PokerStars Account Frozen! "The My Brother Did It" Story

E-checks provide a unique solution to poker rooms who operate in the American market where currently card and bank transfers to and from poker rooms are difficult. However they also pose a unique problem - it's very easy for people to attempt to freeroll the system by making bad e-check deposits then simply vanishing if they lose, or keeping the winnings (less the original deposit which the rooms reclaim) if they win.

Naturally this poses the risk of substantial loss to poker rooms. Many people get caught up in these situations inadvertently when a family member makes bad deposits and they either have shared in the past or currently share a computer or internet connection to play poker.

This feels unfair and stressful to the sibling who has been honest as the Poker room often has no way to tell that the person was not somehow involved in either encouraging or arranging to benefit from the attempt to freeroll the poker room and gamble for free. What would there be to stop anyone with a brother pulling this stunt then attempting to keep the 'clean' PokerStars account in their own name if it all goes wrong and splitting the profit if it went well???

Well - I'll tell you what stops you. PokerStars aren't stupid - they will investigate where your brother connected from, any other connections between your accounts or evidence you play together/live together/share computers or even that your brother hasn't gone online himself and you perpetrated the entire affair. Your 'clean' PokerStars account is NOT safe if a family member steals from them. Even if you're not involved your account seems to be at risk. So in the case of poker it's very different from the real world - keep both your enemies AND your brother far away from your IP, computer and PokerStars if they are likely to tarnish your reputation!

After a full investigation, your association appears close and as
such we cannot proceed until the issues are resolved on
'XXXXXXXXXXXx'. If you are in contact with the owner of this account,
please ask them to contact us immediately so that we may complete
this review.
PokerStars Response Posted on 2+2 From a Recent "My Brother Did It" Story