Absolute Poker is absolutely rigged. (New evidence, near certain proof its rigged).

[mussy]

Thanks for posting that, bb28, although there are some errors. The buy-in was $1000, I think? And that KK v AA thing is wrong, as far as I know. In places it reads a bit like somebody more from the sportsbook side trying to cover poker as well. But the more exposure the story is getting the better, as far as I can see.

 

[jinnia]

Think about this, whoever did this, had to have access to the gaming
servers, in order to read the hole cards of the other players.

Who in a company would have such access?

 

[pokeraddict]

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This article claims AP has used this account for years and stole $7,000,000. Several high limit players have disputed the report.

 

[jinnia]

Scott Tom may also go by the name of Scott Beckley as he was primarily raised by his mother from ages 2-15 in Montana while his father lived in Washington. He lived breifly with his father for one year where his father allegedly failed to pay for a medical expense, at which point he returned to live with his mother in Montana.

Cause No. 79964, Fourth Judicial District Court of Montana, Missoula County 1996.

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As I said, they are 'stepbrothers' (rumored......of course)

 

[jetset]

HOW LONG HAS THE ABSOLUTE POKER SCAM BEEN OPERATING?

Sources claim cheating has been happening for 3 years, earning the culprits millions

The gambling information portal Point-Spread.com made further serious revelations in the Absolute Poker scandal Monday, claiming that unidentified sources have revealed a greater web of deceit than just one tournament.

Webmaster Tommy Jensen quotes sources in Costa Rica who say that the cheating scam has been ongoing for the past three years and the actual amount that was skimmed from online poker players could be as much as $7 million. The actual amount is still unknown as an internal audit is underway, and high-limit players on other portals have contested this claim.

Jensen says a former employee of Absolute Poker confirmed to Point-Spreads.com that the security department at AP suspected something years ago but were told it was just the owners testing out the system and to forget about it. AJ Green (see previous InfoPowa reports) is alleged to have been involved in the scam and employees of Absolute Poker are prepared to implicate him.

Meanwhile, the 911 portal continued to publish what appear to be damage control reports from its sources, who claim that Absolute Poker takes in between $1.5 million and $2 million a day in gross revenues. "Absolute Poker will survive this (scandal)," the unnamed source predicted. "There are about a hundred investors in the company to ensure this happens."

911 reports that, contrary to reports that a band of college fraternity brothers started Absolute Poker in 2003, it was in fact founded by a Las Vegas-resident college grad named Scott Tom with financing from his father. Tom subsequently brought other college friends into the business. Tom, who has since dropped out of sight, is believed to have resided in Panama City and Costa Rica.

"They (AJ Green and Scott Tom) are not talking to investors," the source told 911. "But Absolute Poker does not need Scott Tom. There is a strong management team in place with hundreds of employees." Other investors in the poker site include former employees of the Nine.com operation which now belongs to VIP.com.

 

[The Dude]

Rogue listing upgraded

HOW LONG HAS THE ABSOLUTE POKER SCAM BEEN OPERATING?
....

That was exactly my question after looking over the evidence and reading the Wizard's report. How long has this been going on?

Yeah sure it was a blatant in-your-face cheat as if the guy wanted to get caught. But adding fuel to the fire, this could have been going on for years by the same person(s) making more subtle plays.

Upgraded to full rogue status as of today.
https://www.casinomeister.com/online-casinos/reviews/absolute-poker/

Still curious what Kahnawake has to say. Their license needs to be yanked and they should be allowed to slink back to Costa Rica where they can go back to "business as usual"

 

[jinnia]

Maybe Khanawake won't do anything? Not unless backed into a corner like AP
was, then they'll announce something in hopes it'll satify people.


The AP top guys put huge bridges between themselves and the
ownership/operation of AP, going so far as to use Khanawake to hide things
(Tokwiro enterprises) <---> Joe Tokwiro Norton

Of course, the above are just my thoughts.

 

[mussy]

What about Ultimate?

Don't Absolute own Ultimate Bet, or have I got that wrong? What implications would this have for Ultimate? I think I read that the software is different : big deal. They've been in charge there for long enough for Ultimate to need a full audit too, surely?

 

[noluckever67]

Questioning the future

Surely no matter what anyone says that this is going not only to bring down AP but the whole online poker industry or at the very least take it back a few years.I do not doubt for one second this is the tip of the iceberg and all you have to think is that smaller sites with fewer players could easily be up to this if it is so simple.This of course may not be the case but try selling that to the theorists.It has actually even today made the news in the UK which os not good news as far as i can see.Every time you go sit at a table and suffer a shocking beat by a guy who had no right playing crazy cards then you will auto think ahh this aint right.Sadly as i said online poker may never full yrecover form this which is a shame.

 

[mussy]

UK television news, or radio, or newspaper, please? And which channel or paper? I'd be interested to see what they are saying.

 

[noluckever67]

News

Mussy sorry it is nothing spectacular just there was a debate on my local radio station regarding the dangers of online gambling and the caller mentioned that online poker was rigged not an unusual statement but when the presenter asked for evidence he brought out the AP scandal which the presenter new nothing about but vowed to look into it....I of course should have written local news but lets hope this is brought out more fully in the national news.

 

[SeattleSinner]

What I love about this is AP still has nothing posted on their website. Nothing about how to contact for a refund, no statement, no apology, NOTHING! This just further shows how scumy this company is. They dont want to scare off a new unsuspecting customer who just happends to stumble onto their website.

And I love the unofficial statement about someone just trying to prove hacking their server could be done. Do they actually feel that people are gonna believe this garbage. I'm tired of the lies, I want the truth AP NOW!

It appears as though the owners or individuals close to them could be involved. This place was taking in 1-2 million a day! If the owners are involved these people are sick greedy individuals.

I dont care if this place gets audited by God, I will never play here again.

 

[I Like Pie]

About the claim on 2+2 that AP was keeping all the change from peoples accounts. It happened to me too.

I remember when I withdrew all the money from my AP account last year, say $454.54 only $454.00 would reach my Neteller account while my AP account would sit at $0.00 after the withdrawal. I didn't really care about the cents at the time, I didn't feel it was worth the hassle to contact support over it. I guess these fuckers were skimming money there too. The change had to go somewhere and it wasn't in any of my accounts. Over thousands of transactions that change would add up.

 

[thelawnet]

The other bright spot relates to the island of Antigua. With all the licensed sportsbooks, casinos and poker rooms located in that country, there has not been one complaint of impropriety regarding the games. Antigua has been in operation offering online wagering far longer than Kahnawake and most of the sites are bigger. The country has assured authorities that its regulatory requirements are above reproach, which is one of the reasons so many companies are willing to pay hefty fees to operate there. In its fight with the United States over the U.S. withdrawal of gambling commitments, Antigua has pointed out over and over that their regulatory system is as effective as anything that can be found elsewhere, including Las Vegas. The fact that Antigua has offered online wagering for a full decade now with absolutely no complaints by the public seems to prove their point.

What utter crap.

Not one complaint?????

Joyland, Sunny Group, Golden Palace, English Harbour, Brandy Casino, no complaints?

Not to mention all the other Playtech casinos there.

And regulatory system effective?

Total bullshit. I attempted to contact Antigua Gaming, and they don't respond.

They and Kahnawake are two peas in a pod, both toothless licence farms.

Antigua is not exactly a jurisdiction known for its probity, with a history of gun running, money laundering, etc

The reputable online gaming jurisdictions are those linked to the UK: Malta, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Alderney.

Not Antigua.

I wonder if the guy who wrote this is just ignorant or else has undisclosed financial links to Antigua Gaming.

 

[pokeraddict]

Don't Absolute own Ultimate Bet, or have I got that wrong? What implications would this have for Ultimate? I think I read that the software is different : big deal. They've been in charge there for long enough for Ultimate to need a full audit too, surely?

The same company that owns AP owns UB and was run by the same people involved in the AP scandal. Scott Tom and other AP insiders have been shown to play on UB as well. I agree UB needs more looking into as I have doubts. The difference would be that UB's software was not an in house development like AP's was. Soon after AP's launch they bought their software company but AFAIK they have not had access to UB's backend in the same capacity.

 

[noluckever67]

what i hate is

I damn well emailed AP asking for a super user account and the b*******s never replied...i even told them i was useless at poker and doubted wether seeing other players cards would make it any easier for me...cant believe they havent replied

 

[jetset]

Update

ABSOLUTE POKER PROGRESS REPORTED (Update)

Or is it just more developing damage control?

