Betfair Backgammon Resolve the Jadestone Bot Issue

The news post about Jadestone Bots let to getting in touch with management of Betfair (because honestly they were the only ones that care about the situation). Eventually we reached James Gilbert who is responsible for Peer-to-Peer Games in Betfair and Backgammon in particular. He assured us that action is being taken against all kind of cheaters, abusers and bots.
After long communication with him we believe that Betfair Backgammon and Jadestone Network in general do fight bots although it is not exactly in the way the players want it (publicly). As a result we will reinstate the ratings of all rooms from Jadestone Backgammon Network. Below is the official statement that is released for players and readers of OnlineBackgammon.Org.Uk.

Position on the videos that were released showing suspicious moves:

The videos only relate to a tiny number of games (less than 10) in the context of thousands that take place every month.
The videos are not conclusive proof of bot use. Even if the moves shown in them appear to be consistent with the use of third party software, it’s impossible to tell what was actually going on behind the scenes based on that information alone.
The videos ignore the fact that suspected cases of bot use are investigated at Jadestone’s end, and where appropriate they have the capability to suspend accounts. As such, they suggest that the network does nothing about the issue, which is untrue (see below).
The risk of bot use is no greater on Jadestone than on any other backgammon platform, but the videos imply that the opposite is true.

Managing potential bot issues:

Due to its wide availability, the illegitimate use of third party software does sometimes occur in online backgammon, however, the use of such software during games is not allowed on the network.
Jadestone maintain detailed records of every move/game, which are used to proactively monitor and identify potential cases of bot use.
Where appropriate, players are banned.

However, such players are ultimately our customers, so it would be unacceptable, and in breach of their privacy rights, for us to share details of specific players being banned, even though this may frustrate the players who (quite rightly, and helpfully), refer possible cases of bot use to us.

Be Sociable, Share!

Tags: Backgammon Bots, Betfair Backgammon, Jadestone Network, Online Backgammon

About the Author

Nikolay is a computer sciences student from Bulgaria with more than 5 years of experience in poker & backgammon. I try to incorporate techniques from that industry into online backgammon to make it as popular as possible. I play backgammon for fun or money as it is an astonishing game.