*** PokerStars VIP Rep thread ***

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Hey Dylan, I'm planning to move to London this summer and would like to resume playing on Pokerstars. I understand I'll want to set up a bank account once I settle there and get my name on some sort of bill as proof of residence, but what other practical steps do I need to take to get back to playing on stars asap?

My other big question: I had Supernova VIP status as of April 2011 -- will I restart as a Supernova VIP in June/July?

[DoubleJ]

Hi Dylan,

I know ur getting a lot of flak over the rake stuff, so sorry if this adds to ur woes, but...

The last PS Client upgrade made a small but fundamental change to the HH file format which rendered the file import and HUD functions of both PokerOffice and PokerTracker unusable (poss. also HEM; i don't know).

What was the reason for this (apparently arbitrary) change, and why were users not alerted to the possible impact of accepting the upgrade?

A shoddy little episode that makes PS look either mickey-mouse or cynical. Take ur pick.

Edit: 16:00 GMT today - another PS client update. so...what's in this one, please? Not happy to install it until either:
* i know it's safe, or
* someone tells me how to roll-back to an old version if i need to

[PokerStars VIP]

Hi Dylan,

I know ur getting a lot of flak over the rake stuff, so sorry if this adds to ur woes, but...

The last PS Client upgrade made a small but fundamental change to the HH file format which rendered the file import and HUD functions of both PokerOffice and PokerTracker unusable (poss. also HEM; i don't know).

What was the reason for this (apparently arbitrary) change, and why were users not alerted to the possible impact of accepting the upgrade?

A shoddy little episode that makes PS look either mickey-mouse or cynical. Take ur pick.

Edit: 16:00 GMT today - another PS client update. so...what's in this one, please? Not happy to install it until either:
* i know it's safe, or
* someone tells me how to roll-back to an old version if i need to

Hi DoubleJ,

The latest update released yesterday is legit and has several small fixes. Among them is a fix for tournament lobbies sometimes not displaying the list of players properly.

Regarding your original post:

I understand your frustration here. The intent of these software updates is to improve our software, not to mislead or throw our players for a loop. It's unfortunate that the side-effect was hand histories not importing into Hold'em Manager, but in these cases it's their responsibility to make adjustments. From the looks of it, the issue has been resolved and players are able to import their hands again.

I am going to pass along your feedback - specifically that you'd like advance warning before downloading an update on whether it's going to have an affect on any 3rd party tools.

As always, I appreciate the input.

DylanC

[DoubleJ]

It's unfortunate that the side-effect was hand histories not importing into Hold'em Manager

hmmm....not trying to be a tw@t, but that's not an acceptable statement, is it?

it's fairly bleedin' obvious that a HH file format change is going to have a down-stream impact.

Question: does your tech dept. liaise with PO/PT/HEM at all? it'd seem to make sense to me. e.g. i'd be interested to know if there was a noticeable drop in traffic on 'stars post upgrade as people stopped playing waiting for patches to be released.

Disclaimer: Rant not aimed at your good self, Dylan

[PokerStars VIP]

hmmm....not trying to be a tw@t, but that's not an acceptable statement, is it?

it's fairly bleedin' obvious that a HH file format change is going to have a down-stream impact.

Question: does your tech dept. liaise with PO/PT/HEM at all? it'd seem to make sense to me. e.g. i'd be interested to know if there was a noticeable drop in traffic on 'stars post upgrade as people stopped playing waiting for patches to be released.

Disclaimer: Rant not aimed at your good self, Dylan

Good question. We do try to give advance warning to PokerTracker and Hold'em Manager before applying changes to Hand History formats. This was again the case with this recent change; advance warning was given to them about the changes we were making.

DylanC

[DoubleJ]

We do try to give advance warning to PokerTracker and Hold'em Manager before applying changes ...

OK, that's good. Thanks Dylan.

Could I ask a favour and have you add PokerOffice dev. to that list, please?

Also, seeing as you're a reg here, it'd be nice to give GMML a heads-up on upcoming changes (the format change broke our hand converter, too)

Cheers!

[PokerStars VIP]

Hey Dylan, I'm planning to move to London this summer and would like to resume playing on Pokerstars. I understand I'll want to set up a bank account once I settle there and get my name on some sort of bill as proof of residence, but what other practical steps do I need to take to get back to playing on stars asap?

My other big question: I had Supernova VIP status as of April 2011 -- will I restart as a Supernova VIP in June/July?

