If you are part of a poker stable you risk having your funds seized at GGPoker, following a new statement from the site.
GGPoker has banned poker stables from participating at their site. Poker stables are groups that coach and stake large groups of poker players.
Earlier this month Ivan Briskin, CEO of PokerOK (A GGPoker skin) posted on a forum that GGPoker would be banning stables.
This led to a joint statement being released yesterday to clarify:
Joint statement from PokerOK and GGPoker Network
The activities of stables (stables) that systematically violate the rules of the platform (including teamplay, softplay, ghosting, collusion, bumhunting, multi-accounting, collective collection of statistics, notes and mining) must be stopped, otherwise, according to the Agreement on Ecology and Safety updated on April 8, bankrolls players’ stables will be confiscated.
We accept as true that poker is an individual game, and such activities of stables imply the promotion of an attitude towards poker as a collective game, which is contrary to the entire positioning of the GGPoker Network.
Backing of players in tournaments should only take place using the functionality of the PokerOK client on the GGPoker Network. In order to expand the functionality of backing, in the next two months we will implement a function that allows you to see a player’s backers. Stables should not publicly advertise player backing. Backing should be a private arrangement and not a marketing tool to attract more players to stables.
Any stable that violates these rules is prohibited from doing business on PokerOK and GGPoker Network, as well as players associated with them, who may be subject to restrictions, blocking or confiscation of funds.
Part of the vision to ban MDA
Earlier this year Fedor Holz was appointed Integrity Ambassador at GGPoker and set out his plan to ban data mining and mass data analysis from the site. The banning of stables would appear to sync with that vision, given that poker stables are the biggest users of mass data analysis.
It is undeniable that some of the other practices mentioned like ghosting and collusion are carried out by stables. Banning stables would indeed solve many of these problems, but innocent players who are in ethical stables may also be punished.
How would GGPoker discover if a player was part of a stable, assuming they didn’t transfer funds via the site? Some methods beyond the more obvious collusion and ghosting detection include spotting coordinated late registration, chat observers, identical player notes and proof of funds being requested via KYC checks.
GGPoker already has an in-house staking feature which they have stated will soon show who has backed a player for full transparency.
What are your thoughts on this announcement? Let us know in the comments:
