GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 6 - September 2008

Page Title Sept. 12, 2007 A player using the screen name “Potripper” wins a $1,000 buy-in Pro Boun- ty Tournament at Absolute Poker and takes home the first-place prize of $30,000. Sept. 15, 2007 A post on the TwoPlusTwo.com poker forum reveals that “Potripper” enjoyed a prosperous, yet unlikely, string of fortune during the tournament. A player by the name of “Marco” got suspicious and e-mailed Absolute Poker to re- quest an XLS file of the hand history. When the file was received it not only included a complete hand history, but also the IP addresses and the user details, including e-mail addresses, of people observing the table. Further in- vestigation revealed that“Potripper”folded his first two hands at the table in question,but once observer No.363 arrived at the table,“Potripper”didn’t fold another hand pre-flop for 20 minutes.Making matters worse,the IP of No.363 was tracked back to a person by the name of Scott Tom, who Absolute Poker confirmed was a former member of Team Absolute Poker. Sept. 17, 2007 Absolute Poker releases its first statement regarding the controversy, saying that it had“yet to find any evidence of wrong doing”and that it had researched play“exhaustively”and found“no proof that [the players in question] had any knowledge of other player’s hole cards.” Oct. 17, 2007 Absolute Poker releases another statement, this time saying that it retained Gaming Asso- ciates, “a widely acclaimed independent third party auditor,” to conduct an independent au- dit of Absolute Poker’s security systems. In ad- dition, David Montour, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission’s Chairman, states that the Kahn- awake Gaming Commission “has appointed experts to conduct a thorough audit of all cir- cumstances, provide findings and recommen- dations to the Commission…It is essential that all online gaming and wagering is conducted in a fair and honest manner where customers are protected.” Oct. 21, 2007 Joe Norton, the former Grand Chief of the Mo- hawk Territory of Kahnawake and the owner of Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, which holds a 100% interest in Absolute Poker, releases a statement and admits that the integrity of the poker system was “compromised by a high-ranking trusted consultant employed by AP whose po- sition gave him extraordinary access to certain security systems.” Oct. 24, 2007 Absolute Poker admits in a statement that it was “the victimof a breachof security inwhich a high- ranking consultant to the site devised a sophis- ticated scheme to manipulate internal systems and access third-party computers and accounts to view the hole cards of other customers during play and without their knowledge, resulting in unfair play.” Continued on next page >> active gaming regulation revisions. The for- mer Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement also serves as one of eCOGRA’s independent directors. Catania and Catania Consulting Group’s Keith Furlong recently talked to the GPWA Times about their probe into UltimateBet and Absolute Poker. Here’s what they had to say. GPWA: When did the KGC approach Cata- nia Consulting about investigating Tokwiro Enterprises? Catania: They had been consulting with us [all along] on the issues that had been impacting them with concern to Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, but we were ap- proached in July [about a comprehensive probe]. GPWA: What reservations, if any, did you have? Catania: We wanted total control of the in- vestigation and who we’re bringing in to do the review. We also didn’t want to be limited in what we could look into. And the Khan- awake Gaming Commission agreed and is on board. GPWA: What is the scope of your probe? Is it solely into the cheating at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet? Or will it also focus on the effectiveness of both the KGC and the Tok- wiro investigations? Catania: There is no limit to the scope. That was one of the issues we discussed. GPWA: Have youbeen guaranteed coopera- tionbyTokwiro, or as aKGC licensee, is it just expected to comply with the investigation? Catania: A gaming license is a privilege, not a right. Operators are expected to ex- hibit honesty, integrity and financial sta- bility – and that includes cooperating with reviews. One of the things that has bothered the online poker world is the perceived cozi- ness between Tokwiro and the KGC because Joe Norton is the former grand chief of the Kahnawake. GPWA: Is whether there was any wrong- doing because of this part of what you’ll be looking into? Or is it restricted to whether the cheating has been sufficiently investi- gated? Furlong: We’re well aware of the role of the grand chief in this. But we will have total control and nothing will be outside the lim- its of our review. I believe wholeheartedly that the commission feels the same way. When we were retained, we made no guar- antees. We’re going to look everywhere we need to look. GPWA: What kind of experience have you had with this type of investigation? Furlong: We’ve had extensive experience in this as a result of our work in the division of gaming enforcement [New Jersey], U.S. Attorney’s Office and oversight of the casino industry in Atlantic City. GPWA: What is the next step you’ll be taking in the probe? Furlong: We’ll be bringing in a well- known auditing company to look at transaction history reports, logs and other technical details. GPWA: The Catania Group was involved in drafting the original regulations for the KGC. How do you feel those regulations have held up in the wake of what’s happened at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet? And is improving the way the KGC handles investigations into potential cheating one of things you’ve been tasked with improving? Catania: Regulations are always in a state of evolution. In New Jersey, there were changes that needed to be made in terms of the operational aspects they wanted regulated – as opposed to things that were just business. So we’ll look at ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again. And it may end up that there will be recommendations made on ways to improve the regulations and options for enforcement to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the future. GPWA: Will your findings be made avail- able to the public? Or is that up to the KGC? Furlong: We’ve never pretended to be an independent third party review. Our integ- rity, experience and record indicate that we’ll be doing a review that’s thorough, ex- haustive and will reach a conclusion. Our findings will be sent to the KGC, then it will be decided whether the documents will be public – though we’ll recommend that they should be released.