The British Broadcasting Corporation reports this week on an investigation into the widely reported Chinese player collusion issue at Pokerstars in July
Readers can find the full story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11250835, where highlights include:
* 25 000 Pokerstars players were compensated a total of GBP1.63 million following the scam.
* GBP 52 000 was paid out in an earlier issue where players became victims of bot action.
* The availability of cellphone and IM technology has made collusion exchanges more difficult to intercept by operators.
* However, the indications are that 95 percent of the action is safe and untainted by collusion.
* Rapid growth at the online poker giant has created pressure on security staff trying to monitor suspicious action, with one ex-employee revealing that under pressure it is not unknown for staff to switch off automated alerts on suspicious playing patterns. However, security technology improvements are continuously being put in place.
* Most collusion complaints are in fact unfounded and emanate from sore losers.
* Annual revenues at Pokerstars are in excess of GBP911.6 million in an industry with an estimated annual value of GBP3.25 billion.
* The latest issue was not reported to the Chinese authorities, although the Isle of Man-based Pokerstars has indicated that it would cooperate if approached.
* Specialised Russian message boards often include exchanges setting up ?team play? ? a euphemism for players interested in setting up collusion rings.
* The extensive trackability of online poker technology enables operators to conduct detailed and accurate investigations with relative rapidity.