PokerStars – Is your money protected? A true story.

I started playing at Pokerstars on September 2006, almost 5 years of playing in this site.

In those 5 years I play tens of thousands of tournament, cash game and etc. , never complained to team Pokerstars, and Pokerstars earn from my games thousands of dollars in rake (and I have no problem with it)

I felt really protected in PS, played only in my computer, kept my password to myself, and I felt it's just like a credit card or bank – Protected and Safe.

And than it happened – on the 2.3.2011, when I was working, someone hacked to my account and lost all of my money – maybe it's not much to some of you – 500$, but for me it's a lot – it's money I save for a trip.

I wrote a letter and PS promised to check my games pattern, the way those those tourney played ("chip dumping").

Games pattern – didn’t get any response – But I can prove that I never played 110-215$ tourneys ( not the way to play 500$ bankroll…), or that I don't during working days (I'm at work with no access to play), nor playing heads up tournament (only several times in the last year), nor playing for all my money – in my 6 in stars my account was never close to 0$. PS didn't respond to this issue of gaming pattern.

Security - played only in one computer, I was the only player in this account, and me and only me knew the password (and it was a complicated one).

Chip dumping – PS decided that it was a normal play with no chip dumping. I'll show you some hands so you can decide if it's a normal play:

1. PokerStars Game #58553579162: Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2011/03/03 0:54:12 EET [2011/03/02 17:54:12 ET]
Table 'Wingolfia VII' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: If_You_Must ($52 in chips)
Seat 2: FTPbannedMe ($50 in chips)
Seat 3: dvd34343 ($23.70 in chips)
Seat 4: RampantPanda ($55.25 in chips)
Seat 5: MrPowell222 ($59.75 in chips)
Seat 6: Santila666 ($51.95 in chips)
FTPbannedMe: posts small blind $0.25
dvd34343: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dvd34343 [2s Ts]
RampantPanda: raises $1 to $1.50
MrPowell222: folds
Santila666: folds
If_You_Must: folds
FTPbannedMe: folds
dvd34343: raises $3 to $4.50
RampantPanda: raises $50.75 to $55.25 and is all-in
dvd34343: calls $19.20 and is all-in

2. PokerStars Game #58545950200: Tournament #370615916, $220+$15 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2011/03/02 22:45:15 EET [2011/03/02 15:45:15 ET]
Table '370615916 1' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: kenny05 (1080 in chips)
Seat 2: canbonly1 (1360 in chips)
Seat 3: Jackal69 (3550 in chips)
Seat 4: dvd34343 (1615 in chips)
Seat 5: DDBeast (1395 in chips)
DDBeast: posts small blind 25
kenny05: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dvd34343 [6d 4d]
canbonly1: folds
Jackal69: raises 100 to 150
dvd34343: raises 250 to 400
DDBeast: folds
kenny05: raises 680 to 1080 and is all-in
Jackal69: folds
dvd34343: calls 680

3. PokerStars Game #58549367188: Hold'em No Limit ($0.01/$0.02 USD) - 2011/03/02 23:40:47 EET [2011/03/02 16:40:47 ET]
Table 'Dejan VII' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: sternekind ($0.92 in chips)
Seat 3: dvd34343 ($5.03 in chips)
Seat 4: qzoneman ($0.96 in chips)
Seat 5: Ssp4zm0n ($1.58 in chips)
Acontius will be allowed to play after the button
sternekind: posts small blind $0.01
dvd34343: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dvd34343 [5s 3d]
qzoneman: folds
Ssp4zm0n: raises $1.56 to $1.58 and is all-in
sternekind: folds
dvd34343: calls $1.56

4. Table '370642451 1' 2-max Seat #1 is the button- First hand of the tournament.
Seat 1: dvd34343 (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: Avelongerons (1500 in chips)
dvd34343: posts small blind 10
Avelongerons: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dvd34343 [6s 2c]
dvd34343: raises 40 to 60
Avelongerons: calls 40
*** FLOP *** [As JavaScript Ad]
Avelongerons: checks
dvd34343: bets 60
Avelongerons: calls 60
*** TURN *** [As JavaScript Ad] [8c]
Avelongerons: checks
dvd34343: bets 120
Avelongerons: calls 120
*** RIVER *** [As JavaScript Ad 8c] [Ts]
Avelongerons: checks
dvd34343: bets 1260 and is all-in
Avelongerons: calls 1260 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***

5. PokerStars Game #58548681070: Tournament #370641026, $110+$5 USD Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2011/03/02 23:29:26 EET [2011/03/02 16:29:26 ET]
Table '370641026 1' 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: dvd34343 (1070 in chips)
Seat 2: ThePhenom919 (1930 in chips)
dvd34343: posts small blind 10
ThePhenom919: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dvd34343 [Qh JavaScript]
dvd34343: raises 40 to 60
ThePhenom919: raises 1870 to 1930 and is all-in
dvd34343: calls 1010 and is all-in

6.

PokerStars Game #58546774880: Tournament #370627291, $220+$10 USD Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2011/03/02 22:59:16 EET [2011/03/02 15:59:16 ET]
Table '370627291 1' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: KnutFH (1840 in chips)
Seat 2: dvd34343 (1160 in chips)
dvd34343: posts small blind 10
KnutFH: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dvd34343 [3h Jh]
dvd34343: raises 40 to 60
KnutFH: raises 120 to 180
dvd34343: calls 120
*** FLOP *** [Qh Kh 5d]
KnutFH: checks
dvd34343: checks
*** TURN *** [Qh Kh 5d] [Qs]
KnutFH: bets 150
dvd34343: raises 150 to 300
KnutFH: calls 150
*** RIVER *** [Qh Kh 5d Qs] [7c]
KnutFH: checks
dvd34343: bets 680 and is all-in
KnutFH: calls 680
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dvd34343: shows [3h Jh] (a pair of Queens)
KnutFH: shows [Tc Th] (two pair, Queens and Tens)

By the way – in those hands and tourneys that my account hacked –PS got a rake of 80.5$ , and it never even considered to return the rake…..so they have now 80.5$ of stolen money in their big annual profit.

The official answer of PokerStars:

We would like to take this opportunity to advise you of PokerStars Terms of
Service regarding your responsibility as an account owner. As stated in
section 10.2 and 10.3 under "Security and Your Account":

10.2. The User agrees that he/she is solely responsible for all use of the
Service under his/her Login Credentials and that he/she shall not disclose
the Login Credentials to any person whatsoever.

10.3. The User is obliged to keep his/her Login Credentials secret and
confidential at all times and to take all efforts to protect their secrecy
and confidentiality. Any unauthorized use of the Login Credentials shall be
the sole responsibility of the User and be deemed as his/her use. Any
liability the refrom shall be that of the User.

To conclude this matter, we would like to advise you that PokerStars will
not be liable for funds lost on your PokerStars account. PokerStars will not
be held liable for any losses as a result of insufficient security measures
to ensure that your personal details remain secured.

So, think Twice when you deposit your money at Pokerstars, because you can be a great player and earn a lot of money, but it can be all gone in a second, and no one will help you.

This is my true story,

David