From the Archives.....
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PAYMENT FOR THE PIRATE
12 March 2004
A villain gone, a settlement made
The long running scandal that started when Hampton Casino tried to renege on a $1.3 million payout to a player on the Caribbean 21 game drew to a satisfactory close this week.
Following mainstream media coverage and some startling disclosures regarding the behaviour of Hampton owner Rich Katz, negotiations between the software provider Real Time Gaming and the player's legal team led by Bruce Holway [aka 'Cipher'- WB] were successfully concluded.
A "satisfactory" settlement of an undisclosed amount was agreed, bringing to a close one of the most posted about scandals in the brief but lively history of Got2bet.
Reliable sources inform us that Mr. Katz has left the industry and that Hampton is to be taken over by the Connect To Casino management.
Meanwhile a further dispute was brewing over the Hampton sportsbook, where it seems the company changed it's gambling software but neglected to inform at least some of its customers. One player complained that he had $5000 in his accouint that has gone "missing". No further details were available as we went to press.
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HAS THE PIRATE RETIRED?
19 March 2004
A statement from RTG's Staw, and rumours of more wins
Following the settlement of the Hampton vs The Pirate dispute most observers expected this $1.3 million scandal to be relegated to the industry's legend archives this week, but the grapevine was still humming with new developments as we went to press.
The first indication that this was still a live issue came with the appearance of a news report at Sports 911 that the allegedly deposed owner of Hampton, Rich Katz or one of his managers had claimed that the software had a "glitch" and that this was the real cause of the Pirate's good fortune.
The report revealed that "Management of Hampton Casino admits to others in industry that they found no robot in matter that involved $1.3 million dollar win, but claim it was software glitch with Caribbean 21 game." If true, this admission that Hampton knew there was no robot involved is a damning indictment of Katz's duplicity in attempting to disqualify The Pirate's winnings on grounds of robot play.
Almost simultaneously, Real Time Gaming's CEO Michael Staw made a public statement in which he said he was pleased that the two warring factions (RTG and The Pirate) had come to a satisfactory agreement stating:
“We’re happy that everything was settled amicably…this is a good example of how the gaming industry can self-regulate and still serve players’ best interests.”
“We did extensive testing of game functionality, and found that the game had not been compromised, and was working properly. It’s pretty simple, really. Hampton had a skilled player who was daring enough to play at high limits, and it paid off.”
So has the Pirate, Caribbean 21 playing Brian Donahue retired?
Our sources say that he is still active, and still making significant wins despite the more cautious upper betting limits placed on the game by most RTG operators. And several operators have confirmed that although he won big, he also suffered some serious losses in his gambling adventures at their casinos before the scandal broke.
His latest win is reportedly a big one at a casino with a less than savoury reputation for screwing players.
Earlier this year the owner of this operation claimed to have fired previously incompetent staff in the interests of turning over a new leaf, so the playing community will be watching with interest to see how Donahue's win is paid.