GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 11 - January 2010

As2007 turned into2008, thestories that dominatedonlinegamblingwerecheating scandals atAbsolutePoker andUltimate- Bet. In January, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) finedAbsolute Poker $500,000 for its role in the “superuser” account cheating scandal. An audit by the KGC, conducted by Aus- tralian firm Gaming Associates, found that seven accounts “were used to com- promise AP’s systems by participating in live poker games with players using soft- ware that enable the viewing of the ‘hole cards’ of eachof theother players, result- ing in unfair play,” according to a KGC statement. Allegations that players were cheating on Absolute Poker first surfaced in October of 2007 in theTwoPlusTwo.com forums, whenplayers noticed “Potripper” went on an in- credible winning spree that included a 20-minute stretch wherehenever folded ahand before the flop. Absolute Poker initially denied that any cheatinghad occurred, but later reversed course and paid any player who had lost money to the accounts in questions. Ab- solute Poker also said at the time that it had closed the securitybreach. In its final report, theKGCconfirmed that Absolute Poker had fixed the software, but they asked the online poker room to place a “security deposit” with the Com- mission in case it needed to investigate themagain. On the heels of the Absolute Poker scan- dal came cheating allegations at Ulti- mateBet.com. The cheating allegations at Ultimate- Bet first surfaced in January. But it took until May before UltimateBet’s owners, Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, admitted UltimateBet’s securityhadbeenbreached by former employees and accounts with access toopponent’sholecardswereused to cheat inhigh-stakes games. “The investigation has concluded that certainplayeraccountsdid in facthavean unfairadvantage, and that theseaccounts targeted the highest limit games on the site,” UltimateBet said in a statement. “The individuals responsible were found to have worked for the previous owner- ship of UltimateBet prior to the sale of thebusiness toTokwiro inOctober2006. Tokwiro is taking full responsibility for this situation andwill immediately begin refundingUltimateBet customers for any losses thatwere incurredasaresultofun- fairplay.” At the end of September, the KGC re- leased its audit of the UltimateBet situa- tion. The auditwas conductedbyCatania GamingConsultants and spearheadedby FrankCatania, a formerNewJerseyState GamingRegulator. According to their statement, the KGC found “clear and convincing evidence” that Russ Hamilton, who was identified as “an individual associated with Ulti- mate Bet’s affiliate program,” was the mainperson“responsible forandbenefit- ing from themultiple cheating incidents” that took place between May 2004 and January 2008. The statement went on to say that the KGC is in contact with “the appropriate law enforcement agencies” and intended to “fully cooperate in the prosecution of all individuals involved in theUB cheating incidents.” While the investigation atUl- timateBet was playing itself out, Calvin Ayre shocked the industrywhenheretired from Bodog. “You’ve likely heard the rum- blingsand rumors . . . and foronce . . . it’s true. . . . I’m packing it in!” saidAyre on hisblog. “Wellwhoam Ikidding, if you’re reading this now you know that for the past fewyears I’vebeenpretty focusedon jetting around the world to exotic places and filming crazy sh** for thisblog. Iwas really more of a brand ambassador for Bodog thepastwhileanyway–but itwas funwhile it lasted.” Ayre also said he was going to focus on a “balanced private life” and the Calvin Ayre Foundation. But in 2009, he an- nounced his return to the industry with hisnew tablog calvinayre.com. Kentuckymuscled its way onto the globalstagewhenittriedtoseize141 online gambling domains, claiming theywere illegalgamblingdevices. Russ Hamilton 18 Online Gaming Stories of the Decade