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…

UltimateBet has been dancing around this superuser/cheating scandal for more than six months. Everything was delayed - acknowledgment of the allegations, investigation updates and results, and developments like the alleged ties of Russ Hamilton to the scandal.

Annie Duke has become the spokesperson for UB, and she has had to conduct interviews and give politically correct answers to questions for months as UB has come under fire from every direction. While she is attempting to be the face of UB, as Phil Hellmuth clearly dodges the issue and avoids speaking publicly about it, the company itself is allowing Duke to do what its Public Relations Department - or ownership, for that matter - should be doing. Enough is enough.

Listening to a PokerRoad Radio episode from last week (dated 7/16/08), it became clear that Russ Hamilton will not be defending himself or issuing statements on the UB scandal or his alleged involvement in it. (The discussion of the issue begins approximately 30 minutes into the show.) Hamilton declined the opportunity to speak on the show and clear his name upon the advice of his attorney, though he invited Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok to visit his home and discuss the issue privately. However, Hamilton’s attorney was there, too, and would not allow Hamilton to address the UB accounts supposedly connected to Hamilton. Greenstein and Sebok insisted that they were not taking sides but felt that Hamilton was genuine in his claims of innocence. Hamilton wanted people to know that when the investigation is complete, names will come out but his will not be one of them. And his attorney wanted to tell people, “Can’t you just wait a couple months?”

No. The poker community has been forced to wait long enough. It is time for answers. Not only does Hamilton need to come clean with any information he is privy to, but Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth need to do the same. A source tells me that Duke and Hellmuth were aware that Hamilton was implicated in this scandal well before Nat Arem posted his personal investigatory findings. Russ Hamilton cannot seem to defend himself, so UB seems content to let his reputation be scarred forever - while claiming innocence from behind closed doors - while the investigation goes on…and on…and on. And UB seems to operate under the notion that no news is good news, and the less information that comes out officially, the better. Transparency seems to be a pipe dream as the story gets murkier by the day.

C’mon, UltimateBet. If there is actually a team of investigators on this issue, it shouldn’t take months to find answers. Your reputation in this industry is crumbling before your eyes, and as part of the poker community, you must step up to the plate and put your not-so-secret hole cards on the table. Show us some respect if you ever hope to get any in return.

(The opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily represent those of Pokerati. They are the sole ravings of a frustrated journalist.)

Posted this link in a comment down below, but really it deserves a little more pimpage … as this write-up by Change100 provides one of the best factual recounts and opinionated analyses of the whole Tiffany Michelle final table sponsorship saga. She tells a compelling story of girl-power gone awry, and the deeper Tiffany got, the more in over her head her agent may have gotten … all while having to make decisions affected by the emerging corruption of Ultimate Bet and escalating high-pressure tactics from frothing sponsorship-brokering wolves trying to mount her in the midst of her WSOP heater.

Jeffrey Lisandro, one of Tiffany’s backers, had been hovering around the Amazon Room all day on Day 6. The other, PokerNews owner Tony G., had already left Las Vegas several days prior. The UB scandal was blowing up, and so was Tiffany’s chip count. Personally, I was concentrated on the task at hand– reporting the tournament– but couldn’t help but notice all the little side conversations that were taking place in the empty back quadrant of the room, which, until only 48 hours prior, had been a sea of poker tables. PokerNews people and Tiffany’s agent, Katie Lindsay. PokerNews people and other agents. And Lisandro himself, putting his arm around Lindsay and walking off with her to have a private discussion. The war over Tiffany Michelle was in full swing as she sat 100 yards away, propped up on her knees, playing in the biggest game of her life.

I spent 8 years in the Hollywood machine and dealt with a lot of agents in my time. They are some of the most ruthless, yet sickeningly hardworking people you will ever meet. The client’s interest is your interest, and it is the only interest. Everyone else can go fuck themselves. Agents can piss people off and get away with it because they hold the keys to the castle by controlling the talent. Talent is the only real currency in Hollywood. Producers, financiers, studio executives, marketing divisions, publicists? Without the talent what do they have?

While I’m not so sure I agree with pinning so much blame on Katie Lindsay from Suited Connections — full disclosure: she’s a personal friend of California Jen’s, and I always saw her as one of the “nice ones” — Change has a little more understanding of how a cutthroat television world can work (a world that is new to poker even though we’ve been on TV for 5+ years) and has me wondering if Tiffany Michelle weren’t, at least indirectly, an unforeseen casualty of a delayed final table that noticeably upped the television stakes as we got closer and closer to The November Nine.

Oh, one other interesting thing … check out Change’s post right before this one. You’ll notice on that picture of Tiffany Michelle, posted before anyone knew of the brewing UB/PokerNews friction … the PokerNews logo is the most prominently displayed, even after she did her deal with Ultimate Bet.

An oddly timed official statement, released from PokerNews Mgmt:

PokerNews Official Statement
July 14, 2008
PokerNews Management
The last 48 hours have been a crucial and trying time for PokerNews.

On the outset of the World Series of Poker, we have been associated with an outstanding female poker player, who until a few hours ago, was the last woman standing in the original field of 6844 entrants in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Official PokerNews representative, Tiffany Michelle, was one of the chip leaders for the better end of her run in the Main Event and was poised for a brilliant Final Table appearance that would make her the second woman in history to achieve such a feat.

As a company that truly believes in this industry and in the importance of supporting aspiring poker players, PokerNews sponsored her Full Tilt Poker into several buy-in events at this year’s World Series including the Main Event, enabling Tiffany to showcase her irrefutable talent and flair on the felt. However, a few days into the Main Event, several media outlets published reports and images showing Tiffany donning an UltimateBet.net logo during her play at the ESPN feature table.

It was later confirmed that without any consultation with PokerNews, Tiffany went ahead and signed a sponsorship deal with Ultimate Bet. While we welcome such sponsorship deals between online gaming operators and players, as a company we could see no reason as to why we were left out of such negotiations, especially considering the relationships that PokerNews has with all such entities. Tiffany was bought into the event by PokerNews and had a signed player contract with PokerNews Ltd. We believe, that based on advice from her agent that the contract may have loopholes; she went and made a deal with an online gaming operator that completely contradicted the trust that we had put in her, both as an employee and as a sponsored player. As an organization we felt completely sabotaged by Tiffany, her agent and Ultimate Bet.

More…

The UltimateBet Superuser scandal has taken a giant leap into the depths of criminal behavior. If anyone thought the May 29th statement was the end of it, sorry to burst your faith in integrity and good, um, faith.

Nat Arem, the rogue investigator who blew the top off the Absolute Poker scandal, has stepped in to assist with the UB investigation that never seems to end. And the most recent post on his blog, dated today, links some of the superuser accounts on UB to one of the site’s former owners, Russ Hamilton. Yep, that’s 1994 WSOP main event champion, Russ Hamilton. Supposedly, he no longer has a stake in the company, but there are conflicting reports as to his current involvement in UB business.

Here’s a brief excerpt from Arem’s blog:

But it showed that the registered address of at least some of the super user accounts belonged to Russ Hamilton, the former owner of UB.

I basically felt sick to my stomach. I talked to Russ on the phone a few times in the fall — brsavage got me in touch with him. We talked about how disgusting it was that this happened at AP. Russ expressed a strong opinion that he was going to do whatever it took to get things right and, at the time, I believed him that he was going to fight to get things at AP right. He even got me in touch with the guys at AP so I could go down there and meet with them on behalf of PokerNews and the community as a whole. This guy RAILED against the people at AP who were superusing.

Dave in Fairview writes in:

Dan … read on Pokerati about “the cheater” caught on tape. Has he been banned from Las Vegas - or, at least from the WSOP Tournament?

Dad, it’s not really cheating … it’s up to the player to protect their own cards. But it’s not gentlemanly. He’s attempting to do something he shouldn’t … and it’s a close call whether or not that constitutes cheating. But if a floor supervisor were to see it, they wouldn’t penalize the guy looking at the cards — they would simply warn the guy who is exposing his cards to be more careful.

These shots were taken on Day 2, and they show the player sitting to Pat Poels’ left trying to sneak a peak at his hole cards. I told Pat about this, btw, and like Tommy Grand or Joey Greco, I showed him the surveillance footage of the disappointing truth.

“It’s better that you know,” I told him.

But Pat reassured me that it’s OK, his opponent didn’t see anything, because “I’m very good at looking at my cards,” he said with a straight face as if he were being totally serious about a practiced skill. “Just ask Robert, he’s told me before when trying to sweat me he can’t see my cards.”

Pat is currently on break in Day 4 of the main event — 450k in chips with 350 players remaining, one of whom is not the guy at right.

Johnny says: Ask Dan to post about garbage men and chip dumping. He had some interesting ideas on conspiracty theories…

Indeed … today we moved from yellow-chip ($1k) threat level to orange ($5k) — with tighter than usual security notably apparent during the green-chip race-off today. After clearing out the fans then players, the perimeters around the table we’re extra secured: no media allowed in, no masseuses, no waitstaff. A couple people did wander in unknowingly and were quickly and sternly ushered out. It was all taken so seriously — making sure every chip was properly accounted for, one can only presume. For as empty and quiet as the entire Amazon room was — only about a dozen small-stakes cash games going — it was totally abuzz. Floorsuits half-running down the aisles, barking questions, answers, orders … dealers making sure the chip trays were aligned at the perfect angle … all done with a certain military efficiency that suggested they had done the dress rehearsal, and now it was go-time.

(Even in the hallways, I saw for the first time semi-armored chip carts, arriving empty, and by the end of the day returning full.)

The only non-tourney staff allowed in to the tournament area was the sanitation crew. On breaks, they pick up empty cans, bottles, discarded magazines, general poker waste, etc. while wheeling overstuffed black trash bags between the tables. For all the effort that went into protecting the integrity of the 2008 main event race-off, these necessary laborers were the security weakness should anyone want to engage in shenanigans. Pay these guys off with something akin to their annual wages and before you know it those garbage sacks arrive amid the floorstaff frenzy stuffed with a orange chips machine guns or even bigger and stun grenades … poof, a little slight of hand while cleaning, and whammo, a dirty player returning from break finds a few big chips tossed onto his stack or wedged between the felt and rail. At least that’s what I would do.

What, you think it doesn’t happen? Probably not … but it would make a good movie if it did.

Eric “Rizen” Lynch announced yesterday on his blog that he is no longer associated with the UltimateBet brand.

He chose not to release any details:

After a lot of reflection and thought, I have decided to separate myself from the Ultimate Bet brand. I hope that everyone will respect my privacy, as I wish to not go into the decision in any great detail at this time. At this point in time I just believe that the things I’m trying to accomplish in my career are not in sync with the Ultimate Bet brand.

There are many interesting levels to this. Eric chose to sign on with UB as the online poker site just barely came clean about its superuser cheating scandal, and it came just after Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy signed a deal with UB. Evidently, Eric took a lot of crap from the forums for his decision, and whether that had anything to do with his withdrawal from the sponsorship remains to be told. But whatever made him end the deal must have been of a significant nature because he did it even before the main event of the WSOP.

Oh, and for those who thought the UB statement concluded the superuser scandal, it is by no means concluded. UB was careful to send out their statement of resolution the day before the WSOP began this summer, but what was not widely reported was another statement posted on the website less than a week later. It quietly notes that their oh-so-thorough investigation that took many months was not so thorough and numerous accounts involved in the scandal may have been missed.

