Poker site cheating plot a high-stakes whodunit

Poker site cheating plot a high-stakes whodunit

www.msnbc.msn.com

Allegations that cheaters manipulated the software powering a leading Internet poker site so they could see their opponents' hole cards have triggered a $75 million claim against a Canadian company

(visit the link for the full news article)

I used to play online poker quite a bit and was aware of different schemes that could be used to try and swindle people. This particular idea was always tossed around between my friends and I, but no one ever thought that someone could pull it off. Amazing they were able to get away with it for three years. I never personally played at Ultimatebet.net, but have spent a lot of time on Paradise Poker and Poker Stars. Bad beats were rampant at times and people used to always say that Paradise was rigged. I figured that the poker sites themselves might be trying to make money by building bigger pots, but never thought something like this could happen. Crazy...

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

At first I thought this was the Absolute Poker scandal but now I see that it is and entirely new one with the same MO.

I wonder if 'the player' they are talking about is Phil Hellmuth.

It's not Phil Hellmuth; he didn't get involved until after they had already been setup I believe. I thnk the player they are referring to was part of the orginal design team. Mainstream media have been reluctant to print his name, but you can find it if you look hard enough.

The biggest problem seems to have been from the original owners and developers creating a "superuser" type of account. This account allowed the superuser to see all opponent hole cards. They would switch the name on the superuser account regularly to try to avoid detection, but apparently got too greedy. It went on for so long because the software had been sold to a new company, and the new company supposedly didn't know about the superuser coding.

There is a new theory going around the poker forums that UltimateBet might now be the safest place to play online, having been exposed to this scandel. The have had their software audited by third-party now, and seem to have a pretty good idea of exactly what happened.

Now, as for the online poker rooms being "rigged" to generate bigger pots, and therefore more rake... I would not be the least bit surprised. I play a lot of poker, online and live. The online game is certainly different.

These are just some more perfect examples of why the United States government NEEDS to regulate and tax online poker and online casino games. Prohibition does not stop people, it only opens the market to less ethical practices.

So Danny Ocean and his crew have moved into the online scene? I have been hearing a lot about Online Gambling in the news lately and I guess its about time they expose some of this stuff.

Originally posted by TheComte
At first I thought this was the Absolute Poker scandal but now I see that it is and entirely new one with the same MO.

I wonder if 'the player' they are talking about is Phil Hellmuth.

The frightening thing about all this is that Phil and I used to live together in the same house back in Madison. He always had a "Abrasive" personality even back then. By the way, I did a little research and yep it was him that I was roommates with so long ago. I've sent him a message on his site. It should prove interesting if he remembers me or even acknowledges me.

I play poker stars and I wonder who in their right mind would play for real money. :shk: You know what stops the devs from getting in? Not only that but you have to count the guarantee that there could be 2 or more players connected and counting cards.

Originally posted by Techsnow
I play poker stars and I wonder who in their right mind would play for real money. :shk:

I play for real money and can honestly say I've won tens of thousands of dollars since I started online in 2001. Sure, there is occasionally a fishy-looking hand. But I don't think there is widespread cheating going on in the industry.