Cheating Rings in PP Step 5

[edfilan]

Has anybody heard about this? When I registered into my Step 5 (single) last night, an observer was warning everone not to play because there was a Russian cheating ring at the table. Sure enough, there were two players from Moscow and 1 other from another Russian locale. The observer gave a link to an internet gambling forum (not this one), the name of which I can't remember right now, but when I checked it, the name of one of the Moscow guys showed up in a thread on this subject.

People were saying things like, "They play every Step 5," "They sit in the same seats," and "They never bet against one another." This is hardly damning evidence, but I decided to leave the table and investigate for myself before committing my $1k.

I watched 4 Step 5 tables, and it turned out that on every table there were 7 or 8 players simultaneously playing on another table (including the Moscow players). The Moscow players were not betting against one another, but on the other hand, they weren't betting against anyone else either. They were extremely tight, in one case, getting all the way to the 100/200 blind level before playing his 1st hand.

I concluded that most likely, these people are making an honest living feeding off the fishes that manage to survive through to Step 5. I half-expected it but it is slightly troubling to realize that when I do make it here, I'm playing with a bunch of pro regulars.

So, with all the same people playing on every table, it made no sense to wait any longer so I took my plunge. I busted out in 4th place getting my $1200. Incidentally, both Russians at my table again played very tightly but busted out before the money.

Any thoughts/observations?

[Bob L]

Why not send this post to party and insist they look into it.Posting it here will not stop it if it is true.

[Amid Cent]

Leeched from RGP:

"A good friend of mine pointed out to me that I was being cheated at the $1000
step 5 sit n go's at Party Poker. There is a cheat pack from Russia that plays
every step 5 and they NEVER PLAY A HAND AGAINST ONE ANOTHER.

There names are: VINNIPUH

SHANSER

PANDIRECTOR

LASTOCHKA777

The worst part of this is the incompetence of the Party Poker security team.

If you watch the step 5's you can clearly see them doing this at every table.
Yet, Party was not watching at all. Their highest level of sng, and they didn't
even have anyone monitoring it for collusion?

I called Party and had 30 minutes of my time wasted until they finally allowed
me to actually speak to someone that was actually from security. I asked why
they did not monitor their highest level sng's, and he said that they did, but
they relied on the players to report collusion. WHAT A JOKE. OBVIOUS COLLUSION
SHOULD BE CAUGHT BY PARTY BEFORE PEOPLE ARE CHEATED."

[HavanaBanana]

Just qualified for step 5, I am the medicine that tight players need!
I like to see some more emails to Party support so that we know they are actually focusing on it, $1000+$65 buy-in is the highest I will play online, but do not want to get bubble AND a be left with a bad taste in my mouth.

ToT

[spadeclub99]

I would be very weary playing for big money on Party. There is a massive amount of cheating and collusion there. Stick to big tourneys where random seating makes it harder to collude. Big money SNG on Party, you are looking to get cheated. Party does not care as long as they keep making a lot of money. Anyone who doubts this is being naive.

[scar_face]

so even if they are cheating and party catches them, what are they actually going to do? The members of this "ring" will just use someone elses ID and sign up again.
They probably keep minimal cash in their accounts so they arent worried about significant financial losses. I doubt that they are worried about any consequences even if they get busted, assuming that they are cheating. It cant be stopped!!!!!!! lol