Absolute Poker and Kahnawake Gaming Commission investigations into the cheating scandal at the poker group appear to be proceeding apace, judging by the latest statement from AP - mere days after its initial announcements that it was taking action.

In the latest statement, the firm recaps events leading up to the investigation (see previous InfoPowa reports) and its assurances that it can be trusted. The statement continues to push its position on the debacle, claiming:

Upon learning of the incident, AP immediately contacted Gaming Associates, an independent worldwide expert in audits, interactive gaming tests and information security, to undertake an internal investigation. Immediately thereafter, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), APs governing licensing authority, opened its own inquiry into the scheme. These investigations are active and on-going. AP is cooperating fully with the KGC investigation."

Absolute Poker goes on to reveal its "preliminary findings" as follows:

* The [unidentified] perpetrator of the scheme was immediately terminated upon discovery and the case was turned over to the KGC.

* AP has fully corrected the problem that allowed its system to be unfairly manipulated and is working to enhance its existing safeguards.

* Since the initiation of the internal investigation, the databases have been locked down to ensure the integrity of the auditors inquiry.

* The scope of the audit will not be limited to a certain time period.

* The suspected period of time of the security breach has been identified. This period is recent and confined to a relatively brief period. The actual dates will be publicly released upon confirmation by the third party auditor.

* A thorough review of the game play has begun to identify all of the adversely affected players.

* AP is committed to refunding 100% of the losses incurred by its affected customers. AP has begun the process of reimbursing its customers, and will continue to do so as quickly as possible until all customers are refunded in full.

* Even after completion of this audit, AP intends to continue working with third party auditors and security firms to ensure that the highest level of game integrity is upheld.

* AP is instituting strict guidelines to restrict its employees, consultants and contractors and members of their households from playing for money on its sites.

AP expects its internal inquiry to last for at least several weeks, and the company says it will continue to cooperate with the KGCs investigation and to work with Gaming Associates until outstanding investigations and inquiries are complete. The company also promised to continue to release interim statements related to its internal investigation as appropriate.

 

[The Dude]

Upon learning of the incident, AP immediately contacted Gaming Associates, an independent worldwide expert in audits, interactive gaming tests and information security, to undertake an internal investigation...

Hmmm...don't know 'bout that. I thought when the players initially contacted AP, the poker room poohed poohed it as a lucky winner.

From AP on 19 September:

We have done an extensive research into the claims that have been brought to our attention. While we are continuing to do a thorough and exhaustive investigation, we have yet to find any evidence of wrong doing.

When you are logged in and playing your game client only receives data regarding your hole cards. As a result, it is impossible for a player to have information regarding any other player's hole cards. There are no "superuser" accounts that enable players to see other players' hole cards.

Despite our confidence in the security of our systems, we researched hands involving accounts that were mentioned in the online forum posts over the weekend and did not find any incidence of cheating by the accounts in question. Results mentioned in the forums were over a small sample of hands, and we have researched these hands as well as numerous other hands involving these players and have found that the pattern of play of the players did not lend credibility to the claim that the players knew the cards of other players at the table. Certainly there were hands that were played poorly, from a poker strategy perspective, and where these players received a fortunate result. However, a longer term review has shown that similar playing strategies have not resulted in the same results as these players achieved in the small sample of hands mentioned in the online discussion.

I'd like to know when they really contacted Gaming Associates. Was it in mid September when the findings were initially brought to their attention? Or was it when the shit hit the fan when Michael Shackelford published his results? Looks like damage control to me.

Bluffing should be confined to the poker table in this industry - because without player trust, you have nothing.

 

[jetset]

My thoughts exactly. These guys have been in damage control mode for the past week, feeding a stream of information bits designed to combat the continuing disclosures and opinions being expressed across the poker message boards.

And of course trying to reassure the players that they're really attacking this scam within their own ranks.

They continue to underestimate the intelligence of their audience and its grasp of events imo.

 

[pokeraddict]

The coverups are almost as bad as the cheating itself. The industry would have been a lot better off had they said "An insider breached our system and they have been turned over to authorities" with a full explanation of what went down a month ago. The denying everything when they obviously knew everything and this bits and pieces crap along with the reports of AJ blackmailing them leads one to believe there must be so much dirt there well beyond what has been discovered. You know AP knows where to find these people that are in hiding and they most certainly need to go to jail so AP is involved in harboring these criminals.

