When I heard this news, I don't know who I felt more sorry for, the guy busted or the Detroit casino that busted him. In any event, it's hard to believe that all this happened over a few $10 bets. I understand that cheating is cheating, but maybe the casino should have recognized that this guy was not an intentional cheater.
Here's the article:
Incident at casino could cost it plenty
Gambler sues after being called a cheat
October 31, 2007
BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Joseph Ogundu called it a blunder at the craps table.
Greektown Casino and the police who work there called it cheating, and had the 46-year-old West Bloomfield resident charged with a felony and a misdemeanor.
In July, 11 months after the incident at the Detroit casino, a Wayne County Circuit Court jury acquitted Ogundu.
On Monday, Ogundu returned to Wayne County Circuit Court -- this time, to file a lawsuit against the casino, a State Police officer and an unnamed Detroit cop. He's accusing them of false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, defamation of character and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Ogundu, an engineering consultant, is seeking at least $25,000 in damages.
"It's been a terrible ordeal," he said Tuesday.
A casino spokesman said he couldn't comment on pending litigation. There was no immediate comment from the Michigan State Police.
The incident happened in the wee hours of Aug. 5, 2006, after Ogundu bought $100 worth of chips and stopped at the craps table.
His lawyer, David W. Jones of Detroit, said Ogundu is an inexperienced gambler and a novice at the dice game.
Before long, Ogundu placed an improper bet, prompting the dealer to tell him to remove the bet from the table.
About 15-25 minutes later, he made another improper bet. The dealer, who was getting ready to pay Ogundu $10 for winning, caught the error and paused to explain the rules to him, Jones said.
Later, Jones said, a Michigan State Police officer and uniformed Detroit cop arrested Ogundu.
He was charged with a state gambling violation that carries up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine if he's convicted, as well as a misdemeanor -- trying to obtain money under false pretenses -- which calls for up to a year in jail and a $500 fine upon conviction.
Before trial, the state twice offered plea deals, which Ogundu rejected. A jury eventually acquitted him after viewing video from the casino table.
"He's an honest man," Jones said, noting that Ogundu lost $50 during an hour at the table.
He said the casino violated its own policies, which requires that bettors first be warned about breaking the rules.
Jones said Ogundu was so inexperienced at craps, he bet both for and against the shooter, canceling out his wager.
"That should have been a sign to the casino that he was an inexperienced gambler," Jones said.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
DanDruff Responds to Absolute Poker's Mark Seif
The point he makes is that this type of scam can happen at Poker Stars, Full Tilt or any other online poker site. I totally agree with him, even though that doesn't mean that it will...anytime soon.
DanDruff Responds to Absolute Poker’s Mark Seif
October 31st, 2007 Written by Steve Vaughan
I seen previously on 4Flush, the interview Mark Seif did about the issues surrounding the Absolute Poker scandal, Mark stated that this type of event could happen at PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
This statement has again fueled a lot of debate which lead Mark to write this on his blog about the statement as well as the video interview in a post dated 10/28/2007:
“I was quite surprised when I saw the interview because it was presented to the viewers as if I came in to present AP’s side of the story. I never knew that nor did I agree to that. Nor did AP. I came in representing myself and speaking only on my behalf. I’ll clear this up with the folks at RawVegas.tv. I’m sure it was unintentional. Probably a minor thing to them. After all, not EVERYONE is forced live and breathe this thing non-stop 24/7.
Based on some of the posts I’ve read, I think there is a substantial amount of confusion regarding my statement about Stars and Full Tilt. This is either due to me failing to be clear and/or poor editing. I don’t remember.
I stated that this type of thing could happen at Stars or Tilt, because it can. Let me be clear. I think, actually, I KNOW, that Stars and Tilt are run by very ethical, highly reputable people. I have tremendous respect for the management at both sites. I play on both sites.”
Towards the end of the initial video interview, Mark Seif talks about Todd Witteles (DanDruff) and says that he has said a lot of “untruths” and “exaggerated quite a bit” in his statements about the AP scandal. Seif goes as far as to say, “I think he’s actually engaged in some civil liability.”
Today, Todd Witteles (DanDruff) has done his own interview with rawvegas.tv. In this interview, Todd asks questions about why Mark Seif is still representing Absolute Poker, talks about the allegations of Mark cheating himself and addresses the Seif interview itself.
About the “untruths” and “exaggerated quite a bit” remark, Witteles says,
“You (Seif) said many times that I have lied and exaggerated about you, I don’t really understand this.”
