Hi, I'm a poker player from Beijing, age 30+, posting here to ask for some advice about my frozen account issue on pokerstars, please bear any broken English.

background:
I've been playing online hold'em exclusively on Pokerstars over three years, played almost 3000 tournaments, a few sngs & mtts, very very little micro stake cash game. Admitting that I had been being recreational about it and the bankroll was down to -9k, then after I participated the 2017 (Feb) Pokerstars Macau Red Draon Main Event (bubbled), heavily touched by the live poker atmosphere - I realized that I need to take poker more seriously on a higher lever if I really wanted to enjoy the game and maybe earn some winnings eventually.

story begins:
After read some strategy books, watched some high roller & twitch youtube poker videos. Luckily on this March, the ice broke:

03/06/2017 $7.50 NLHE [Progressive KO], $12K Gtd $6.82+$0.68 5/2293 $427.38

03/07/2017 Bounty Builder $22, $25K Gtd $20.00+$2.00 4/1687 $1,171.81

03/23/2017 $109 Mini Thursday Thrill [Progressive KO], $125K Gtd - Monte Carlo Ticket Giveaway! $100.00+$9.00 6/1985 $4,887.89

I BELIEVE everyone remembers their first major achievements and committed that was going be their fresh new beginning of their poker life.

I enjoyed that moment, while my pokerstars cashier shows 6k+.

THEN, the next day, when I try to log in onto PS as usual - BAMM, a window that never existed in my world when I was down rolling to -9k in the past three years on that platform popped up:
"Your stars account has been frozen. Please contact us by email at support@starsaccount.com for new information."

That was March 25th somewhere around 11pm beijing local time, I could be a real poet about that moment, let's just say it's like a baby panda gets caught in the woods and being put into a zoo cage on the second day that it just learned how to eat a bamboo and just realized how fantastic its life in the woods is going to be, but the reality is it may never see a forest again, bitter and sour smile......

Maybe this incident will turn positive in the end, but that moment was that moment, it will never go away.

process:
So then I emailed the stars asking why and then got the email below:

发件人: support@pokerstars.com <support@pokerstars.com>
发送时间: 2017年3月25日 9:01
收件人: bessonism@hotmail.com
主题: Identity Verification Request

Hello Ziran,

As a result of our Game Integrity investigation, your account has been identified as related to a number of other accounts. Therefore, it has been temporarily disabled; we are requiring you to verify your identity so that we can make a more informed decision on how to proceed.

Once we have verified your identity, you will be provided with further details on your account. Therefore, we kindly ask you to provide us with the following documents:

1. A front and reverse side scan of a valid government-issued identity document. Please ensure that the scanned document clearly shows the following information: document type, issuing authority, issuing and expiration date, your full name, date of birth and photograph.

2. A clear scan of your most recent utility, such as: water, electricity, gas, phone, internet bill or any public/private services; showing your name in full, address and statement date (*if applies to your country, you may provide a copy of your propiska stamp). If you do not have any such bills, you may send us a recent bank statement in your name, please do not send images of your credit cards as proof of address. The documents provided as proof of address cannot be older than 3 months.

Please scan the requested documents and send them to us as an attachment by replying to this e-mail. Please also ensure the following quality requirements:

- The copies are clear and legible (400 dpi+ recommended), and they include the full document (bill/pay stubs, folded papers, covered information and partial sections are not accepted).

- The email attachments should not exceed 5 MB and must be in BMP, JPG, TIF, PNG or PDF format. If you do not have access to a scanner, we will accept digital photos of the documents provided if meeting the above requirements.

Please be aware that players who are going through this verification process should not attempt to bypass any temporary holds placed on their accounts.

In addition, please refer of our Terms of Service regarding the use of the Stars Account:

https://www.pokerstars.com/poker/room/tos/
PokerStars.com - Online Poker Software Terms of Service
www.pokerstars.com
Poker Stars online poker site terms of service agreement for its poker players. Play poker at Poker Stars.

Once you have provided the requested documents, we will be able to continue the review of your account.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Regards,

Keith F
Stars Game Integrity


After reading this letter, I realized that the trouble come from the existing two accounts under one roof:
1, bessonism - user: myself
2, bessonismm - user: my wife

We checked the "bessonismm" account is also frozen, the problem confirmed.

As both accounts are registered under real names of my wife and I, we easily gathered the documents including passports scans, internet plan receipts etc, send to stars team on the next day - March 26th.

About the gaming stats on PS between my wife and I with the two accounts, I surely a lot more like a regular player for the past three years by using the "bessonism" ID, my wife played quiet a few games at the beginning back in 2014 by using "bessonismm" ID, and then she stoped, because we had kids, we believe the ID " bessonismm" played less than 10 games both in 2015 and 2016, less than 5 games in 2017.

