Global online poker provider partypoker continues the crackdown on fraudulent accounts. Since the company first published official stats in December 2018, more than 1,500 accounts have been closed. As a result of that, nearly $1.9 million in funds have been redistributed by the operator.
In the past half a year, the number of closed accounts sits at just over 200 while the amount seized has dropped to fewer than $40k during that period. The continued efforts for a safer gaming environment have paid off as the operator has done a good job at cleaning the tables.
Back in 2018, partypoker committed to identify and get rid of bot accounts on its online poker platform and to return fraudulent money to affected players. The first reported month showcased 76 closed accounts and $416,967 in redistributed funds.
Redistributed fraudulent funds by partypoker since December 2018
| Time Frame | Accounts Closed | Funds Redistributed |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 2018 | 76 | $416,967 |
| 2019 in Total | 713 | $987,647 |
| 2020 in Total | 608 | $462,541 |
| Jan-May 2021 | 176 | $27,910 |
Since the project was implemented, there have been several standout months with regards to the number of closed accounts and confiscated funds. For example, March 2019 set the record with 142 terminated accounts and nearly $125k in funds redistributed.
Only a few months later in July 2019, the second-largest tally of 121 accounts occured and more than $174k in funds were confiscated. While the number dropped to just 48 the following month, slightly more money was seized by the operator. Another spike took place soon after in the first quarter of 2020.
In March 2020 alone, $253,638 in cash was confiscated from 70 accounts to showcase the ongoing efforts. Ever since, the seized cash per month has plummeted below $50k and further safer gaming measures were implemented on the online poker platform. Throughout 30 months in total for this project, nearly $1.9 million in funds have been seized and redistributed from faudulent accounts.
Partypoker Fraudulent Accounts Stats Until May 2021
| No. of Months Reported | 30 |
| Total Accounts Closed Since Dec 18 | 1,573 |
| Total Seized ($) | $1,895,065 |
| Avg Seized per Account | $1,205 |
| Last Six Months Account Closures | 228 (14.5%) |
| Last Six Months Amount Seized | $36,975 (1.95%) |
In the first full year, just shy of $1 million in funds were confiscated from 713 fraudulent ccounts. That number was cut in half the following year with another 608 accounts involved.
However, in the first five months of 2021, just $27,910 in total have been seized by the operator. With 176 accounts closed, this means an average of just $159 per account has been redistributed. This is well below the overall average of $1,205 since the project kicked off.
As part of their campaign to focus on the overall poker ecology partypoker coined the term level the playing field. A plethora of third-party tools are prohibited during play according to the safer poker website. Among them is also external “queuing” software, which helps with the seat selection for blind lobbies.
Recent measures set in motion include buy-in obligations for the fastforward pool, aimed at preventing ratholing. Furthermore, strategic material is also no longer permitted and players caught in the act may have their accounts closed.
Partypoker provides the built-in advisory tool, MyGame to provide feedback about the playing style of each user and gives insights into the overall performance. Via the tool, players can also download their hand histories to analyze their play when the online poker client is not running.
To further provide equal chances to all participants, partypoker is also enforcing the display of real names during their most iconic online poker festivals as well. This is related to the partypoker LIVE brand and partnerships with the World Poker Tour. Their most recent WPT Online Series in late May 2021 was held in real names only for all tournaments as part of the festival.
