Massive Online Poker Cheating Scandal Uncovered
Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:24PM EDT
See Comments (73)
I knew there had to be a reason why I was so bad at online poker. It's got nothing to do with my skill level at all. It's that the winners are cheating. Really, it's the only explanation, right?
Laugh all you want, but in the case of Absolute Poker, this really seems to be the case. The details of how the cheating was discovered make for exhausting but fascinating ongoing reading (and they involve a possible whistleblower from inside the company), but the short of it is that someone on the inside was feeding information to one of the players about what other people in a large tournament had in their hands. (And in fact, if you read the detail thread, it might have all been the work of a single player who cracked his way into a supervisory account.) The betting pattern by the cheater (who eventually won the tournament) really has no other possible explanation (and there were suspicions to begin with), and now there's forensic proof, too. As cheaters go, this one was, to be frank, patently stupid (or just got greedy in the end).
Online poker cheating takes many forms (collusion among players conversing through IM is a common one), but to date I've never seen a poker site operator implicated as implicit in the crime, even if it's through just having poor security. As the Freakonomics guys note, "online poker is a game of trust," and any trust in Absolute Poker's operation now has to be completely shattered. The company has yet to offer a response, though the accounts in question have been frozen. Now, as Freakonomics notes, the only way to keep their company intact is to sacrifice the cheaters and see that they're locked up tight, then issue copious apologies and free money galore. But even then, would you continue to trust the company?
Maybe it's for the best that lawmakers are cracking down on these games... Sigh, has it really come to this? Kudos to the sleuths who tracked them down, and for bringing this all to light.
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27 Posted by ocmontilla on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:43PM EDT Report Abuse
ABSOLUTE POKER MEMBERS SHOULD GET THEIR MONEY BACK!!!!!!EVERYBODY SHOULD DEMAND FOR IT AT THE SAME TIME TO COMPLETELY SHUT THEM DOWN.
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28 Posted by rambrat on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:27PM EDT Report Abuse
Notice on the features we, the people, are able to post comments on Yahoo. But on the political news stories, which are liberally biased to the far left, the peoples opinions aren't considered to be important to Yahoo. There censureship of your voice remains intact. They don't want your insights and intelligence messing up their daily outpouring of leftist propaganda and the encouragement they are giving this countries enemies. Yahoo should be ashamed of itself for denying free voice of the people to be included in all the news of the day. It just supports their far left views of freedom of speech for some, but not for others.
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29 Posted by cowboygeek777 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:30PM EDT Report Abuse
theres always a way to cheat. Me and 3 friends would play 5 person tournaments and talk on the phone about our hands. How easy is that!
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30 Posted by oscarhopson on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:46PM EDT Report Abuse
If you like to play, and play where money is not high stakes, but you have fun and don't cost you an arm and a leg. go to pureplay.com. 20 a month and that's all you pay. tourn. range from 10 to 10,000. get good and go play live.
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31 Posted by mrh862003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:27PM EDT Report Abuse
People are so ignorant and yet they act like they know everything. You have to realize that this is only one site that has been caught doing this, and it's not even close to being the most popular. You people that use this article as an excuse for losing your money are most likely just horrible poker players.
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32 Posted by thomas_lawp on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:08PM EDT Report Abuse
I enjoy a game of poker from time to time, but my opinion is that once this starts to circulate around the web, I don't know if any one is going to put their trust into online poker, let alone Absolute Poker. How can a person be a 100% on if someone is cheating or not? I guess we'll see over time. Good Night! =)
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33 Posted by ripptyde on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:42PM EDT Report Abuse
what a terrible article. the author has no clue what he is talking about and implies that the entire industry is corrupt and that poker is not a game of skill. Mr Null is writing about something he simply has no working knowledge of, and only read second hand without researching every facet of this incident.
