Saturday, December 24, 2011

Online Poker-Cheat Leak Gives Up Data For 3 Million UltimateBet Playes!

If UltimateBet.com hasn't already had enough poker-cheating and security problems!

Now, in the latest UB.com cheat scandal, the names, real addresses, e-mail addresses as well as phone numbers and account detailed account info including balances of more than three million UltimateBet and Absolute Poker players had been compromised to the public in early December. The culprit, although unclear of what the intention was and by whom, was a faulty security device on a web-spammer’s site.

The full history of how the pilfered info got into the claws of e-mail marketers has not been detailed but many experts believe it is related to UB.com's post-cheating scandal collapse and egregious mis-management.

My take: UltimateBet and Absolute Poker just seem to be forever married to cheating at online poker and other interconnected scams.

Poker Cheat Settlements Linked to "High Stakes Poker" TV Show.

I have been saying for years that the GAMING SHOW NETWORK's "High Stakes Poker" show is all bullshit where no real money changes hand. Here is an interesting piece of news involving Gabe Kaplan, the former TV actor-turned poker broadcaster who coincidently is one of the broadcasters of that fraudulent show. Read this and tell me if you still actually believe there is one grain of truth to the crap you see on "High Stakes Poker."

News: Tobey Maguire, the "Spider-Man” star, and veteran TV-poker commentator and broadcaster Gabe Kaplan have agreed to settle lawsuits which were brought by poker-cheat victims of a convicted racketeer who took part in Maguire's high-stakes Hollywood poker games. Maguire reached a settlement for $80,000 while Kaplan settled to receive $26,900. The claims were brought by bankruptcy attorney Howard Ehrenberg, who sought to recover nearly half a million bucks lost by an imprisoned man convicted of fraud, one Bradley Ruderman.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

First Major Conviction in Online Poker Cheat Fraud Case! I Hardly Believe It!!!

But is has happened! And lots of you have been waiting years for this news!

Source: Part Time Poker

Brent Beckley, one of the pioneers of Absolute Poker, pleaded guilty today in federal court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis accepted the guilty plea in a Manhattan federal court. Beckley pleaded guilty to bank fraud, wire fraud and violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The UIGEA, passed in 2006, makes it illegal for banks to process payments for illegal online gambling businesses that accept players from the U.S.

Beckley became the first executive of an online poker room related to the Black Friday indictments to plead guilty. Beckley’s half brother Scott Tom was also indicted on Black Friday. Scott Tom is believed to have been the mastermind behind the Absolute Poker insider cheating scandal. Tom’s whereabouts are unknown.

Beckley worked in the security department at Cereus, which consisted of Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. His job also involved setting up payment processors for the online poker room. Beckley was accused of creating bogus companies in an attempt to get U.S. banks to process payments to Absolute Poker, payments the banks would otherwise have declined.

PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker banned U.S. players within 24 hours of the Black Friday indictments being unsealed. The Cereus Network continued to allow U.S. players to play for real money. These players just did not have access to the cashier section. After reaching a settlement with U.S. authorities, players in the U.S. were blocked and could not even see the real money tables in the software’s lobby.

Players in the U.S. have not received any payments since Black Friday. Players in the rest of the world have receive small payouts. Typically these payouts were made once a month and the maximum payout was $1000. In October, Cereus announced that they would go into liquidation. This was after payments to players outside of the U.S. stopped. It is estimated that players from around the world could be owed as much as $50 million.

My take: Boy! This has been a long time coming coming! Finally someone pleads guilty and faces real prison time in connection with online poker cheating and fraud. You gotta love this! Especially if you were a victim to one of these malicious online poker cheat scams.

Poker Card-Swapping Cheats Busted in Pennsylvania Casino

Source: Lehigh Valley Live

Giansergio Caputi, 33, and Fernando A. Rodriguez, 28, both of Sunrise, Fla., profited from swapping cards four times in less than 45 minutes this morning at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, police said. One of the men won $1,221 during hands in which he received beneficial cards from his friend, and the other man gained $50 from similar moves, according to court papers. Caputi and Rodriguez were seen on video, police said, and monitored by security. Both men were charged with four counts of prohibited acts and one count each of theft by deception and conspiracy.

Caputi was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail. Rodriguez was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail.

My take: Card-Swapping at poker tables and casino derivative poker tables such as three-card and four-card poker is a very crafty casino-cheating art--when done by professionals who have practiced and perfected their art. These guys here seem like amateurs who never really had a chance of getting away with it for more than one hour, let alone one night.