I am posting this on behalf of another player.
First, a short introduction. Some of you may know who he is. He goes under the username Ricestud on PokerStars. Back in October of last year he was blocked from playing on PokerStars for using a VPN while he was traveling in the US. To clarify, he no longer lives in the US. He currently resides in Mexico. He was caught along with a multitude of other players for playing within the borders of the US. The worst that happened to the majority of the players that were caught was a seizure of their winnings. He received a lifetime ban on PokerStars. For the past 4 years, he has been supernova elite which mind you is no easy task to achieve. He was blocked and unblocked several times between October 2011 and February of 2012. As a supernova elite player, his time is very valuable. Supernova elite is a yearlong chase. You can’t just throw in the towel for a few months. He was upfront to PokeStars security when he was questioned about accessing the client while he was traveling in the US. How was he rewarded for his honesty? A 5 month blackout period where it was impossible to receive any sort of update on the status of his case. This past Friday he received what will most likely be the final email from Pokerstars:
Ricestud,
Thank you for you patience while we resolved your case. During the period of September 24th - 27th 2011 you have net winnings to the value of $x
However during the period of October 7th - 11th 2011 you had net losses to the value of -$x.
Your balance at the time was $x. After netting off you wins and losses this leaves you with a balance of $x to cashout.
As you were clearly advised at the time you relocated, play from the US is strictly prohibited by PokerStars. As you chose to ignore this warning, I am sorry to advise you that we will not be opening your account.
I apologise for the length of time it has taken to resolve this investigation and wish you all the best for the future.
Regards,
Ben J
Senior Manager - Marketing Security
I wanted to tell his story as a warning to others that they will ban even their most loyal and valued customers. He raked over 1.7 million vpps in 2011. To put that in monetary terms, that’s ~$309k. No one is immune from the PokerStars banhammer. Not even their most loyal customers.