Ah, it reminds me of the good-ole-days of the Dallas underground … when a bunch of rooms got ruffled every so often you’d see the merger of a few “bad guys’” games and would be kinda surprised but not really.

With an investigatory explanation due out in a few days, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet are merging to form a new site — now the third largest in the world — called “Cereus” — the name for a desert cactus that stands strong and stays prickly in even the harshest environments. A related species is the Cereus uruguayanus, which may or may not lend credence to Oliver’s prediction that very soon the WSOP will move to Montevideo we could see the WSOP in Punta del Este.

The name could also have been inspired by the night-blooming variety:

One of the strangest plants of the desert, the Night-bloomiing Cereus is a member of the Cactus Family that resembles nothing more than a dead bush most of the year. It is rarely seen in the wild because of its inconspicuousness. But for one midsummer’s night each year, its exquisitely scented flower opens as night falls, then closes forever with the first rays of the morning sun.

Aww, so sad, and yet so precious and sweet …

Another operation with a claim to the Cereus name is Bacillus Cereus:

an endemic, soil-dwelling, Gram-positive, rod-shaped, beta hemolytic bacteria that … is known to create heavy nausea, vomiting, and abdominal periods.

Supposedly, according to the first link in this post, this site is gonna be great — it’s the result of all sorts of innovative technology and customer service. The announcement says nothing about it being all cleaned up with the best security out there — and from a PR perspective can you blame them? — even though theoretically this company should have more knowledge than anyone else about how a site’s integrity can be compromised.

Ret. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato stops short of calling for UN intervention in the Kahnawake Territory, but he does express a desire to go after rogue online poker companies. This just in over the e-transom, from the Poker Players Alliance:

Statement of PPA Chairman Senator Alfonse D’Amato in Response to Online Poker Cheating Scandals

Washington, D.C. (July 22, 2008) – Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with over one million members nationwide, today issued the following statement in response to recent online poker cheating scandals.

“The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is the political and public policy voice for poker players in America. Central to our mission are advocacy efforts in Washington D.C. and around the country to protect poker players from misguided and vague laws and to establish licensed and regulated Internet poker in the U.S. To be clear, the PPA is not a regulatory body for poker players or the poker industry, nor do we seek to be. We are, however, compelled to speak out when our public policy mission is potentially undermined by actions which present Internet poker in a negative light.

“Trust is paramount in poker. Sadly, this foundation has been undercut by admissions from two well-known online poker companies, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, that cheating has occurred on their poker sites. The Poker Players Alliance condemns any and all cheating in poker no matter the forum in which it is played. Because of the current legal uncertainties and the lack of federal regulation and oversight, it is especially troubling when cheating occurs in online poker. This has created an untenable atmosphere and has denied the proper means to investigate allegations, administer due process and then apply appropriate penalties for the wrongdoers. We urge these companies and their regulating authority, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, to provide a full and transparent accounting of these breaches of the public trust to help lift the black cloud that has been placed over the industry.

More…

Happenings this evening, while I make this part small so you can read all the good stuff below:

The $5k NL Shootout final table is down to headsup. The current chip leader winner is Phil “The Chairman” Tom. His son, Scott, was the founder of Absolute Poker, and we know how that turned out. (Readers may want to insert their own superuser jokes here). Greg “FBT” Mueller is in a close finished 2nd, while Leo Wolpert was recently eliminated in 3rd.

More…

Hey Jen, check it out … Pauly has some interesting thoughts on the matter: [via Wicked Chops daily email]

If you play online poker (especially if you are one of the blind fools still playing on UB), it’s in everyone’s best interest to spread the word on this important thread…

Superusers and Silence: How UltimateBet let players get cheated for millions by Steven Ware & Cornell Fiji (2+2)

One of the more interesting things to me, however, is a comment from Change100:

Funny, how on the day you post about the UB cheating scandal, Card Player.com is running these two headlines:

“Absolute Poker Offering Up to 100% Reload Bonus”

and

“Ultimate Bet RAI$E Program Gives Money for Points”

Duly noted. And that, dear readers, is something to keep in mind as you follow the WSOP on the internet this summer. We know your company internet time is limited, after all … and though we “professional” bloggers don’t have nearly the resources of the big-boy poker media, you can probably trust us more not to greedily lead you astray.

Though we make our livings, too, covering poker, it was only a few years ago that we made virtually no money whatsoever … we did it just for funsies and booze/tax deductions … and because of these faint but not-too-distant memories, it’s a little easier for the independent bloggers out here to be semi-principled and give you coverage not driven by the pursuit of potentially dirty cash. Drugs and hookers notwithstanding, of course.

On March 6, UltimateBet acknowledged that at least one player exhibited an abnormal winning rate on its site. They noted that a third-party audit was in the works, and a complete and thorough investigation was promised.

A few interesting tidbits:

1. UB admitted that it was made aware of the allegations on January 12. They didn’t begin a formal investigation until March 6. It is now May 15, and not a peep has been heard from UB.

2. There are similarities between the UB scandal and the Absolute Poker scandal that stink of more than coincidence.

3. UB has not responded to inquiries on the subject.

A poster on 2+2 broke down the details of the scandal thus far. And Nat Arem posted on PocketFives that he has information that he simply cannot release (???) but assures the public that UB is working on the issue.

Not good enough. It has been too long. UB made the same mistakes as AP - taking too long to admit the problem, resolve it, and communicate with players about it. It is just unacceptable, and I, for one, will continue to publicize the scandal and recommend that players stay far away from Absolute Poker and UltimateBet. (This opinion does not necessarily reflect that of Pokerati.)

I like to troll Craigslist every so often for some hot, anonymous NSA poker action. Not looking for games — there’s no shortage of ‘em here in LV — just wanting to take the pulse of what people are pushing related to poker. Look at the ads all together and you get some interesting tells on the state of the poker world and its semi-anonymous inhabitants:

There are a lot of chips , tables, fancy custom tables and chips and tables for sale, of course, and for $15 a made-for-TV WPT video game. WSOP: Tournament of Champions for the Playstation goes for $8

For $150k you can have documentary footage of the rise and fall of Jamie Gold.

A WSOP baby’s blanket.

More chips, from the Aladdin, and from the Atlantic City Playboy Club. “Omaha Table” from Sante Fe Station.

Perhaps frighteningly, there are even poker bots for sale. At least one suspicious reader is questioning whether or not this is legal.

More…

What exactly does the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) stand for?

Frank Frisina of Life’s a Bluff has posed that question, specifically as it relates to the organization’s mission statement that, in part, says it will ensure the integrity of the game of poker. The fact that the PPA would not and will not make an official statement about the recent online cheating scandals at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet was a major concern for Frank. And upon the conclusion of an e-mail interview with John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA, Frank decided that John’s answers - or non-answers - were the straws that broke the donkey’s back.

Frank has officially terminated his membership with the PPA and has explained his reasons in great detail. Life’s a Bluff as a whole has also stopped any support of the PPA. He asks that others who agree with him stand up and do the same.

The introduction and the interview are well worth the read, as Frank poses some serious questions to the online poker community about organization, legislation, regulation, and membership organizations like the PPA.

The UltimateBet cheating scandal is in full swing, as a third-party investigation has been ordered. As stated in a PokerWorks article, UB has confirmed that a player with the moniker “NioNio” had unusually high winning statistics and may have had an unfair advantage over other players.

Sound familiar? Does Absolute Poker ring a bell?

In some people’s minds, the Absolute Poker scandal was resolved when the Kahnawake Gaming Commission released its final decision on the matter. But to others, something didn’t seem right. And at the same time, there were already forum topics dedicated to allegations of cheating on AP’s sister site, UltimateBet. It’s all so confusing interesting.

Here are a few links to piece together:

1. Absolute Poker and UltimateBet are both owned by Tokwiro Enterprises. The owner of Tokwiro is Joe Norton, the man who served as the Grand Chief of the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory for about 25 years.

2. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission released its Absolute Poker scandal decision on January 11, 2008. UltimateBet’s press release acknowledges that it became aware of cheating allegations on January 12, 2008.

Coincidences? Really?

It seems that CBS’ 60 Minutes is in the process of putting together a story about the Absolute Poker cheating scandal. Nolan Dalla discussed it in his blog on PokerListings earlier this week.

Some of the key players in the drama - one that has been playing out in the poker media since the Fall of 2007 - will be interviewed, and the show’s team seems to be investigating it thoroughly.

I’ve been writing about the Absolute Poker scandal for some time as well. I continually bludgeoned the subject in my Poker Player Newspaper column and in any other outlet that would allow it. After the story lost its dazzle in the poker media, I kept it going as I felt it was never sufficiently investigated or resolved.

While I wholeheartedly wanted the poker community to take notice, take a stand, and take action against Absolute Poker, I’m not sure how I feel about a show like 60 Minutes bringing it to the general public. Part of me believes that such notoriety will bring the government closer to realizing that regulation is the key to preventing this in the future. The other part of me is afraid that this will put poker firmly in the “poker is gambling” and “gambling is immoral” category with the unreasonable powers-that-be.

Looking for opinions here… Please weigh in.

