I funded an account at Global Poker this morning with $20.

I played a few hands before I suspected I was playing bots. I typed something in the message box and nobody replied.

I won a couple bucks.

And I decided it was time to get away from Global Poker until I could find out more.

When I went to cash out, my account balance was $18.6

Whether I was playing bots or not, I don't know. So I am not saying that Global Poker has bots. I said I suspected that. But I don't want to be starting or spreading rumors.

You don't want to be spreading rumors and yet here you are. Anyway, if you play using your mobile device, you won't have the chat option available.

You lost a $1.40 and nobody replied to you in the chat box? Well I think it's pretty clear that you were at a table full of bots and globalpoker must be infested with them. Stay on the case, gather as much evidence as possible, and let us know what you find.

This is wise OP. best way to prevent rumors is to discuss the possibility of the circumstances that would become the rumors.

What hands led you to this conclusion? Surely you realize that when someone just joins the forum and makes a post like you did that you quickly amass zero credibility and will probably be roasted as long as the thread remains unlocked.

If someone accused me of being a bot while I played....I would become as systematic as I could possibly be. All action at the exact same clock time, etc...

No one replied....seems more like proof that no one wanted to talk with you than they were bots. Not to bust a bubble or anything, but you realize that Global is only US and Canada friendly? They are not the most notorious nations for bots.

Welcome to the forum, look forward to more insightful contributions.

Nice first post detective

You lurked for almost 5 years and this was the best you've got? #FirstPostFail

Actually, as I said in the post, I won a couple bucks playing whatever I was playing.

But when I went to withdraw, my balance was $18.6 Global Poker apparently has a high rake percentage.

I think I was pretty clear about my not knowing whether I was playing bots or not.

I thought it was pretty weird that the tables at Ignition were pretty much empty, but Global Poker was wide open, rocking.

Look, since then they have sent me the following email regarding my withdrawal request.


Hello -----,

Thank you for your recent cash out request. To complete the request, we require some additional information from you.

As part of our efforts to keep our customers' accounts safe, we will need customers cashing out for the first time to complete a one-time identity verification process. Once completed, your cash out requests moving forward shall be processed automatically.

For this one time, we require that you send us verification documents clearly showing the following information:

1. Photo proof of identification - this should be a government issued ID, showing your complete name, proof of age and physical address, such as a passport, driver's license or national / State ID.

AND

2. Proof of address - this can be any of the following: utility bill, notarized agreement form for a lease, bank statements, medical insurance or a computer generated Payroll document

We look forward to processing your cash out immediately but in order for us to do this, please ensure you send us clear copies of your documents.

Should you have any questions, please contact our customer service team at support@globalpoker.com and we'll be glad to assist you anytime.

We thank you for playing at Global Poker!

Regards,
Global Poker Customer Service

I have posted before now in the probability forum. It was a couple of years ago.

I don't know what to make of these responses. I was basically looking for feedback.

Look, I don't know if I am wrong or not about the bots: Nobody has denied Global Poker uses bots.

I was hoping somebody might say that my concerns about Global Poker are without any foundation, and that Global Poker is a trustworthy outfit. I mean, I had rather be wrong about Global Poker.

This email from Global Poker leads to even more questions. I don't think they need a picture ID and a statement with my street address to make withdrawal.




Hello -----,

Thank you for your recent cash out request. To complete the request, we require some additional information from you.

As part of our efforts to keep our customers' accounts safe, we will need customers cashing out for the first time to complete a one-time identity verification process. Once completed, your cash out requests moving forward shall be processed automatically.

For this one time, we require that you send us verification documents clearly showing the following information:

1. Photo proof of identification - this should be a government issued ID, showing your complete name, proof of age and physical address, such as a passport, driver's license or national / State ID.

AND

2. Proof of address - this can be any of the following: utility bill, notarized agreement form for a lease, bank statements, medical insurance or a computer generated Payroll document

We look forward to processing your cash out immediately but in order for us to do this, please ensure you send us clear copies of your documents.

Should you have any questions, please contact our customer service team at support@globalpoker.com and we'll be glad to assist you anytime.

We thank you for playing at Global Poker!

Regards,
Global Poker Customer Service

Thank you.

Have you ever played at Global Poker? I mean, do you think my concerns are silly?

Have you ever made a withdrawal from Global Poker?

Look, I don't have any interest in arguments or anything like that. I'd really like to know what people here on the forum think about Global Poker.

Nobody has stood up for them.

Some people seem to be upset about what I typed. I am sorry about that as I have no interest in offending anybody on this forum.

I've played every day for the past few weeks and I haven't seen anything shady or made me think they were bots. I very rarely see anyone post in the chat.

Of all the forums on the internet, I thought this was the best place to take my concerns. And yes, I did say I don't want to be spreading rumors and that I really don't know that they were bots.

Yes, I believe I may have been playing bots.

I was not on a mobile device.

I went to several tables and tried to get somebody to respond but I never got any response. I thought that was unusual.

I also thought it was unusual that the tables at Ignition were pretty much empty, but the tables at Global Poker seemed full.

Have you ever played at Global Poker? I would like to know your experience. If you experience at Global Poker leads you to believe that what I have typed is absurd, I would like to know that, seriously. I don't have interest in arguing.

Of course, you have the right to say anything you like in response to my post. But if you have any experience at Global Poker--that is what I am interested in hearing about.

I am really surprised by all the responses from this thread, some from people who have been here quite awhile, apparently. I'd like to hear what those people think of Global Poker.

It's fine to call me names, whatever, to say I have no credibility--I don't think I have any credibility regarding this either. But I am not out to convince anybody of anything. I am trying to find something out.

