Card Switch Poker Cheats First To Be Busted With UK's Gambling Act!

Two men have been sentenced to a total of 14 months imprisonment in what is believed to be the first convictions for cheating at gambling under the Gambling Act 2005 in London. Mehmet Mersin, 46 and Suleyman Arik, 24, were arrested on 19 May 2009 by Westminster Police after being called to Empire Casino in Leicester Square.

Staff had suspected them of cheating at the venue on two occasions only the week before during which they won a total of £5,115. As a result when the pair returned on 19 May, they were identified and detained by the staff.

Their plan to cheat was underlined by Arik's use of a false name and Mersin's attempt at disguise using a wig. A total of £2,000 was recovered from Mersin and £450from Arik at the scene. Investigating detectives from the Metropolitan Police Clubs and Vice Unit viewed CCTV footage that showed the two of them swapping cards under the table during a game of three card poker.

During interviews both said they had a gambling addictions, and Mersin admitted giving Arik £500 to gamble with. Appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, both pleaded guilty to cheating at gambling.

Arik, a Turkish national, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a deportation order. Mersin was today sentenced to eight months and issued with an ASBO banning him from visiting any casino across the country for the next 10 years.

Detective Inspector John Anderson from the Clubs and Vice Unit said: "There is no doubt Mersin and Arik planned to continue making money through cheating, and even believed they could get away with using false names and disguises. "This case shows such offenders can and will be prosecuted under the Gambling Act."

Facebook Gets Involved In Online Poker Issue! Cheating?

A very interesting debate is underway revolving around what does and what does not constitute gambling. Facebook and MySpace are the world's two most recognizable social networks, and each of the sites offers applications in which their members can take quizzes, sign up for other sites, or even play poker against other members.

It is the third of these applications that have suddenly thrown themselves into the forefront, with growing speculation that they too will draw the attention of some aspiring lawyers or politicians looking to crack down on Internet Gambling including online poker.

Users of the applications such as Zynga's Texas Hold ‘Em, the poker application of choice and the largest such software on the social network sites, would find this to be quite strange, since after all, they are not playing for real money and have no way of depositing or withdrawing fake funds. However, legal experts that have been reviewing the laws as are currently constituted point to the presence of virtual "gifts", items that members can send to other members for trading in some of their play money to attain. For example, Facebook allows players to send up to 16 "gifts" to other Facebook users per day. The intent of the gifts are to promote the application and to encourage other people to take part in the games. The "gifts" cost $5-$10 virtual dollars and are not actual physical items, more of a status symbol that appears on news feeds or a Facebook person's "wall".

It should be noted however, that there is currently no law expressly making it illegal to play online poker at the Federal level.

The argument that lawmakers could point to is that by promoting and advertising a gaming platform of any kind, the developers would ultimately be profiting from online gambling. Advertising would stream in more customers, and thus more advertisers, and thus more scrutiny.

As followers of these types of stories know, there are items in the works in government which would regulate internet gambling. Should this actually happen, then social networks would be in the clear. However, the specter that prosecution could actually arise from such activity, though frivolous to some, is one that should remain in the public consciousness.

Poker Stars Admits To eCheck Frozen Funds!

In a series of emails sent out to customers Monday, online poker's biggest room, Poker Stars, admitted that its Instant eCheck processor had funds frozen over the past week. The company would not elaborate any further. The news first broke Friday that the US Attorney out of New York had acted to shut the processor down, though it was not immediately clear at that time if any indictments were handed down or if monies were actually confiscated.

An email like the one appearing below was sent out to a number of customers:

Dear xxxxxxx,

Following our previous communication, we regret to inform you that our check provider's bank account remains frozen, the funds are not accessible, and it's not known when the funds will be released. The provider's legal team and the Poker Players Association (PPA) are working on this matter.

In order to make the funds available to you without further delay, we have credited your PokerStars account with the outstanding check amount (details below) from our own funds. We have also credited your account with an additional 10% bonus as a good will gesture for the disruption this matter has caused.

Transaction ID:248xxxx
Amount:$xxx.00
Check #:925xxx
Mailed date:1-Jun-09

If you wish to resubmit your cashout request, you can do so from our Cashier by selecting the check option (your new check will be issued on a different account and can be deposited as normal) or wire transfer (only available for amounts greater than [$2,500]).

Once again, please accept our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience.

Best Regards,

PokerStars Payments Department

The problem was isolated only to Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. Absolute Poker and its sister site, UltimateBet.com were still accepting eCheck deposits and paying out via their eCheck platform.

More Russ Hamilton Poker Cheating Controversy!

Accused Online Poker Cheat Master and Full Tilt???

I've heard that Full Tilt is considering Russ Hamilton, the alleged brains behind the multimillion-dollar UltimateBet online poker cheating scandal, as a Full Tilt player. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprsed if it's true, given online poker sites' past history of hiring known online poker cheats to represent their supposedly cheat-free online poker games. This is just the latest in a long string of online poker cheating rewarding the cheats rather than condemning them.

Though it's probably safe to assume Full Tilt Poker will think twice about hiring alleged online poker cheat, Russ Hamilton, following a story that appeared on the Pokerati website this week, a spokesperson for Full Tilt refused to deny whether Hamilton was being considered as a Team Full Tilt player.

"Who said Pokerati is a reputable source?" asked spokesperson Michele Clayborne. "There are inaccuracies in that article".

The University of Southern California graduate would not clarify the precise inaccuracies when asked repeatedly to do so. She was repeatedly asked to explain where Pokerati was getting its information, to which Ms. Clayborne reiterated they do not consider Pokerati a reputable source.

"We will not be talking to Gambilng911.com ever again!" she snarled in yet another phone call made by Gambling911.com Senior International Correspondent, Jenny Woo. "Why don't you take that article down off the site?"

Clayborne represents Full Tilt Poker and its team of pros through EMC-PR, where she holds the title of International Public Relations Consultant (IPRC). Apparently one of her job requirements is to piss off the press.

From Gambling011.com:

Even Gambling911.com questioned the Pokerati story (a la the question mark in the headline). However, we suspect after speaking with Clayborne, who supposedly was a Creative Writing major, she wouldn't know a question mark from a period (that's not to say this woman doesn't know what a period is since she appeared to be having hers when we spoke to her Thursday). We even started our coverage of the story by asking: "Could this be some type of joke?" Following our brief conversation with the abrupt woman, we were left cringing at the notion that it might not be. Perhaps a "real" Full Tilt spokesperson can clarify for us.?.?.?

Clayborne and Full Tilt Poker's lack of disclosure related to this story has had the entire online poker community riled up in recent days.

Addressing the online poker community concern over news that Hamilton might be hired, Full Tilt Poker issued a statement:

"We are aware of the situation regarding Absolute Poker and UltimateBet as it has impacted the entire poker industry. We certainly understand and share your concerns.
We can confirm that we are regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, however we cannot comment on our hiring policies/practices. Rest assured though that all necessary precautions are taken with every new potential employee. Full Tilt Poker is endorsed and trusted by some of the best poker players in the world, and we work hard around the clock to ensure the highest integrity and security of our games.
We also cannot make any comment regarding the hiring practices of other companies within the industry nor can we comment on what communication we have with one another"

"Needless to say, Full Tilt Poker's response was met by an overwhelming amount of negativity," our friends at AintLuck.com pointed out on Thursday. "In a world in which the online poker world is fighting to be accepted by the United States, one would hypothesize that being more open when dealing with players' concerns would rank high on their list of priorities."

AintLuck.com noted that Full Tilt Poker rival--and twice its sizePokerStars.com--was more clear in assuring they would not hire the likes of Russ Hamilton.

A PokerStars spokesperson stated: "PokerStars has an extensive and stringent employee recruitment process. Relevant staff members face extensive background checks to ensure that they are suitable for the roles which they are hired. If PokerStars is given information about anyone involved in this scam, then we will ban them from playing on Stars."

"In this scenario, it seems that the players responding in the forum are reinforced in their belief that Poker Stars is more inclined to ease the concerns of their customer base," AintLuck.com suggests. "By failing to take the needed time to address the players' query regarding such a serious matter, they are unwittingly creating more doubt in the minds of prospective customers who just want to be confident that they are being treated fairly. It would seem that Full Tilt's relationship with the aforementioned Kahnawake Gaming Commission is the root of the cryptic nature of their response. Until they can provide some solid proof of their hiring practices, in the backs of the minds of many players, there will be some doubt."