I hope this goes as a lesson learned to the rest of the industry that if you have a huge scandal come clean. AP could have saved their reputation had they done so.

 

[pokeraddict]

One more thing since I don't think this has been posted here yet. A couple of long term posters with AP connections have reported that AP did a couple of other sleazy things that could get them in trouble in the US outside of this.

1. AP took a collection for a charity at the WSOP. AP asked that you make a donation for popcorn. AP ran off with the money and never donated it.

2. AP had a raffle for a new car. An insider at AP "won" the car.

For those that feel that the corruption is only at the top reported thefts like this prove otherwise. AP has had plenty of time to produce proof of where the money and car went.

 

[The Dude]

A donation for "popcorn"? What's that?

 

[pokeraddict]

At the WSOP they gave away popcorn but asked for a donation to go to an unnamed charity. AP kept all of it according to one of the "detectives". This came a couple of weeks ago and AP has been asked to show what charity it went to over and over, something they have not done.

 

[SlotsWizard]

They must have donated it to

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.

 

[Rollo]

They are obviously still trying to cover this up, at this point I'd guess not so much to try to get in front of the bad publicity although for that reason too, but to simply limit the amount of money they are going to have to pay to cheated players. If it can be proven that this has been going on for years (as the net rumors have it) and need to pay back millions, that could get very expensive and be very messy. Also, how could something like that go on for years without some complicity at the top? Lots of questions.

It seems they first tried to deny anything was wrong and hope it would blow over (which in and of itself makes them deserving of a permant spot on the blacklist - just read their BS statements full of legal wiggle words) however when the statistics came to light that the outcomes were almost impossible to have occured naturally (I beleive the Wizard of Odds said that the statistical likelihood of an outcome like occured in the tournament was like someone hitting the lottery in six states at the same) they couldn't reasonably deny something had happened and went to Stroy 2.

Stroy 2, being floated now, is that a well intentioned developer wanted to point out holes in the system and did some cheating to bring these security flaws to the attention of management. If this were to be believed it would achieve the objective of limiting damanges, relieving management of any responsibility and tying the case neatly off.

It's not going to fly becuase it is just too insulting to one's intelligence. A good intentioned developer would have offered to give the money back, wouldn't have needed to cheat for months upon months, and really wouldn't have cheated players at all... a few hands played in a control group in front of anyone would have done the trick. Someone being able to see hole cards at an online poker room would spread to top management like wildfire - faster than news that asbestos was discovered in the Cornflakes would make it to the management at Kellogg. Gimme a break.

We can expect that Story 3 will be the classic few bad apples argument. I think the main objective now is for upper management to protect themselves and to limit the monetary damages (and limiting the damage to their reputation as a byproduct).

The main counter agrument is that this couldn't have been the management / ownership becuase they are making so much money they wouldn't risk cheating. I don't buy this arguement personally. Why do many wealthy people cheat on their taxes? Traders engage in insider trading? Some people are just plain greedy and unscrupulous on the one hand, and on the other so arrogant that they like to prove to themselves how much more clever they are than the rest of us but most of all becuase they think they can get away with it.

Good show to the net slueths for turning these guys out and the media for turning up the heat. I hope they keep up the pressure until the scope can be proven publically.

 

[pokeraddict]

AP has said they only keep hand histories for 2 months in a conversation with Mark Seif. I guess $20 worth of dvd's is too expensive or of course that could be done to get rid of evidence too, who knows. Another person has backed up this story. In other words there is no way they have the hand histories to go back far enough to fully investigate this or to give all the refunds.

 

[Mousey]

AP has said they only keep hand histories for 2 months in a conversation with Mark Seif. I guess $20 worth of dvd's is too expensive or of course that could be done to get rid of evidence too, who knows. Another person has backed up this story. In other words there is no way they have the hand histories to go back far enough to fully investigate this or to give all the refunds.

What!?!? That's not good... not good at all (she said, understatedly).

 

[lojo]

If they're licensed (they are) and the licensing authority does not have the ability to freeze their assets (they don't) and they only keep hand histories for two months (sure... and why?) then... well I'm out of words.