Thanks. I don't know what to make of my experience this morning.

At the time I went to Global Poker, the tables at Ignition were pretty empty. But there was plenty of action at Global Poker. I thought they might be there to fill in or something. I didn't know and don't know. I didn't think they played very well--whatever it was there at Global, I had rather play those opponents than regulars. I played only a few hands, but I didn't think the opponents were very good at all.

Expect the play here to be very very wide open. In fact, you may wear grooves in the side of your head from all the scratching when you see people calling down with low pair, calling reraises with a 5 high flush, and that is just the hold 'em games. The daily PLO games....there are no words to explain some of the players. I've seen people call re-pot bets with disjointed rainbow hole cards. Clueless is the word that comes to mind. I think many play FB poker or some other play money site and transitioned to Global. The higher buyins seem to be far closer to poker, but the $5 and under games....mind boggling/numbing at times.

Personally, I like the site and love the fact that your money is in your mitts the next day usually. Even with bitcoin, it takes a couple of days to access it and you have volatility in the underlying value of a bitcoin.

Fair enough. My experience at Global Poker (since some time in January) lead me to believe that what you have typed is absurd. Seriously.

Beyond ones experiences, the notion that "I played a few hands before I suspected I was playing bots" comes off as absurd/naive. How exactly do you reach this conclusion in just a few hands? Also suspecting something is amiss because Global sent you an account verification request before your first cash out strikes as naive, this is a standard business practice in the online poker industry. I'm pretty sure this is why you're getting the reactions and responses you did here.

You compose your posts in an intelligent manner. I understand the verification email catching you by surprise if you're not familiar with this practice in online poker, but your assessment that you might be playing against bots based solely on a few hands of play and lack of chat at a few tables leaves me baffled.

FWIW when I see chat at the tables I'd say 90% of the time it's either a couple players who are familiar from playing together for a long time, or some idiot whining about a bad beat or ranting insults about some perceived fishy play. I have played 2-3 hour sessions and not seen chat at the table once, and not seen anything in the game play that would incline me to feel like somethings fishy or botty if you will.

The reason you're not getting the feedback you were hoping for is because, frankly, this thread is terrible. It sounds like what it comes down to is because you think there is too much traffic and no one replied to you in chat, you might be playing with bots. Let's address those things:

Too much traffic - there are hundreds of online poker sites, and their traffic varies greatly, and that doesn't have a lot to do with the presence or absence of bots. As for comparing Global and Ignition directly - Global has been spending money on marketing, and on our site at least, they've had a pretty active presence. Ignition spends nothing on marketing that I know of, they've made changes recently that a lot of 2+2ers aren't happy with, they have no presence on forums, and I believe the anonymous tables means the number of players at any given time isn't nearly as transparent. I'd also suspect Global's player pool will be concentrated on a smaller number of stakes.

Players not chatting - this is probably one of the most overused "bot detection" methods we see. There are a lot of people who aren't interested in chatting. Some people multitable/multitask and don't even pay attention to the chat. There are probably a few who see someone asking if they're a real player and think it's funny or might put you off your game if they ignore you. And now you've learned from their CS rep that the mobile client doesn't have a chat feature. Whether you're on a mobile device or not isn't relevant - if your opponents were, they wouldn't be chatting.

I'm also wondering, if you haven't seen anything in their gameplay that concerns you, why are you even worried about this? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying for even a moment that it's OK for there to be bots on the tables, and I don't support the "as long as you can beat them, who cares?" mentality, as a winning bot is taking money out of the poker ecosystem even if you're beating it, but it does seem a little odd to be so concerned about possible bots if you have no gameplay evidence whatsoever.

I'm not here to reassure you that there aren't bots on Global. I don't play there (or anywhere online now), so I have no personal perspective on this. I'm just pointing out the problems with the conclusions you're drawing. And FWIW, I do much of the advertising sales for 2+2, so one could argue that it's in my best interest to defend Global over Ignition, based on who advertises with us. But I would hope my points make sense regardless of what my interests might be.

I think it's good that you're aware of bots and on the lookout for them. I think it would be foolish not to assume there are bots and other cheaters on most sites. Nothing wrong with some healthy skepticism. But if this is all it takes for you to be concerned about bots, you're probably leaning a little far on the paranoia side of things, and that might take away from where your focus should be - playing your best, and enjoying yourself.

Or respond with: 1001101101001010 non-sequitur error

Thank you for this priceless wisdom. I am printing this and taping it up on the bathroom wall, and I will read it again every time I take a crap.

Thank you again. Have a good day.

CowDaddy come to the PLO tables

Where at, dude?

You wanna meet up for some heads up?

I love to play PLO. I prefer PLO8 but any kind of PLO is fine.

Hey, I am sorry for the way I went about questioning the integrity of Global Poker, which I now understand to be beyond question.

Is there any way I can get the hands I played there the other day?

What is the procedure for downloading hands?

Thanks.

Eh they don't have PLO8 unfortunately, but I'm down for some HU PLO later today.

This is standard for sites that deal with customers especially in the US and also dealing with a demon money transmitter, PayPal. They don't take lightly of sites that provide gambling on their site. I am surprised they haven't gotten more into the due diligence of GP playerpool other than a Picture ID scan and phone bills, etc for PayPal chargebacks are or have been inevitable and ramped up way they have to fight. It seems that it's appropriate to ask for such information and documentation. If it's bitcoin, that would be different.

They would have me completely on board if they were able to accept Bitcoin. I sure hope it's in the works for it's standard for other US Facing sites.

Pretty upstanding thing to say. Kudos

If he was sincere it sure would have been.