Ms. Woo, who had arranged to interview poker pro Jennifer Harman in an effort to promote awareness of Ms. Harman's charitable work with Creating Organ Donation Awareness (CODA), has now been denied access to the Team Full Tilt player by Clayborne. Woo herself is an organ donor. She has also been especially active in promoting the charitable efforts of fellow poker player Annie Duke, most recently Refugees International.

"You will NOT be talking to MY poker players!" Clayborne exclaimed as if she owned the company. Woo, a Mathematics major, was left scratching her head. "Isn't Michele's (Clayborne) job to get these people and Full Tilt Poker positive press?" Woo asked. "I seriously cannot believe how unprofessional and disrespectful this woman was. We made it clear Full Tilt Poker was given every possible opportunity to say three simple words: ‘Russ Is Not Joining Our Team'."

We reiterate, Full Tilt Poker is more than welcome to clarify the Pokerati story and dispel any rumors related to alleged affiliations with Russ Hamilton.

My take: this is all publicity-gouging bullshit!

Intabill Creating Cheat-Like Problems For Online Poker Websites and Players

The online gambling companies aren't always quick to acknowledge payment processing problems but in recent weeks there have been a few coming to the surface.

"I am surprised we are not reading about Intabill´s problems," said one individual associated with the online gambling sector.

Intabill is an Australian based firm that a number of the Web betting companies have been utilizing. One doesn't have to go far to find information on Intabill and its now infamous founder, Daniel Tzvetkoff. The company Tzvetkoff majority owns owes about $30 million to online US poker houses, according to James Mccullough of the British Courier Mail.

According to numerous sources, Tzvetkoff drove a Lamborghini with the number plate "baller", owned a massive yacht and chartered impressive jets. He´s also opened his own Fortitude Valley nightclub, Zuri, sponsored a V8 supercar racing team and amassed property as well as put together other major if not questionable business deals.

In between driving the Lambo he got around in a Ferrari 599, an Audi S6, a Range Rover and a Ford GT40. During regular trips to Las Vegas, where he is rumoured to have a house, he was again spotted in a Lambo.

Mr Tzvetkoff is young and good looking. He loves fine champagne and had a penchant for the very high life, although deep down he is a boy from Ipswich with Bulgarian parents. In some IT sectors he was and still is described as a genius who created an enviable business through his main Australian company Intabill, based in Brisbane's inner-west suburb Milton, of which he owns a two-third's share and is managing director. That company is owned by BT Projects Pty Ltd, whose three shareholders are listed as Tzvetkoff, local lawyer Sam Sciacca and an Alberta, Canada-based company called Rendel Investments.

In recent times Mr Tzvetkoff's business has come back to earth with a thud. A few weeks back Intabill sacked 96 staff members from its Milton head office. At the time Mr Tzvetkoff blamed the global economic crisis and said he was refocusing his company. Barely a dozen staff remain at Milton.

His prized Lamborghini and other flash European cars have now gone. His Hedges Ave. mansion is believed to be back on the market.

Meanwhile, online poker sites like Full Tilt Poker have been saddled with bad checks from the processing venture, Instant eCheck. This deposit and withdrawal method has since been yanked from Full Tilt and their competitor's websites. It was also learned that some of the checks issued to players have been bouncing.

For online poker there couldn't be a worse time for all of this to be happening. We are in the midst of the World Series of Poker. The main event is coming next month and ESPN will be televising the WSOP. It's a time when aspiring poker pros want to jump on board these websites.

But if those pros are gonna have trouble getting paid, they might want to think about jumping on board something else!

Aces of Shades...Is Wearing Sunglasses Poker Cheating?

Cheating at Poker by Wearing Sunglasses? Come on, get real!

Suddenly shades at the poker table are the subject of debate, especially when they pop up on the faces of well-known professional poker players. Some players refuse to sit down at the table without sunglasses on, but can this be considered cheating in a poker game? Of course not! There are only two reasons why top poker players wear sunglasses: one is to hide their "tells," little facial and eyeball idiosyncracies that might tip off their hands; and the other is purely personal, whether it be a way to help players relax, pretend they're somewhere else or making believe they're at the beach and being cool. Those who claim poker players wearing sunglasses are poker cheats are just plain nuts.

