The following article by Sean Gibson of pokersoftware.com details Microgaming Network's move to stall those players looking to gain an unfair advantage in online poker games using datamining software, namely those who use hand histories to enhance their ability as online poker cheats.
Article:
"The Microgaming Network is a group of sites that includes 32RedPoker, CrazyPoker, PurpleLounge, GNUF, and Unibet. The network currently ranks number nine in the world according to PokerScout.com with a 24-hour peak of 4,192 cash game players and a seven-day average of 2,150. In a major announcement, the management at Microgaming announced intentions to eliminate datamining on the family of poker sites.
Effective as of last week, Microgaming announced a new policy regarding hand histories: “With immediate effect, hand histories on observed tables will no longer be stored on players’ computers and the practice of downloading and storing hand histories in bulk will be stopped."
On all other online poker sites, each hand generates a small text file that summarizes the action that just occurred. Using these text files with programs such as PokerTracker or Holdem Manager will generate statistics on your play and the play of others at the table. These stats show game play tendencies and allow a player to see their progress. While hole cards are not revealed in these text files, dataminers capture them around the clock and sell them in bulk.
While every other poker site in the industry generates some form of these files for people to observe or track, Micrograming feels that such software gives an unnatural balance of power. There are those who utilize all that poker software has to offer to gain every possible form of intelligence and there are the recreational players who do not. Instead of allowing players a choice as to whether they want to employ such software, Microgaming has eliminated the option altogether for observed hand histories.
Andrew Clucas, Head of Poker at Microgaming Software Systems, stated, “Concern has been rising over the long-term effect of third party software upon the poker industry as a whole, and in particular the negative effect it has on the recreational player demographic. The decision to put a stop to the practice of datamining on the poker network is part of Microgaming’s overarching network strategy to support operators in attracting and retaining recreational players. It further demonstrates commitment in providing a secure and fair playing environment.”
Many in the online poker playing community view this move as a petty stab against those who utilize all available resources and truly love the game. Clucas went on to say, “Microgaming is not seeking to alienate its winning players… There has been a move in the industry towards penalizing winners; we believe that is the wrong approach. There will always be winners and losers in poker. What we are trying to achieve is a more level playing field for all the players.”
The only other network to have any sort of anti-datamining effort in place is the Cake Poker Network. It allows hand history files to be created, but only provides the hero’s user name in the file. That way, a player can still import the hand histories into tracking programs so that they can see their own stats and results. The move at Microgaming eliminates that option for players.
The irony in all of this is that none of the major datamining sites appeared to sell hand histories for the Microgaming Network. All of the datamining sites profiled on PokerSoftware.com do not support or sell hand histories for any of the Microgaming Network sites.
Without shared hand histories, there would have been no discussion about the superuser scandals at UB.com, Absolute Poker, and Pitbull Poker. There are many different hand history discussions that opened up cheating scandals where more than just a few players were caught red-handed. For now, the debate whether shared hand histories should be available rages on while poker sites big and small take a stand on both sites of the argument."
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Online Casino Scams
When you read those words, what do you think of...online players cheating casinos or online casinos cheating players? Well, first of all, there is a tremendous difference in strength and significance between the words online casino scam and online poker scams. Of course, they both refer to cheating at gambling online, but online casino scams are nearly always referring to online scams perpetrated by the casinos, and most of these nowadays are nothing more than online casinos slow to pay out or disappearing off the net with the cash in depositers' accounts.
Online poker cheating scams is a much more expansive subject, and contrary to online casino cheating scams, they are almost always perpetrated by players logging onto the online poker sites who have the intention to cheat you. I'm talking about collusion, bots, superuser, multi-accounting and all the other online poker scams you have and haven't heard of. In any case, to keep yourself better informed about cheating in online poker and casinos on the Internet, stick to your searches of poker and online poker cheating.
Online poker cheating scams is a much more expansive subject, and contrary to online casino cheating scams, they are almost always perpetrated by players logging onto the online poker sites who have the intention to cheat you. I'm talking about collusion, bots, superuser, multi-accounting and all the other online poker scams you have and haven't heard of. In any case, to keep yourself better informed about cheating in online poker and casinos on the Internet, stick to your searches of poker and online poker cheating.
Facebook Poker Cheats! What's the Jig?