California Jen is gonna be on the internet radio tonight — co-hosting Keep Flopping Aces with Lou Kreiger. They’re rolling live at 6 pm pacific on roundersradio.com.

Their topic for one hour will be the Absolute Poker cheating scandal — which isn’t going away, as much as a lot of folks probably wish it would. (Jen has been all over it for PPN.) Click on over to listen, or check RR’s archives after the fact.

Now Ultimate Bet, sister site to Absolute Poker, is under intense scrutiny from the intelligentsia at 2+2 … who seem to be looking — and finding — semi-mathematical proof of another “superuser” account. (Thanks, Enrique, for the heads-up.) Click above to read the thread.

At first it appeared that UB Pro Phil Hellmuth was already speaking out on the matter — but emails supposedly from Hellmuth were quickly discovered to be a hoax. However … that has since led to a real, unofficial response from Phil, shared second-hand from a presumably respectable poster named trambopoline:

Anyways after tracking down Phil at the tables I finally got a hold of him, this time for real. I just got off the phone wiht him after speaking with him for well over an hour. He informed me that he understands I made an honest mistake and totally forgives me, and even informed me to post that he said so. We went over the accounts in question and I got to say, he was very suspicous to say the least. . He informed me that UB has already started an investigation and that info should be released within the next few weeks.

Hmmm … developing …

Without much choice in the matter, Absolute Poker has spoken in the form of a press release from Anna Molley, Vice President of Public and Community Relations.

In short, AP thinks the Kahnawa:ke Gaming Commission report is complete and accurate. AP “regrets” the “inadvertent” deletion of records and is most happy to put this “most distressing and regrettable” experience behind them.

Well, as long as AP is happy…

AP is also initiating a series of poker security summits to discuss security with “respected and independent members of the poker community.”

The site is just glad to “close the book on this sordid affair.” Wow. Poor AP. They’ve been through so much…

Here is the full press release: More…

We know that some head-honchos at Absolute Poker cheated at their own game, thereby stealing money from their players. Upon being unequivocally exposed, they have tried to apologize and make right … as if a carjacker who gets caught could also get off the hook by simply saying, “Oops, sorry about that … my bad,” and returning the stolen property.

Yet for some reason, thousands of real-money-players are still in action at Absolute. Hey, I know you! You’re that guy who stole my car! Thanks so much for giving it back. So wow … you’re a valet parker now. OK, here are my keys. But whatever … maybe the numbers have something to do with all the ad dollars being happily accepted by the poker news sites and print publications that supposedly insist on limiting their coverage to “what’s good for poker.”

Sorry, am getting off track. Personal rant against the machine. So yes, Absolute Poker scandal … California Jen has been covering it for Poker Player Newspaper, and she appeared on Lou Krieger’s Keep Flopping Aces last night to discuss developments. I’m listening to it now … and it’s a pretty good show — especially when they get an unexpected call from Chuck Barnett, who you may remember is on the Board of Supervisors for Mohawk Internet Technologies / Kahnawake Territory. He engages Jen and Lou with all sorts of good information on the make-up of the ongoing investigation, a little bit of what they are uncovering, and some insight into who are the true owners of Absolute Poker.

Click here to listen to the show.

“Is it Joe Norton?” Kreiger asks directly at one point. And indeed it is. Apparently Norton is the sole owner of Tokwiro Enterprises, which owns Absolute … and perhaps like Dick Cheney is to Halliburton, Norton is also a former Grand Chief of the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. To be honest, I’m not sure what all these connections mean … but I’m pretty sure they are not “good for poker.”

The Kahnawa:ke Gaming Commission has concluded its investigation into malfeasance at Absolute Poker.

Click here to read the whole thing.

The main conclusions:

1. Beginning on August 14 and continuing for six weeks, various accounts were used to view hole cards, and the person(s) responsible have been removed from any role at AP.
2. After the activities took place, person(s) associated with AP operations deleted records and gaming logs to hamper the investigation.
3. No evidence shows that AP sanctioned or initiated the activities.
4. Principles of AP failed to contact the Kahnawa:ke Gaming Commission within 24 hours of becoming aware.
5. AP reimbursed all players with interest, but anyone who still wishes to make a claim can do so within 60 days of this report.
6. AP has taken appropriate actions to address the “vulnerability in its systems” to prevent this from happening again.

Sanctions against Absolute:

1. AP operations will be subject to random audits of logs and records over the next two years, the costs of which will be paid by AP. The site must also implement a continuous compliance program, and any person(s) responsible for any part of the cheating scandal must be removed from any role at AP, which the Commission feels has been done.
2. AP must pay a fine to the Commission of $500,000 due within 60 days.
3. AP must give a security deposit to the Commission to be held for two years which may be used to offset the cost of any future breaches of rules, laws, and regulations.
4. AP must pay the Commission for all costs incurred through the investigation, including the audit.

