Excerpts from online poker history. Much more is available on sites & pro players involved. I guess some memories of the pro's & sites involved are "selective". Or some folks simply were not negatively affected or have their own aversion to the word "honest". Below is a quick search. Tons are out there with many of these heroes losing cheating suits as late as now. Others have or are traveling other lost paths. Theft, armed robbery, prison & drug use/sales come to mind. Trump can deny the truth. He cannot change it...
Random Notes:
Why Online Poker Exploded from 2003-2006:
...Black Friday...
In a 51-page indictment, the FBI and US department of justice are seeking to recover at least $7.5bn (£4.7bn) and have moved to freeze dozens of bank accounts in Switzerland, Cyprus, Andorra, Luxembourg and elsewhere, including the UK.
Full Tilt and PokerStars have spent millions advertising on British media in recent years and are among the most popular sites with UK players.
The US indictment triggered a worldwide crisis for Full Tilt, after it failed to satisfy Alderney regulators that its activities inside and outside the US were in good order. Players in the US have launched a class action claiming the site is refusing to return their money. Alderney suspended Full Tilt's licence two weeks ago. A message on the site says: "The system is currently down."
...
...
Insider cheating can occur when a person with trusted access to the system (e.g. an employee of the poker room) uses his position to play poker himself with an unfair advantage. This could be done without the knowledge of the site managers.
Perhaps the first known major case came to light in October 2007, when Absolute Poker acknowledged that its integrity had been breached by an employee, who had been able to play at high stakes while viewing his opponents' hidden "hole" cards. The cheating was first brought to light by the efforts of players, whose saved histories of play showed the employee was playing as only someone who could see their opponents' cards could.
In 2008, UltimateBet became embroiled in a similar scandal, with former employees accused of using a software backdoor to see opponents' cards. UltimateBet confirmed the allegations on May 29. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission announced sanctions against UltimateBet as a result.
...
...
The online poker community has continued to be strong, with tens of thousands of players playing online poker at any time day or night, but a number of scandals and scams have shaped online poker history over the years.
In 1999 a company named Cigital cracked the supposedly random number generator used by Planet Poker as the root of the RNG was based simply on the current time. This was announced and the poker room corrected the problem.
It’s believed that no one used this flaw to win money, but it came as a jolt to the industry and introduced the concept in many players’ minds that they could be cheated. Sadly, this fear was reinforced years later with a couple of higher-profile cases of cheating.
...
...
The next scandal involves poker pro Dutch Boyd and the room named PokerSpot in 2000. Poker Spot was owned by Boyd and was the first online poker room to offer tournaments and quickly gained popularity for this reason.
PokerSpot forced out of business in 2001 as they stopped paying players. The site claimed it was caused by credit card processors in the end, but they supposedly told players that the check was in the mail repeatedly as they were sinking. Estimates of the amount players never received are almost a half-million dollars.
...
...
One of the most insipid scandals in online poker history was perpetrated by insider cheating at Absolute Poker and UB
In 2007 Absolute Poker admitted that an employee had somehow altered the software and was playing at high limit tables while being able to see the opponent’s hole cards. Sadly it took a group of players tracking a number of hands against the cheating player who recognized patterns of play that showed the player was cheating before the poker room even started investigating.
This was a much bigger deal than the Planet Poker scandal because players were actually cheated out of money and the online game had become much more popular. The popularity made the coverage of the event spread faster and to a bigger audience than the earlier scandal. Some estimates put the amount of funds stolen through cheating at over 10 million dollars.
...
...
The very next year, in 2008, UltimateBet went through almost the same scandal. A few prior employees stated that insiders could use a software backdoor to see their opponent’s hole cards. UltimateBet later admitted this was true.
...
...
Full TIlt Poker was an incredibly popular trusted poker site right up until it refused to pay US players back in 2011
Full Tilt Poker was accused of cheating players out of over 300 million dollars by the US DoJ on September 20, 2011. The claims included that the site had paid out 444 million to the owners and team players of Full Tilt, but would not pay out players following the events of Black Friday
Names associated with Full Tilt Poker included Ray Bitar, Rafe Furst, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. In July of 2012 PokerStars agreed to buy Full Tilt Poker and pay penalties to the DoJ. All civil complaints against both companies were dismissed.
...
...
Phil Hellmuth Issues UltimateBet Statement: “I Made a Horrible Read”
13th May 2013
The statement is also far, far short of being honest when it comes to describing Hellmuth’s true role at UltimateBet. He wasn’t just a spokesman, kids; he owned pieces of both UB and and iovation, the online security firm also led by Greg Pierson that was spun off from UltimateBet. All the people on that tape are people who also helped make Hellmuth a ton of money.
I was posting in a forum over at Todd Witteles’ small PokerFraudAlert site last week, talking about the Lock Poker situation, when a classic quote by Upton Sinclair came to mind:
They helped make Hellmuth rich; the flip side of that is that Hellmuth needs to accept some secondary responsibility for all the poker neophytes he helped toss onto the UB pyre. “I made a horrible read” doesn’t quite cut it.
...
...
