GGPoker Announces New ‘Full Disclosure’ Backing policy

GGPoker today announced a range of measures designed to provide oversight of backing deals, with staked players now having to fully disclose their arrangements while backers must have GGPoker accounts. Notably, the site itself will determine how winnings are split, in a bid to avoid off-site backing.

GGPoker

The latest move by the industry giants is not entirely unexpected, though the details of what changes might be on the horizon were open to much debate until today’s update to the operator’s Security and Ecology Policy (SEP).

As we reported last month, the CEO of GG’s Russian poker skin, PokerOK, Ivan Bryksin, declared war on stables.

Bryksin stated that stables were ruining the game for recreational players and described them as “hands down, the greatest threat to the purity, integrity and equality of poker today”.

Allegations of stable-approved and even stable-led softplay, collusion, multi-accounting, bum-hunting and other decidedly dubious tactics have been in the headlines multiple times in recent years. It appears with the latest announcement that GGPoker have decided enough is enough.

PokerOK CEO Ivan Bryksin Declares War on Poker Stables

Today’s change in the SEP declares that tournament players who are either fully or partially funded for tournament buy-ins “are required to disclose any private backing arrangements with third parties by using the ‘Designate Backer’ feature”.

As per GGPoker’s FAQ section, the ‘Designate Backer’ feature “aims to make these agreements transparent and prove that players with the same backer are playing fairly against each other and not engaging in soft play or collusion”.

The policy update states that “failure to disclose these arrangements will be considered as intentional deception,” and the site “may request documentation and proof regarding any backing arrangement”.

The penalties for breaches of the new rules include “WARNING, SUSPENSION, PERMANENT BAN,” the capital letters courtesy of GGPoker.

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In an apparent bid to keep all backing arrangements in-house, the site also states: “For the Tournament Backer feature, Backers must have an account on the GGPoker Network. If your Backer does not have one, they must open one.”

In addition, the client itself will handle how winnings are split between backer and player, with cash prizes treated differently to tickets and packages won.

How the new policy will work in practice remains to be seen. One potential issue raised is the inability of a backer to access GGPoker in certain parts of the world due to regulatory issues.

Closely related, the ‘Designate Backer’ feature is not yet available in all jurisdictions, although GGPoker are “working closely with the relevant regulatory bodies to offer the feature to all players in the future.”

The response from stables and players will doubtless be seen over the coming days and weeks and we’ll keep you updated on any interesting developments in this breaking story.

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Professional Poker Journalist
Mark Patrickson is a poker journalist with over ten years of experience. He writes for VIP-Grinders.com, sharing his deep knowledge of poker. He creates interesting content about poker strategy, trends, and news for poker fans worldwide.
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