 

[jetset]

The coverups are almost as bad as the cheating itself. The industry would have been a lot better off had they said "An insider breached our system and they have been turned over to authorities" with a full explanation of what went down a month ago. The denying everything when they obviously knew everything and this bits and pieces crap along with the reports of AJ blackmailing them leads one to believe there must be so much dirt there well beyond what has been discovered. You know AP knows where to find these people that are in hiding and they most certainly need to go to jail so AP is involved in harboring these criminals.

I hope this goes as a lesson learned to the rest of the industry that if you have a huge scandal come clean. AP could have saved their reputation had they done so.

Their crisis control is surely one of the clumsiest and most deceptive and obvious yet. I agree that this sort of nonsense does them no credit and instead suggests deeper and perhaps darker conduct.

It does look from their latest statements that they have finally decided to load all of this on the fugitive AJ Green aka AJ Ripper aka Allan J. Grimard....but I sense from their pre-emptive strike that we're going to be hearing from AJ quite soon!

My own perception right now is one of a not very intelligent cover-up with ham-handed damage control that is actually exacerbating the issue.

 

[jetset]

One more thing since I don't think this has been posted here yet. A couple of long term posters with AP connections have reported that AP did a couple of other sleazy things that could get them in trouble in the US outside of this.

1. AP took a collection for a charity at the WSOP. AP asked that you make a donation for popcorn. AP ran off with the money and never donated it.

2. AP had a raffle for a new car. An insider at AP "won" the car.

For those that feel that the corruption is only at the top reported thefts like this prove otherwise. AP has had plenty of time to produce proof of where the money and car went.

This is the kind of greedy mistake that will eventually surface through insiders - management cannot hope to keep everyone on-mission in a deception at this level.

 

[pokeraddict]

A mod at 2+2 has posted here that he will donate the $7497 AP refunded him to the same charity AP donated the popcorn money to if AP can prove they ever did it. This should be interesting.

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[peteyweestro]

and yet despite all this they still have a decent amount of freaking traffic,the other day i was playing in a tourny at bodog and asked fellow players at the table if they had ever played at ap and only 2 had and neither one of them or anyone at the table heard about this fiasco..lol...incredible

 

[patient77]

Is it too much to ask for lotso to come join this thread to tell us all how ridiculous we are and how he needs further proof that cheating occurred? After all, the statements from AP could have been fabricated or tampered with, thus, there is no real substantial PROOF of any wrongdoing whatsoever.......


Still anxiously awaiting definitive proof of cheating a la our good ambassador of justice, lotso......

 

[jetset]

Lots0 announced his withdrawal from this discussion some posts ago...but in any event, surely the scandal itself is more important to examine in this thread than a detour into personal attacks?

 

[Mousey]

I'd love to see what charity they donated to. Also, I really, really want to know who won the car.

All of that is the kind of crap that players 'fear' and sometimes suspect goes on behind the scenes at online casinos and poker rooms. Sorry to say, this AP mess has really dampened any enthusiasm I had for jumping back into online play. Can any online casino really be trusted? Really?

 

[The Dude]

A mod at 2+2 has posted here that he will donate the $7497 AP refunded him to the same charity AP donated the popcorn money to if AP can prove they ever did it. This should be interesting.

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This I want to see.

And they made it into this week's webcast (again):
https://www.casinomeister.com/webcast/

 

[Rollo]

Are you serious that they only keep two months of hand histories? That in and of itself should be a big red flag to anyone... it costs virtually to save hand histories. I can't think of any good reasons for this and can think of many bad ones... is this commonplace in the online poker industry?

 

[pokeraddict]

Are you serious that they only keep two months of hand histories? That in and of itself should be a big red flag to anyone... it costs virtually to save hand histories. I can't think of any good reasons for this and can think of many bad ones... is this commonplace in the online poker industry?

When Poker Stars was asked they say they have every real money hand cash or tourney ever played there archived. I would imagine this would be industry standard but I guess the only way to know would be to email each room. If it wasn't industry standard before this you can be sure it will be now.

BTW CM, the poster that brought out the fake raffle for the truck has said they will bring out the offenders in that one too if AP doesn't come clean. Since he says "her" this must be a new accused from the others.

 

[mussy]

Here's

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's latest take. They report that Quebec local police are not involved, as had earlier been stated. But the main reason for posting this link is, I confess, the first line in the third paragraph, which I somehow find very funny.

 

[pokeraddict]

Here's

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's latest take. They report that Quebec local police are not involved, as had earlier been stated. But the main reason for posting this link is, I confess, the first line in the third paragraph, which I somehow find very funny.

That's great. Also it has been dug up that by KGC rules AP was suppose to hold onto data for 5 years. Either AP is lying to help cover up how long the fraud went on or they seem to be in violation of their gaming license's record keeping, not that it would be a surprise. I guess we will get word on whether that applies to this situation.

 

[SlotsWizard]

That's great. Also it has been dug up that by KGC rules AP was suppose to hold onto data for 5 years. Either AP is lying to help cover up how long rhe fraud went on or they seem to be in violation of their gaming license's record keeping, not that it would be a surprise. I guess we will get word on whether that applies to this situation.

Yup. Page 37 of the regulations, paragraph 245:

Gaming records kept for 5 years
245. Unless the information previously contained in the gaming record is kept
in another way under an approval of the Commission, an Authorised
Client Provider must keep a gaming record for five years after the end of
the transaction to which the record relates.

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[jetset]

A mod at 2+2 has posted here that he will donate the $7497 AP refunded him to the same charity AP donated the popcorn money to if AP can prove they ever did it. This should be interesting.

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No mention of that in the Absolute damage control statements, I notice! I somehow doubt he will be taken up on his offer.

 

[jetset]

Here's

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's latest take. They report that Quebec local police are not involved, as had earlier been stated. But the main reason for posting this link is, I confess, the first line in the third paragraph, which I somehow find very funny.

That is a funny statement, but typical of the bumbling nature of Absolute's efforts to contain this mess. And they appear to have brought Marc Seif into the front line as well, despite the shadows that have been cast over his recent activities by a 2+2 poster.

He made another strange statement that will not earn him many friends when he said, in his capacity as an 'Absolute Poker spokespro':

"This type of incident can occur on PokerStars and FullTilt. It can happen anywhere. But the real issue is how the company handles the situation after the fact. I am waiting to see how Absolute Poker responds."

Fact is, it hasn't happened elsewhere, and would probably be better handled if it did!

As to whether Quebec police are investigating, I can clearly remember seeing a comment by a police or AG official saying this was under examination. I guess fear of the Mohawks combined with the lack of a criminal complaint from Absolute may have nixed that one, unfortunately. Or could it be that a police investigation may not be quite as cosy as one arranged 'internally' or through the KGC?

One thing is clear from the latest stream of information from these unidentified Absolute spokespeople - AJ Green is their chosen man to carry the can alright....and it appears from the latest update on the MSNBC story on this debacle that they are trying to take Scott Tom out of the equation:

"Adam Small, an official with Pocketfives.com, a community of online tournament poker players, said that he spoke with officials of Absolute Poker on Thursday night and was told that the rogue employee had deliberately used information pointing to Tom.

"What they said on the phone was that it was not Scott Tom ... and that he has sort of framed Scott Tom," he said.

"The Absolute Poker spokesman did not confirm that the employee had attempted to frame Tom, but he said, "No management was involved, and Scott Tom ... had no part in playing on any of these accounts."

"In a statement earlier this week, Absolute Poker said Tom "has not been involved with Absolute Poker for over a year and to the best of our knowledge, information and belief has not had access to any of Absolute Poker's systems, databases or information."

So if he's clean, how come Scott Tom has nothing to say?

 

[mussy]

Actually, gambling911.com has to be treated with a little caution, I think. It's not entirely clear to me how reliable they are. Although I linked to them earlier, I did so mainly for the comedy value of that line about unleveling the playing field. This morning, however, it occurs to me that the comment might well have been made deliberately, in full knowledge that their game was crooked, in which case it is no longer funny.

 

[jetset]

"Both the Quebec provincial police and officials at the Kahnawake Territory told ABCNEWS.com that they have launched investigations into the allegations."

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So much for 911's comment that this is false information.....

 

[jetset]

Fatal flaws went unattended....

