Negreanu kicked off some discussion by comparing the use of VPNs to conceal your real location with some other technically illegal poker-playing activities, though the one on playing poker in Texas was much disputed considering its existence in a legal gray area.ĭoes that mean it's an unacceptable practice among poker players? It depends on who you ask. But is it 'cheating' or 'unethical'? These are the questions that the former long-time PokerStars ambassador brought to the fore in his tweet on Saturday that spurred quite a bit of discussion among the community. Those who could not leave had a tough choice between quitting online poker, playing on unregulated sites that couldn't compete with the volume or guarantees on the now-forbidden sites, or using a VPN - a virtual private network - to break the rules and gain access to the same sites as before.Īgainst the rules? Yes. Negreanu: 'There really is no victim here outside of the player using the VPN when he gets caught.' Many did so to continue to have access to the sites no longer available for players residing inside the borders of America. For some of those individuals, relocating to another country was in the realm of possibilities. With poker's Black Friday, the rug was pulled out from under many poker players making a living or a supplemental income playing online poker. The poker world hates a cheater or a scammer, but over the weekend, Daniel Negreanu brought up an interesting question about where the community draws the line in regards to one issue of 'cheating' in particular.

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