On 25/07/2019, partypoker was the first online poker operator in the world to release real name tables when all online poker was still played with screen names, and most players could “hide” behind their aliases. The reason for doing so was to reduce the concerns related to the anonymity of online poker. Using real names increases transparency, and players who generally only play live poker may be more open to playing in games with real names. In addition, players are more likely to be respectful to one another when they are not hiding behind a screen name.
From a Game Integrity perspective, we cannot allow a third party to play on an account that belongs to somebody else. As your opponent sees your real name, we can assume that the actions they take against you will be based upon their prior knowledge of you as a player. Now, suppose a third party is playing on your account. In that case, it creates a situation where that third party may already know all of the opponents at the table and how they play, whilst any history that your opponents have gathered about you would be irrelevant. This clearly puts all legitimate players at the table at a distinct disadvantage.
partypoker’s Policies on Real Name Games
Should we determine that a third party is playing on an account that does not belong to them, it constitutes a breach of our terms and conditions. In such cases, we reserve the right to close the account in question and withhold any winnings and balance on the account. partypoker does not benefit financially in such cases. Any confiscated funds are always redistributed back to the affected players in full at the earliest opportunity.
partypoker attempts to be as transparent as it can with its policies surrounding Game Integrity. This is why we release the number of accounts and the amount confiscated from cheating accounts every month. The most recent update and the history of these refunds are clearly displayed on our Safer Poker page.
We will never close the account of a player solely because they were a winning player. For any account closure, a thorough investigation would have been conducted, following established policies and procedures. Only if the player posed a risk to the integrity of our poker games would the player’s account be closed.
Since we do not profit from banning players in such cases, all partypoker stands to gain by taking such actions is the knowledge and reassurance that you, the honest player, will continue to play on our site because you consider it to be safe. We also cannot release information to other players about the specific reasons behind these bans. Whilst we’d like to be completely open, we can’t release information for both legal reasons and because releasing specific details of investigations could help other unruly players in their attempts to evade our detection and investigation methods.
Our pledge to our players is our continuous commitment to Game Integrity, transparent policies, and effective detection methods against cheating.
Player Reports
We also want to acknowledge all of the players who take the time to write to us about potentially suspicious players at our poker tables. While it should not be the players’ job to police the games, together we can be even more effective in catching the cheaters trying to ruin the game we love. It is, for this reason, we are very grateful for each report we receive.
If you wish to report potentially concerning behaviour you have seen at the tables, please email us at gameintegrity@partypoker.com or use the form on the Safer Poker page to report (anonymously, if you wish). However, please be aware that reports with malicious intent are not tolerated.
Stay safe!
Juha
Head of Game Integrity – partypoker network