Speaking of tells, I heard that when some players at the poker table get good cards or flop a good hand their eyes dilate involuntarily. Heck, if a player at the table can actually spot the dilation of my pupil from across a poker table when I have pocket aces, more power to him, and if he beats me he beats me. It's definitely on the square.

I have also received e-mails complaining that Greg Reymer, the 2004 WSOP Main Event champion, is a poker cheat hiding his grifting abilities behind those sunglasses he always wears. That is rubbish and I have no knowledge of Reymer ever cheating anyone anywhere.

The bottom line here is that if you give off tells at the poker table, then you ought to consider wearing sunglasses too!

Mississippi Casinos Glad to See Connecticut Master Casino Cheat Out of Business!

After reading the following article, I am really wondering why Mississippi casinos didn't prosecute master casino and poker cheat Richard Taylor when they supposedly had evidence on him for cheating that state's casinos for $200,000. Well, what that evidence was, I don't know, but whatever the case, Connecticut authorities have not been as forgiving toward Mr. Taylor, who, if he wants to resume his cheating career any time soon, is going to have to cheat the poker tables at whichever Connecticut state prison he gets sent to.

Article:

Memphis Man Convicted in Connecticut Casino Cheating Scam

A Memphis man known as "Mr. Casino" was convicted in Connecticut in a scheme to cheat two casinos there. Richard Taylor, 43, was found guilty in late May in New London, Conn., of cheating, conspiracy to commit cheating, first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny. He remains jailed in Connecticut on a $250,000 bond. Taylor will be sentenced July 10 and could face a sentence of more than a decade in prison.

In cheating the Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun casinos, Taylor bribed dealers to pay players for late or illegal bets. State police there said Taylor and his group were responsible for nearly $70,000 in losses for both casinos in 2007.

This isn't the first time "Mr. Casino" has been in trouble with gaming authorities. In 2001, he was arrested in Mississippi for bilking four Gulf Coast casinos out of nearly $200,000. There, too, he was accused of working with dealers who paid him on losing craps bets in exchange for large tips. However, the district attorney declined to prosecute that case. (Why not???)

"Our criminal investigations unit has been monitoring this trial as long as it's been going on," said Becky Clark, a spokesman for the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
"He's been on our radar screen for a long time. We are very pleased that he'll be away from us for at least the next several years."

Clark said Taylor has already been banned from Mississippi casinos. NO SHIT!!!

Online Poker Network Rocked By Cheat Scandals Now Shining!

Two Giant Poker Cheat Sites Making Their Way Back To a Non-Online Poker Cheats World!

UltimateBet and Absolute Poker, however ungodly a combination they may be due to their respective online poker cheat scandals, are now powered by the Cereus Online Poker Network and have moved into the number 6 position this week, stunning Everest Poker. Just last month Cereus was just barely fighting off Microgaming's poker network in order to secure the number 7 spot.

This week, Cereus owns a comfortable 400 average real cash player lead over Microgaming (at number 8). They were averaging just over 150 more real cash players than Everest. And even more remarkably, Cereus could end up in the top 5 as the online poker network gains significant ground on powerhouse, OnGame. Cereus was a mere 350 average real cash players behind OnGame this week.

At least some of the increased traffic for Cereus could be attributed to UltimateBet spokeswoman, Annie Duke, appearing on this season's Celebrity Apprentice. Paul Leggett, CEO of the Cereus Group, revealed that a "major increase in traffic" had occurred as a result of Ms. Duke's appearance on the show.

Gambling911.com's stats support that notion.

Senior Editor of that site, Payton O'Brien: "The final two weeks of the Celebrity Apprentice provided Gambling911 with monster traffic numbers, all people searching for Annie Duke and the Celebrity Apprentice, along with some betting odds inquiries."

It should be noted that few of the online gambling websites were offering Celebrity Apprentice betting odds during the second half of the show following some leaks and unusual betting patterns at the start of the season, most of which eventually came to fruition.

Over the past year and a half the Cereus Group has had to overcome major obstacles, including a high profile "cheating scandal" that found its way onto a segment of 60 Minutes.

Leggett has said that he is committed to ensuring UltimateBet and Absolute Poker's integrity from hereon in and that any "bad apples" that may have contributed to the compromise of their previous software platform are no longer associated with the company.

