Cheated on Full Tilt Poker

Should I have a higher win rate with Q-Q?

I’ve always considered online poker to be a clean game.  I’m not naive enough to not recognize the seriousness of the UltimateBet.net cheating scandal, and the amount of money that the cheaters won through “God Mode.”  But cheaters being what cheaters are, I think that people look for ways to gain an edge on their competition, and sometimes, this results in cheating.

I have played exclusively on Full Tilt Poker for a long time now, and I recommend it to my peers.  To me, it’s easily my favorite site for a myriad of reasons.   I had always been of the camp that said that Full Tilt runs the cleanest games out there in online poker, and today I got a message that makes me question that. 

At 10:21am PST this morning, I received the following email from Full Tilt Poker:

Dear fleapid,

 

The Full Tilt Poker Security department has recently concluded an extensive investigation and we have determined that some of your opponents were in violation of our site terms.

We have permanently closed all of the offending accounts. In cases of proven cheating, 100% of the confiscated funds are returned to the players who were victimized. The reimbursement calculation is based on the number of tournaments or hands played against the offending players, and the amount won or lost against them.

We have determined that you are entitled to a refund of (I’m keeping this part private) which will be placed in your account in the next 72 hours.

For a number of reasons, we are unable to provide any other additional information regarding this case, including the players involved and the game type where it occurred. We thank you for your understanding in this regard. The vigilance of our players in reporting suspicious behavior is an important addition to our ongoing diligence against unethical conduct, and we carefully investigate every concern of suspicious activity.

If you believe you have witnessed unfair play at our tables, please don’t hesitate to contact us at security@fulltiltpoker.com. If there is any other way we can be of assistance, please let us know.

Full Tilt Poker Security

 

At first, I was excited to see that I was getting a refund.  After all, any return at all is a good thing, and Full Tilt made good on their claim in depositing the amount into my player account this morning.  But then, I was immediately filled with shock and fear, and began wondering if it was really possible that I was cheated out of money on Full Tilt.  Were those sick calls that were being made by opponents that made me scratch my head as to how they could possibly be in this hand a result of cheating players or just a bad beat?  Are players data mining me?  Were the colluding, or were they multiaccounting? How exactly could I tell if I was being cheated, and who were the offenders.

I understand where Full Tilt is coming from in wanting this to be kept under wraps, but it leads me to really question the morals and ethics of the site, and online poker in general.  In a game where I’ve always considered “clean,” I am now a victim.

I generally play small stakes tournaments and sit and go’s online (under $10, and usually for $2 and $5 amounts).  But I dabble at the cash games as well, where I play for smallish stakes there too.  It makes me wonder what types of behaviors that I should be on the lookout for so as to help police the cheating conspiracy in online poker.

I intend to write a letter back to Full Tilt regarding the matter, but I’m not yet certain what I want to say in response.  I’d like to address the situation in a professional manner, and I’m wanting them to at least describe the methods by which the cheater or cheaters conducted their work.  Perhaps it was just simple collusion.  But I’d like more explanation than what was provided.   If you have any suggestions about questions to ask, I’d sure like to hear about them, and they’d definitely be welcomed.