Archive for November 30th, 2009

As “The Poker Philosopher”, and in honor of one of my favorite non-poker blogs, I occasionally consider the ethical dimensions of a high-profile controversy in the poker community. In September, I discussed Joe Sebok’s decision to join Team Ultimate Bet. This month, I examine a $50,000 deal gone wrong (or right, depending on which party you ask).

The Situation: Until recently, Poker Stars used two alternate currencies for players who won satellites but either chose not to play the event or won multiple seats for the same event. $T could be used to buy in to any tournament on the site, and $W could be used only for special events like the WCOOP, the SCOOP, and satellites to land-based events. Neither could be used in cash games or cashed out directly.

Although Poker Stars did not itself purchase $W or $T from players, it did facilitate such transfers between players directly through its client. Thus, several businesses emerged to process such transactions, buying $W and $T in large quantities at less than face value and then reselling them at slightly higher but still lower than face value prices.  Read the complete post...