Word on the street is that TheVOid, winner of over $2 million in the WCOOP main event, has been disqualified for entering more than one account in the event in violation of Poker Stars’ Terms and Conditions. The prize money is being reallocated so that all the other winners are bumped one spot further up the pay ladder. That means the guy who took 2nd wakes up with an extra $600K in his account this morning.
Although this doesn’t make me any money, I am tremendously glad to see Stars addressing this issue in such a public way. It’s long been suspected, and in some cases confirmed, that a lot of top players were entering multiple accounts in big events like this. Even if they never end up at the same table as each other, this is obviously unfair to those of us who follow the rules and have only one shot at each week’s Sunday Million.
Most of all, this practice is bad for the image of online poker. This is exactly the kind of thing that recreational players worry about when they consider playing poker online. In the short-term, publicizing the problem may actually scare some people away or ‘confirm’ people’s fears that online poker is rigged, but in the long-term this will hopefully discourage other multi-accounters. And regardless of whether it’s good for our bottom line, even fish have the right to know that this is something that happens sometimes and to make an informed decision about whether they want to play major online tournaments where it might.
This may also demonstrate the importance of other online players speaking up when they suspect something may be amiss. Conversations I’ve had on this subject suggest that players are extremely divided over whether we have any responsibility to share unconfirmed rumors or speculation about multi-accounting. Some are concerned about getting friends in trouble, being labeled snitches, or starting a witch hunt.
But it seems to me this is the only way to fight multi-accounting effectively. The sites have the tools to investigate allegations of multi-accounting, and Poker Stars and even Party Poker have shown they are willing to pursue these investigations and take appropriate action. But their security people aren’t privy to the rumors that members of various online poker communities are, and they have hundreds of thousands of players to monitor. I strongly believe that players have the responsibility to point the sites’ security people towards accounts that need to be investigated.
I don’t know whether that was how TheVOid got caught, but the rumors about his multi-accounting had been circulating ever since his win. Maybe Stars was investigating him already, as I’d imagine they would for anyone who won such a large prize, but it can’t hurt to have players share what they know. In the long run, it’s the only way to maintain the integrity of the game.