Or of course, jump off the Pokerwhannee Bridge!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Full Tilt Poker Turning the Tables With Lawsuit
As reported by PokerNews, "Full Tilt Poker is entangled in another lawsuit, but this time, it is doing the suing. The online poker giant is suing Clonie Gowen in a federal court. Full Tilt isn't seeking monetary damages other than for court costs and legal fees, but Tilt wants a statement from her stating that she does not have a one percent ownership in the company as she previously alleged.
If you haven't been following Full Tilt's legal woes, Gowen sued Full Tilt claiming that she had entered into an oral agreement with the company, which entitled her to a one percent ownership in the company and that the agreement was breached because Full Tilt failed to pay her distribution payments. A hearing is scheduled for February."
My Take on Full Tilt Poker Room Safety: It is still a Top-10 Cheat Minimum online poker site.
If you haven't been following Full Tilt's legal woes, Gowen sued Full Tilt claiming that she had entered into an oral agreement with the company, which entitled her to a one percent ownership in the company and that the agreement was breached because Full Tilt failed to pay her distribution payments. A hearing is scheduled for February."
My Take on Full Tilt Poker Room Safety: It is still a Top-10 Cheat Minimum online poker site.
Former Foxwoods Dealer Cops Out To Ripping Off Casino For $100,000!
Source: Greg Smith, Norwich Bulletin.
A blackjack and baccarat dealer from Mohegan Sun Casino has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge stemming from his involvement in a sophisticated card cheating scheme involving more than 30 people at numerous casinos across the country, U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy announced today.
Jesus Rodriguez, 40, of Grove Avenue in Groton, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in New Haven. In 2005, while employed as a card dealer at Mohegan Sun Casino, Rodriguez accepted bribes to aid a criminal organization called the “Tran Organization,” which is based in San Diego, steal more than $100,000 by cheating at blackjack and mini-baccarat at the casino. Rodriguez admitted to accepting bribes to perform “false shuffles,” during card games, creating “slugs” of unshuffled cards and allowing a co-conspirator to track the order of cards and bet on the known order of the cards being dealt.
Rodriguez faces a maximum of five years in prison and fine of up to $250,000 at sentencing April 7 before U.S. District Judge Mark R. Kravitz in New Haven.
More than 30 people, including Rodriguez, were charged in the Southern District of California as a result of the investigation, which was led by the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. The cheating schemes occurred at more than two dozen casinos in the U.S. and Canada. The investigation involved the FBI’s San Diego Field Office; the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division; the San Diego Sheriff’s Department; and the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Gambling Control with assistance from federal, state, tribal and foreign authorities.
The case is being prosecuted in the District of Connecticut by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. McGarry.
A blackjack and baccarat dealer from Mohegan Sun Casino has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge stemming from his involvement in a sophisticated card cheating scheme involving more than 30 people at numerous casinos across the country, U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy announced today.
Jesus Rodriguez, 40, of Grove Avenue in Groton, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in New Haven. In 2005, while employed as a card dealer at Mohegan Sun Casino, Rodriguez accepted bribes to aid a criminal organization called the “Tran Organization,” which is based in San Diego, steal more than $100,000 by cheating at blackjack and mini-baccarat at the casino. Rodriguez admitted to accepting bribes to perform “false shuffles,” during card games, creating “slugs” of unshuffled cards and allowing a co-conspirator to track the order of cards and bet on the known order of the cards being dealt.
Rodriguez faces a maximum of five years in prison and fine of up to $250,000 at sentencing April 7 before U.S. District Judge Mark R. Kravitz in New Haven.
More than 30 people, including Rodriguez, were charged in the Southern District of California as a result of the investigation, which was led by the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. The cheating schemes occurred at more than two dozen casinos in the U.S. and Canada. The investigation involved the FBI’s San Diego Field Office; the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division; the San Diego Sheriff’s Department; and the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Gambling Control with assistance from federal, state, tribal and foreign authorities.
The case is being prosecuted in the District of Connecticut by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. McGarry.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Sebok's Ultimate Promise To Square UltimateBet Online Poker Cheating Scandal Having Trouble To Keep
Respected Poker Pro Joe Sebok has been media and operations consultant for UltimateBet for a month now and his main function is to repair the damage to UB's image from the huge online poker scandal allegedly engineered by former WSOP Main-Event Champ Russ Hamilton. In short, he's there to restore the online poker playing public's trust in cheat-plagued UltimateBet.