Hi Vi-Zer0,

Here's what you'll be asked to provide:

-A copy of government issued photo I.D. (your U.S. Passport or U.S. Driver's License is fine)
-A Bank Statement from a bank in your current country with your name and new address clearly visible (it helps if it's officially stamped by the bank)
-A Utility Bill in your name and/or a Lease Agreement. For the Lease, it has to be the legal Lease Agreement signed by both you and your landlord and it has to be for at least 3 months. A month long lease isn't sufficient.
-A landline phone number (where you can be reached by security to confirm your relocation).

If you haven't yet relocated or played since April 15th, you can relocate in 2012 and maintain your VIP Status for 5.5 months after the date you're relocated (provided you maintain the Supernova monthly VPP requirements). The VPPs you accrued in 2011 are carried over as well.

Best of luck, and let me know if you have further questions.

DylanC

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

This is from when I asked you in October about the relocation process:

Hi Vi-Zer0,

Here's what you'll be asked to provide:

-A copy of government issued photo I.D. (your U.S. Passport or U.S. Driver's License is fine)
-A Bank Statement from a bank in your current country with your name and new address clearly visible (it helps if it's officially stamped by the bank)
-A Utility Bill in your name and/or a Lease Agreement. For the Lease, it has to be the legal Lease Agreement signed by both you and your landlord and it has to be for at least 3 months. A month long lease isn't sufficient.
-A landline phone number (where you can be reached by security to confirm your relocation).

If you haven't yet relocated or played since April 15th, you can relocate in 2012 and maintain your VIP Status for 5.5 months after the date you're relocated (provided you maintain the Supernova monthly VPP requirements). The VPPs you accrued in 2011 are carried over as well.

Best of luck, and let me know if you have further questions.

DylanC

I'm now starting to get myself sorted out and I've realized there isn't a landline phone in my girlfriend's London house. I'll also be staying at a second residence (which I'm pretty sure does have a landline), but it would be very inconvenient for me to travel to Oundle (90 minutes away) and wait for Pokerstars to call me to get my account reactivated.

Is there a way to circumvent this part of the reactivation process? Could Pokerstars call me via skype and verify my new location through my IP address?

Also I assume stars wants me to fax in my supporting documents. Could you provide me with the appropriate fax number?

Thanks,

Sam

[daven]

Is there a way to circumvent this part of the reactivation process? Could Pokerstars call me via skype and verify my new location through my IP address?

Also I assume stars wants me to fax in my supporting documents. Could you provide me with the appropriate fax number?

Thanks,

Sam

two ideas
1 - see if they can call you on your cell phone
2 - take photos of the documents and e-mail them to support (all poker sites i have played on have been fine with this)

[Keith]

This is from when I asked you in October about the relocation process:




I'm now starting to get myself sorted out and I've realized there isn't a landline phone in my girlfriend's London house. I'll also be staying at a second residence (which I'm pretty sure does have a landline), but it would be very inconvenient for me to travel to Oundle (90 minutes away) and wait for Pokerstars to call me to get my account reactivated.

Is there a way to circumvent this part of the reactivation process? Could Pokerstars call me via skype and verify my new location through my IP address?

Also I assume stars wants me to fax in my supporting documents. Could you provide me with the appropriate fax number?

Thanks,

Sam

how are you accessiing the internet without landline? through your mobile or unlocked wireless signal. Have you got the bank account sorted ?pretty sure Clan_sup3rman had to get a utility bill with his name on it beforehe could get the bank account sorted.

Cheap Home Broadband & Phone packages - Broadband & Phone from Plusnet is a cheap way of hgetting phone and broadband and should count as a utility bill to get the bank account.

[PokerStars VIP]

This is from when I asked you in October about the relocation process:




I'm now starting to get myself sorted out and I've realized there isn't a landline phone in my girlfriend's London house. I'll also be staying at a second residence (which I'm pretty sure does have a landline), but it would be very inconvenient for me to travel to Oundle (90 minutes away) and wait for Pokerstars to call me to get my account reactivated.

Is there a way to circumvent this part of the reactivation process? Could Pokerstars call me via skype and verify my new location through my IP address?

Also I assume stars wants me to fax in my supporting documents. Could you provide me with the appropriate fax number?

Thanks,

Sam

Hi Sam,

Sorry for the delay, it was a Holiday weekend here in Canada and I was out in the woods until today.

Yes, you can certainly take pictures of your documents (so long as the entire page is captured in the picture and the information is legible) and upload them in the client or send them to [email protected]. As for the necessary verification call on your landline, you can explain your situation to our security department and ask if it's possible to be called on a UK cell phone.

When you've sent in the documents, send me a quick email at [email protected] so I can take a look at your case and hopefully help get past the landline problem.

Dylan