TV show on Canada called CBC marketplace which specifically calls out these companies for scams. Even companies like Mr. Lube and BestBuy are being called out for running scams on their customers. Sure they use lawyers to beat around the bush and somehow claim that what they are doing is not a scam, but in reality what they are doing results in people getting essentially scammed out of their money.

 

[mssmotilda]

PokerStars can also be understood, you yourself said that this game harms you. And if they did not take any measures, it would threaten them with large penalties. And even you yourself could subsequently sue them and win this process. Therefore, first of all, you yourself and your reckless words are to blame here.

 

[Rockyfour]

PokerStars can also be understood, you yourself said that this game harms you. And if they did not take any measures, it would threaten them with large penalties. And even you yourself could subsequently sue them and win this process. Therefore, first of all, you yourself and your reckless words are to blame here.

This post someone made on another thread sums up the irony in this type of thought process.

"Per our Responsible Gaming policy, to protect you from losing your funds we are confiscating them."

Also 'reckless words' don't let you just steal someones money lol.

 

[mssmotilda]

This post someone made on another thread sums up the irony in this type of thought process.

"Per our Responsible Gaming policy, to protect you from losing your funds we are confiscating them."

Also 'reckless words' don't let you just steal someones money lol.

Do not give up, I think that your money will be returned to you, they just decided to teach you a lesson and as an example to others, because your thoughtless words can cost them a lot!

 

[Rockyfour]

Do not give up, I think that your money will be returned to you, they just decided to teach you a lesson and as an example to others, because your thoughtless words can cost them a lot!

They did return the money. The regulator stepped in and made them lol.

Also thank you for your input and wishing me success in getting the money returned to me!

 

[fundiver199]

To clarify, I would categorize this behavior as being a scam.

Yes but not many of us agree with you on this. It was a bad decision, which was then later reversed. Thats all. And you also made a bad decision yourself by signing up without reading the TOS or using your common sense.

 

[Poker Orifice]

So hang on... we shouldn't play there? I thought we weren't supposed to play on 888poker? Or was that GG.... or ACR?

I'm gonna go get me some of those ez peezy daily leaderboard prizes.

Glad you got your money back!

 

[Rockyfour]

Yes but not many of us agree with you on this. It was a bad decision, which was then later reversed. Thats all. And you also made a bad decision yourself by signing up without reading the TOS or using your common sense.

I understand this is a very hard concept for the people of card chat, but the regulator has ruled in my favor. I have done nothing wrong. That is why I got my money.

It's frustrating to watch people cling onto such anti-consumer and scammy behavior. When somebody tries to rip somebody else off for money, it's always wrong regardless of someones interpretation of ToS. It's sad that these shady companies have hit people with these angle shoots so many times that some people believe it's now somehow okay.

 

[fundiver199]

I have done nothing wrong.

Yes you did something wrong. You signed up, when you were clearly not allowed to. Have you still not read those TOS, which you broke? This did not entitle PokerStars to confiscate your winnings, but its completely ridiculous, that you continue to claim, you were some sort of innocent victim of a "scam". Also why were you banned for "responsible gaming issues" in the first place? This does not happen for no reason, so maybe you should take a look in the mirror and reevaluate, if your relationship with poker is a healthy one. There are many factors indicating, its probably not.