Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Online Poker Site Disqualifies WCOOP Winner

Online poker site PokerStars.com has released a statement after weeks of rumour and debate disqualifying the original winner of its World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event.

The Kahnawake-licensed site said that, following a two-week investigation that ended on October 1, it had acted on allegations of irregularities in the activities of 'TheV0id', who won over a million dollars at the recent WCOOP, and stripped the player of their winnings. It stated that the remaining players would be moved up one spot and collect the appropriate winnings.

"The investigation into the WCOOP Main Event has now been concluded," read the statement from PokerStars.com. "We have determined, based on the totality of evidence, that the tournament winner, TheV0id, was in breach of the Poker Stars Terms of Service. In the interests of game integrity, TheV0id has been disqualified from first place."

"All other WCOOP Main Event prize winners in addition to the player who originally bubbled in 415th place will, therefore, advance one place in the prize pool. The necessary financial adjustments to reflect the revised tournament places will be made within the next 24 hours. Please note that we are unable to release further details of this investigation, for reasons of confidentiality and privacy."

TheV0id became the winner of the Main Event after a 22-hour battle with second-placed ka$ino. However, soon after the win, accusations of irregularities arose, questioning the validity of the win. These centred on the use of two accounts set up by an alleged well-known and successful professional poker player who was thought to have used an account ostensibly set up for someone else on several leading poker forums after his own account was eliminated.