Is it Generally Okay to Share an Account with My Buddy

[Newblood18]

Hellooooooooooooo!

I've been playing poker now online for about a year and its time to get serious! I still have as of yet to open my own account and am a bit oldfashioned about putting my money up with one of these sites. I've been playing on a few of my friends accounts and have done pretty well at lowish limits (started 3-6 and have been playing up to 10-20). I play at some of the big books- Party, Pokerroom, Pacific, True- and am looking to step up to 15-30 and 20-40 and get a little more serious about this.

Anyways I don't live with my buddy and he's actually away on vacation and I've been cleaning up on his accounts. I know its not ideal but is it okay if I share an account with him? Can the evil casinos just one day come and take the money or something drastic like this. Thanks.

Pokerboy!

[suzecat]

Hellooooooooooooo!

I've been playing poker now online for about a year and its time to get serious! I still have as of yet to open my own account and am a bit oldfashioned about putting my money up with one of these sites. I've been playing on a few of my friends accounts and have done pretty well at lowish limits (started 3-6 and have been playing up to 10-20). I play at some of the big books- Party, Pokerroom, Pacific, True- and am looking to step up to 15-30 and 20-40 and get a little more serious about this.

Anyways I don't live with my buddy and he's actually away on vacation and I've been cleaning up on his accounts. I know its not ideal but is it okay if I share an account with him? Can the evil casinos just one day come and take the money or something drastic like this. Thanks.

Pokerboy!

Check the T&C to see if this issue is specifically addressed. Do you want my guess: it is -- and don't let the casino know you have been playing someone else's account! That may forfeit all deposits/winnings and is a real drag.

[Casinomeister]

What you're doing is considered player fraud by most casinos. If your lucky streak sours and you lose whatever your "buddy" had in his account, do you think he'll be happy? He just might contact the casinos/poker rooms and claim that someone had accessed his accounts - and the casinos will just say tough shit. It's up to the player to safeguard his/hers accounts. Good way to screw up a friendship - unless of course it's cool with him.

I wouldn't be doing what you're doing because you're just asking for trouble. Player fraud is just that - player fraud.

[Webzcas]

In addition, regardless whether you lose you friend's money - If the poker room finds out that you are sharing your friend's account ( Given time they will that is a certainty ) It will get suspended and locked out.

[KasinoKing]

Agreed (up to a point).
As long as you're not colluding or cheating in any way, or have multiple accounts, and it's OK with your buddy, I don't see what the problem is.
There is no way on earth the poker room can tell who is clicking the mouse at your end, and I don't see why that matters anyway.
So just keep quiet about it & good luck!
(Would be much safer to open your own accounts though).

[guesswest]

It's a problem because it's very specifically forbidden by all poker rooms. There's numerous reasons for that, some already mentioned, some not. One that comes to mind is it being unfair on people who play against you with notes/conceptions of your play etc, based on someone else. Another is frequent player bonuses etc when you get double time on play-through. Even without reason, it's a problem just because it's forbidden. Ages ago when I was kinda not aware of what a big deal this was, I logged onto my friends account on a prima site from my house, playing like 5c/10c or something, with him sitting next to me, to show him how to play. Totally harmless I thought, but ever since we've never been able to sit at the same table together, regardless of where we connect from, anywhere on the prima network, the software prevents it.

Also, you'll likely find when you try and open your own accounts on the same sites, that due to you logging on from the same IP on your friends account, they either won't let you open an account, or will freeze a new account and your funds with it. I'd suggest, if you do open a new account successfully, before playing you contact CS and advise them of your situation, and get their ok to deposit and play. Don't mean to be alarmist, nor am I suggesting you're exactly doing anything unethical as you didn't seem to be fully aware of the status of this kind of thing - but it's strictly prohibited and poker sites invest huge amounts of money into detecting and policing this stuff.