FURTHER DETAILS ON ABSOLUTE POKER FLAW RELEASED (Update)

Why didn't management react to reported flaw following upgrade?

Absolute Poker spokesmen continued to feed selective details of the cheating debacle to chosen information portals as the week drew to a close, claiming that a software update identified as Version 8.0 and released in August this year contained unspecified flaws despite "...months of coding and design enhancements."

The spokesman went on to tell the information portal 911 that at least one 'high ranking official at Absolute Poker' abused pertinent information provided to him about these vulnerabilities in the online poker room's new software. It would seem that these flaws were reported by an ex-Nine.com technician working for Absolute, but astonishingly nothing was done about remedying the problem.

When allegations of cheating started to spread from the player community in September (see previous InfoPowa reports) the immediate reaction of Absolute Poker was to deny the allegations that certain players were able to see other players' hole cards, leading to cheating allegations.

Serge Ravitch, a New York lawyer turned poker player and a key member of the player sleuths who uncovered the Absolute Poker scam, said the company's response to the initial posts was "essentially to stonewall and deny any cheating had ever occurred or that the described events were even possible."

In its first statement on the allegations, Absolute said, "The result of our investigation is that we found no evidence that any of Absolute Poker's redundant and varying levels of game client security were compromised.

"In other words, we have determined with reasonable certainty that it is impossible for any player or employee to see hole cards as was alleged."

However, with the help of a comprehensive record received from a support worker at Absolute Poker and assistance from other players, especially on poker dedicated expert fora like 2+2 and Pocket Fives, player-sleuths traced the IP address of a mysterious observer at the repetitive winner's table to Costa Rica and determined that the account was an internal Absolute Poker account.

They also cross-referenced an e-mail address used by the observer and found that it apparently belonged to Scott Tom, who they identified as either a past or current official and founder of Absolute Poker. Since then Absolute Poker has claimed that the 'rogue employee' who has been terminated but not formally identified actually set-up Scott Tom, whom they say has left the company.

Tom has dropped out of sight since the scandal broke.

Adam Small, an official with Pocketfives.com, said that he spoke with officials of Absolute Poker on Thursday night and was told that the rogue employee had deliberately used information pointing to Tom.

"What they said on the phone was that it was not Scott Tom ... and that he has sort of framed Scott Tom," he said.

In a statement early last week, Absolute Poker said Tom "has not been involved with Absolute Poker for over a year and to the best of our knowledge, information and belief has not had access to any of Absolute Poker's systems, databases or information."

By October, the fast-spreading Internet allegations of cheating led to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission opening an investigation, and Absolute finally admitting that something was amiss and under investigation.

Sources have told 911 that the flaw in Version 8.0 discovered by the Nine.com techie and reported to management was in fact exploited by one or more unidentified individuals within the company to cheat tournament players.

Increasingly portrayed as the villain of the piece, and an Absolute manager who has also disappeared from public sight and hearing, is former Nine.com manager AJ Green aka AJ Ripper aka Allan J. Grimard. 911 has published allegations that Green has a drug problem, and has repeatedly linked him to the scandal.

Mark Sief, a 'spokespro' for Absolute poker who has himself been challenged with cheating allegations in February last year on the 2+2 forum, weighed in to the fight just before the weekend with a startling statement that: "This type of incident can occur on PokerStars and FullTilt. It can happen anywhere. But the real issue is how the company handles the situation after the fact." Sief is said to have a minority share ownership in Absolute Poker.

Further allegations raised this week in the affair include player claims that Absolute Poker held charity drives and competitions but never disclosed to which charity the monies had been paid, and failed to respond to questions on the issue. One player offered to pay his returned monies from Absolute to the charity concerned if the poker company would identify it.

The company was also alleged to have asserted in a conversation with Sief that it only held hand history records for 2 months, a contravention of para 245 of page 37 of the requirements of its (Kahnawake) licensing jurisdiction, which demands that records be kept for five years.

 

[Rollo]

If 5 years is the standard, but AP is keeping hand histories for only 2 months (which seems an absurdly short time) that is very suspicious.

I hope someone starts investigating this issue by searching AP statements, posts, sent email etc... regarding their policy on hand histories and also by interviwing AP employees and to see if they had been keeping hand histories for more longer periods previously and start hitting them on that point.

