Full Tilt Snags a Couple of Bots, Issues Partial Refunds

Full Tilt Poker demomstrated that it is at least attempting to combat the threat of poker-playing bots when it recently issued refunds to dozens of players who lost money to a couple of accounts that were identified as using "bots" (poker-playing computer software) on the site.

The players affected received the following e-mail from Full Tilt:

Dear xxxx,

Upon conclusion of a recent investigation of cash game play, we have determined that opponents of yours used unauthorized automated software while playing.

In this instance, we have seized the account balances of the offending players and redistributed it to players who were victimized. The calculation was based on the number of hands played against the offending players as well as the amount won or lost against them.

With this redistribution, we have determined that your are entitled to a refund of (amount here), which will be placed in your account in the next 4-6 hours.

For various reasons, we are unable to advise you of the names of the players or any other information regarding this case; we thank you for your understanding in this regard.

Here at Full Tilt Poker, we investigate every concern of suspicious activity at our tables. The vigilance of our players is one of the strongest weapons we have in our ongoing battle against illegal play. If you become suspicious of any behavior, chat, or action at our tables, please don't hesitate to contact us at [Email]support@fulltiltpoker.com.[/Email]

We wish you best of luck at the tables, and if there's any other way we can be of assistance, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Full Tilt Poker

The refunds ranged from less than $100 to several thousand dollars, and seem to have come from two accounts generally identified as bots by the other players; those accounts were believed to be 'Beatme1' and 'japinthesack'.

Some players questioned why they weren't reimbursed in full for the amount of their personal losses against these players. The answer to that is easy enough to see; once the bot accounts were frozen and the funds within confiscated, whatever amount that was was then prorated to all players who had a loss against those accounts. The amount refunded is in the 25-30% range, though of course, it's also very likely that other players won money overall against the bot accounts and were therefore ineligible for any refunds.