MORE ULTIMATEBET GLITCH REPORTS? (Update)

26 December 2008

Software thought to be at the root of mis-payments

 

Reports earlier this week that a winner's payout had been given to the loser of a hand at UltimateBet.com (see previous InfoPowa report) have been followed by further incidents, suggesting that the original mis-payment may not be an isolated incident.

Posts on Casinomeister, poker forum 2+2 and the UltimateBet blog at http://blog.ultimatebet.com/2008/12/hand-1162170993/#comments indicated at least three other highly questionable payouts to the wrong players had been made, suggesting a glitch in the recently upgraded Cereus Network software used by UltimateBet.

In one incident, a player claimed that he had been congratulated for finishing 16th in a tourney...before the last two cards hit the table. And at stage #1165492664: Razz Normal $0.25/$0.50 - 2008-12-22 12:55:02 (ET) a player who was apparently sitting out was awarded a pot. In yet another incident, a player waiting for a big blind was allegedly awarded part of the pot, which appeared to be confirmed by a re-player at Tableratings.com.

The positive side to the incidents is that both UltimateBet owner Tokwiro and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission have reacted to early alerts sent by concerned players. Tokwiro COO Paul Leggett has promised on the company blog that the investigation is underway and will report back, and a spokesman for the KGC confirmed that the regulator was also studying reports and monitoring the situation.

However, the KGC spokesman said, it was essential that players with a genuine and substantiated issue lodge a formal complaint with the Commission, rather than relying on merely posting on industry message boards. He confirmed that the player "Doubleballer" in the original incident had now been paid the full value of the pot, although he had not actually submitted a KGC complaint, and said that the Commission would investigate all legitimate and factual complaints it was sent.

"What does slow things down is when forum posters randomly send disparaging comments to the KGC about an operator, but don't substantiate any claim or provide any intel which would be of use in opening an investigative file," he observed. "If there are legitimate claims, I would encourage any potentially wronged players to contact the KGC."