The GGNetwork put out a statement on Wednesday addressing how it is stepping up the fight against players who use Real Time Assistance (RTA) software. In its announcement, it referred to a “high-profile” RTA case that the poker community has been talking about over the last couple weeks. Though he was not named by GGNetwork, it is understood that the player in question is streamer Fedor Kruse.
Kruse was recently outed on Two Plus Two by his roommates for using a “solver” during play, effectively a series of spreadsheets he called the “dream machine” that he could reference to determine the optimal play in virtually any situation. The roommates provided photos of his poker setup, showing him playing on one computer while using another computer – complete with separate mouse and keyboard – to pull up the solver.
He started off playing low stakes, just $0.50/$1 games, but using the solver, he quickly moved up and won at very high stakes games. His roommates confronted him and though he promised to stop, he continued, prompting his outing on the poker forum.
The GGNetwork says that it has “re-dedicated” its efforts to fighting RTA and has improved its detection methods.
“Although there are public concerns that RTA is an imminent threat to the status quo in that it is undetectable, that is patently false,” the network says. “Our Security Team is fully aware of the different ways that RTA is being used, and we want to emphasize that RTA is detectable.”
GGNetwork announced that a “small group” of RTA users has been caught. Of those users, 13 were banned and had nearly $1.2 million confiscated and redistributed to the players against whom they competed. Another 27 accounts were banned, but got to keep their money, while 40 accounts were given warnings.
The network says that “massive increases in data analysis” are key to the new RTA-catching process, but adds that the company has some of the “brightest poker minds” that help improve the algorithms.
And though not all of the accounts mentioned above were banned, that will not be the case anymore. GGNetwork says that from now on, anybody caught using RTA will be banned permanently and have their funds confiscated.
The network has also implemented a community policing system that lets players report suspicious play. Reports can be filed by clicking on a flag icon in the hand history page or in Pokercraft. The reports will help GGNetwork’s staff focus on specific suspected players, hopefully catching those who do use RTA or cheat in some way faster than they would otherwise.
“We realize that these are merely the first steps in our quest to free online Poker from RTA,” says the network. “GGPN will continue to fight to provide a fair and enjoyable experience at our Poker tables. We will use all resources at our disposal to rid our Network of undesirable players. We forge on knowing we have the Poker community’s full support and we will spare no effort in tackling RTA as well as other cheating methods.”