Lock Poker stole millions from players in one of the most grievous scams in online poker history
Lock Poker was a fairly popular US facing poker room after Black Friday but ended up going bad and cheating players out of an estimated 15 million or more. The site had a history of slow payouts and toward the end there were some complaints of close to two years of unpaid cash out requests. The room closed on April 2015, but had been on many blacklists since as early as 2010.
...
...
Other issues with online poker cheating is bots and the possibility of collusion between two or more players. If two or more players are sitting at the same table and sharing their hole cards they can alter the outcome of the game by quite a bit over time.
...
...
Black Friday proved that it only takes a few hundred million dollars to be best buddies with the US government
On April 15, 2011 indictments against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/UB were opened and all three sites had their domains seized by the US DoJ. This effectively drove the three biggest poker sites out of the US market.
The only main site that was offering play to US players that didn’t get nailed was Bodog (who has since been rebranded to Bovada). It was interesting why they were able to avoid some of the issues on Black Friday while the other three sites mentioned above didn’t.
It is believed that the founder of the company, Calvin Ayre, was smart enough to see the writing on the wall and set things up by this point in time so the DoJ couldn’t do anything to the business.
...
...
Leave it to PokerStars to capitalize on the UIGEA and Black Friday, two of the most devastating events in online poker history
Only PokerStars reached an agreement with the US DoJ that included buying Full Tilt Poker and paying almost $1 billion in fines. Later the company was acquired by Amaya Gaming and the new company has been able to maintain the lead in player traffic at a dominant level.
Operating after the UIGEA and paying almost a billion dollars to keep its non-US games ended up being an incredible business move. PokerStars has been approved to offer poker to the regulated US market in New Jersey.
...
...
2012: US States Make Online Poker History
New Jersey is the largest market of the few states that run licensed online poker games in the US
Three states have taken the initiative and offer some form of regulated online poker. The federal government largely defers gaming rights to individual states, allowing them to make up their own minds on individual laws or hosted games.
Nevada in 2012
Delaware in 2012
New Jersey in 2013
The first regulated poker hand in United States online poker history was dealt on April 30, 2013.
Most players located in the US hope that more states jump on board and the regulations reach a tipping point and everyone can play on a regulated site.
The next major hurdle is the agreements that have to be in place for states to share player pools. This could all be taken care of on the federal level but the feds have basically washed their hands of the entire thing and have left all of the decisions to the individual states.
...
Random Notes:
Why Online Poker Exploded from 2003-2006:
- Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP in 2003 as an amateur fueled by an online satellite
- Poker made for compelling television for the first time as miniature built-in cameras showed the cards players were holding
- Online poker sites blitzed television and print with never-ending ads targeting young males
- No government intervention made for easy deposits and withdrawals
- Mainstream celebrities jumped on the bandwagon
- Online poker is a real skill-based way to earn money from home
...Black Friday...
In a 51-page indictment, the FBI and US department of justice are seeking to recover at least $7.5bn (£4.7bn) and have moved to freeze dozens of bank accounts in Switzerland, Cyprus, Andorra, Luxembourg and elsewhere, including the UK.
Full Tilt and PokerStars have spent millions advertising on British media in recent years and are among the most popular sites with UK players.
The US indictment triggered a worldwide crisis for Full Tilt, after it failed to satisfy Alderney regulators that its activities inside and outside the US were in good order. Players in the US have launched a class action claiming the site is refusing to return their money. Alderney suspended Full Tilt's licence two weeks ago. A message on the site says: "The system is currently down."
...
...
Insider cheating can occur when a person with trusted access to the system (e.g. an employee of the poker room) uses his position to play poker himself with an unfair advantage. This could be done without the knowledge of the site managers.
Perhaps the first known major case came to light in October 2007, when Absolute Poker acknowledged that its integrity had been breached by an employee, who had been able to play at high stakes while viewing his opponents' hidden "hole" cards. The cheating was first brought to light by the efforts of players, whose saved histories of play showed the employee was playing as only someone who could see their opponents' cards could.
In 2008, UltimateBet became embroiled in a similar scandal, with former employees accused of using a software backdoor to see opponents' cards. UltimateBet confirmed the allegations on May 29. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission announced sanctions against UltimateBet as a result.
...
...
The online poker community has continued to be strong, with tens of thousands of players playing online poker at any time day or night, but a number of scandals and scams have shaped online poker history over the years.
In 1999 a company named Cigital cracked the supposedly random number generator used by Planet Poker as the root of the RNG was based simply on the current time. This was announced and the poker room corrected the problem.
It’s believed that no one used this flaw to win money, but it came as a jolt to the industry and introduced the concept in many players’ minds that they could be cheated. Sadly, this fear was reinforced years later with a couple of higher-profile cases of cheating.
...
...
The next scandal involves poker pro Dutch Boyd and the room named PokerSpot in 2000. Poker Spot was owned by Boyd and was the first online poker room to offer tournaments and quickly gained popularity for this reason.
PokerSpot forced out of business in 2001 as they stopped paying players. The site claimed it was caused by credit card processors in the end, but they supposedly told players that the check was in the mail repeatedly as they were sinking. Estimates of the amount players never received are almost a half-million dollars.