We never used each others account to play and never played together because we thought that was impossible due to the pokerstars' IP address protection system or what ever it calls.

The facts above I all explained to PS via email along with documents attached.

Till now, March 28th 4pm beijing time, no reply at all, totally in the dark.

Fellow pokerstars users, what should I do here besides waiting? What consequences that I'm expecting?

Please talk to me, thank you, open to answer any questions.

Bessonism from Beijing

PS: I just noticed the staff who replied my email - Keith F is in this forum, do you think I could get his attention here to expedite the investigation that they are on?

If your documents are in order then just wait it out. Pokerstars support is really slow since amaya took over so don't expect anything to happen quickly.

Classic gambling sites they don't give a crap if your depositing and losing soon as you win/withdraw is the time they look into your account.

Wouldn't advise bumping this thread after 2 minutes without a reply in future might get you in trouble with the mods.

Hi, from what you've said it's fairly standard to freeze an account after a big win, as long as the ID is ok you'll be fine. Pokerstars security are very slow nowadays, nothing to worry about.

I doubt the Keith from your emails is the same Keith that posts on here, he isn't in support.

what about first telling the truth that's not your wife's account, but you registered it for yourself with her name?

I wish I could if it makes anything easier, but look up the accounts on poker pro labs - we played total different games when she was active on PS back in 2014.

what's the worst case scenario that Im facing?

thanks, have you experienced a standard check?

Creating multiple accounts and using your wifes name is not cool. You should get banned and the winnings confisticated.

actually after took some look on the playing history i believe you, but why on earth you 2 have almost identical nicknames?

but it's a bit weird (at least to me) that your wife opened an account and you followed her couple days later, is poker more popular among females in China? how is it even possible your wife played the Tcoop-01 and you opened your own account (or at least played for first time) just 3 days later? was it 2 players/hand in the Tcoop event?

first of all thx for putting a smile on my face, u really r a poet

secondly be patient while stars verifies all the info. if everything checks out, u will be fine

Right, my friend, why bother to be reasonable at all since Vegas and Macau both built themselves base on bullying customers in every opportunity, huh?

Are you being sexism here haha? I do know certain amount female poker players personally although couldn't speak for the entire China.

Where did you see all the old game histories? what site? I wanna take a look. thanks.

Wtf are you trying to say? You created multiple accounts to play. Not allowed.

Probably best to give it a few days for them to sort this and (going on the fact that you bumped this thread 2 minutes after starting it) stop emailing them every few hours asking for an update, it won't make the investigation go any faster

If you work for PS, I say no more, just do whatever, I have better things to do other than this treatment.

And btw, if I say you are a robot, can you prove you ain't?

Yes, thanks, nobody likes to tilt, but...sigh...

its only been 3 days. its amayastars now. expect a week or longer to get cleared. no point in emailing them and bumping this thread nonstop. find something else to do. play on another site if you are so addicted.

Nothing - it had been all of two days when you started this thread.

After two minutes? Maybe get outside for a while.

Move along.

Standard stuff here with Stars. Not a fan of it.

6 days waiting, no response from the stars. Don't know if I still have a chance to play the upcoming sunday million which is in two days, don't if I can still play on PS at all.

Is there anything I could do besides waiting, anyone?

the Pokerstars do have a local club in Beijing holds live games regularly, will it help if I go there to ask the staff there regarding my frozen account issue? Does anyone have experienced similar situation?

Keep waiting, they are checking play history/style. Dont go to local club. This is the std of poker sites which is terrible, if you lose they dont care, if you win they check everything to be able to confiscate.

It's understandable that you're feeling anxious. Like the others are saying, just sit tight. You've cooperated with them and sent in the required docs already so just be patient. If stars support doesn't update you in the next few days, politely follow up with them. Don't rush it. If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. It'll most likely be resolved in due time.

Also congrats on turning things around with your recent wins.

Got the same issue here (waiting for reply as well), will post here if something bad happens.

the pokerstars has formally replied after 20 days waiting:

Hello Ziran,

We are writing to inform you about the conclusions reached after a thorough investigation of your Stars Account 'bessonism'.

In short, we have reached the following key conclusions:

- That account 'bessonismm' was accessed by 'bessonism'

- That the purpose behind using the account mentioned above is to multi-account in order to use a second account to enter a tournament in which you were previously eliminated

We have found that your account was used in breach of our Terms Of Service.

You may read our Terms of Service in full at:

https://www.pokerstars.com/poker/room/tos/

Your breach of our Terms of Service has left us with no other option but to exercise our rights under our Terms of Service. As a result, It has been decided that account 'bessonism' will be closed permanently.