If their policy suddenly changed to only keep hand histories for two months (where before they had been keeping it for much longer), that's pretty damning evidence that this was not limited to a couple months and could have been going on for years and that management was involved and is trying to cover it up.

If they aren't 100% forethcoming about the hand histories, you can be sure that this company is rotten to the core.

If it were a few rogue employees, out them, lay the cards on the table by disclosing all data publically and get it over with.

Sounds to me like they are trying to burn the evidence.

 

[Snowman]

...pending cover-up.

Ok, so AP have finally come clean and admitted the game was rigged (see open letter on 2+2) and assured us all of an in-depth independent investigation by the Kahnawake Gaming Commision. Sounds wonderful...or does it?

Absolute Poker's servers are located on the Kahnawake Indian reservation just outside Montreal (along with servers for another 80 operations as well as 6 very large casino complexes). The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) oversees and regulates all gambling and gaming on (and from) the reservation.
It is outside of local and national police juristiction.
Absolute Poker is owned by Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG which in turn is owned by ex-Grand Chief Joe Norton. (Absolute Poker also purchased a 100% stake in Ultimate Bet ifor $10 million in October 2006 with a further five payments totalling $140 million spread over the next five years).
Joe Norton effectively controls the Kahnawake reservation but more imprtantly effectively controls the KGC. We already know AP have lied in public statements on at least two ocassions regarding this matter before changing their minds and coming (at least partially) clean. But to then have the audacity to say any investigation will be independent is quite frankly farcical.
If AP have nothing to hide why not let the federal authorities and a truly independent auditor conduct the investigation?
There's no chance AP will ever allow this to happen.
They simply could afford it. There may be a possibility this has been going on for a number of years and any evidence to support such an allegation would bankrupt them and leave the KGC's reputation in tatters. Operators would flee the jurisiction like rats from a sinking ship.
So...ask yoursleves, can you really believe this will lead to a satisfactory conclusion to anyone other than AP?

 

[jetset]

Absolute answers the popcorn accusation

One more thing since I don't think this has been posted here yet. A couple of long term posters with AP connections have reported that AP did a couple of other sleazy things that could get them in trouble in the US outside of this.

1. AP took a collection for a charity at the WSOP. AP asked that you make a donation for popcorn. AP ran off with the money and never donated it.

2. AP had a raffle for a new car. An insider at AP "won" the car.

For those that feel that the corruption is only at the top reported thefts like this prove otherwise. AP has had plenty of time to produce proof of where the money and car went.

That 2+2 moderator who offered to make a contribution to the same charity as Absolute Poker's charity popcorn drive may have to write out a cheque today, if the following information from 911 is true.

One way to get answers from Absolute is to post here - you can guarantee that there'll be another anonymous spokesman making a scornful statement on it over at 911 within hours, it appears!

However - no mention of the car competition....yet.

QUOTE:

A Two Plus Two member who did a little investigative work of his own disputes the notion that the sale of popcorn was somehow part of a more elaborate scheme to siphon off monies.

"With regards to what has become known as "popcorngate" - I've recently been filled in on a number of the details. While I did not get the information from a confidential source, the person who gave it to me would prefer that his name is not used here. However, he is currently pretty high up in management in AP and is a credible source.

"There are a number of issues to address.

"First, Absolute Poker made the donation to "Sunrise Childrens Foundation" via wire transfer to a bank in Las Vegas. Not the best website I've seen, but you can check it out here:

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

.

"Second, the donation was not made until February of 2007. The guy who I spoke with admits that the timeframe for the donation was not ideal considering that the donations were received in July/August-ish of 2006. I'm told that it was largely an administrative screw-up due to a changeover in marketing companies (ie, the people who ran it). Regardless of the explanation, obviously it should have been made sooner."

And there you have it. Even a few of the more hardcore Absolute detractors do not believe there is a kernel of truth to the so-called "popcorn money theft". Still, there are those who won't be be quick to swallow the above explanation.

It is reported that upwards of $10,000 was raised through the sale of popcorn
UNQUOTE

 

[pokeraddict]

It is understandable how this could have come out as unpaid if they paid it 7 month later. All these unofficial official statements are annoying and lower their already zero credibility. AP needs to be in the fora settling all the speculation about their ways and making official non bs releases. Until they do this will never settle.