Finally, there is a resolution to this matter.

More…

The Absolute Poker scandal should have been enough. It remains unresolved, though most of the details of the cheating have been made clear, and the poker public still awaits the conclusion of the audit.

Back in early October, there was another mini-scandal on PokerStars. The winner of the WCOOP main event — the largest online poker tournament in history — was disqualified, and “TheV0id” was stripped of his title and $1,378,311 in winnings.

And we have another.

This time the allegations of nefarious online play revolve around Bluff Magazine’s managing editor Chris Vaughn. On 10/21, he took down the $1 Million Guarantee tournament on Full Tilt Poker for $197,984. The following Sunday, he won the Sunday Million tournament on PokerStars for $240,633. Well, it seems the first one didn’t stick.

According to the second place finisher in the Full Tilt event, Soren “Kongsgaard” Kongsgaard, he received an e-mail from FTP stating that Chris - screen name “BluffMagCV” - had been disqualified and “Kongsgaard” was awarded first place money.

Reportedly, though unconfirmed at this point, Chris’ backer, Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, took over at some point in the tournament and played the remainder of it for him. Chris and Sorel have now been banned from Full Tilt. More details can be found on Sorel’s blog, though it’s not clear who is writing the posts.

Interestingly, Chris was just interviewed on 11/18 by Scott Huff and Haralabos Voulgaris on Big Poker Sundays, a radio show on PokerRoad.com. Haralabos asked him if he’s ever been accused of ghosting, where a person’s backer plays for them, and Chris said, “I’ve been accused of that. I think it’s going to come with the territory when someone relatively unknown wins two in a row… But as far as having someone take over, that’s ridiculous.”

Cardplayer has published a statement by Absolute Poker claiming there is not now, nor has there ever been, a super-user account enabling anyone to see another player’s hole cards on their site. I guess they call it something else.

In a weird way, you can see how Potripper might have convinced himself it was still something of a game:

Click here to see the rest of this 4-part series.

Call me sick for thinking this, but there is a thing or two you can learn about strategy from watching these.

Discussion of the Absolute Poker brouhaha carries on. Currently all eyes are focussed on Mark Seif, as the forum sleuths who cracked the case to reveal an online poker company’s crooked ways are now looking for a Saddam Hussein to execute … you know, since we can’t really find Osama bin Laden AJ Green.

One poster on 2+2 actually transcribed some of my recorded conversation with Seif, revealing the masterful interview techniques of a highly skilled professional journalist:

More…

In one corner, we have Mark Seif. He is an attorney and poker pro sponsored by Absolute Poker. His silence at the beginning of the recent AP scandal was viewed as suspicious by many online players, though he did speak with Pokerati nearly two weeks ago to express his concern over the situation. He then sat down with the Raw Vegas crew and made a statement, including some harsh words about Dan Druff, one of the players who has been investigating the cheating allegations.

In the other corner, we have Dan Druff, who is really Todd Witteles, an online poker pro who is part of the NeverWin Poker team. He met with Raw Vegas to record his rebuttal, saying that he has never accused Seif of anything, only presented the facts and asked that Seif come clean about his involvement or lack thereof.

So, who is the winner in this round? Could it be that this is only the beginning and the gloves haven’t come off yet?

Part 1:

Click here to watch Part 2. Brought to you by APCW.org.

[Photo: Emergence Marketing]

Last night the word was — via PocketFives and 2+2 — that Absolute was ready to admit malfeasance and guilt.

That mea culpa has been released, and the AP honchos are blaming a disgruntled kid wanting to stick it to his superiors:

The cheater, whose illegitimate winnings were estimated at between $400,000 and $700,000 by one victim, was an employee of AbsolutePoker.com who hacked the system to show that it could be done, said a spokesman for the company, who spoke with msnbc.com on condition of anonymity.

“This is literally a geek trying to prove to senior management that they were wrong and he took it too far,” he said.

Hmm, So we all good and ready to deposit a bunch of money into our Absolute accounts?

Thanks Cliff and Lisa for the links!

As feces continue to fly about the fan, Absolute Poker has agreed to a third-party investigation by a supposedly independent agency, Gaming Associates.

Mark Seif, a former attorney with a stake in AP has taken on the role as spokesperson on his “blog” at Bluff, and a few days ago announced that Absolute was conducting its own audit in an attempt to reassure players that there was nothing to fear:

Specifically, Absolute Poker’s internal investigation determined that it is impossible for any person, device, program, script or other means to see hole cards.

