Are your site's terms fair?

Internet poker players have a lot to cope with these days. First, there is the battle against the omnipresent cheating scams. Then, there is the US government’s current assault on online gaming in general via the ban on money transfers. If those things aren’t enough to chill you from playing poker online, let’s take a look at the terms under which players must agree to play!

If you are like most people, when the terms and conditions (T&C) for a software product come up on your computer screen, you just click on whatever version of “yes” they present to you and move on. For online poker players, it is no different. After a few conversations and interactions with other players online, it occurred to me that most people have very little idea just how much authority they grant to the gaming sites at which they play and place their money.

The typical T&C that poker players sign up to are outrageously one-sided and unfair in my opinion. We would never accept these terms from anyone else handling our money, but we do so from these guys. Why? Well, mostly it is because players do not take the time to understand them, and because together, the site providers form a united front. The various companies agree to non-compete on terms and only compete in other areas. The consumer has nowhere to go. Your choices are to play or not to play. All of this is fair to a large degree, because playing poker is not a necessity. Sites have the right to create unreasonable terms. Players, on the other hand, have the right to understand the terms and start fighting against them.

I have money deposited at online poker sites. However, I would never keep more money deposited online than I would want to be taken unfairly and without due process. My advice to you, the reader, is to follow my lead and keep your balances low.

Additionally, I understand that poker sites maintain a separation from what they can legally do and what they can reasonably do without losing their client base. After all, the online poker community is very vocal and spreads information quickly. If poker sites started screwing around with player’s money left and right, they would start losing clients.

Still, do you want to sign up for these T&C and trust poker sites to act ethically with your money? And how does the site become aware of your failure to comply? There are no poker police are there? Where is the Due Process? Where is the appeal process?

The only thing the gaming sites will respond to is decreased revenue. That’s all. So when you terminate an account for any reason, always state the T&C as the main cause. Complain about these terms frequently online in forums and when corresponding with the sites. All of this is necessary as we move forward toward regulation of online poker, a necessary step in legalizing online poker in the United States.

It’s a long battle, but it has to start somewhere.

Pokerstars terms & conditions