Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

"Officer why do you stop me for speeding, shouldnt you be out catching murderers and thieves?"

This is an unfair jab, imo.

Stars perma-banned and confiscated all funds from two SNEs who were regulars in my games. Stars security caught them colluding. These guys were huge volume players/rake generators and the way they were caught would have been impossible for other players to detect. The fact that Stars took their BR and paid it out to victims showed me that they were serious about all aspects of security on the site. Sadly, I was a winner against both of them and received no bonus pay day.

Agreed. From the day they signed the DoJ agreement, PS has been going around warning people that they would catch them playing from the US and that there would be harsh consequences for doing so.

Actually they didn't really do that much until after the WSOP and the whole rash of people playing from the USA. At the time there just wasn't much of a perception of these measures being aimed at ROW players who happen to visit the USA.

I'm a Pokercast listener, and I remember SteveD coming on right after they signed the DoJ agreement with sending us our cash back. On that podcast, he was quite clear about their position regarding playing from the US. My month's later recollection was something to the effect of "we're not fooling around about this". Obviously I'm not still playing there, and this is only one media outlet. I don't still read the PS threads since I can't play there any more. Still, my suspicion is that anyone who came to the US and played was actively ignoring what they said based on a buddy telling them "I've done it and nothing happened."

Honestly, as a ROW player you'd have had to feel some kind of special to play on PS during the WSOP. If it were that easy, wouldn't the rest of us set up a bogus Canadian address and kept on grinding from our houses via the same method? It would mean the people actually moving were idiots.

My account got frozen for this last week and was reinstated today. I used a VPN to torrent whilst at University and one of the servers were in the US, I don't think I played any game while connected but apparently just logging in with an IP in the US is enough... Unless I did play and don't remember

I played 144 hands of NLO8 in Vegas on a VPN on 27th June. Account got frozen on around 7th August and has been ever since. Most recent email I got yesterday said:

So things look somewhat promising. Dumbest 144 hands I've ever played, I skipped the whole of WCOOP had to move my cash game play elsewhere and tourney sessions are basically a joke now.

Your account has been locked for almost 90 days; but u didnt post...?

No, I broke the terms and conditions what else could I have expected?

You really thought that because something is legal where your from, you can do it where it's not legal?

I'll going to try the "I'm on vacation" defense if I ever get arrested.

Well I'm not a Pokercast listener so thanks for the warning !!

I really don't think it's comparable because we're not moving money across the US border. We're not circumventing UIGEA.

AFAIK We didn't break any US laws but thanks for that.

Not that I have to agree with his opinion, but it is a lot more complicated than that. It IS NOT ILLEGAL TO PLAY FROM THE US, but what the DoJ claims is illegal is for the sites to operate to people in the US. So Stars does have to try to stop this regardless of where the people are citizens to appease the DoJ. But neither the DoJ or Stars would accuse the player using a VPN of doing anything at all illegal. Stars would and is claiming it breaks their T+C and that is it. I am not even sure they want to be so anal about this but may feel compelled in light of current DoJ fogginess. Once the moderator makes things more clear, perhaps they don't have to be so aggressive with this.

If you log in to Stars from the US but via a VPN in France, it seems hard to me to think Stars should actually care once this DoJ thing is sorted out. I mean they easily say they are taking steps to stop it but that they can't violate peoples privacy so if people go to such lengths, it isn't their problem because all they know is the person is in France. There is a reason the other sites are not so anal about this. They don't need to be because it is so unlikely for them to have to worry of ever getting in trouble for it. As a result, they don't need to test for it.

Far to rational, you are not complying to the NVG code of conduct. You should have first whined about your frozen account stating "i did nothing wrong". Then after a while with more whining etc. you admit that you indeed broke the TOS but was not aware of it (the discrepancy between .co.uk and .com TOS surely would have helped here!), followed by more whining + cursing. In the end admitting you played meanwhile on your wifes account.

don't forgot the further whining and then finally admitting you knew you were doing wrong the whole time and thought that after you got caught that it wouldn't blow up as bad as it did, only to ask for forgiveness from 2p2 and the rest of the poker world

Yeah, I mean... the idea of people having to abide by the laws of a country they are visiting (as stupid as they may be) is such a foreign concept. Ever see Midnight Express?

I think PokerStars security can detect these ways around there restrictions. I am sure they have in place a team to identify people who are using vbox + vpn. I would put money on stars security over a vpn that should bypass u.s. IP addresses. and they should!
I'm hoping they are able to demonstrate to the DOJ that they are actively prohibiting U.S. citizens from bypassing their countries laws and by doing so will be able to re-enter the U.S. market sooner rather than later. direct bank transfers and withdrawals would be like putting money on to smith barney.

gj stars keep it up and looking forward to playing again soon!

Well that's definitely not the case because 90%+ of the people who played from the USA using VPNs during the WSOP didn't get caught out.

So smuggling two kilos of hashish is illegal in Turkey? How stupid.

botttom line :Stars doesn't accept the use of a non US IP address on the US soil but it's still not illegal to play online poker in the USA whether you're a national or not
you can't break a law that doesn't exist

How is it hard to understand that as part of an agreement during ongoing litigation Stars is refusing business from within the US? Don't overthink how things should be or what is legal, they agreed not to accept business from within US borders. They made an agreement and they said from that day forward they'd enforce it.

It has taken a while for them to catch some people, and maybe there are a raft of people getting away with it. However, bringing in moral or legal arguments is dumb, imo. You are doing business with a company that has proven a willingness to close accounts and/or confiscate your funds for violating their ToS. If you have a clever way to get around their ToS and it turns out that they are more clever than you thought, it is all on you.

It is much like those of us playing on US facing sites today -- at this point no one is going to feel remotely sorry when/if we lose all our money. Things have gone beyond cute internet kids not being sure if things won't work out. If you think you're playing on a clever hack, be aware that all risk lies on your own head. If Stars takes all your money and puts it in the "Pay off the DoJ fund" after permanently closing your account, that wouldn't be cause for note at this point in the game. If (name your US facing poker site) gets shut down with $0 to pay off player accounts, same deal.

OK I stepped in it earlier inadvertantly and got slapped by Admin rightfully so. I will say this and I know I wont get in trouble for it. If your dumb enough to use a VPN to try to get to PS and other other sites your gonna get what you deserve. They do fail or crash and as soon as it happens your real location will pop up period and then all bets are off.. So your VPN gaming is playing russian roulette and honestly the sites have a right to confiscate your funds.. Other options Im sure do exist out there just do research I would suggest but anything involving some VPN or simply hiding your own IP is asking for trouble in the end.. Besides The sites want verifiable addresses and such.. I like PS also but there are other sites youc an LEGALLY play at and win folks without taking such risks if you just bother to try..

Yah PS what this guy said. Take some guy hundred of thousands of dollars because he logged and played a couple hours. Just take hundred of hours of his life and his roll, FFS he is a criminal!Yah no ****. Dude just gtfo.

If you are an American I hope the DOJ goes after you and take ur roll as well b/c you played during the Bill. Like seriously

LOL

When they make poker legal in the US poker stars wont get liscensed unless it shows it wants to obey the rules. And if they show they can control things like this it makes online poker look more like something that can be regulated which is one of the things brought up at the hearing they had online last week.

Gotta lol how less than a year ago Stars were saying they were of the opinion the UIGEA or other anti gambling laws in the US did not apply to them as poker is a game of skill etc therefore come on in guys its safe to play. No laws have changed since then and you now run a major risk of funds being seized playing from America etc.

Not saying they shouldnt enforce this stuff strictly, just playing devils advocate and pointing out how lol it is their stance changed so much without any actual law change - so you were just spewing a load of rubbish before about the laws not applying to you Stars?

They have agreed they will not offer games to anyone inside US boarders, why can't people understand that?