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When the Absolute Poker cheating debacle first came to light, I spent hours sifting through dozens upon dozens of pages in various forums, trying to gain as much information as I could.
I found, however, that as I went through all of the hand histories, listened to all the proponents of the theory claim that there was a so-called "super-user" enabling this player (or players) to see hole cards, I just wan't convinced.
In the wake of all the contraversy on the message boards, I saw to it to post my thoughts this blog. The ideas were basically that I doubted the player was cheating, and even if he/she was, it would not involved a super-user or the ability to see a player's hole cards.
I already outlined in those two blogs my overall thoughts and feelings towards the entire situation at that time. However, with new evidence having surfaced in recent days, not the least of which is a public statement from Absolute Poker noting that there was indeed cheating occurring, even with a player who'd been allowed to see others' hole cards, my thoughts have changed somewhat.
Absolute Poker's claims are that a "high-ranking trusted consultant employed by AP whose position gave him extraordinary access to certain security systems. As has been speculated in several online forums, this consultant devised a sophisticated scheme to manipulate internal systems to access third-party computers and accounts to view hole cards of other customers during play without their knowledge."
In addition to the above admission, Absolute Poker has agreed to refund cash to at least some who were affected by POTRIPPER's exploits. That is to say, at least just beginning the with the $1k tournament that brought all this to light, players will be refunded their buy-in, the fee, and 10% interest (per annum).
But Absolute Poker's public statement has many crying foul. Why won't the disclose the name/location/details of the person who's behind all this mess? What about all the people in the tournaments that were affected by POTRIPPER's exploits, but didn't cash? Why the attempts to cover the whole thing up from the get-go? And, quite importantly, isn't there a conflict of interest when the "former Grand Chief of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake," the group who commissions Gaming Associates to conduct an audit of AP, is the owner of Tokwiro Enterprises, which holds a 100% interest in Absolute Poker?
There are general questions, however, not necessarily mine. Even in the wake of all this, and even though I'll say now for the record that my belief that no cheating was going on was perhaps a bit short-sighted, at least some of what many players believed appears at this point to be incorrect:
- There is no "super-user." Instead, existing software was "manipulated" in such a way as to allow the cheater to view hole cards.
- As was suggested by many early on, the player in question had no ability to see what cards were coming down the road.
- It would appear that Absolute Poker as an entity was not deliberately cheating its players, and instead a rogue element within the company took it upon himself to abuse his skills, knowledge, and place within the company for personal benefit, whether monetary or spite.
I know many readers may be quick to say that the existence of a "super-user" hasn't been disproven. Well, honestly, it never will be. Absolute Poker - nor any other poker site, for that matter - would ever provide such a detailed explanation of the inner workings of their own website. But that doesn't mean the super-user exists. I do not believe it does. What we have here is clearly a case of compromised software, not an existing element.
So where does all this leave us? Should we grab our money and run for the hills? Many players, if not the majority, continue in their quest to rest the blame on the shoulders of Absolute Poker, themselves.
Mike Paulle wrote a fabulous blog this weekend on just this subject, entitled 'The V0id in Online Integrity.' I'll let you read the blog yourself, rather than summarize it, but I will give you a quote that rang particularly true with me:
"The two cheating cases currently being discussed on the net should shock no one who plays the game of poker online or live. More surprising, perhaps, is that the cheaters were caught and punished. Historically, poker cheats have gotten away with their crimes for years."
All for now.
 J
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