The following text was written by Jennifer Newell of Poker Player Newspaper:
In his inaugural blog post on the subject, Sebok wrote, “The first order of business with my position at UB has been to help aid in the release of not only ALL of the hand histories from the super-user scandal, but also the accounts that were used to perpetuate the scandal itself, and the actual physical names of those individuals who we believe to have been directly involved in disparate ways with the actual cheating.” And two days later, he posted instructions for those seeking said hand histories from the time period in question.
The first of the two-part process was to send an e-mail request to pokersecurity@ultimatebet.com with name, address, and user name. Players can expect to receive a summary spreadsheet with the information of every hand played against each of the 117 cheating account names. Detailed hand histories would require a longer time to process, and Sebok asked for tolerance of the time it would take for the security team to compile and send the requested documents.
Two weeks later, Sebok noted that the process was tweaked a bit, and players with requests in to UB would receive a summary sheet as well as a data sheet showing wins and losses versus each cheating account. Those who wanted more detailed hand histories could then submit the second request, which will prompt the customer service team to organize and send them via e-mail.
According to several poker bloggers, requests are far from being as simple as Sebok hoped. Short-Stacked Shamus (HardBoiledPoker. blogspot.com) requested some hand histories on September 25, and was initially told that the request was forward to upper management for review. On October 1, he was told that he was not affected by the cheating incident but the staff would work on retrieving the data ASAP. On October 24, after no further e-mails from UB, Shamus sent another e-mail to the poker security manager address, but it was returned as undeliverable as the e-mail address no longer existed.
Dan Michalski of Pokerati.com also contacted UB for detailed hand histories, though he had already been reimbursed money that UB determined was lost as a result of the scandal. However, Dan’s latest request was met by a response that he should simply go through his hand history files on the UB website himself. When he responded that he was seeking the histories that Sebok promised, Dan was told that the user name he provided didn’t exist and no money was ever refunded to him, though he has documentation to prove otherwise.
These are not exactly the responses that Sebok was likely hoping to see from his partners at UltimateBet. However, it should be noted that KGC and UB took many months to review hand histories internally and refund $22,054,351.91 to players found to have been cheated from the time period starting June 2003 and ending December 2007. Many players who are currently in the process of receiving hand histories are likely not blogging about the positive results, but that does not negate the fact that two members of the poker media attempted to follow Sebok’s instructions and ended their quest with no results.
The following text was written by Jennifer Newell of Poker Player Newspaper:
In his inaugural blog post on the subject, Sebok wrote, “The first order of business with my position at UB has been to help aid in the release of not only ALL of the hand histories from the super-user scandal, but also the accounts that were used to perpetuate the scandal itself, and the actual physical names of those individuals who we believe to have been directly involved in disparate ways with the actual cheating.” And two days later, he posted instructions for those seeking said hand histories from the time period in question.
The first of the two-part process was to send an e-mail request to pokersecurity@ultimatebet.com with name, address, and user name. Players can expect to receive a summary spreadsheet with the information of every hand played against each of the 117 cheating account names. Detailed hand histories would require a longer time to process, and Sebok asked for tolerance of the time it would take for the security team to compile and send the requested documents.
Two weeks later, Sebok noted that the process was tweaked a bit, and players with requests in to UB would receive a summary sheet as well as a data sheet showing wins and losses versus each cheating account. Those who wanted more detailed hand histories could then submit the second request, which will prompt the customer service team to organize and send them via e-mail.
According to several poker bloggers, requests are far from being as simple as Sebok hoped. Short-Stacked Shamus (HardBoiledPoker. blogspot.com) requested some hand histories on September 25, and was initially told that the request was forward to upper management for review. On October 1, he was told that he was not affected by the cheating incident but the staff would work on retrieving the data ASAP. On October 24, after no further e-mails from UB, Shamus sent another e-mail to the poker security manager address, but it was returned as undeliverable as the e-mail address no longer existed.
Dan Michalski of Pokerati.com also contacted UB for detailed hand histories, though he had already been reimbursed money that UB determined was lost as a result of the scandal. However, Dan’s latest request was met by a response that he should simply go through his hand history files on the UB website himself. When he responded that he was seeking the histories that Sebok promised, Dan was told that the user name he provided didn’t exist and no money was ever refunded to him, though he has documentation to prove otherwise.
