Help me out poker community! I have been a long time player on Pstars and got this email saying my account has been frozen (emails to follow) asking info about my studying, coaching and things I have done to improve my game. Both emails seem really sketchy to me and asking for a lot of personal/private info from me. Has this happened to anyone recently from PStars or in the past couple years, let me know Poker community something seems fishy !

Hello *****

We are writing to advise that your Stars Account has been frozen.

Please explain in specific detail what you have done over the last year in terms of studying, coaching and anything to improve your poker game and advantage over your opponents. Particular details that must be included are:

Deliberate changes in strategy or playing style implemented in our games
Sites other than ours where you've been playing, and your game selection there
Software, tools, and methods used to study
Software and tools used as you play on our platforms, and likewise for other sites
Do you use charts or any other reference material to assist your play? If so, please provide us with details and complete copies of them.
We've noticed numerous nuances with how you interact with our software. Is there anything unique in your setup that may have caused such observations?
How exactly are you interacting with our software? Are you using a typical mouse and keyboard or do you have anything unique to your setup?
Have you ever used any additional software to help you play? If this is the case, what software and what is their function?
Do you use any third-party tools to aid you with your play? If so, which programs and what functions do they achieve? Please, try to be as detailed as possible.
The account privileges of your Stars Account have been suspended pending the outcome of our review. Playing on our platforms during this time will cause any such account to be closed and the funds therein confiscated. Please respond fully and completely within 48 hours. Your cooperation will help to bring the matter to a close promptly.

Regards,

Aleksei
Stars Game Integrity

Above was the first email, I responded quickly and answered all the questions in detail, now this is the second email I received from the Pstars 'game integrity' team. Has this happened to anyone??

Hello *****,
Thank you for your continued patience while we review your account and play.

We require two video recordings of your next playing session. Your playing session at the tables must be for a minimum of 90 active minutes. As well as this, all your play between now and when we suspend your account to complete our review must be recorded. You have 10 days to complete this task.

The two required recordings are:

A desktop recording. This can be done with screen recording software, such as OBS Studio (Free software), XSplit or similar. Your cursor must be visible.
A recording that shows us your playing surroundings. This can be done with any video camera, including smartphones (quality must be 720p or better, which it is in most modern smartphones).
Below are further mandatory requirements for the recording of your surroundings.

While you’re playing:

Position the camera over your shoulder so that your head, hands, monitor, keyboard and mouse are always visible.
Ensure the quality enables us to see and track the activities that are taking place on your desktop and our tables.
Ensure the lighting in the room is adequate for the above to be possible.
Include audio.
You may listen to music, but do not wear headphones or earpieces.
Turn to look at the camera at least once.
Before you start playing:

Clearly show your face so we can confirm your identity.
Rotate your camera 360 degrees to show us all of your surroundings.
Show us all cables that are connected to your PC(s) and monitor(s) and give us short descriptions of their purpose.
Begin with your computer powered off. Turn the computer on only after you have positioned the camera over your shoulder.
Start any third-party tools you use during a regular session.
Show us both of your ears so that we can confirm you are not wearing earpieces. Also, do this after your session has been completed.
You can then log into our software and start playing.
It’s important that you conduct your playing session in the same manner as one of your typical sessions since your tendencies will be contrasted with your regular play. This includes your game selection, software, and hardware setups.

Please provide the videos via a link to an "unlisted" video uploaded on YouTube. For this, you will require a YouTube account. When you upload the videos, be sure you choose the "unlisted" option (NOT "Public" or "Private"). Do not share the URLs with anyone except us, and we will inform you once we’ve completed our review so that you’re able to delete it from your YouTube channel. Do not remove the videos prior to the completion of your investigation.

Failure to follow these instructions or if the videos are of subpar quality will result in this task needing to be repeated and will be taken into account as we complete the review.

If you have any questions regarding completing this task, please contact us again.

Regards,

Rahul
Stars Game Integrity

Sites other than ours where you've been playing, and your game selection there

shouldn't be any business of stars

Requests for video recording of play is fairly common and all the listed requirements minus the explanation of each wore/cable. Some of the other questions not so much, some do not seem relevant to specific play on Stars.

Agree. Should just say I only play stars obv.

And yeah it's pretty common esp if you suddenly start winning more and your style seems to change. Pain in the ass for sure but not much you can do.

E Please respond fully and completely within 48 hours. Imagine not reading your emails and getting canned and losing your balance.

Yeah I agree, all the time limits are red flags to me. I have been running super hot in July, but again, Stars can look at my results/hands from the past and look me up on sharkscope and see I have been a winning player for years. I hope someone from Pstars calls me so I can talk over the phone with someone about this. Like if I didn't check my emails for 48 hours, my five figure bankroll is gone and my acct would be closed? Crazyness

Has anyone else that plays on Pstars gotten an email similar to this? I cannot

be the only one that has gotten an email like this over the past year or so. I am

waiting from a phone call from Pstars before I do any recordings as I feel like

these emails might be some kind of scam?

Friend of mine received that allso ~year ago. You can easily check if it's real from the senders email address or if you can use the chat. Dm @starssupport might allso help.

Waiting for stars to call you is risky business. This is exactly how they go about with these investigation, i have gone through one and know several people who have too. If your account is frozen and you receive this email soon after ,is that now enough proof its legit?

Wow. That's a lot.

However, I wouldn't really be worried about it being a scam. Is there somebody else who has your email who knows you are a poker player who would be pushing for this? Additionally, what could an outsider gain by such a video or other knowledge like what software you run? Seems like they wouldn't get THAT far in their hypothetical efforts to beat you. If you type in your password and they can see your hands on the video then I guess you can change the password on Stars before you upload the video. That's the only serious risk I can immediately think of.

This is really crazy though. Are they thinking you are a bot instead? I wonder if they feel like you have a program running now (or getting your plays from a program). I appreciate the bot/collusion efforts I guess compared with other sites that seem to not be as diligent so I guess at least there is that. But I agree it is kind of scary. I would be worried and concerned if an email like that was sent to me even with doing absolutely nothing wrong. and certainly would be nervous on the video I was sending them...did I do something suspicious looking there? Etc etc.. Not exactly trying to put you at ease with the language and tone of their directives here.

Do some searching through this forum for "PokerStars account frozen" or "Stars account locked" or similar. This has been posted a bunch over the years because it's been requested by Stars for suspected bot accounts. It's a legit thing.

edit: pretty much what adewd said a few posts above

Update: got a call from somebody at Pokerstars 'game integrity' to verify his isn't a scam and to complete those two videos for them. He couldn't answer any of my questions and was very vague in his responses in general but I guess that is to be expected. I did the two videos, posted them on youtube and am now waiting for a response from Pstars. I must have triggered some algorithm on Stars for them to investigate my account because I am sure I have done nothing wrong this year, or any time in the past. Hopefully I will hear back soon and this ordeal won't take weeks or months to play out as this is my only stream of income at the moment.

Wow, those requirements for the video are pretty strict. I guess it's a good thing Stars is taking game integrity seriously, but I suspect it'd be a lot of hassle for a legitimate player to complete the process. For example, I always play wearing noise cancelling headphones to block out any distractions, and suspect my quality of play would decline without being able to wear them.