Our investigation has taken into account all the information available to us, including information that you provided, technical data from our records, and other information. This action was not taken lightly. My findings went to a review board who, after looking at the evidence, agreed that such action was appropriate.

We would like to ask you to provide us with an acknowledgment to our Terms of Service and Tournament Rules before we can reinstate your account's playing privileges on our site. You can find them on the following websites:

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/room/tos/
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/rules/

Please review and accept these terms by replying to this email with your agreement to the following statement:

1) I have fully read understood and accept the Terms of Service and Tournament Rules.

2) If I ever breach in whole or in part any provision contained in the Terms of Service and Tournament Rules, I am aware and accept that you reserve the right to take such action as you see fit. These may include terminating my agreement to use the Service, immediately blocking access to the Service, permanently terminating my Stars Account and seizing all monies held in the relevant Stars Account.

This acknowledgment must come in the form of “I agree” within your reply.

If you should have any specific questions regarding the our terms and require further explanation, please contact us with your question before sending your acknowledgment.

Regards,

Keith F
Stars Game Integrity
---------------------------
So could anyone translate for me of their meaning? Are they giving me a chance to go back playing from ground zero? I haven't responded yet.

lol wtf,

they are stating (to the male person in your relationship, who is posting on 2+2 now, I think) that the account bessonism is permanently closed. You state that bessonism is your own account and bessonismm is your wife's account - presumably the names/personal details are correct on the stars' accounts

then they say that they are allowing your account to be reinstated and you are allowed to play (on bessonism presumably) after you agree to the site terms again. Pretty short permanent closure!

maybe just reply simply with a "?"

then Keith will respond with what they actually meant to say. They will understand your reply of "?", they are reading this thread

confusing email that needs further clarification. looks like a copy paste mistake in some parts

As they have specifically pointed what I had breached, I quote from their tournament rules:

"Late Registration: Late Registration is available in most tournaments. The length of the late registration period varies, but will always be shown in the tournament ticket in the Quick Seat lobby, in the details panel of the Tournaments tab, and in the header of the Tournament lobby for that tournament. Late registration time is measured in clock time (as opposed to tournament play time). For example, if a tournament starts at 09:00 and has 90 minutes of late registration, registration will close at 10:30. Late registration will close early if enough players are eliminated to begin payouts.

Please note that players are only allowed to participate in a tournament once, unless re-entry is permitted, as specified in the tournament lobby. One player using multiple accounts to enter multiple times into a single tournament is not permitted, and may result in penalties including a warning, disqualification from the tournament (with partial or full forfeiture of winnings), and barring from our platform."

Also quote from their terms of service:
"10.4A User may only have one User account with Rational Group and shall only use the Service using such single account. It is prohibited for a User to open multiple accounts with Rational Group. In the event that Rational Group becomes aware of additional accounts opened by a User, Rational Group may close such additional accounts without notice and may confiscate funds held in such additional accounts."

Based on the two quotes, it is to my understanding that they only confiscate my winnings from THE tournament that I "multi-account in order to use a second account to enter a tournament in which you were previously eliminated", which I won nothing.

And as bessonismm was registered after bessonism, so the account facing closure and funds taken is only bessonismm not bessonism?

Please give me some opinion, thanks.

bessonism looks to be one targeted for closure, not bessonismm. but like i said its confusing so i would email stars to get further clarification

email as below is the one sent to bessonismm:

Hello Wei,

We are writing to inform you about the conclusions reached after a thorough investigation of your Stars Account 'bessonismm'.

In short, we have reached the following key conclusions:

- That account 'bessonismm' was accessed by 'bessonism'

- That the purpose behind using the accounts mentioned above is to multi-account in order to

-- use a second account to enter a tournament in which you were previously eliminated

We have found that your account was used in breach of our Terms Of Service.

You may read our Terms of Service in full at:

https://www.pokerstars.com/poker/room/tos/

Your breach of our Terms of Service has left us with no other option but to exercise our rights under our Terms of Service. As a result, It has been decided to permanently close your account 'bessonismm'.

Please do not attempt to create any other accounts or log-in to our site using another player's account, as doing so is a violation of our Terms of Service. Please be aware that any account(s) identified as accessing our services from your location will be closed without notice, you will be liable for any loss that could occur and the remaining funds could be confiscated.

Our investigation has taken into account all the information available to us, including information that you provided, technical data from our records, and other information. This action was not taken lightly. My findings went to a review board who, after looking at the evidence, agreed that such action was appropriate.

Regards,

Keith F
Stars Game Integrity