PokerStarsi tänane ametlik avaldus Jens Kyllöneni juhtumi asjus
PokerStarsi Pokkeri Kommunikatsioonijuht Lee Jones avaldas hetk tagasi 2+2-s ettevõtte poolsed detailid, mis peaks leevendama pahameelt ja andma vastused teemas esile kerkinud küsimustele.
Hi folks -
This thread relates to issues that are important to poker players, so it’s important to PokerStars. While this is our first comment in this particular thread, we do read a large volume of player comments on 2+2. Since first becoming aware of this issue, we have made various comments on 2+2, and replied to inquiries from various media outlets and emails sent directly to PokerStars.
Why PokerStars said twice that local Spanish police were involved, when they were not
One of the key issues in this thread is why PokerStars said publicly (on 2+2) and privately (in conversation with Jens) that the Spanish police had been notified during EPT Barcelona. We said those things because, at the time, we thought that they were true.
As Jens has said in his posts on here, there was a meeting involving him; another player; our Director of Live Events; and our Live Events Security Manager. During that meeting, Jens advised our staff that he wanted the police to be called. As he will recall, our Live Events Security Manager left that meeting to make this happen. The manager went directly to the hotel staff and asked them to call the police.
Our Live Events Security Manager understood clearly from the hotel’s representative that the hotel would then contact the police. Indeed, our Live Events Security Manager reported this back to Jens in Barcelona, specifically referring to a special division of the Spanish national police. Confident that the police had been called, the Security Manager also reported this to other senior PokerStars management, including myself, who posted this news in the thread.
We later discovered that the hotel did not contact the police as requested. We do not know why the hotel did not do so but we deeply regret our failure at the time to follow through and ensure that it did. This was a mistake, and we will work hard to avoid similar mistakes in the future. When we discovered it, we directly notified Jens.
PokerStars’ liability and responsibility in these kinds of situations
As our players and many members of the 2+2 community can attest, PokerStars exercises deep and wide authority on all matters related to play on our sites and within the confines of the tournament floor during our Live Events. Outside these environments our responsibility and jurisdiction is much more limited.
When these worlds collide, there’s even more complexity. For instance, under various European data protection laws, it is illegal for us to publicly identify the names or User IDs of people who are alleged to have breached our Terms of Service.
We have previously obtained legal advice on this very issue and our lawyers advised us that we cannot publicly disclose names or other personally-identifying information in the context of fraud on PokerStars (or elsewhere).
At the same time, we are under no legal obligation to report suspected fraud to outside authorities. In this case, however, not only did we report activity that we believed might be related to the incident involving Jens, but – as Jens related – one of our security officers spent two weeks compiling an extensive report and evidence to provide to the appropriate authorities.
As it relates to publicly disclosing our efforts in this case, as a general rule, PokerStars does not publicly comment where we do not have anything substantially new to contribute. We have previously commented publicly that we have supported the relevant law enforcement agencies in their investigation of the issues. PokerStars is not a law enforcement agency, and does not have the power to arrest or prosecute individuals who are suspected of criminal activities. Thus, throughout this period, we have compiled information and reported it to our local law enforcement authorities (the Isle of Man Police) as they have a specific unit which deals with international sharing of such information. Furthermore, they are the appropriate authorities for us to contact and inform.
We have received written confirmation that IOMP has received our report and has referred it on to police authorities in other relevant jurisdictions. PokerStars is very keen that matters be formally investigated by the appropriate police force(s); however, clearly we cannot influence any police investigation decisions anywhere and can do no more than offer full and continuing support to any formal investigation.
Allegations of PokerStars staff involvement in fraud against players
We understand that the failures to contact Spanish police have caused some players to speculate that PokerStars, or some of its staff, must have a motive for doing so. It has even been speculated that PokerStars staff might have been involved in what happened to Jens at EPT Barcelona. PokerStars deeply regrets this inference. Within a few hours of even the first suggestion on 2+2 that there might be involvement of PokerStars staff in inappropriate behavior, our Director of Internal Audit and Security was made aware of the situation, and has continued to monitor the issue. We are aware of no evidence that suggests any involvement by PokerStars staff in this allegedly criminal behavior but if any is presented we will investigate it.
What PokerStars is doing to reduce the risk of this happening again in the future
PokerStars recognizes that high stakes poker players (like any other group of people making significant financial transactions on the Internet) are attractive targets for fraudsters. While players are responsible for their own personal security and personal computer security, PokerStars actively works to reduce the risk of PokerStars players being harmed. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Increasing player awareness of the risks of this sort of fraud. This includes providing brochures at EPT events on practicing good computer security, and providing advice to players who contact us.
- Reviewing suspicious activity and play that takes place on PokerStars.
- Investigating every case of alleged fraud of this sort. Indeed, to our knowledge, PokerStars is the only online poker operator to have detected and provided refunds to players who were victims of such activity in the past.
- Compiling a significant dossier to identify likely suspects and providing this information to law enforcement agencies.
I hope this helps to address the concerns expressed here and gives greater clarity as to what we have done, why we have done it and why we can’t disclose much of what we believe.
Best regards,
Lee Jones
PokerStars Head of Poker Communications
Maailma suurim pokker ka Eestis
Mängi maailma suurimas GGPokeris läbi OlyBeti. Konto avamisel saad tervituseks tuhat dollarit (umbes 900 eurot) pokkeriboonust. Boonuse saab kohe, sissemakset ei ole vaja teha.
Võta boonus siitKui mängid läbi LÄBI SELLE VIITE ja kasutad boonuskoodi CAS25 ning teed €25 sissemakse, saad lisaks mängida €25 eest slotimänge riskivabalt ja kui €25 eest mängitud, siis ka €10 kontole niisama.
