Mystery surrounds PokerStars 70th billion hand celebration

[pkaff]

PokerStars today reached yet another milestone in the site's ten-year history, as the 70 billionth hand was dealt at a $0.25/$0.50 heads-up table.

The hand was dealt while the two players, "koenigskebab" and "DodgeUrOuts" both went all-in holding and , respectively, with the first winning the hand as an ace was dealt on the flop.

"koenigskebab" took $73,380 for winning the milestone hand, while "DodgeUrOuts" had to settle for a $1,690 consolation prize, and PokerStars soon after announced the winning hand and congratulated the players.

Less than an hour after the hand was dealt, however, rumors of foul play started circulating, and following a video from YouTube user "evhero", it does indeed seem as if the two players used unfair methods in order to gain an advantage in the race for the big hand.

According to the video, the in-game chat box was almost immediately flooded with allegations of fraud and cheating as soon as the hand was over, and this led the YouTube user to look back at the hand history between the players.

According to this, the two players - both from Germany - had folded every hand pre-flop leading up to the 70 billionth hand, meaning that they were able to play more hands per hour than other players, and furthermore, without paying a single cent in rake.

Using this method across the maximum of 24 tables allowed, "evhero" claims, the two players managed to grind out thousands of hands for free, giving them better odds at hitting the lucky hand and cashing in the reward.

PokerStars has since withdrawn the news item of the milestone hand from the PokerStars Blog, but no official statement has yet been made to address the cheating allegations.

Seems smart if you ask me, even if they played heads-up on 24 tables if you take into consideration the number of tables running at this time I don't think their odds were that high honestly. But; I'm sure Stars will do something about it, don't need much reason (or any reason at all) to seize those funds

[ProBlackbird]

Don't they got rules they aren't allowed to do this?
Both were from Germany have to agreed that these guy is friends to do this.

[pkaff]

Yes it would be considered soft-play I am guessing.

[dipstick2]

yes always make yu wonder how they can do this,but does not surprise me

[joshtheking]

lolz well they can kiss them funds goodbye ,they better withdraw the money before they lose it lolz!

[don7238]

They can play as many tables as they want at a time. There's no rules so they can't play 24 tables, that was very smart of those two.

[pkaff]

24 is max they can play. AND you are missing the point, they folded every hand for an hour or so, so no rake was being taken from the players. Was a heads-up table so their stacks were staying the same , just at the tables hoping the 70b hand would go while sitting at the table, playing and not contributing rake. Which is definitely against the rules.

[gametime74]

24 is max they can play. AND you are missing the point, they folded every hand for an hour or so, so no rake was being taken from the players. Was a heads-up table so their stacks were staying the same , just at the tables hoping the 70b hand would go while sitting at the table, playing and not contributing rake. Which is definitely against the rules.

they can fold everyhand but they still have to put in bb and sb..i really having a hard time seeing they actually cheated here..

[pkaff]

Ok so post SB fold, then next person posts SB and folds, no rake is taken unless they see a flop. So they are losing nothing, yet have 24 chances at the 70B hand celebration? Doesn't quite seem right

[Poof]

They can play as many tables as they want at a time. There's no rules so they can't play 24 tables, that was very smart of those two.

24 is max they can play. AND you are missing the point, they folded every hand for an hour or so, so no rake was being taken from the players. Was a heads-up table so their stacks were staying the same , just at the tables hoping the 70b hand would go while sitting at the table, playing and not contributing rake. Which is definitely against the rules.

^^^This, it is total collusion, even though neither were gaining anything from each other, they had agreed to fold every hand until the milestone hand. Once it is reviewed I am sure their accounts will be suspended.
It is along the lines as a chip dump, even though one player is agreeing to give the funds to the other player, it is still collusion and can get your account suspended if they review.