Gaming Commission releases final report on UB scan

harry_lime · Gaming Commission releases final report on UB scan

Kahnawake Gaming Commission releases final report on UB scandal
Written by Andrew Feldman at espn.com

During a time when the poker industry focuses on who will become the next world champion, one former world champion is officially on the hook for being part of the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal from June 2003 until December 2007. After over a year of investigation, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) released a report on Friday that Russ Hamilton, the 1994 WSOP champion, played a major part in the appropriately dubbed "Ultimate Bet Scandal." The KGC said in their report (here) that Hamilton and 31 other individuals used 117 user names to facilitate the cheating through 23 Ultimate Bet accounts.

In their release, the KGC explained that, "The cheating resulted from certain individuals manipulating the software then being used by UB's prior ownership and said manipulation was possible due to deficiencies in the control systems that were created, implemented and/or used by UB's prior ownership."

Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, the current owners of Ultimate Bet, worked with the KGC during the investigation from January 2008 until July 2008. As documented in their report, their initial investigation stemmed from information provided by someone "within the online poker community" regarding the "NioNio" account whose statistics were "alarmingly improbable." Bottom line: he wasn't going to lose.

So how did it work? The report explains that the account used to cheat logged into the Ultimate Bet game client using an account ("AuditMonster1" and "AuditMonster2") that had access to the illicit software where hole cards would be revealed. Those that logged in with the aforementioned accounts didn't play in any game, but rather passed on the information to the actual player who was able to use the data to profit. The money was then sent via player-to-player transfer on the software and many account names were disabled while new ones were created to keep the scheme going.

Tokwiro and Ultimate Bet have been audited since the investigations began and will continue to be subject to audits for the near future. As a result of the investigation, Tokwiro refunded $22,054,351.91 to players that were affected by the cheating instances and paid a fine of $1.5 million (plus the costs of the investigation).

While many in the poker industry are fighting for legalization and regulation, this final report can do one of two things.

First, it can show lawmakers that the online poker players need some sort of protection. Create a licensing company to oversee operations in the United States and make sure that those that play online are dealing with sites that are as transparent as possible.

Second, it can show lawmakers that online poker isn't a good thing and the sooner it's gone, the better. Granted, this view is completely narrow-minded, but when something like this is released, it adds to the already negative impression many have of the game.

kesza

22 million dollars?? Whoa!
But the most amazing is to me that the earlier Absolute Poker and this UB scandal had absolutely no effect on the number of players on these sites. Why?

Arjonius

The main reason I continue to play on AP is because I win money there. It's the site where I've won the most. In addition, I've never had any problem withdrawing. And I play at low levels, so it seems likely anyone who cheated did so where they could make a lot more money.

Another factor is that I don't keep an amount of money there that would represent a truly meaningful loss. That's not just for AP. If I lost all my money on every site, I'd certainly be unhappy, but it wouldn't affect my lifestyle in the slightest.