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PokerStars puts pressure on statistic sites

August 17, 2007 on 4:43 pm | In General |

The following is an email that PokerStars have recently sent to statistical database site pokerdb. Presumably the restriction on data will also be found at Online Poker Rankings and Sharkscope….

In the month of August 2007 PokerStars mandated that websites displaying player’s rankings and ratings require players to opt-in before displaying certain data.  Within thepokerdb this only pertains to PokerStars data.  

PokerStars’ Policy Regarding “Rankings/Ratings” Services

To ensure player privacy regarding certain player statistics and financial information gathered by websites (hereinafter “Service Operator”) that collect and organize PokerStars players’ results by various means, PokerStars has devised the following rules with which such Service Operators must comply:

1. No player profitability data (i.e. ROI, net profit, etc) may be displayed on any player unless the player has explicitly opted into such display by transferring $0.03 to a prominently published PokerStars account owned by the Service Operator. This request must be acknowledged by the Service Operator by sending the $0.03 back to the player as confirmation within a reasonable time frame not to exceed 5 days.
2. Any player may choose to completely opt out of having any information about them displayed on the Service. To do so, player will transfer $0.01 to the service operator’s PokerStars account. This request must be acknowledged by the Service Operator by sending the $0.01 back to the player as confirmation within a reasonable time frame not to exceed 5 days. Note that the amount here is different, in order to distinguish an opt-out request from an opt-in request.
3. The use of the “transfer from user to Service and back again” method for opt-in and opt-out is required. This method permits these requests to be handled privately and securely without the disclosure of the player’s Email, real name, or other private information. Only the player’s PokerStars User ID is required.
4. Both the opt-in and opt-out options must be prominently displayed on the main / front page of the Service (at minimum, a normal-sized link on the front page to a more complete description elsewhere).
5. If the service’s operation pre-dates the establishment of these guidelines (December 2006), there shall be no “grandfather clause” for existing data. 100% of historical profitability data must be removed from view until such time as a player explicitly opts in as above.

Any Service Operator found to be in violation of these rules risks having their access to PokerStars’ game client restricted and/or the service impeded, including but not limited to the warning of players who access the Service while the PokerStars client is open.

I think that this may end up being an own goal on PS behalf as many players use these stats and if the databases are incomplete at PS but still good at Full Tilt etc then players may move over and play other sites more.