PokerStars forced into giving refunds after server problems
How to claim a refund on PokerStars in wake of server problems
by Alligator Blood | ![]() |
Overall: 5
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Above: PokerStars has been beset by server problems today
PokerStars was forced into offering thousands of players refunds today after the company's servers crashed.
The world's biggest poker site became impossible to access for many players - including those in the middle of games - shortly after 10am Eastern Time this morning.
More than 70,000 players were in action on PokerStars when the server problems hit, leaving the site facing a refund nightmare.
Among those affected were people using the company's new iPad app, which shutout players mid-game with no explanation or way to log back in.
Other players reported problems accessing hand histories, with requested emails not being sent.
In an email to affected players entitled 'Server Issues', the company said: "PokerStars is currently experiencing some problems with players logging in, creating accounts, and accessing the cashier, among others.
"We are reviewing the situation and we hope to have this fixed shortly.
"We will be considering refunds for materially affected players.
"Materially affected" means you missed a considerable number of hands and lost a significant portion of your chip stack due to blinds and antes.
"If you believe you were materially affected by this issue, please email us."
Of course, quite how they refund players who were doing well in tournaments and suddenly found themselves locked out, is another matter...
HOW TO CLAIM A REFUND ON POKERSTARS
If you have been affected by today's server problems, here is the process for claiming a refund:
Email 'support@pokerstars.com' with the following subject line:
"REFUND: T#_________, $X+Y, User ID"
Where "________" is the Tournament ID, "X+Y" is the buy-in of the tournament, and "USERID" is your PokerStars User ID.
For example, "REFUND: T#123456780, $20 + 2, KidJoker"
For multiple tournament refund requests, please note additional tournaments in the text of your email. For example:
T#123456780, $20 + 2
T#123456781, $10 + 1,
T#123456782, $50 + 5
etc.
If you do not know the Tournament ID, you can find it in the PokerStars software using the playing audit feature (if it does not work at this moment, you can review it later on when the issue has been resolved). From the PokerStars Lobby screen, select:
'Requests -> Playing History Audit...'