These are not exactly the responses that Sebok was likely hoping to see from his partners at UltimateBet. However, it should be noted that KGC and UB took many months to review hand histories internally and refund $22,054,351.91 to players found to have been cheated from the time period starting June 2003 and ending December 2007. Many players who are currently in the process of receiving hand histories are likely not blogging about the positive results, but that does not negate the fact that two members of the poker media attempted to follow Sebok’s instructions and ended their quest with no results.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Expert Turkish Card-Marking Cheat Caught in UK After Cheating Casinos Out of 100K!
Source: Mirror.co.uk
A card sharp was jailed yesterday after a casino crime spree using a hidden pinhead to mark the decks. He won about £3,000 a night by marking the edges of cards with the pinhead which was hidden under a fingernail. Previous exploits at the tables all over Britain earned Abdullah Toksoz a nationwide casino ban. But he bypassed security by using six false IDs. Police say it is impossible to estimate on how much he swindled out of casinos but that the figure must run into tens of thousands of pounds. Toksoz, 40, who sold his Doncaster kebab business to fund his gaming, hit casinos in London, Liverpool, Northampton and Manchester during his three-year nationwide scam. Scotland Yard finally caught up with him at Heathrow Airport in June when he had £7,000 in US dollars in his pocket.
Ingenius Electronic Roulette Cheat Nets Big Score Before Getting Busted!
Source: UK Daily Echo
A gambler cheated a casino out of almost £40,000 during a marathon session at an electronic roulette wheel. Tyrone Pooley, 56, played non-stop for 15 hours after spotting a technical fault which meant he could not lose, a court heard. He opened a panel on the machine and operated switches inside to void games in which he had not placed a winning bet, Southampton Crown Court was told. He was caught after being seen nudging the machine with his knee on CCTV, sparking an investigation by bosses at Maxims Casino in Town Quay, Southampton. Pooley placed spread bets amounting to £1,800 on every number except zero and the three numbers either side. After the ball was dispatched in each game, his wife, who was standing nearby, signalled to him if it had dropped into one of those seven numbers and he activated the door switches to cause a void. His bets would then be forwarded to the next game. The court heard that the machine had since been modified.
Pooley, of Langdale Court, Hove, East Sussex, admitted cheating at gaming and received a 45-week suspended sentence coupled with a 200-hour community work order. In mitigation, David Jenkins said Pooley was now down on his luck.
“He has had some astounding wins but like most gamblers he doesn’t talk much about losing. The fact is he is now living in rented accommodation and relying on state benefits. He has also been banned from every casino in the country, which is a bad blow for him,” he said. “The chances of him reoffending are low to non-existent. It was a chance he took. It was one which he wishes he hadn’t taken.”
The court was told that Pooley was the sole carer for his wife who was ten years older than him and suffering from heart problems. Judge Peter Ralls said that Pooley had been quick to spot the deficiency in the machine and to manipulate it to his advantage. He added that, as “a measure of mercy”, he was not sending him to prison immediately because he was of previous good character and because of his wife’s health difficulties.
Israelis Continue At the Forefront of Online Poker Cheating Scandals
Source: Channel 5 Belize
International scams have reached Belize in a variety of forms from money orders to phantom universities. In the most recent known case, Belize is being tarnished in a scam that is part fact and part fiction. A transnational internet gambling ring that stretched across the globe has included Belize as a part of its web of deceit for almost a decade. The mastermind of the operation are two Israeli brothers, Idan and Shai Raviv. The scam was allegedly housed in a luxury villa in Belize; and Idan is suspected of running it from his home in England. The truth of the matter was that the servers that netted millions of dollars in profit were located in another European country and the other brother, Shai carried out the collection duties in Tel Aviv, Israel. Following an undercover probe, the Israeli Anti-fraud Unit, and the anti gambling force arrested five men suspected of being involved in the gambling network. Idan and Shai were brought before a Rishon Lezion court on Tuesday afternoon where their remand was extended by three days. On Friday they will be released on house arrest.
Internet1x2.com’s the website claimed the operation was housed in Belize. A check of networksolutions.com states that the website was created on the eighteenth of June 2000 and its I.P. location, where its computers are stored, is in Estonia, a nation in Europe. If you click on the link for the gambling website, it will say “This Site Currently Unavailable.” But archives stored on the internet showed that users could place bets on various sports around the world including soccer, American football, baseball, boxing, tennis and hockey. Casino games such as poker were also offered with online dealers that could be seen through a live video link. Wagers were collected using credit cards with the funds flowing directly into bank accounts held by Idan and Shai Raviv. The ‘frequently asked questions’ page, highlights whether or not the operation is legal. The answer is “The Belize Gaming Commission has granted us a license to operate as an online bookmaker.” The terms of agreement also states that “Net Games Inc., an International Business Corporation incorporated under the laws of Belize, is fully licensed and regulated by the laws of that country. The warning page maintains that the sites are registered in Belize and are fully licensed to operate under the laws of Belize. But it seems that the connection with Belize and all associations were made up. According to Lincoln Blake of the Ministry of Economic Development, not only have they not issued a license to the gaming operation, they have never heard of the Raviv brothers.
