Absolute Poker to be Audited Following Serious Cheating Allegations

All eyes on Absolute! And I don't mean the vodka! Following a recent surge of player complaints that a cheating scandal was taking place behind closed doors at Absolute, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has engaged the services of independent software tester and fairness certifier, Gaming Associates, to conduct an in-depth audit of Absolute Poker's books and software logs.

First of all, praise the gambling gods that Kahnawake is finally stepping up to the plate to enforce their online gambling regulatory responsibilities. Although they license some very reputable online casinos out there, I find it hard to believe they still allow the Crystal Isle group to hold an internet gaming license. Secondly, its about time the online poker industry recognized a dark reality of the business that can go unnoticed - and probably does more often than  people realize.

The only reason it has surfaced in the public's eye is because enough players started talking about it in community forums and in other media outlets. There is even a video recorded by a players, showing the alleged cheat in action. Hey, it goes to show what happens when enough people speak out and let their voices be heard by the people sitting in positions of power. That's what it will take for online casino gambling to get regulated in the U.S. but that's another blog entry. Or perhaps several more blog entries.

Okay, so what are these cheating allegations all about anyways? From what I understand, the allegations are that somebody or something working for Absolute Poker was playing and dominating the pots. Called a "super-user" account, the theory is this super-user had the ability to view other players cards and pounce on them. The unpredictable actions and winning track record of this super-user prompted a few other players to analyze their hand histories, which included IP address tracks for all the other participating players. And one of these IP addresses was allegedly tracked back to an Absolute Poker domain. If that turns out to be true, Absolute Poker will very likely be put out of business.

These are serious allegations, which hopefully, Gaming Associates will be able to get to the bottom of. I am not exactly sure how they will be able to prove any wrong doing on Absolute's part, but I know they will be able to verify all money that goes in and gets paid out by Absolute Poker. There is no way around this for the software logs will show it clear as day. However, this isn't to say that Absolute couldn't still create a dummy account and pay out this player, who in turn, just funnels the money back to Absolute.

I'm not sure how deep this audit will go, but I think a full-fledged investigation is in order - specifically in finding out who this player is. Even if the audit does not turn up anything illegal, if this player cannot be identified, then I will call for a blacklisting of Absolute. Until then, I suppose we should all give them the benefit of the doubt.

Online Casino News Archive

October '07 | November '07