Massive Online Poker Cheating Scandal Uncovered

Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:24PM EDT

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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.

LINK: The Absolute Poker Cheating Scandal Blown Wide Open 

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  • 47 Posted by abarone68 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    Wow. It seems that all people want to do with this story is use it to justify their stance towards online poker, the most often response being "I lost my money because the game was/is rigged." Sorry folks. This is only one isolated incident of cheating, and it's unfair to every other player/site to assume that cheating is rampant. And save your conspiracy theories people; no one is hacking into your $5 SNGs and $25 NL games.

  • 49 Posted by keyser33 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    if you had read the threads, you would realize that your blog post portrays the problem skews the problem. The middle paragraphs are fine, but the first and the last paragraphs -- your editorial comments -- give the wrong impression to those who haven't read the threads.

  • 50 Posted by windtalkerr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    the poster who mentioned how al won the popular vote,then the supreme court -rather than taking the time it took to get a accurate account of votes,jumped in and made their opinion known..what was the fire drill?? ..go back and watch the classic-jimmy stewart film "mr smith goes to washington",there's a line in there where one party member is talking about vote tampering, one fella says how they should watch the polls, the other guy had the words of wisdom!! the line was "YOU WATCH THE POLLS,-I'LL WATCH THE COUNTING ROOM!!" WHY DON'T WE HAVE A CAMERA IN THE COUNTING ROOM? the same could be done with online poker,where EVERYONE,especially the visitors need to be signed in! easy to track!..even in the casino,there has always been "spotters" trying to let "their"player know what another player had in his hand..what can you do??ask the guy who had the first hand of "aces and eights"..?

  • 51 Posted by agoodwin_72 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    The sad part is that common sense goes out the window when someone has a gambling addiction. Even though you would think someone would not risk a lot of money on something like this, some people do. My divorce was just finalized after 14 years of marriage. In the last 3 years of that marriage, my ex-husband lost over $250,000 in online poker games. I feel that at the very least, these sites should be run fairly.

  • 52 Posted by keithspath on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    Well first of all poker isn't "gambling" in the common sense of the word. You are not betting against the house, you are betting against other players. So the more skilled bettors will win out in the long run. It is a game of skill. Second there are so many paranoid people that think all online poker is rigged. These are usually the people that are not very skilled and so have to believe it is the software. The incident of cheating described in this article is a rare and isolated event. It is not a reason to assume that all poker sites are compromised and all winners are cheaters. Please don't slide down the slippery slope of mob mentality. I play poker and make a decent side income from it and speak from knowledge and experience. I think that Absolute's reaction to this incident will define whether they will be considered one of the trustworthy sites or not. I don't beleive their actions so far merit any trust from players after trying to cover it up then finally coming clean once they realized there was no other choice. There will always be risks in this technological world of ours but it is no reason to forsake the technology.

  • 53 Posted by supermatt010 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    i knew this five years ago. this in't the first time this has happend, with online poker companies.

  • 54 Posted by pv04thorne on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    Most comments are completely ignorant, as is the writer of this article. agoodwin, i'm sorry, but most likely your husband is more a degenerate, than these sites are rigged. anyone with a clue here, who has even the smallest knowledge of online poker knows that this is without a doubt an isolated incident. god. it sickens me to see people generalize this occurance. i myself am a poker player, and i love the game that i play. 99% of these games are run fairly, and correctly. while it does sicken me that this is one of those times that it isn't, it sickens me just as much to see the game that i love trashed due to it, while in an unfair and incorrect nature.

  • 55 Posted by weaslewise52 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    Gambling is such a disase. I have friends who spend every last tidbit of thier earnings on gambling. Such a waste. And online gambling is worse. Because the gambler feels he or she is on top of the world and can't be beat and will hit the big one soon. And it never happens! How can it with the hackers taking thier share? I'm safe!

