Poker is a step closer to having a 'blacklist'
GGPoker and PokerStars have both taken measures to ensure online cheaters are not welcome at live poker events.
This year all the talk in poker has been about a global poker blacklist to prevent online cheaters playing live, and vice versa. It seemed impossible because of data protection restrictions, but we are a step closer this month.
GGPoker announced the launch of a Poker Integrity Council (PIC) to investigate cheating allegations, conduct fair reviews and enforce sanctions on cheaters.
Cases brought before the council will be anonymised and reviewed by Jason Koon and his fellow PIC members - Andrew Lichtenberger, Fedor Holz, Seth Davies and Nick Petrangelo. They will be in charge of warning, banning and confiscating the funds of discovered cheaters.
In addition an industry blacklist has been created alongside tours and venues including the World Series of Poker (WSOP), World Poker Tour (WPT), Triton Poker, Poker After Dark, Kings Casino and Asian Poker Tour (APT) .
“I joined GGPoker with an important objective in mind; to help the GGPoker team make their poker games more secure and fair than ever,” said Jason Koon, GGPoker Integrity Ambassador. “It’s an honour to launch the Poker Integrity Council and take another massive step in ensuring online poker is safe for all players. Our long list of allies also means that the wider community will be better protected via the industry-wide blacklist; we’re sending a united message that there’s no place in this game for cheaters.”
PokerStars bans online cheaters from live events
PokerStars have also taken big steps to ensure the safety of their live events. Last week they announced that players banned from PokerStars online for game integrity reasons will not be welcome at PokerStars live events.
Scott Goodall, Commercial Director for PokerStars, commented:
We are open to finding ways to work with other live operators, where it is possible, and with our players and ambassadors, to set an industry standard on this topic. Our ultimate goal is to deter those who do not have the pure love of our game at heart from sitting alongside those who do, by creating an environment that makes it impossible for malintent to exist. PokerStars has always been the reference point for offering a fair and safe game, and we will continue to ensure we keep the bar as high as possible.
It is heavily rumoured that this started at EPT Monte Carlo when Jake Schindler and Ali Imsirovic were reportedly turned away from the High Roller events there.
Do you think this is a positive step forward? Let us know in the comments:
