Absolute Poker Could Become Safest Poker Room - Not

Rollo

Dormant account
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Aug 16, 2006
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Tropic of Cancer
I think not only Absolute Poker should be blacklisted, but their image handlers masquerading as journalists at Gambling911 should go right in there with them. This is pathetic.

I love this line: "The best news of all," O'Brien points out, "is that our announcement to bring Absolute Poker back onto Gambling911.com has been met with zero resistance from the online poker community."

I guess if complete and total disgust doesn't count as resistence, then ok.

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Absolute Poker Could Become Safest Poker Room
Gambling911.com expressed its commitment to premiere poker room sponsor, Absolute Poker, this week. It announced bringing that online poker site back onto Gambling911 as early as next week or Mid-November, even sooner than initially intended.

Despite some initial blunders in dealing with what many now believe to be a rogue consultant who was able to access the Absolute Poker backend, engaging in a tournament cheating scheme over nearly a two month period, Absolute has since reimbursed those players even remotely believed to have fallen victim; they've invited customers down to their Costa Rican-based operation, which employs a few hundred people; and most importantly of all the company has been working diligently to ensure such a security lapse never happens again.

"The reality is that Absolute Poker is probably going to be the safest online poker room around because of this incident," expressed Payton O'Brien, Senior Editor of the Gambling911.com website. "Sometimes it takes a debacle like the one we witnessed last month to add that extra layer of awareness and accountability."

Absolute Poker is prepared to do whatever it takes to show it is commitment to the online poker world and for customers this will likely mean bigger tournament prizes and bonuses than ever before.

"There are going to be some extraordinary positive announcements coming down the road," an Absolute Poker representative told Gambling911.com on Wednesday in regard to the unveiling of some new promotions.

Inquiries related to Absolute on the Gambling911.com website have been unsurpassed according to O'Brien.

"Most people just want to know their money is safe and that Absolute is a poker room in which they can feel secure."

Right now, many believe Absolute is taking a chapter from Post-9/11 airport security. An outside firm has been brought in to oversee what could be the most thorough audit of an Internet gambling enterprise ever.

UltimateBet, which does not share the same software platform as Absolute but functions as a partner company, has already been welcomed back to the Gambling911.com website.

The two poker entities comprise one of Gambling911's most lucrative advertising campaigns.

"Since 2000, our readers have come to trust Gambling911's judgment in these matters. We are extremely confident that Absolute Poker will be bigger and better than ever before," says O'Brien.

The poker room continues to flourish. Absolute Poker was one of the biggest hiring employers in Costa Rica over the last 12 months and a vital source of that nation's massive online gambling industry.

"The best news of all," O'Brien points out, "is that our announcement to bring Absolute Poker back onto Gambling911.com has been met with zero resistance from the online poker community."

O'Brien also expressed fury over a public relations firm allegations to the New York Times that Absolute Poker had reneged on a deal.

"Business disputes do not need to be aired in a public forum. Absolute Poker has a reputation for paying advertising venues and affiliates in a timely fashion. Absolute Poker has been nothing but meticulous in their business dealings with Gambling911."
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Irresponsible

This is an extremely irresponsible decision and reeks of greed. In fact, the press release itself says that it is a lucrative deal for the website. It can't be any clearer than that.

A responsible website would wait until the external investigation was completed, digest the findings, wait until AP made changes to their business practices and software in response to the findings, then institue a probation period, and only after a successful probation period consider reinstating an endorsement.

A greedy website takes the cash without even waiting to find out the full story, is satisfied with some vague "rogue consultant" explanation, and not bother to even ask what changes have been implemented to prevent such occurences in the future.
 
A responsible website would wait until the external investigation was completed, digest the findings, wait until AP made changes to their business practices and software in response to the findings, then institue a probation period, and only after a successful probation period consider reinstating an endorsement.QUOTE]

I would have to agree with that - this is not a good decision imo and it is too premature to properly protect the players. All the facts are not in yet by a long chalk, and Absolute's tendency to be economical with the truth thus far doesn't inspire confidence.

It's hard to believe that the poker players on Pocket Fives and 2+2 did not react to 911's "tester" item a couple days back hinting that it may be considering allowing Absolute Poker back in.
 
Gambling911 has been AP's little puppet through this whole thing. If Sting thinks adding AP will result in a favorable opinion of their site by the poker community then he has no grasp of the community's feelings on things such as:

1. AP not filing criminal charges against the cheats. This only tells insiders in the future "IT's OK to cheat, we won't send you to jail".

2. The fact that some records seem to have been destroyed.

3. The blatant coverup attempts and lies.

4. The fact their resident pro Mark Seif is making public threats at one of the victims all the while protecting the cheats.

Well those are just the first few off the top of my head.

To say AP is going to be the safest online poker room is a complete joke. As far as we know the cheats are still involved in some sort of ownership and maybe even management. If they aren't going to send the thieves to jail how can we trust them? How can we really be sure this won't happen again? How can we really believe the 2 have been removed of their duties? How do we know there were not others involved who were better at cheating? After all one of them still appears to have family still involved in AP.
 
How could a poker room become the safeset if it's management's first and sustained response to insider cheating is to try to cover it up? CM pointed out how long it took them to admit something was amiss and the chronology of events - they only acknowledged cheating took place after things got to the point where there was zero plausible deniability left.

As long as the same people are there, you can expect the same policy with respect to future problems: denials, stonewalling, scapegoating, cover-ups, culminating in full damage control none of which offers transperancy or proper restitution to those harmed... I'm sure they will never let us know how much money has been stolen from their players, who it was stolen from, and over how long a period of time.

If there is an award for the worst investigative reporting, it should go to Gambling 911 for it's AP scandal coverage. Just pathetic. I guess I'm making the assumption that they are trying to be a news site that serves the community rather than just a spin room for their paymasters. They should be embarrased. They've certainly done irreperable harm to their reputation if creditibility means anything to them.
 
I guess I'm making the assumption that they are trying to be a news site that serves the community rather than just a spin room for their paymasters.

This is exactly right, nothing but gossip and disguised spam from their advertisers. They do have some use though as they seem to be able to get the scoop before others.

It is no surprise they would brong back AP. I'm surprised they took them down to begin with. They have never removed very low grade sportsbooks. They actively promote Sportsbook.com and family when they are in the middle of their own scandal. In fact the top 4 sportsbooks on their sportsbook page are all graded D+ or worse. Why should it surprise anyone they would put AP back?

I've said it plenty of times this year. AP is a rogue, they were a rogue before this ever happened. They lied to affiliates and players time and time again long before they got caught cheating their players. Even if the cheating was their only offense in the last year it would be hard to trust them but their constant lying about the scandal and all the issues earlier this year leaves their reputation as being complete liars. There is no way giving half ass responses and coverups is a step in the right direction.
 
It's hard to believe that the poker players on Pocket Fives and 2+2 did not react to 911's "tester" item a couple days back hinting that it may be considering allowing Absolute Poker back in.

My guess here Jetset is that the poker communities don't really care about 911 all that much.
 
Oops, missed this thread. Pardon me for a moment...

:puke:


Ah, yes. I feel much better now. :D

911 has lost whatever value it had as a "news" site. Its tabloidish journalism has shifted from funny ha-ha to irresponsible spin. There is no way in hell that this poker room is now the safest. 911 should hang its collective head in shame for being a tool of this rogue outfit.

I have pointed out countless times that AB pooh poohed the sound of alarm from players for WEEKS. This is an indicator of bad business ethics - and ethics don't change. Ethics are the backbone of any business.

What a shame to see 911 become a puppet to the "paymasters".
 
PlanetPoker was unable to recover from a similar, but obviously unintentional issue in 2001, which got even less publicity.

I would be very surprised and disappointed if AP could ever get out from their own trap.
 
there is some truth...

I would actually be surprised if they don't recover. As much as we can all look down our noses at 911, there is a nugget of truth in the business theory. Jack in the Box recovered and was considered 'one of the safest' places to eat after the e-coli issue that they had some years back. Exxon is still shipping oil in tankers after Valdez.
There are several examples of companies that have made huge blunders but have been able to turn them around and survive.
I'm more removed from it now, so I don't know if they are genuine about fixing this or if they are in pure CYA mode - but if they are open and really honest about what is going on, and if they handle the mainstream media correctly, I can see how they could make it work. I would certainly give them a 50/50 shot at it just based on all the refunds they have been giving out.
 
I could rant... ohhhhh, I could stomp and scream.... but I won't I'll only say...

Absolute Poker Could Become Safest Poker Room

And I could become the prettiest pole dancer in the South... However, I'm not getting any younger and it ain't gonna happen. Same for Absolute. It's too late. Cat's out of the bag. Horses are fled from the barn, etc., etc. (Insert your own favorite cliche here).

And am I the only one that has this horrible knot in the pit of stomach when I think what AP's security breach may mean for ALL of online gaming? I don't know who may have access to my account...

This is possibly off topic so forgive me (replies may be PM'd to prevent a derail) -- but was there ever a certainty as to exactly how some poker players had money stolen from their accounts a while back? I don't remember which poker rooms. Their accounts were pilfered and funds moved off to who knows where into other accounts. Were these even legit (non fraud) complaints? From what I remember the poker room(s) never came forth with a statement.
 
Jack in the Box didn't purposely sell ecoli burgers and Exxon didn't spill millions of gallons of oil because they felt like it. Although they were liable their intentions were not to be evil unlike AP.

Mousey, I know of several people that had money vanish from their AP accounts. AP never cared and of course never did anything about it.
 