Click below for the hush-hush sweep-it-under-the-rug release:

More…

Though it’s not unusual for pros to show up late for WSOP tourneys, something was amiss during one of the last 1500s when Scotty Nguyen didn’t show up til well into the 100/200 level …

Apparently Scotty lost one of his capuchin monkeys. The fire department was still trying to get the the pesky little primate out of a tree when Scotty decided he just had to go. Not sure what the status is of said monkey, but one thing that is interesting is how the floor handled his depleted stack.

From Adanthar:

Naturally, Scotty was unhappy about that and asked the dealer why he didn’t have 3K. But at the WSOP, only late registrations get their full 3K chips (and get seated in Seat 10); everyone else gets a regular seat and then gets blinded off if they’re late, which is normal. Scotty, though, obviously didn’t like the idea of starting out with a 9 bet stack, said “I’m not playing”, and went off to find the tournament director. I think he just wanted to be allowed to unregister, but instead, a couple of minutes later, the floor showed up with a full stack and gave it to him. On the one hand, this is pretty much blatant cheating - it’s a free 1200 chips that nobody not named Scotty Nguyen would ever get;

Murmur?

(Thanks, Shamus, for the link.)

photo: Coding the Wheel

A declared working poker bot operation in Dallas, TX, and on PokerStars.

A fascinating (if not challenging) story that you can only presume would be of great interest to anyone in the online poker-room security biz, or anyone who wants to philosophize on the meaning of “good for poker”:

How I Built a Working Online Poker Bot, Part 3: The Million Dollar Pet Project

The programmer in question draws inspiration from Big Blue, the IBM supercomputer that challenged chess champ Gary Kasparov. And thus, at any given time online, here’s what you’re potentially up against:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Cuong in Texas writes in with some beefs about a casino poker room in Oklahoma:

I was hoping you could shed some light on the Terrible Competence of Choctaw Casino. First, they lie about the numbers at the Choctaw Open, then will not publish results in Card Player, Etc or Send any other results to Poker groups on there Large Tournaments. I have contacted Managers and was told they were busy???WTF..Winstar always takes care of this quickly. I need results listed so my Investor can verify numbers. I will never play other Tournament at Choctaw Casino again. Please write a story on Choctaw so I can get others stories. Thank you,

Thank you … Can you tell us a little more about the numbers they supposedly lied about?

I do indeed have a story about Choctaw that I sadly haven’t finished writing yet. The last time I was there, I ran into Black James and his crew, who were extra-friendly with the poker room management. They took their seats at a 1/2 table (unable to convince us to play 2/5) and proceeded to remove more than half the money from the table in 45 minutes by doing a hyper-bet-collusion hit-and-run. That was obvious to me, and I suspect but can’t prove there might have been a little more than collusion going on when James’ no-look bet got an all-in reraise from my pocket queens and he pretended to be shocked to discover he had pocket kings.

Not at all suggesting Choctaw was in on any unethical behavior, but poker room operators were watching the action, so if they weren’t part of it, then what does that say about their ability to notice/put a stop to cheating. (James McDaniel, of course, is now back in prison for a parole violation connected to the deaths of a police officer and SMU coed.)

Anyone else have any Choctaw stories?

In the meantime, Cuonger, below are the results for the 2008 Choctaw Open, held last month in Durant, sent in by a fellow Pokeratizen:
More…

Pardon me while I work on posting here at Pokerati, but here’s UB’s long-awaited press release:

ULTIMATEBET ISSUES STATEMENT REGARDING UNFAIR PLAY
MONTREAL, CANADA (MAY 29, 2008) — Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG (”Tokwiro”), proprietors of UltimateBet.com (”UltimateBet”), one of the world’s largest online card rooms, today announced the results of its lengthy investigation into allegations of unfair play, which was triggered by concerns about an account named ‘NioNio’. Tokwiro has worked diligently in cooperation with its regulatory body, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (”KGC”), and with independent third-party experts to conduct a thorough investigation that included a comprehensive review of hand histories and game data, thorough analyses of software and network security, and audits of its security practices and procedures.
More…

It has been reported (and noted by Kajagugu) that Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy signed with UltimateBet to join its roster of pro players.

The interesting thing here is that most sites release a statement about new signings with a quote from the player. I’m so excited to be a part of this team, or something generic like that. But in this case, the only statement released was from Annie Duke: “A Star Player is one who has an undisputed high level of skill, lots of integrity, and is well respected in the world of online poker. One look at his impressive record reveals that JohnnyBax epitomizes a Star Player and is the perfect addition to our roster of respected and talented poker players.”

Strange that Cliff has nothing glowing to say about UB yet.

Even stranger that Cliff would sign with UB right now. RIGHT NOW. With bloggers calling them out, forum posters in a tizzy, and the poker community as a whole awaiting a non-forthcoming and much-delayed response to the cheating scandal, he signs a deal with the site.

*shaking my head*

UPDATE: Cliff did post the following on 2+2:

“Please understand that I would not sign with UB if I was not confident in current management. My signing with UB is contingent upon a satisfactory resolution of the “superuser” issue. I am hopeful a press release detailing the entire situation goes out shortly, players are reimbursed and satisfied, and UB can move forward and give players what they want.”

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.)

This is a little bit of old news, but I just watched it for the first time, and thought some of you who also might not have seen it yet would be interested in Daniel Negreanu’s very thorough and sober analysis of the WSOP’s delayed main event final table:

In it he reminds even yours truly about how close the World Series was to going out of business in 2004. He’s right, of course, even though I had completely forgotten about that.

In this week’s episode:

There’s No Cheating in Online Poker!
Now that we have your attention…
We thought that we should let ya know that some companies are boldly selling poker bot software for under $200, claiming big returns on your investment! Good luck with that! =0)

Our Tribute to the FBI…
We just LOVE the FBI…
I mean, why wouldn’t we love the FBI? They give us so much free comedy material that we would otherwise have to write for ourselves! God bless those brave men and women fighting the tyranny of online gambling!

Washington State to be a Battleground… Again…
The War Rages on…
First, it was J Todd battling the State Gambling Commission over his websites in 2006. Then our friend Nick Jenkins was actually arrested and charged with online gambling in 2007. Now, in early 2008, Attorney and poker player Lee Rousso is challenging the State’s online gambling ban in court!

Crap, thought I was on to something … PartyPlaystation.com belongs to some dude in Alabama, not Gibraltar.

UPDATE: Here is some more about how Microsoft’s cheating crackdown is being perceived by gamers.

Microsoft, we know, likes to fight … and the company fired their first shot against cheaters in their online Xbox Live community by conducting a little neighborhood sweep. They aren’t banning players, but instead dropping their player points down to zero and marking their profiles with the digital equivalent of a scarlet C. Not sure how that would work in poker … but it shows the relevance of poker issues in a non-poker world, and perhaps suggests some potential allies who have an interest our fights. Online gam(bl)ing and online gaming, after all, aren’t that far apart.

Online video game competitions for money are already in play — the Fifa Interactive World Cup, for example, awards $20k to the winner. And the shoot-em-up game Kwari has started offering real-money competition, where you win cash for kills and the house takes its cut by charging you for ammo. Bullets, chips … tomato, D’amato … Seriously, how familiar does this sound:

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?

Bots, colluders, super-user accounts … all things online poker players need to be wary of … and now, according to a presumably well-respected tech site, we also need to be afraid of Trojans. The claim is that poker players have been ripped off for millions of Euros:

“Online poker players are a massive target for hackers. People play it with real money obviously, so they’re a big target. We were just investigating a case where a professional online poker player was attacked by someone he would play against regularly online. And we’re talking about professional players, and big money. Hundreds of thousands of euros on the table at a time,” he said.

“All of a sudden he started losing. He would regularly lose even when he had a great hand – pocket aces for example. If he had an unbeatable hand, the other players would simply fold. And when he tried to bluff, he would lose. He lost a lot of money this way, we’re talking hundreds of thousands of euros.

“This went on for weeks. And when we looked into it we realised that one of the other players at the table had sent him a tool. A calculater to help optimise the poker playing or whatever. And we found that the application included a Trojan.