Angle Shoot Poker Cheats Cheat Online Poker as well as Brick and Mortar Poker

Those nefarious and annoying angle shooting poker cheats will cheat you in your local poker room and in your online poker game. Here is a bit of how online poker angle shoot cheats and brick and mortar poker angle shoot cheats connive and strive to remove you from your money.

As you might suspect, technically, angle shooting is not cheating. Angle shooters don’t break the rules—they just make it their personal mission to bend them as much as humanly possible. Angle shooting occupies a strange gray area in the game of poker. It’s unethical and poisons the atmosphere of the game, and yet it’s not really illegal.

Angle shooters will use a wide array of underhanded tactics, but a favorite ploy is deliberately acting out of turn. By putting out false information this way, an unethical player can either get a better read on his opponents, or try to encourage them to do whatever it is he wants. For example, an angle shooter will bet out of turn, hoping this will induce players still to act in front of him to check, and then he can just check along and take a free card. Or he can check out of turn, perhaps even fake-fold before the action gets to him in a bogus show of weakness, and then gleefully raise after another player bets into him.

A similar ruse is for the angle shooter to pretend he is about to bet or raise when it’s his turn to act. He picks up his chips and holds them out over the middle of the table—all the while watching his opponents carefully to study their reactions—and then at the last minute he pulls his chip-laden hand back and announces “check.”

Before it was made illegal, the string-raise was another common angle shot. Even now, an underhanded player can deliberately make a string-raise, knowing full well that it will be declared invalid, and then he simply calls when the action gets to him. This brings two potential benefits: he can study how his opponents react to the “raise,” or even intimidate them into playing their cards more passively.

Yet another standard angle-shot happens when a player intentionally miscalls his hand at the showdown in the hopes of convincing any player with a better hand to muck. For example, you hold top two pair at the showdown and the angle shooter has bottom two pair. But on the river the board looks scary, with four cards to a flush. So at the showdown Mr. Shooter declares: “I have the flush.” This is exactly what you were afraid of and you throw down your cards in defeat. By the time everybody realizes that he was lying, it’s too late and your cards are in the middle of the muck pile, officially dead. The angle shooter gets the pot.

Here’s a potpourri of some other common angle shots. A player “accidentally” flashes one or both hole-cards to another player, to watch his reaction and/or induce him to do what the angle shooter wants. A short stack deliberately stalls when the tournament is on the bubble, hoping to force other short-stacked players to bust out first. Or a player declares a misdeal when in fact he knows the deal was legitimate, simply because he didn’t like his cards.

Angle shots are used to gain an unfair advantage in the game—to obtain information that a player shouldn’t legally have yet, or to manipulate opponents. What can make angle shots so frustrating is that they are nearly always impossible to prove. Nobody can prove intent, and the angle shooter can always insist that he simply made a thoughtless error, a legitimate mistake. If it only happens once, maybe even twice, perhaps it really was only a slip-up. But when the same player keeps making these types of “mistakes” over and over again, recognize that this player is an angle shooter and should be avoided like the plague.

What's the Matter with Foxwoods?

Yesterday I was driving through Connecticut, so I decided to stop by Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. As many of you know, that casino, as well as its sister Connecticut casino Mohegan Sun, has been victimized by some high-profile insider cheating scams, especially on its craps tables. It was Saturday afternoon and the casino wasn't very crowded, but that didn't stop the cheats! I was there for three hours and in that time I saw four different cheating incidents from the outside, all of which were successful. Two were blackjack bet-capping incidents where players added chips to their bets after they made hands of twenty and twenty-one, one was a roulette pastpost where a player slipped his $25 chip onto a winning number after the ball dropped, and the last was a skilled team of craps cheats moving their bets from the pass line to the don't pass bar after the come out roll.

You would think that after all the negative publicity involving casino and poker cheating that Foxwoods has been receiving of late, they would bulk up their defenses against the cheats, but this certainly is not the case. In fact, when Foxwoods opened up in 1992, my casino cheat teammates and I gave them a warm welcome to the tune of $100,000 days and record-setting moves. Now, 17 years later, I'd bet that if a skilled cheat team walked in there now with the same type of moves, they could do nearly as well...well, maybe not that well, but probably at least half as well.

What can Foxwoods do about this? I'd say they'd better get some outside help from people who can explain to their people how to spot the scams.