From: InfoSec News (alertsinfosecnews.org)
Date: Thu Oct 18 2007 - 01:58:08 CDT

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http://www.gambling911.com/Absolute-Poker-101807.html

By Alejandro Botticelli
Gambling911.com
October 18, 2007

Absolute Poker has come under allegations of cheating from individuals
within the online poker community and it is prepared to clear its name,
according to a report filed by 4Flush.com

Auditing firm, Gaming Associates, confirmed to 4Flush that they are in
communication with Absolute Poker regarding discussion of an audit
relating to Absolute Poker. The audit is independent of Absolute Poker,
and not paid for by Absolute.

Alan Pedley of Gaming Access said today “If we are commissioned to
undertake any audit then it will be for and on behalf of the regulatory
authority and we will invoice the regulatory authority accordingly.
Gaming Associates will not receive any payment whatsoever from the
auditee - this is a standard procedure practiced by our clients
(regulatory authorities) worldwide.�

Bloggers on online poker forums have pointed out irregular play from
hand histories that make it appear that a player with the handle
"POTRIPPER" seemed to know other players' hole cards.

Gambling911.com has come under increasing pressure to remove Absolute
Poker as a sponsor as a result of these allegations.

"While things looked awfully suspicious, there wasn’t quite a smoking
gun, and it was unclear exactly how the cheater might have cheated,"
wrote Steven D. Levitt in his New York Times opinion piece [1].

Quite by accident, he goes on to explain, "One of the players who’d been
cheated requested that Absolute Poker provide hand histories from the
tournament (which is standard practice for online sites). In this case,
Absolute Poker “accidentally� did not send the usual hand histories, but
instead sent a file that contained all sorts of private information that
the poker site would never release.

"The file contained every player’s hole cards, observations of the
tables, and even the IP addresses of every person playing. (I put
“accidentally� in quotes because the mistake seems like too great a
coincidence when you learn what followed.) I suspect that someone at
Absolute knew about the cheating and how it happened, and was acting as
a whistleblower by sending these data. If that is the case, I hope
whomever “accidentally� sent the file gets their proper hero’s welcome
in the end."

To make a long story short, one of the suspected cheaters was traced to
an IP address that just happened to match that of the Absolute Poker
server and an individual that some say is a part owner in Absolute.

Absolute Poker has several partners and it will be up to them to
determine what actions are taken, if any, to eliminate a "bad seed".
"Rogue partners" in the online gambling spectrum is far from a new
phenomenon. Sportbet.com has long suffered under the ills of
"mismanagement" up until approximately two years ago. BetonSports would
later fall into the same trap after its founder, Gary Kaplan, became
more removed from the every day operations. He was known to have run a
very tight ship. When the company was forced closed by the US
government, a number of the executives were caught with their hands in
the cookie jar, so to speak.

"These allegations come as quite a shock considering Absolute Poker
seems on the surface to be very well run and professional," commented
Gambling911.com Senior Editor, Payton O'Brien Wednesday night. She
admitted that Gambling911.com was in the process of renegotiating its ad
contract with Absolute and that all talks would be called off until
later this month.

"We are confident that this issue will be resolved to everyone's
satisfaction but only time will tell and we will make a determination
after this audit," she added. "Gambling911.com can ill-afford to have
its name dragged through the mud should an independent audit reveal some
type of monkey business."

The Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet sponsorship package is among the most
lucrative on the Gambling911.com website, O'Brien admits. But even more
importantly perhaps, Gambling911.com has become one of Absolute Poker's
biggest advertising vehicle.

Ms. O'Brien, who manages the Gambling911.com website, had not yet
arrived at a decision to dismantle the Absolute Poker banners and logos.

"We were in the process of scheduling an urgent conference call for
Thursday in an effort to gain reassurance that Absolute management is
doing the right thing," O'Brien said. "In the end, we will do what is
best for our readers and the online poker community as a whole."

Concerns continued to mount late Wednesday after Absolute Poker's
licensing regulators announced they will begin their own investigation
into this matter.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission in Canada says it has begun a probe into
widespread allegations of cheating, utilizing the services of Gaming
Associates.

Gambling Associate audits and certifications are conducted by a team
comprising: CISSP, CISA, CISM and ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor trained
personnel and where necessary a PhD in Mathematics. Gambling Associates
is an ISO 9001 certified company, that is recognized by authorities in
Alderney, Alexander First Nation; Antigua & Barbuda; Gibraltar; Mohawk
Territory of Kahnawá:ke; Malta; Norfolk Island; Northern Territory of
Australia; The Philippines; the United Kingdom; and Vanuatu - worldwide
certification.

The Kahnawake commission, which has gained a reputation for being more
involved in policy and standards enforcement over the past couple of
years, says Absolute holds a gambling license with the commission and is
obliged to adhere to its regulations.

It is unclear whether similar allegations are being made against
Ultimate Bet, an Absolute Poker sister site.

[1] http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/the-absolute-poker-cheating-scandal-blown-wide-open/

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