Chaning names at Stars

[TheTimeIsUp]

Is this possible to do? Is there any possible way?

[AwesomeAli]

No, none what-so-ever

Ali

[ctv1116]

You probably can, if you have previously played very little and have a compelling reason. I was able to get my handle changed, likely because I hadn't played on the site for a good 6 months and my handle was at the time my full name, which I was uncomfortable with.

[n1stunnor]

From late August of 04..

Hello XXXXXXXXXXX,

The reason we do not permit user ID changes is partially technological and partially psychological, and partially for security.

From the technological side (without getting too much into the nitty-gritty details of database management and database integrity), it is not a
trivial change. For example, your user ID is not stored on each hand history you've played. On the database side, it's stored just as a number to save space, and the user ID is stored only once, in your user account. When you request a hand history, it looks up your user ID
and inserts it where it should go. If you changed the user ID on your account, then all the past hand histories would change.... and it would be
a bad thing to have older histories say that "finesse914" was in seat 3 of that hand, while other players have histories requested after the change
that say "angelfins" was in seat 3. That would cause users who noted the apparent discrepancy to question the accuracy of our database, which we cannot permit. Thus, same-account user ID changes are technologically
impossible without extensive changes to the database software.

From the psychological side, in face-to-face poker you can remember a person by their appearance, their mannerisms, or their name. Chris Moneymaker will always be recognized as himself when he enters a card room. Online, all those things are gone. The only thing a player has
to identify you as an opponent at the table is your user ID, and your image (which we do permit to be changed more easily). It would be unfair to other players to "get to know" your playing style (taking notes, etc), and
then permit you to close the account in favor of a different user ID.

To keep all players on the same playing field, we routinely deny all user ID changes even though it would otherwise be a simple matter of closing one account and opening another.

Finally, the security portion of the reason for this policy is that all of the things that make your account "yours" are lost if you jump to another
account. All of your hand histories, your financial transactions, your chat.... everything is left behind and cannot be moved to your new
account. For financial security, much of this data is mandatory and cannot be considered dispensible.

All three of these reasons distill down to a uniform policy of no user ID changes being permitted. Occasionally, we will make an exception to this
rule in extreme circumstances (as was the case with Josh), but such exceptions are extremely rare.

If you would care to further justify your reasons for requesting an exception to this policy, I would be happy to reconsider the matter.

Best Regards,

Jeff
PokerStars Support Supervisor



----- Original Message -----
From: support@pokerstars.com
Sent: Wed Aug 25 16:34:33 2004
To: xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: username change

>Hello xxxxxxx,
>
>I am forwarding your email to a supervisor for the appropriate follow
up.
>We will get back to you as soon as possible.
>
>Regards,
>
>Andres
>PokerStars Support Team
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Sent: Wed Aug 25 16:32:03 2004
>To: support@pokerstars.com
>Subject: RE: username change
>
>>I dont need to change the picture if i cant change the
>>username.
>>
>>Let me ask you this.I know Josh Arieh used to play
>>under ATLANGELA,but know plays under RAZORBAX.How was
>>he able to change his username if you don't allow it?
>>
>>xxxxxxxx
>>--- support@pokerstars.com wrote:
>>
>>> Hello xxxxxxxx,
>>>
>>> Please note that when you opened your PokerStars
>>> account, there was a
>>> message in the dialog box stating the User ID would
>>> be displayed each time
>>> you play, and cannot be changed once selected. To
>>> be fair to all players,
>>> we must enforce that rule equally for everybody. I
>>> am sorry that we
>>> cannot accommodate your request.
>>>
>>> One of the ideas behind images at PokerStars is that
>>> they will help
>>> identify you to other players at the table (similar
>>> to User ID). If we
>>> allow for constant changes, it will take away from
>>> this idea.
>>>
>>> We understand that when a player first selects their
>>> image, they might
>>> not give it much thought. This is why we allow one
>>> change. However, in
>>> this case we can make an exception. I have updated
>>> your account
>>> privileges so you may change your image "ONE LAST
>>> TIME". Please note that
>>> you have requested this privilege 3 times already.
>>>
>>> If there is anything else I can help you with,
>>> please do not hesitate
>>> to contact us.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Andres
>>> PokerStars Support Team
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: xxxxxxxxx
>>> Sent: Wed Aug 25 16:06:18 2004
>>> To: support@pokerstars.com
>>> Subject: username change
>>>
>>> >Can you change my username from n1stunnor to xxxxxxx
>>> >please and take off my picture so i can submit a
>>> new
>>> >one?
>>> >
>>> >xxxxxxxx