...
...
One of the most insipid scandals in online poker history was perpetrated by insider cheating at Absolute Poker and UB
In 2007 Absolute Poker admitted that an employee had somehow altered the software and was playing at high limit tables while being able to see the opponent’s hole cards. Sadly it took a group of players tracking a number of hands against the cheating player who recognized patterns of play that showed the player was cheating before the poker room even started investigating.
This was a much bigger deal than the Planet Poker scandal because players were actually cheated out of money and the online game had become much more popular. The popularity made the coverage of the event spread faster and to a bigger audience than the earlier scandal. Some estimates put the amount of funds stolen through cheating at over 10 million dollars.
...
...
The very next year, in 2008, UltimateBet went through almost the same scandal. A few prior employees stated that insiders could use a software backdoor to see their opponent’s hole cards. UltimateBet later admitted this was true.
...
...
Full TIlt Poker was an incredibly popular trusted poker site right up until it refused to pay US players back in 2011
Full Tilt Poker was accused of cheating players out of over 300 million dollars by the US DoJ on September 20, 2011. The claims included that the site had paid out 444 million to the owners and team players of Full Tilt, but would not pay out players following the events of Black Friday
Names associated with Full Tilt Poker included Ray Bitar, Rafe Furst, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. In July of 2012 PokerStars agreed to buy Full Tilt Poker and pay penalties to the DoJ. All civil complaints against both companies were dismissed.
...
...
Phil Hellmuth Issues UltimateBet Statement: “I Made a Horrible Read”
13th May 2013
The statement is also far, far short of being honest when it comes to describing Hellmuth’s true role at UltimateBet. He wasn’t just a spokesman, kids; he owned pieces of both UB and and iovation, the online security firm also led by Greg Pierson that was spun off from UltimateBet. All the people on that tape are people who also helped make Hellmuth a ton of money.
I was posting in a forum over at Todd Witteles’ small PokerFraudAlert site last week, talking about the Lock Poker situation, when a classic quote by Upton Sinclair came to mind:
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
That applies to many people in poker. To those at Lock Poker, who brought it to mind for me, to people like Joe Sebok and Annie Duke, and most particularly, to Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth isn’t a cheater, but he willfully deluded himself for years about the nature of the very people that he surrounded himself with and called his best friends — Russ Hamilton, Greg Pierson and Daniel Friedberg, along with Sanford Millar, the fourth participant in the most damning of the released recordings.
They helped make Hellmuth rich; the flip side of that is that Hellmuth needs to accept some secondary responsibility for all the poker neophytes he helped toss onto the UB pyre. “I made a horrible read” doesn’t quite cut it.
...
...
Lock Poker stole millions from players in one of the most grievous scams in online poker history
Lock Poker was a fairly popular US facing poker room after Black Friday but ended up going bad and cheating players out of an estimated 15 million or more. The site had a history of slow payouts and toward the end there were some complaints of close to two years of unpaid cash out requests. The room closed on April 2015, but had been on many blacklists since as early as 2010.
...
...
Other issues with online poker cheating is bots and the possibility of collusion between two or more players. If two or more players are sitting at the same table and sharing their hole cards they can alter the outcome of the game by quite a bit over time.
...
...
Black Friday proved that it only takes a few hundred million dollars to be best buddies with the US government
On April 15, 2011 indictments against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/UB were opened and all three sites had their domains seized by the US DoJ. This effectively drove the three biggest poker sites out of the US market.
The only main site that was offering play to US players that didn’t get nailed was Bodog (who has since been rebranded to Bovada). It was interesting why they were able to avoid some of the issues on Black Friday while the other three sites mentioned above didn’t.
It is believed that the founder of the company, Calvin Ayre, was smart enough to see the writing on the wall and set things up by this point in time so the DoJ couldn’t do anything to the business.
...
...
Leave it to PokerStars to capitalize on the UIGEA and Black Friday, two of the most devastating events in online poker history
Only PokerStars reached an agreement with the US DoJ that included buying Full Tilt Poker and paying almost $1 billion in fines. Later the company was acquired by Amaya Gaming and the new company has been able to maintain the lead in player traffic at a dominant level.
Operating after the UIGEA and paying almost a billion dollars to keep its non-US games ended up being an incredible business move. PokerStars has been approved to offer poker to the regulated US market in New Jersey.
...
...
2012: US States Make Online Poker History
New Jersey is the largest market of the few states that run licensed online poker games in the US
Three states have taken the initiative and offer some form of regulated online poker. The federal government largely defers gaming rights to individual states, allowing them to make up their own minds on individual laws or hosted games.
Nevada in 2012
Delaware in 2012
New Jersey in 2013
The first regulated poker hand in United States online poker history was dealt on April 30, 2013.
Most players located in the US hope that more states jump on board and the regulations reach a tipping point and everyone can play on a regulated site.
The next major hurdle is the agreements that have to be in place for states to share player pools. This could all be taken care of on the federal level but the feds have basically washed their hands of the entire thing and have left all of the decisions to the individual states.
...
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