ABSOLUTE POKER STATES ITS CASE IN ONLINE POKER SCANDAL (Update)

26 October 2007

A strange statement that conflicts with the facts and previous comments by the firm


The Absolute Poker affair took another astonishing turn on Sunday when the company issued its much awaited statement on the cheating online poker tournament that has placed its credibility at serious risk.

Joe Norton, a former Grand Chief of the Kahnawake Mohawks who license Absolute Poker In the Quebec province of Canada, advised in the statement that he was the owner of Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, a company that owns 100 percent of Absolute Poker and must therefore accept the ultimate responsibility for the manner in which the company has thus far handled the crisis. It is understood that Tokwiro also owns Mohawk Internet Technology.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission announced last Thursday that it has commissioned Gaming Associates to investigate the matter (see previous InfoPowa report).

Ex-chief Norton starts with a stark admission that there has been a security breach in the AP system that allowed 'unlawful' access to player information that resulted in unfair play, but that the firm remains committed to player security.

"I am sure that this letter will not address all of the questions and concerns you may have, nor will it extinguish the heated discussion surrounding this issue," the statement continues. "At this point, our intention is to let you know all we can disclose and to assure you of our continued efforts to keep you informed as best we can as the investigations continue." Norton then adds a note of regret that the situation has developed.

The initial denials and later admissions and apparently conflicting statements issued by AP staffers over the past few weeks (see previous InfoPowa reports) have apparently incurred the displeasure of the ex-chief, who notes: " Like you, I have not been happy that during the initial stage of our investigation, AP has not been more forthcoming in providing a timely or comprehensive explanation on this matter, giving rise to anger, suspicion, and concern on the part of our valued customers.

"I hope that our customers can appreciate that this remains an incredibly complex and sensitive issue, and I want to give you my strongest possible assurance that we will be as forthcoming as possible on how this breach occurred and what we are doing to remedy the situation."

Norton goes on to make a generalised statement regarding the events surrounding this high pprofile scandal, and the fact that an investigation by Gaming Associates has been [recently] commissioned. It appears to gloss over the fact that AP was notified of the cheating weeks before the tournament became the focal point with the release of an incriminating .xls file.

Contradicting earlier reports that AP representatives had claimed a company tech employee had been responsible for the tournament cheating in an effort to make a point to management, Norton now claims that preliminary findings indicate that ".....our poker system was compromised by a high-ranking trusted consultant employed by AP whose position gave him extraordinary access to certain security systems.

"......this consultant devised a sophisticated scheme to manipulate internal systems to access third-party computers and accounts to view hole cards of other customers during play without their knowledge. As this consultant was aware of the details of our fraud detection process, the likelihood that the scheme would be uncovered through our normal procedures was minimized. We consider this security breach to be a horrendous and inexcusable offense," Norton's statement emphasises, without identifiying the consultant concerned or his/her company.

Absolute Poker will pay for all losses suffered by affected players, Norton assures, as soon as an audit is completed and the sums involved have been calculated.

Tokwiro is in the meantime attempting to recover the ill-gotten gains from the unnamed consultant, and will itself pay any unrecovered losses to affected players.

It is at this stage apparently unknown and still being investigated whether the mysterious consultant was acting alone or in concert with others, and it appears at this time that all account holders are innocent of collusion and were unaware of any wrong-doing by the consultant, "....who was immediately terminated."

The statement does not clarify whether criminal charges were laid against the consultant by Tokwiro, which continues to investigate this matter aggressively, according to the statement.

"All of these preliminary findings are subject to the audits currently underway. We have recently uncovered additional accounts used by the consultant that have not been publicly reported. So as to not compromise the investigation, we are not releasing the names of these additional accounts at this time, and will contact these affected customers individually," Norton notes..

The Tokwiro owner ends on a note of reassurance:

"Please be assured that we have corrected the problem that allowed the system to be unfairly manipulated. We are working furiously to increase the safeguards within our systems. While we are satisfied that our systems are secured, we realize that our security systems must be continuously monitored and enhanced..

"Without question, this incident has been unfortunate for all concerned, and we will emerge as a stronger company. I realize it will take some time and much more information for AP to re-earn the trust and confidence of our customers who are in doubt of our commitment to the highest levels of security, privacy and integrity. As we move to address and correct this situation, our valued customers have played a vital role in uncovering this scheme through various online forums and have become an active part of the solution."

Initial reaction to the statement in the player community has been one of scepticism, with many posters pointing out that it does not gel with the known facts, the timescale of the incident or the previous statements of AP representatives to various gambling information portals. And it does not identify those responsible.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa