PokerStars Ban for Alleged Third-Party Tool Use – We’ve Never Used Any

Hello everyone,

My brother and I joined a poker stable back in June with the goal of getting better at poker. We started from scratch, and with the help of coaching and putting in a lot of hours every day, we learned a lot about Spin & Go strategies, GTO, and other advanced techniques. We've legitimately built our way up from nothing, joining a school with over 100 members, and have been making real progress. We’ve genuinely enjoyed working hard to improve and have always been committed to doing things the right way.

We were shocked when we received an email from PokerStars saying our accounts were permanently banned for allegedly using third-party tools. This accusation is completely false. We’ve never heard of, let alone used, any programs like they mentioned. Our play has always been based on studying, practicing, and following the guidance from our coaches.

We’ve always been completely transparent about our situation—we live together and share the same IP address, but we play on separate accounts and have always followed the rules. We never thought this would be an issue, as we’ve made every effort to play fair. To have this happen feels incredibly unfair and out of the blue.

Before receiving this ban notice, we were actually investigated by PokerStars. We were worried about the investigation, so we reached out to our stable, and they assured us it was just a normal process. We were told we would just need to film our play to prove that we were following the rules. Based on that advice, we didn’t worry too much and continued playing, expecting everything to go smoothly.

However, despite all our efforts to prove our fair play, PokerStars went ahead and banned us. To make matters worse, they seized all of our funds without clear reasoning. This part feels especially harsh and discouraging—it's one thing to be banned, but taking all our money without providing an explanation feels like they can do anything, and there's no real protection for players.

The lack of transparency in how PokerStars enforces their policies is the most frustrating part. If something in our play looked suspicious, we wish they had warned us or at least explained it to us before making such drastic decisions. We've worked so hard to get to where we are, and this treatment feels completely unjust.

We’re sharing our story here in the hopes that others might understand and offer advice or support. We believe PokerStars should be more transparent with their rules and give players a chance to explain themselves before making such drastic decisions.

Thanks for reading, and we’d really appreciate any guidance on what we could do next. We're hoping PokerStars will reconsider their approach and provide a fairer resolution for situations like ours.