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34 Posted by donkologist24 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:46PM EDT Report Abuse
you people are all toolboxes... this is a very bad situation for absolute poker but online poker will remain strong as ever, many players, particularly high stakes players, where this security breach took place, will just go to other online sites... I have been making a living off online poker for 2 years now and these games are for real.. and there is many professional online players riskin serious amounts of money but also making a great living off these sites...absolute poker will most likely offer big incentives for the players it has lost but without a doubt will most likely continue to stay strong as will any other site..there are alot of degenerates and players with just pure addictions willing to play and lose their paychecks, and there will always be some solid,strong players like myself willing to put the money on the line and continue to make a living off online poker.
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35 Posted by mikewstarr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:20PM EDT Report Abuse
texas hold'em is not a game of chance. i have won 5 tournaments over the years, one for $3800 (and yes, the money appears in my bank account when i asked for it within a few days) I did not use Absolute, but with an inside connection, it cant be stopped. imagine being at a casino and having a security person telling you what everyone has, same thing. the poker sites are ok, i've won, but, i'm nervous now.
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36 Posted by vaboy29 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:30PM EDT Report Abuse
To the Author: Have you confirmed the sources and the story...? Just curious. The links you provide in your article: One seems to be an opinion page of the NY Times, which then links to what seems like some conjecture and conclusions being jumped to on an online discussion board, rather than something officially news by the New York Times. Not saying the NY Times opinion page is gospel either; (it's an opinion page). Just unclear on those points. One concern is that if online news organs don't carefully check sources and confirm stories; credibility kaput. It seems like there's a new sensational headline every five minutes and I'm wondering where the stories are finding time to get checked out. I'm not seeing news of Indictments, Charges, a grand jury being called, convictions, sentencing. Federal crimes here involving people from many states. Scam Revealed by Who? The FBI? Who investigated this and revealed what evidence? Liability for libel and damages to Yahoo from Absolute Poker is great here. Call your editor.
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37 Posted by genevievelabordo on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse
Even when you play poker face to face they can cheat you so why wouldnt they cheat in poker online when it can be done so easily. Three guys in a four man game could be sitting side by side in the same room drinking beer on WIFI laptops and you would never know
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38 Posted by mrh862003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:27PM EDT Report Abuse
Also, the person that wrote this article should find a new line of work. You're just as ignorant as the people posting comments, and you somehow managed to be as unprofessional as possible in the that way you wrote the article.
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39 Posted by hartmann917 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:17PM EDT Report Abuse
Now it is just a matter of time before all of the other poker sites come down. Think about it if one site is doing it whose to say they all aren't.
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40 Posted by nathan_mcgowan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:34PM EDT Report Abuse
Haha nice, 'MASSIVE scandal uncovered.' Well, it sounds like you and a lot of other bad players now have an excuse forever if you want it - as long as you play 'online.' I don't even know anyone who uses Absolute, and even within that environment this was a pretty isolated (though disgraceful) circumstance. Sad this this will now be reported and distorted as all online poker is unsafe. I guess noone should trade stocks either. I think someone used inside information once.
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41 Posted by rahuls02134 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:27PM EDT Report Abuse
bodog is also a poker cheating site. ive done a small study of my PREFLOP AA losing more than 60% over the course of 6 months, players joke about it all the time on chat during the games...SAVE YOUR MONEY...
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42 Posted by reci0005 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:33PM EDT Report Abuse
Just stick to play money on line......If you want to play for real money, go to Vegas or with your buddies.
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43 Posted by pollywannakrakker on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:16PM EDT Report Abuse
hey man i wont 2700 off of online blackjack... looks like i was one of the lucky few =]
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44 Posted by trai330 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:19PM EDT Report Abuse
It's only Absolute poker...
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45 Posted by hedgefuntrader on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse
This may be the only site where a company employee is involved. But if you believe very few people cheat online, you are incredibly naive. People cheat because it is very easy and the money is amazing. All you need is a few computers and a way to mask their addresses. I can imagine a bunch of high school kids doing this in a room in their spare time.
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26 Posted by dzdrazil on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:50PM EDT Report Abuse
did anybody else read the original article? i love the borderline plagiarism! or, in kinder words, the lack of citing the various paraphrasing of the original article.