In terms of public perception, if it's never fully proven that management knew/covered up the actions while they were happening, how are the situations that much different? AP didn't hand this guy an account and tell him to win win win.
These companies allowed (what they call) Rogue employees and/or suppliers, in the JitBox case, to compromise their company/brand/profits. If it's shown AP knew and allowed it to continue, it will flush itself out. Until then, they can pin it on a couple of "rogue consultants" and move on.
The debate (at least, the point that I responded to) isn't about what should happen to AP here, it's about *if* they will survive. You haven't shown anything to say that they won't- other than not liking them or not wanting them to. That's fine...I don't have money in them and don't care one way or the other - but it's not really relevant to the question at hand.
 
Progress report from Absolute Poker

ABSOLUTE POKER CHEATS TOOK $800 000

Beleaguered online poker operator issues progress report


The Kahnawake registered company Tokwiro Enterprises, 100 percent owners of Absolute Poker.com issued a progress report as the week closed on its ongoing investigations into a cheating scandal that has seen the company widely condemned by the player community (see previous InfoPowa reports).

The report contains some interesting numbers, with Tokwiro claiming that the cheating "window" lasted for 40 days beginning August 14 and that some $800 000 was wrongfully won by the still unidentified company consultant, who was summarily dismissed - a point reiterated in the current report. Absolute Poker reimbursed players with twice that amount - $1.6 million - the progress report claims.

The company earlier revealed that the flaw allegedly exploited by the "consultant" to cheat Absolute Poker tournament players came about through a software upgrade, and that the breach has since been identified and sealed.

"The breach was exploitable only by an authorised AP person that manipulated the internal reporting software, together with the AP gaming software," the report states. "The security breach was not, therefore, the result of an external action, and no individual outside AP could exploit the breach."

The report goes on to claim that allegations of a super account are unfounded, and that that there is no capability on any Absolute account to see the hole cards of other players. But it does not explain how the cheat was able to achieve such impossible winning results.

The cheater/s used accounts with the handles Potripper, Graycat, Steamroller, Doubledrag, Payup, Supercard 55 and Romnaldo, Absolute Poker claims.

All hand histories of play were retained and are being thoroughly analysed by Gaming Associates, commissioned by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission which licenses Absolute to audit the entire system. Absolute gives an assurance that any other prejudiced players who come to notice in the audit will be compensated.

The statement ends with an apology and the assurance that the site is safe and that the investigations will be reported in an open and forthright manner.

What the report does not disclose is the name of the perpetrator of the incident, arguably the worst cheating scandal in the short history of Internet poker. Nor does it reveal if his/her location is known, or whether a fraud complaint has been made to police authorities in Quebec or whether such a course of action is planned.
 
G911 has now proven just how little respect they deserve in the industry. Their article shows how useless they are and how little they know about poker.

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Online poker's third largest US-focused poker firm responded slowly at first to the allegations before taking on more of an aggressive role.

If you combine UB/AP then you would get the 3rd biggest but the article is intentionally misleading as it makes no mention of including UB in that as it implies it is all AP. AP is actually 6th. Also what aggressive role have they taken? AJ and Tom aren't even going to jail and all that shows is a massive coverup.

The site is still outperforming Svenska Spel (The Swedish online poker giant), Bodog and Microgaming's powerful network

Wrong, AP is not a busier room then any of these three rooms. G911 is cherry picking Pokersitescout to give them the info they want, completely ignoring that all of these rooms peak higher and have more players then AP at most hours of the day.

"They reimbursed everyone who could have even been remotely affected by the online poker tournament scandal that was isolated to a specific one month period," says O'Brien.

This obviously fails to mention the massive cash game cheating making it sound like this only happened once. It also makes it sound like "The thieves made restitution and now we can trust them again". What a joke. It also fails to mention that we may never know how long it went on because AP seems to have destroyed all the evidence dating back more then 60 days.

"We are truly thrilled to have them back on board," commented Gambling911.com reporter, Jenny Woo, who had been investigating the reports. "They have always acted in a professional manner in dealing with us."

The way G911 portrays her it is hard to take this comment without laughing.

They also seem to ignore the fact that this room has been skimming from players and affiliates for almost a year.

G911 has sunk to a new low. Endorsing a room that stole so much money and then saying it is OK because they finally paid players back after lying about it for a month. Some people will do anything for money.
 
Well, gee. What a surprise :rolleyes:

Too bad that they forgot to mention that AB is in rogue hell at Casinomeister and will remain there for a very long time as far as I'm concerned. And lookee here, Casinomeister 2007 awards are coming up - I wonder who will get what :D

Maybe Jenny Woo for breast investigative reporter, I mean best. :p
 
Think it might be appropriate to move this thread (see Rollo's headline beginning thread) to the Jokes section? Only thing missing is a punchline.
 
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Maybe Jenny Woo for breast investigative reporter, I mean best. :p

When her x rated video surfaced they all but linked to it on their site. It's funny how they try to give her a serious role while making her out to be less then respectable at the same time.

IMO any affiliate not offering rakeback have dumped these guys already. G911 did the right thing and then let their greed takeover.
 

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