In a frustrating situation for many poker players with more questions than answers, 888 has mysteriously banned some customers residing in Canada and Mexico for no apparent reason. Reports coming in from players indicate, though, that there might be one link amongst those customers: previous United States residence.
Despite that possible connection, it is still a very murky situation. It all started about a week ago, on May 14th, when people started taking to the internet forums to report account problems. Some tried to login to their 888poker accounts and received the message, “Your account has been temporarily disabled. Please check your E-mail account for a message or contact our Operations team at: operations@cassava.net.”
Others found the following communication in their e-mail inboxes:
Dear [player name redacted],
This is the Operations Department at Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Ltd. We are contacting you with regards to your account with username [redacted].
This email is to inform you that we have taken a decision to discontinue your membership with us. Please note that a cashout request of your bankroll has been made on your behalf and will be paid in accordance with our policies.
We ask that you refrain from opening new accounts owned or operated by us, as these too will be closed and no monies refunded.
Regards,
Operations Department
Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Ltd.
operations@cassava.net
With no warning and no reason given for the account closures, speculation started that accounts may have been hacked. Another theory was that the e-mails were a phishing scam, particularly because many of the e-mails appeared in spam folders. These fears appear to have been alleviated as players contacted 888 to inquire as to why they were banned. Unfortunately, the answers from 888 just left everyone with more questions. One player initiated an online chat with customer service and simply received the same e-mail copied and pasted into the chat window.
Others who e-mailed 888 customer support got essentially the same e-mail in response as they did initially:
This is the Operations Department at Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Ltd. We are contacting you in regards to your 888poker account with username [redacted].
Thank you for contacting us.
[name redacted] as previously advised, we have taken the decision to discontinue your membership with us, now, and in the future, for all brands that we operate.
A withdrawal for your bankroll amount was made on your behalf.
Kindly refrain from opening further accounts with any gaming site owned and operated under the Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Ltd.; as such accounts will be closed as soon as they are detected. In the case that you do open any new account(s), Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Ltd. may,at its sole discretion, withhold all deposited and related monies in relation to such accounts.
I apologize for the inconvenience this causes you and I thank you for your continued co-operation in this matter.
Oftentimes in times of confusion, the poker community turns to poker room representatives on Two Plus Two for clarification. Well, this time, “888rep” offered nothing of substance, saying, “We continuously monitor all 888poker accounts and activities and take steps accordingly. In the event you have received an email that you feel is an error, then please contact the support team and you will be answered in due course.”
So where does that leave us? Nowhere, really. It seems like those being targeted are U.S. ex-pats living in Canada and Mexico, but that’s not at all clear. 888 is offering no answers, even when affected players ask them directly. Hopefully more information will come out and if it does, we’ll report on it.