See, right there, we know that’s not true. Because obviously the computer randomizing/dealing the cards knows … which is how they can send hand histories to each individual player. C’mon, AP … try again. While personally I may be reserving judgment until at least a little more evidence comes out, it ain’t looking pretty. The phrases being uttered (and not) by Absolute Poker remind me of the Catholic Church denying child sex abuse in the mid-’90s. Not to put online poker on par with priestly pedophilia, but as is often the case in “damage control” amid scandal, attempts to cover-up, redirect, and deny may work for a little bit, but can prove costly in the long run. As to corporate CYA, the general public has become quite adept at seeing through that sorta doublespeak, and poker players will eventually take their addiction dollars elsewhere! [/soapbox]

I wonder if anyone playing (or observing) on Absolute has had their chat privileges suspended or blocked for providing warnings to players. That would be really interesting to know.

Anthony in McKinney-ish writes in with more:

Ok, I swear I’m not an email attention whore, but the hits just keeepp ooonnnnnn coming with this Absolute thing.

http://www.pocketfives.com/06D9EA78-E38F-49D3-AFA1-2B4B128CE7E7.aspx

Not to make it all about blogging, but poker players should be proud of the “citizen journalism” at work in this case. When “former” chief operators of a company are allegedly the ones pegged as playing with “superaccounts” … that clearly can’t be a good thing. Absolute looks to have done themselves in here. Short-term greed catches up with the offenders. This page now seems like a sadly ironic case of Strong Means Weak.

So as the evidence against Absolute becomes more and more solid, it raises a lot of other questions, including:

1. Will anyone go to jail? In an unregulated environment can anyone go to jail?
2. What other sites might be engaging in similar activities?
3. How can we trust that any particular site is not?
4. Will politicians in the United States see this as an example of why online poker needs to be regulated, or will it be their case for why it needs to be more comprehensively banned?
5. Since Absolute is in bed with Ultimate Bet, what will become of that relationship? And how connected are they really?
6. Will UB pros — Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke specifically — speak out on the matter? And/or will they leave Ultimate Bet?
7. Will major online affiliates — such as CardPlayer, PokerNews, and PokerListings, for example — stop sending players to Absolute?

Big questions for online poker. How different folks with a vested interest in the answers react to this situation will tell us a lot about what kinda players we really are dealing with in this biz.

UPDATE: PokerListings is currently refusing to send players to Absolute and Ultimate Bet:

PokerListings.com has temporarily suspended the listing of the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet poker rooms as a result of serious problems with both historical and current payments due PokerListings for services rendered. We are aware that our decision not to list these two brands may be an inconvenience, but as a trusted guide and resource, we do not believe it is appropriate to continue listing them.

Sincerely,

The PokerListings.com Team

The Absolute Poker cheating scandal has been picked up by the mainstream press. That’s if you consider the New York Times mainstream. This is bad for online poker…very bad.

The listeners have spoken, and it’s official:

16 percent of all poker podcast fans prefer Beyond the Table!*

Woot!

Click for the latest episode of the second-best poker podcast ever!

Or download via Door #2 here.

Extra-fun times this week:

• A show about nothing and where Tom puts his fingers.
• Sal the old man loads up his iPod.
• Dan on “What’s Goin’ On?” in the poker world — EPT London, Jose Canseco, and Absolute super-users.
• The BTT gang ventures back to the online felt.
• Monkey noises with Fake Hevad Khan; Fake Humberto Brenes loves Beyond the Table; and Tom goes hip-hop — calls for death in the name of etiquette.
• Karridy calls for more dead presidents on TV, fewer Full Tilt pros.
• No seat for Karridy in a big-little $5/$10 game.
• Bonus monkey noises from Tom.

* Poker podcast poll results

For those who may not get the reference — we’re sometimes a little lax on keeping you up to date on everything… there’s quite the mini-non-scandal brouhaha over at Absolute Poker. It’s a potential cheating scare that goes far beyond the typical “Online Poker Is Rigged!” conspiracy theories. In this case, there’s some respectable hand-history analysis that sets out to mathematically prove the existence of a “super account” allowing illicit avatars to see everyone’s hole cards.

Maybe it’s naivete on my part, but I’m still a believer in the amazingly powerful abilities of humankind to make the most utterly ridiculous unfathomably stupid calls. I know I’ve made a few of them myself.

At a minimum, it’s a great commercial for PokerTracker.

Here are the 2+2 threads.
And here.
Pocket 5s always has some good stuff to say.
(via Shamus)
And Justin West from PokerPages tells people not to worry.