The latest online poker blog from Microgaming’s head of the MPN poker network, Alex Scott, reveals that the company has opened up its chatbox rules by ending the “English Only” language requirement for players communicating at the tables.
Announcing the change on the MPN blog, Scott wrote:
“As of now, whatever language you speak, whether it be English, Georgian, Latin or High Valyrian, you are welcome on the MPN.”
“We will still police grossly offensive or disruptive chat, regardless of the language, but if you just want to chat with your friends, you can speak (or type) any language you want,” he continued.
“As far as I know, we are the first poker network to make this change, but I hope we are the first of many.
“We will all be better off if poker players can have fun and socialise, regardless of the language they speak.”
Fears that foreign language usage could be used to further collusion by crooked players are discounted by Scott, who observes that such illegal activity rarely occurs in the chat box.
“I have spent a long time working in this industry, and have been involved in Game Integrity for most of that time. I honestly can’t remember a single case where colluders used the chat box as part of their scheme,” Scott argues.
“The fear of collusion is understandable in theory, but it just doesn’t happen much in reality. In addition, our methods for preventing and detecting collusion have come a long way in the last 10 years. There is no point keeping a rule simply to appease fear.”