  • 56 Posted by immaculatepimp on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    most of the people commenting on here don't know what they're talking about. Take poster #8 for example. He says the winners are picked ahead of time due to cards dealt,chip stack etc....That doesn't mean jack because its not your chip stack or cards themselves its how you play the cards your dealt, retard

  • 57 Posted by agoodwin_72 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    pv04thorne, I was in no way blaming the poker websites, he had a serious problem, but it was his fault. I'm just saying that maybe someone should make sure it's fair. For everyone that has said they make a living or extra money doing this there are hundreds more who have lost money. As long as it's fair, people can choose for themselves.

  • 58 Posted by hlr13miami on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    AMEN BROTHER..... #78 If we looked at all the times someone cheated in a profession or game or just in life there would be nothing left. If you feel you will be cheated do not play. And for god sake do not play with more money than what you can afford to lose. RULE #1

  • 59 Posted by pv04thorne on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    Fair enough, agoodwin. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. I want to inform people that online poker in a whole is legitimate, and safe for all. This article should be taken down as it is not impartial at all. It comes off as more of an attack on online poker if anything. It's utter and complete tripe. I can't under any circumstances understand why Yahoo even let this trash be online. For those of you operating under the "Chicken Little" school of thinking, or for those of you who were already concerned that online poker is rigged...inform yourselves, educate yourselves...do whatever you can do to find out the truth about online poker. Really learn about it before you post negative things on here. I guarantee you'll find out that the trash that Christopher Null has posted is simply not true. It honestly pains me to see this garbage getting this kind of response. Yes, AbsolutePoker would make you think otherwise. Look around, look at PokerStars, look at FullTilt, and you'll see sites that are fair and honest, and that when presented with the occasional cases of cheaters, deal with them fairly, like anything else should be dealt with in life, poker or not. This is an isolated incident, and this is not indicative of the way online poker works. Even the famous, and beloved online have been treated in a correct fashion when they've been discovered to be a cheater. Those players get their money confiscated, and get banned. But of course you don't read anything like that in Mr. Null's article. What you read however is a biased, load of crap. You read opinions, not facts. So those of you reading...I implore you, seek the truth. Don't buy into this.

  • 60 Posted by gecko_cassual on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    Finally ! Frauds are behind the lock, where they are meant to be !!! Justice is slow, but in the end, they all get what they deserve ! geckO.

  • 61 Posted by hlr13miami on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just for fun.... what is the over/under for the amount Mr. Null lost on his online Poker venture??? The dead money joker looks as if about 200 would be enuff to post an article bashing the online poker world. REG. post #84 I agree 100%, inform yourself before you do anything.

  • 63 Posted by dyslexicmonk on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    Some people kill people. I've an idea . . . let's send everyone to the gas chambers - oops, sorry benevolent hypocrits: for lethal injections - to eliminate THAT problem from our daily lives also. Oops, again . . . If we did this none of us would HAVE a daily life. Oh well, at least this way we'd make the world safe for everyone . . . uh, any one? . . . oh, whatever. OR we could just seek out an prosecute the offenders ONLY maybe and NOT condemn everyone for the acts of a few??? Nope, can't do that. This would be too subtle of a concept for Mr. Null to understand. I'm with you Null, NUKE'EM ALL. ORD Non-losing, non-CHEATING on-line Poker Player. PS Read a book about online poker playing's slight differences in hand/opponent evaluations sometime Null. No 'cheat codes' just honest homework, practice and skill. Try it sometime, even you might win a hand now and again. Oh, and btw . . . if you wanted to cheat, don't use chats - way too slow. Break down and use old technology like say . . . a telephone. Just remember, real poker players don't need to cheat AND can usually spot those doing so very much limiting their advantage of knowing where all the Aces are with their knowledge of how, when, where and how much to bet.

  • 64 Posted by phy333 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    Online gambling has to be the dumbest form of gambling, yet. I would so much rather be at a table in Vegas actually watching my money go. At least I have the fun of being there and doing it myself. Do you really think there is no cheating online? good heaven, you must be living in the dark ages.

  • 65 Posted by phy333 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    I play the games online all the time for FUN, not real money. So their cheating isn't really a problem with me.

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