Disconnect Abuse Is Just Fine With Poker Stars, Pt. 2

Having received only a canned reply from Stars, I tried to reply with a little more vigor:

Hi Veronica,

Thank you for your reply.

"Disconnect extra time" kind of defeats the purpose of a TURBO tournament, don't you think?

Not only that, but the player in question got maximum disconnect extra time in over 10 CONSECUTIVE hands, which is not supposed to happen, according to your rules.

This situation gave the player acting just after the disconnect a tremendous advantage, and of course he won the tournament.

I'm not about sour grapes, but I feel this was not how the software was supposed to act and gave some players an unfair advantage over others.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,

pokerstars id - 66Buffalo66

Now it gets a little more interesting. I begin to realize Stars support and myself are NOT on the same page:

Hello 66Buffalo66,

Thank you for your email.

Disconnect extra time is available in all tournaments, whether Turbo or regular speed. 'Turbo' refers to the length of time you have to act before your hand is folded if you are connected, which is shorter in these events.

The disconnect rules are available on our website here:

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/rules/disconnect/

'Note that for all tournaments, the DET is reset each time the user reconnects. So suppose a player is at the final table of a multi-table event, disconnects, and is down to 30 seconds per action, then reconnects. If he disconnects again, he'll start with 240 seconds for his next action.'

Therefore in theory it is possible to receive disconnect extra time for a limitless number of consecutive hands. This is how the feature is intended to function. I will however, forward your feedback to the appropriate people for their review. If there is anything else that we can do for you please let us know.

Regards,

MarkW
PokerStars Support Team

W... T... F???? Last time I checked, Turbos had 5 minute blind levels, while regular tournaments had 15. Well, so far, no acknowledgement of an advantage or the possibility of abuse. Read on - Things open up in the next go around.

Next: My final exchange with Stars and an admission on their behalf.

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