International scams have reached Belize in a variety of forms from money orders to phantom universities. In the most recent known case, Belize is being tarnished in a scam that is part fact and part fiction. A transnational internet gambling ring that stretched across the globe has included Belize as a part of its web of deceit for almost a decade. The mastermind of the operation are two Israeli brothers, Idan and Shai Raviv. The scam was allegedly housed in a luxury villa in Belize; and Idan is suspected of running it from his home in England. The truth of the matter was that the servers that netted millions of dollars in profit were located in another European country and the other brother, Shai carried out the collection duties in Tel Aviv, Israel. Following an undercover probe, the Israeli Anti-fraud Unit, and the anti gambling force arrested five men suspected of being involved in the gambling network. Idan and Shai were brought before a Rishon Lezion court on Tuesday afternoon where their remand was extended by three days. On Friday they will be released on house arrest.
Internet1x2.com’s the website claimed the operation was housed in Belize. A check of networksolutions.com states that the website was created on the eighteenth of June 2000 and its I.P. location, where its computers are stored, is in Estonia, a nation in Europe. If you click on the link for the gambling website, it will say “This Site Currently Unavailable.” But archives stored on the internet showed that users could place bets on various sports around the world including soccer, American football, baseball, boxing, tennis and hockey. Casino games such as poker were also offered with online dealers that could be seen through a live video link. Wagers were collected using credit cards with the funds flowing directly into bank accounts held by Idan and Shai Raviv. The ‘frequently asked questions’ page, highlights whether or not the operation is legal. The answer is “The Belize Gaming Commission has granted us a license to operate as an online bookmaker.” The terms of agreement also states that “Net Games Inc., an International Business Corporation incorporated under the laws of Belize, is fully licensed and regulated by the laws of that country. The warning page maintains that the sites are registered in Belize and are fully licensed to operate under the laws of Belize. But it seems that the connection with Belize and all associations were made up. According to Lincoln Blake of the Ministry of Economic Development, not only have they not issued a license to the gaming operation, they have never heard of the Raviv brothers.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Are Casinos Unfairly Singling Out Vietnamese For Cheating in Wake of Tran Organization International Cheat Scam?
Well, they just might be, and now Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in West Virginia finds itself as the defendant in a major lawsuit filed by a Vietnamese woman who was arrested and charged with casino cheating. For those of you who don't recall, the Tran Organization made up of Vietnamese gangsters pulled off the biggest international casino scam on record, bilking casinos in the US and Canada for more than $20 million.
Now the woman accused of cheating at blackjack with the help of a dealer at Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center has filed a lawsuit against the West Virginia Lottery Commission and the State Police.
Source: Andrew Clevenger Charleston Gazette
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Thuhuong Nguyen alleges that she was wrongfully arrested and detained on Aug. 22 while she was lawfully gambling at a table where Derek Maple was the dealer.
Nguyen, 41, of Mount Hope, and Maple, 26, of Poca, both were charged with a racetrack game violation, which is a felony. Court records indicate Kanawha County prosecutors dropped the charges against Nguyen on Aug. 29. After a hearing on Sept. 1, Kanawha County Magistrate Julie Yeager found probable cause in the case against Maple, and his case was bound over to the grand jury. As of Tuesday, he had not been indicted.
"Based upon information and belief, the criminal charges against [Nguyen] were dismissed because a review of video recordings of the events of Aug. 22, 2009, clearly demonstrated that [she] committed no criminal violation," states the lawsuit, filed by Charleston lawyer Mike Callaghan.
The suit also names Lottery Commission Director John C. Musgrave, State Police Superintendent T.S. Pack and Timothy Humphrey, a Lottery employee assigned to Tri-State, as defendants.
The casino banned Nguyen from entering its premises on Sept. 2, the lawsuit maintains. Nguyen, who contends that she had played legally at several tables with several different dealers on the night she was arrested, alleges her arrest violated her First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
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