“Which means that when he was playing online poker against these people who were in another country, the guy could press a button and he would receive a screenshot of the target’s screen. So he sees the hold cards. If you’re playing poker and the other players know your cards, it’s pretty hard to win.

“It’s a clever attack because the hacker could have just stolen the account and moved the money away. But he would have been caught. But this way the target was losing his money to someone else and he didn’t realise it was a con. I don’t think many online poker players realise that those kind of attacks are being done.”

I’m not sure if this article is a good warning or just anti-online poker propaganda. It brings to light a case where online poker was apparently used to launder money to fund insurgents fighting against Americans in Iraq. Yikes.

Sorel Mizzi, courtesy of Betfair

Back in November of 2007, it was reported here and here and here that online pro Sorel Mizzi bought an account from ex-Bluff editor Chris Vaughn midway through a tournament and proceeded to win under Chris’ name.

The sordid details proved that they cheated, lied about it, got banned from Full Tilt, and finally owned up to it. Chris was fired from Bluff, and Sorel went on playing poker on various online poker sites and in live tournaments.

In February, Betfair signed a sponsorship deal with Sorel. Huh? A known cheater who was banned from one of the biggest online sites in the world signed to endorse another online site?

Evidently, Sorel is sorry. He claims to have learned a lesson and writes about it in a recent blog post on Betfair.

You be the judge.

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.

This just in on the Pokerati newswire:

[Johnny chans girlfriend arrested at bellagio for holding out aces]

Hmm. Wow. We’ll give it semi-confirmed rumor status for now …

That’s the not-so-quiet buzz around some of the bigger tables at Bellagio … that Chan’s known ladyfriend Anna was (reportedly) taken out of the room in handcuffs “recently” for (allegedly) bringing some of her own aces into the $100/$200 limit game. More TK, I am sure.

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.

Just clicked over to the WPT website to see if there was any word yet about the Season 7 sked (there isn’t) and what tourneys if any have been axed/rescheduled.

However, I did notice one interesting thing — that Abraham Gray is the leader for “Highest Cash Percentage” [WPT profile]… finishing in the WPT money 57.14 percent of the time. Nice job. You may recall, however, that Not-So-Honest Abe was the dude reportedly arrested in October 2006 by the Nevada Gaming Commission at the Wynn poker tables for allegedly marking cards.

I use all those disclaimers because I don’t know whatever became of his case, and haven’t yet figured out how to check the status of NGC-wrought charges. But still …

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…

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…

Following a pattern established by arena faves Frampton, Kiss, and Cheap Trick, this episode of Beyond the Table captures the group in a rare live performance. With no edits, overdubs, or other studio gimmickry, “Live and Otherwise” finds BTT returning to its off-the-cuff, improvisational roots.

The set gets going with a raucous medley of blues-based numbers, including soon-to-be-classics “Queens Done Done Me In (Again)” — featuring a solo from Little Tommy Schneider — and the Askenasy-penned “I Think My Hair Has a Mind of Its Own.” The group then transitions into a surprisingly peppy version of “House Hoppin’ Blues” chronicling Dan’s recent move Vegas-ward.

From there the boys turn topical, with rockers “Flight of the Dragon” (noting David Pham’s having locked up Player of the Year), “Enjoying the Game” (an homage to Chip Reese), and “Guilt Trip” (regarding the Vaughn-Mizzi account-purchasing affair). As an encore, the group surprises the audience with a new title, “Fortune’s Steward,” a brief romp recognizing Falstaff, author of PokerStage and tireless organizer of the recent WPBT Winter Gathering.

Be sure to catch this important live document of the power trio’s development, circa late-2007. And be sure to email your feedback to theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or call the listener line @ (888) 820-8091.

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.”

Poker player arrested for marking cards at Mohegan Sun casino. Hey buddy, if the trial doesn’t go well and you can’t get back in the game, there is always Absolute Poker.

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: