$700K: one of the largest forfeitures in online poker history

On the popular poker forum 2+2 there are often complaints about “unlawful” closing of accounts and confiscation of funds. As a rule, the author of the post is blamed. However, a recent post where a user lost more than $700K has generated a lot of interest in the poker community.

What Happened to Exodus944’s Bankroll?

On February 6, 2024, an Irish poker player using the screen name “Exodus944” posted a message on a forum. In this message, he accused the online poker site partypoker of stealing more than $700,000 from his account. He described himself as a high-stakes player specializing in Spin & Go tournaments on the partypoker platform.

Back in July 2021, Exodus944 moved to a new address. Partypoker, as part of their security procedures, asked him to provide documents that proved his new address. He made a mistake and sent them an electricity bill for his friend’s house, even though the bill had his name on it.

Despite the document not being a perfect proof of address, partypoker accepted it. Then, on December 5, 2022, Exodus944 won a $1 million jackpot prize in a $100 Spin & Go tournament. This big win made him decide to stop playing online poker and instead focus on traveling and playing poker in live casinos. He started taking money out of his partypoker account bit by bit. By February 2023, he had withdrawn $300,000, leaving $707,000 remaining in his account.

On February 14, 2023, Exodus944 tried to log in to his partypoker account and found out it was blocked. He couldn’t access his money.

Why was Exodus944 banned?

For four months, Exodus944 sent emails to partypoker asking why his account was blocked, but they didn’t reply. Finally, he got help from a person who worked with partypoker to bring them new players. This person contacted partypoker directly and found out that Exodus944’s account was blocked because he broke their rules. Partypoker said he used a fake document to prove his address.

Exodus944 was angry because partypoker accepted the same document in 2021 when he put about $100,000 into his account. He said:

It seems the document was good enough when they wanted my money, but not good enough when it was time to pay me.

During all of this, partypoker never explained exactly what was wrong with the document. They just kept saying it was fake and that this was a good reason to block his account.

As Exodus944 looked into this more, he found out that he wasn’t the only one this happened to. He said:

During this time, I found out about at least five other players who were in the same situation as me. Their accounts were closed because partypoker thought their documents were fake (but they couldn’t prove it). But, all five of these players were allowed to take their money out of their accounts. One player was even allowed to give new documents and keep playing. The only difference between me and them is how much money we had in our accounts.

Partypoker Offered a Deal

The person who worked with partypoker to bring them new players told Exodus944 that they would give him back all of his money if he gave them new documents to prove his address. He quickly sent them the documents. But then, partypoker changed their mind and said they wouldn’t give him the money.

Later, they offered him a deal. They said they would give him back the money in his account but keep $100,000. He didn’t like this, but he agreed to it. Then, partypoker canceled the deal.

Exodus944 said that if he really broke the rules, the money they took from him should be given to other players. But he said this didn’t happen.

As of February 14, 2024, partypoker hasn’t said anything publicly about what happened with Exodus944. Most people who talked about this online think partypoker followed their own rules and that Exodus944 shouldn’t have used a fake document.

This Isn’t the First Time This Happened

In 2007, a player won the biggest tournament on PokerStars, but then PokerStars found out that the winner’s relative played the tournament for him. They took away his prize money of more than $1 million and gave it to the other players in the tournament.
In 2011, a player from the Netherlands won $518,000 in a big tournament on PokerStars. But then PokerStars found out that the player was too young to play on their site. They took away all of his money and gave it to charity.
In 2017, Gordon Vayo won $692,000 in a tournament on PokerStars. But then PokerStars found out that he used a special program to hide where he was playing from. They took away his prize money.