He goes on to say that he has looked over posts and recalled conversations and added,
“Never once have I lied or exaggerated about you in my life”
DanDruff Responds to Absolute Poker’s Mark Seif
October 31st, 2007 Written by Steve Vaughan
I seen previously on 4Flush, the interview Mark Seif did about the issues surrounding the Absolute Poker scandal, Mark stated that this type of event could happen at PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
This statement has again fueled a lot of debate which lead Mark to write this on his blog about the statement as well as the video interview in a post dated 10/28/2007:
“I was quite surprised when I saw the interview because it was presented to the viewers as if I came in to present AP’s side of the story. I never knew that nor did I agree to that. Nor did AP. I came in representing myself and speaking only on my behalf. I’ll clear this up with the folks at RawVegas.tv. I’m sure it was unintentional. Probably a minor thing to them. After all, not EVERYONE is forced live and breathe this thing non-stop 24/7.
Based on some of the posts I’ve read, I think there is a substantial amount of confusion regarding my statement about Stars and Full Tilt. This is either due to me failing to be clear and/or poor editing. I don’t remember.
I stated that this type of thing could happen at Stars or Tilt, because it can. Let me be clear. I think, actually, I KNOW, that Stars and Tilt are run by very ethical, highly reputable people. I have tremendous respect for the management at both sites. I play on both sites.”
Towards the end of the initial video interview, Mark Seif talks about Todd Witteles (DanDruff) and says that he has said a lot of “untruths” and “exaggerated quite a bit” in his statements about the AP scandal. Seif goes as far as to say, “I think he’s actually engaged in some civil liability.”
Today, Todd Witteles (DanDruff) has done his own interview with rawvegas.tv. In this interview, Todd asks questions about why Mark Seif is still representing Absolute Poker, talks about the allegations of Mark cheating himself and addresses the Seif interview itself.
About the “untruths” and “exaggerated quite a bit” remark, Witteles says,
“You (Seif) said many times that I have lied and exaggerated about you, I don’t really understand this.”
He goes on to say that he has looked over posts and recalled conversations and added,
“Never once have I lied or exaggerated about you in my life”
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Cheating Carnival Games
People often ask me which casino table game is the easiest to cheat. The answer is that the "carnival games" are by far the easiest to cheat, and because of that fact are the most cheated tables in the casino world. For those of you who don't know exactly what a carnival game is, it is any of the poker derivative games that are now flourishing in casinos all across the world, games such as three-card poker, four-card poker, Pai Gow poker, ultimate bet poker and a host of others. The first two major carnival games to hit casinos were Caribbean Stud and Let it Ride back in the early '90s.
Many of you have heard about the high-tech microcamera three-card poker scam that rocked London's casinos for close to a million bucks in 2005, but the vast majority of cheating the carnival games is much more elementary. I have observed scores of individual and two-and three-man cheating teams performing scams ranging from bet-pressing (increasing bets after card outcome) to bet-pinching (decreasing bets after card outcome) to card-switching. Since the overall atmosphere is generally more relaxed and the dealers more friendly at these tables, capable cheaters can take swift advantage of it. While dealers are busied happily explaining the rules to either a cohort or innocent player, their attention is diverted, which gives cheaters time to add a few chips to each of the multi-bets out there or switch cards with their partners, giving either one or all of them a payoff-winning hand. I have seen many flagrant cheating operations and yet to see one of them caught by the dealer. The worst I've seen is a dealer saying with a soft reprimand to a bet-presser, "Sir, you can't do that..." I have yet to see a dealer notice a card-switch. Overall, it seems that casinos do not worry as much about carnival-game cheating as they do the other table games.
Many of you have heard about the high-tech microcamera three-card poker scam that rocked London's casinos for close to a million bucks in 2005, but the vast majority of cheating the carnival games is much more elementary. I have observed scores of individual and two-and three-man cheating teams performing scams ranging from bet-pressing (increasing bets after card outcome) to bet-pinching (decreasing bets after card outcome) to card-switching. Since the overall atmosphere is generally more relaxed and the dealers more friendly at these tables, capable cheaters can take swift advantage of it. While dealers are busied happily explaining the rules to either a cohort or innocent player, their attention is diverted, which gives cheaters time to add a few chips to each of the multi-bets out there or switch cards with their partners, giving either one or all of them a payoff-winning hand. I have seen many flagrant cheating operations and yet to see one of them caught by the dealer. The worst I've seen is a dealer saying with a soft reprimand to a bet-presser, "Sir, you can't do that..." I have yet to see a dealer notice a card-switch. Overall, it seems that casinos do not worry as much about carnival-game cheating as they do the other table games.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Send Absolute Poker Scammer an E-Mail?
Sounds stupid to me, but now that his alias has been turned into a public e-mail address, maybe you want to send him an e-mail and tell him what an asshole he is. Who knows, maybe he'll respond!
Absolute Poker Culprit's MSN Messenger Obtained by Gambling911.com
The culprit in a notorious Absolute Poker "internal cheating" scandal has been located in - of all places - his native Canada.
Want to chat with AJ and ask why he cheated you and other fellow poker players?
For the first time ever, Alan John Grimard (AKA AJ Green) has had his current email address and MSN Messenger released to the public. It is peptona@hotmail.com
It turns out that Grimard has made enough enemies to fill a football stadium, and those don't even include the cheating victims.
"Why do I want people to have his email address?" said a former employee of Nine who worked with the perpetrator. "He is a complete asshole and has always been. I know that in a span of six months (while at Nine.com) he made three assistants cry and resign and once an employee told him to 'connect better with the customers'. His response was 'I will only connect to my bank account."
Point-Spreads.com last week reported on how AJ had a photo of himself covered in money, decked out "American Beauty" style.
"He got to be Operations Manager at Nine.com because he would always take credit for everyone else's successful project when his minions were the one's who did all the work. He is the worst human being I have ever met to say the least."
Grimard's home address and other pertinent information provided to us will not be made public out of concerns for his safety.
Absolute Poker has been paying all the victims back, some of whom had no idea they were taken advantage of by Grimard.
As each passing day goes by it seems more and more likely that many in the Absolute Poker organization appear to have been duped by this scammer, whose prior job was that of a "cyber squatter".
Grimard is yet to respond to the allegations. The online poker community, however, has already presumed him guilty until proven innocent.
Gambling911.com has also learned that an individual accused of stealing during a poker tournament with some distant ties to Absolute Poker disappeared and has not been heard from since. The individual in this matter could have run off to Mexico with the stolen funds or may have met some other grisly fate. Grimard was well aware of this detail and it cannot bode well that half the poker world is furious with him right now.
Absolute Poker Culprit's MSN Messenger Obtained by Gambling911.com
The culprit in a notorious Absolute Poker "internal cheating" scandal has been located in - of all places - his native Canada.
Want to chat with AJ and ask why he cheated you and other fellow poker players?
For the first time ever, Alan John Grimard (AKA AJ Green) has had his current email address and MSN Messenger released to the public. It is peptona@hotmail.com
It turns out that Grimard has made enough enemies to fill a football stadium, and those don't even include the cheating victims.
"Why do I want people to have his email address?" said a former employee of Nine who worked with the perpetrator. "He is a complete asshole and has always been. I know that in a span of six months (while at Nine.com) he made three assistants cry and resign and once an employee told him to 'connect better with the customers'. His response was 'I will only connect to my bank account."
Point-Spreads.com last week reported on how AJ had a photo of himself covered in money, decked out "American Beauty" style.
"He got to be Operations Manager at Nine.com because he would always take credit for everyone else's successful project when his minions were the one's who did all the work. He is the worst human being I have ever met to say the least."
Grimard's home address and other pertinent information provided to us will not be made public out of concerns for his safety.
Absolute Poker has been paying all the victims back, some of whom had no idea they were taken advantage of by Grimard.
As each passing day goes by it seems more and more likely that many in the Absolute Poker organization appear to have been duped by this scammer, whose prior job was that of a "cyber squatter".
Grimard is yet to respond to the allegations. The online poker community, however, has already presumed him guilty until proven innocent.
Gambling911.com has also learned that an individual accused of stealing during a poker tournament with some distant ties to Absolute Poker disappeared and has not been heard from since. The individual in this matter could have run off to Mexico with the stolen funds or may have met some other grisly fate. Grimard was well aware of this detail and it cannot bode well that half the poker world is furious with him right now.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Was Absolute Poker Rogue setting up Sports Book in Costa Rica?
If so, that will make a wonderful marriage! It's the same old "steal from one enterprise to start another crooked enterprise." Read about it!
Several Point-Spreads.com sources have confirmed that the Absolute Poker Super User account scammer AJ Green and another sportsbook associate were attempting to open up a sportsbook in Costa Rica. Could he have been using the ill gotten gains from the Absolute Poker Scandal? It sure does sound like it from what we are hearing coming out of Central America. The other associate of Green was a former sportsbook executive known as "Powers" that was rumored to steal customer databases from the places he worked at before leaving.
A Point-Spreads.com source stated "I can confirm the sportsbook deal with that Powers guy...a sportsbook started with stolen money..in fact this could be the whole reason for the scam because AJ is too cheap to spend his own money."
As recently as October 22nd, the pair "walked into some place to look at office space and the owner told them to 'get the fuck out' as he knew about the poker scam," stated a second well connected source in Costa Rica. AJ Green, the Absolute Poker Super User scammer, appears to be on the lam with online gambling information website Gambling911.com stating he was last seen in Panama City, Panama. A recent report stated Green was using the services of armed bodyguards after the news broke of his involvement in the scandal. How can a "consultant" making approximately 50k per year afford bodyguards?
"AJ Green seemed like the type of guy you would find in a sportsbook," stated professional poker player Mark Seif in a video on the VegasRaw.tv website today. "He had a free spirit....He liked to party, he had long hair...we certainly did not talk about any hole cards."
Seif went on to state he met AJ Green in Costa Rica twice and that Absolute has already paid out "upwards of over $1 million dollars already" in refunds to online poker players.
Point-Spreads.com first reported that the actual amount of the Absolute Poker Super User scam was approximately $7 million and spans over three years.
"I think this type of incident could have happen on Poker Stars, I think it could have happened at Full Tilt. I think it could happen anywhere. The real issue is how the company handles it after the fact!"
We could not agree more and believe Joe Norton, the former Grand Chief of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake and the 100% owner of Absolute Poker parent company Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG will do the right thing in this situation which thrusts his Indian tribe directly into the internet gambling spotlight. Norton releases a statement about the Super User Account Scandal to all registered account Absolute Poker accountholders on October 21st, 2007.
The online poker giant has the funds to survive this storm and we believe all players that were effected will be reimbursed after an internal audit, an audit by Gaming Associates and a audit by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission are completed. This is anticipated to conclude over the next several weeks. Absolute Poker could actually come out stronger than every if they play their cards right this time around!
Several Point-Spreads.com sources have confirmed that the Absolute Poker Super User account scammer AJ Green and another sportsbook associate were attempting to open up a sportsbook in Costa Rica. Could he have been using the ill gotten gains from the Absolute Poker Scandal? It sure does sound like it from what we are hearing coming out of Central America. The other associate of Green was a former sportsbook executive known as "Powers" that was rumored to steal customer databases from the places he worked at before leaving.
A Point-Spreads.com source stated "I can confirm the sportsbook deal with that Powers guy...a sportsbook started with stolen money..in fact this could be the whole reason for the scam because AJ is too cheap to spend his own money."
As recently as October 22nd, the pair "walked into some place to look at office space and the owner told them to 'get the fuck out' as he knew about the poker scam," stated a second well connected source in Costa Rica. AJ Green, the Absolute Poker Super User scammer, appears to be on the lam with online gambling information website Gambling911.com stating he was last seen in Panama City, Panama. A recent report stated Green was using the services of armed bodyguards after the news broke of his involvement in the scandal. How can a "consultant" making approximately 50k per year afford bodyguards?
"AJ Green seemed like the type of guy you would find in a sportsbook," stated professional poker player Mark Seif in a video on the VegasRaw.tv website today. "He had a free spirit....He liked to party, he had long hair...we certainly did not talk about any hole cards."
Seif went on to state he met AJ Green in Costa Rica twice and that Absolute has already paid out "upwards of over $1 million dollars already" in refunds to online poker players.
Point-Spreads.com first reported that the actual amount of the Absolute Poker Super User scam was approximately $7 million and spans over three years.
"I think this type of incident could have happen on Poker Stars, I think it could have happened at Full Tilt. I think it could happen anywhere. The real issue is how the company handles it after the fact!"
We could not agree more and believe Joe Norton, the former Grand Chief of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake and the 100% owner of Absolute Poker parent company Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG will do the right thing in this situation which thrusts his Indian tribe directly into the internet gambling spotlight. Norton releases a statement about the Super User Account Scandal to all registered account Absolute Poker accountholders on October 21st, 2007.
The online poker giant has the funds to survive this storm and we believe all players that were effected will be reimbursed after an internal audit, an audit by Gaming Associates and a audit by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission are completed. This is anticipated to conclude over the next several weeks. Absolute Poker could actually come out stronger than every if they play their cards right this time around!
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