Loss of $8500 on poker site due to Police negligence.

[FoxxFire]

I live in Ontario, Canada. I'm not sure where this case belongs, but since it involves cash in online poker, i'll post it here.

I need to know if I have anything here, law-wise.

I belong to an online poker site that was hosting a large tournament, in which the top 50 people received a prize worth $8500.

I was in this tournament, and during it, had an argument with a tech. support from that poker site. After a phone-based argument I found that I'd lost control of aspects of my computer, and an e-mail that I was writing to a lawyer regarding the tech. support member suddenly disappeared. I was sure that he had taken control of my computer (using any number of programs).

The tournament was coming to a close. I was doing great and basically a lock for the top 50, but this person had started to invade my computer. I phoned the police, as I was afraid that this person could at any point cause me to lose the tournament against my will via remote control. I wanted a police witness.

Now here's where the issue starts. When he gets here and looks at my computer, he instantly believes I'm paranoid, and that I am high on some sort of drug, and that I am playing a tournament worth fake money. I assure him it is real money, show him 10 different things to prove it, but he is unresponsive.

Regarding the person hacking me, the officer refused to even phone the support member I was arguing with. I was sweating and starting to panic a little as he clearly believed I was paranoid and/or schizophrenic, and that is when he started talking about taking me to the hospital. Since there was only about 80 people left in this tournament and 50 qualified for a $8500 package, I begged that he just let me stay long enough to qualify. He refused, handcuffed me and took me to the hospital under the "Mental Health Act".

When in the police car I asked if he could just leave a message on my mother's answering machine telling her my poker account name and password so that she could take over. He refused to even do this. I begged him to do it, just in case I wasn't lying. He refused. My mom was home just a few minutes later, and had she received the message, would've been able to keep me top 50, no problem.

The blood tests came back as clean and sober. The money, real.

This officer did not even investigate the problem I CALLED him in for. Then he ignored all my efforts to prove it was real money. I even showed him the promotional website for the major tournament I was in. He neglected all of this.

Even leaving that message would have let me win the tournament.

When I left my house, there was 88 people left. Despite that, I finished in 54th place. That's how well I was doing - and how obvious it is that I was GOING to win this.

Given the fact that this officer not only didn't even attempt to see if I was telling the truth regarding the hacking, and that my blood tests were completely clean, and that he didnt even take the time to phone and leave a message, this officer plain and simply COST ME an $8500 PACKAGE.

Do I have any case against him, given the blood sample evidence, his refusal to phone the person hacking me, and complete refusal to even leave a message to someone who could've taken over?

He plain and simply is the reason I did not get that package.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

To be honest, little of what you write makes sense to me. You claim that the poker site tech support person had control over your computer. How? Unless they had some type of virus or spyware that they knew would enable them with control over your computer, this tale simply did not happen. I'm more inclined to wonder whether you should see a psychologist to evaluate yourself to see whether you may have overreacted, since a police officer went so far as to have you hospitalized. If you can't even pass an independent psychological evaluation, you should wonder whether you can make a case and whether you do need help. For your legal case, it would be very difficult to prove and I'm guessing very costly. It's still your choice if you want to fund your own lawsuit for what might only be a small amount of money in comparison. Good luck to you and I hope all works out for you on all fronts.

 

[FoxxFire]

The "hacking" is not, in the end, the point. The tournament being worth cash is easily provable, and a police officer took me away from the ability to finish it based on nothing but the fact that the story seemed far-fetched.

There's no doubt in my mind what happend, but again, I don't need to be believed. That's no justification to cost me so much money. Yes - technically, the tournament was not finished and thus I would be making an assumption that I would finish winning the prize. However, poker sites have a way of compensating people based on their position in the tournament (how many chips they have), how much the tournament is worht, and how many people are still in the tournament. Through this formula, the position I had when taken away was worth at least $7500 cash.

Forget the reason I called the officer, I know it seems untrue and I have no interest in trying to prove it here. Thas is not the reason I write this email. I was clean and sober and the officer took me simply because the story "seemed like a paranoid fantasy". Probably the same reason you asked me to seek psychological evaluation.

A fight with support can be proven, motive for them wanting to see me screen can be proven, and being someone who took Computer Engineering, is nowhere near as far-fetched as it sounds. But once again, not the point.