Absolute Poker Scandal News

Absolute Poker Scam

$500,000 dent and back to normal.

That's the final wrap-up to the biggest online poker scam in history. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission laid down its law, fined Absolute five hundred grand, and Absolute accepted it quicker than an eager benefactor posting a check to his favorite charity, and now its back to business as usual. This kind of reminds me of the $500,000 fine Bill Belichick and the likely Super Bowl-bound Patriots had to pay for their on-the-sidelines spying episode against the New York Jets. In another words, a mere bag of shells, and we've all pretty much forgotten about it, and we will all pretty much forget about this to, and in the end, I hate to say it, but Absolute Poker will have the last laugh. This whole thing will most definitely end up increasing Absolute's profit.

Here are the related articles:

ABSOLUTE POKER FINED $500,000 FOR ONLINE INSIDER SCAM

Absolute Poker has accepted the penalties handed down to them in a statement released to the media which said, "After reviewing the published report, we recognize the completeness and accuracy of the KGC conclusions, and we accept without reservation the KGC’s findings and sanctions. Most importantly, we are pleased, after these many months, that Absolute Poker can finally put behind it a most distressing and regrettable experience for the Company, its employees, and its customers."

This came after the full findings of the investigation carried out by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission into the scandal were released on Friday January 11.

The main penalty imposed was a fine of $500,000 US that Absolute Poker must pay within 60 days. Others are that they must foot the bill for the investigation carried out by Gaming Associates, they are required to place a surety with the KGC for two years against future conduct and they must agree to be randomly audited at their own expense. Precautionary measures that have been requested include permanent exclusion of those responsible for the scam and a program to counteract another occurrence.

Absolute Poker went on to reiterate that it has refunded all players that were affected by the security breach and that they have repaired the weaknesses in their systems that allowed it to happen in the first place. They say they have appointed a team "to improve controls and install safeguards."

ABSOLUTE's STATEMENT:

Anna Molley, the Absolute vice president for public and consumer relations.

Absolute Poker (AP) issued the following statement today through Anna Molley, the Absolute Poker vice president for public and consumer relations, in response to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission’s (KGC) release of its report "In the Matter of Absolute Poker Investigation Regarding Complaints of Cheating."

"When Absolute Poker notified the KGC of the security breach in our system, we had every expectation that the Commission would undertake a comprehensive and fair investigation. After reviewing the published report, we recognize the completeness and accuracy of the KGC conclusions, and we accept without reservation the KGC’s findings and sanctions. Most importantly, we are pleased, after these many months, that Absolute Poker can finally put behind it a most distressing and regrettable experience for the Company, its employees, and its customers.

“The KGC points out that ‘AP has taken the appropriate actions to address the vulnerability in its systems…and to prevent its systems from being compromised again…’ AP has appointed a team of both internal and external members to improve controls and install safeguards, and accepts the audit findings as an opportunity to improve our internal practices and guarantee the safest playing environment in the industry.

"We are pleased that the KGC’s findings of fact point out that ‘there is no evidence to indicate that the impugned activities were initiated or sanctioned by AP…or were intended to benefit AP, as a corporate entity.’ The report also states that ‘AP made expeditious efforts to appropriately reimburse all players…with interest’ who were affected by the cheating.

"The Company also regrets the inadvertent deletion of certain gaming logs and records during the course of the investigation, although AP is relieved that these deletions did not, according to the KGC, ‘prevent the Commission from obtaining sufficient information…’

"Having experienced first-hand the devastating impact of a security breach, we fully appreciate the importance of trust and security for AP itself and the broader industry. A secure site goes to the heart of player confidence, and we are more committed than ever to ensuring that confidence. To that end, we have taken it upon ourselves to convene on January 18, 2008 the first of a series of ‘poker security summits’. AP will invite respected and independent members of the poker community to focus on innovative and cutting-edge ways to further improve AP’s security and enhance its transparency.

"As AP has repeatedly stated in the past, we regret the damage done to our players and to our own reputation by this incident. We acknowledge that the Company did not act with sufficient speed to uncover the fraud; however, once we were convinced of the veracity of the allegations, we moved quickly to inform the KGC and to reimburse affected players. While AP is paying a severe penalty for the fraud perpetrated upon the Company and its customers, we are gratified that we can now close the book on this sordid affair and return our full focus to providing the safest, most secure, and most eenjoyable poker playing experience in the industry."