The Absolute Poker scandal is getting deeper by the minute, and it is now certain that crooked players have been freely peeking at opponents' hole cards, and some nefarious employees at AP have been involved.
This really pisses me off! Not because online poker is being proven in at least this instance to be a fraud, but because I warned the public about all this almost two years ago in my book "Dirty Poker." I spoke about "Peeker" and other hole-card-reading programs that were being sold for lots of money, those that are used without co-conspirators working for the sites. What really gets me livid is how so many of the big-time poker know-it-alls like Mason Malmuth and others on these "informative" websites had badmouthed me and my book, Malmuth referring to it as pure rubbish. Well, lo and behold, now some people are starting to see the light. Like I said now, and I will say it again, beware of playing online poker. Between collusion, bots, hacking, hole-card reading, money laundering, and employee thieves, you can bet your last ace that as much as 1/3 of people playing online are cheating! And that number will go up.
If this cheating problem is not resolved, in 10 years online poker risks going the way of the dinosaur!
Here are the latest articles about Absolute Poker and Pokerstars:
#1 Many people are extremely curious as to how the Absolute Poker and Pokerstars investigations are progressing. Neither situation has been resolved as of yet, so we can only tell you the things that we have heard from various sources within the industry. Until we receive some sort of official statements from either company, take anything you read here with a grain of salt.
The Absolute Poker investigation into "Holecard-Gate?" From our perspective, it has been a frustrating stonewall of silence. We've heard one "official" statement from the company, which was an affiliate manager posting a poorly-written "statement" on a poker affiliate website.
Keep in mind that this scandal first erupted about 3 to 3 1/2 weeks ago. I am not sure whether or not the company is actually investigating or just hoping that the whole thing just goes away and people forget about it. Until the company issues some sort of formal statement to the players of its site, we are not going to let the issue drop.
This isn't some small matter. Many in the poker community think that there is something shady going on at the company. The company's response to the entire matter has been pretty weak so far. Their only "statement" raised more questions than answers. If I were the owner of a poker room and people were questioning in the integrity of my site, I would be going wild, posting on every message board and sending out email after email to my users, making sure that they knew that my site was safe to play on. That is if there were no problems with my site. Absolute Poker's silence in this matter is deafening. Is there truth to the accusation that there were some "superuser" accounts on Absolute Poker that could see hole cards of other players at the table? I would suggest that someone high up at Absolute Poker seriously address this question.
In the matter of "theV0id", Pokerstars is still investigating by all accounts.
Pokerstars has made all of the right moves so far. They immediately began the investigation once the allegations of multi-accounting surfaced, they reached out to the online community to keep them posted and confirm that there was indeed an investigation, and they seem to be thoroughly investigating before making any decision.
We've heard rumors that they will be confiscating all of the earnings from "TheV0id" for the main event win, but this is unconfirmed. Until you hear it directly from Pokerstars, don't believe anything that you hear. The "TheV0id" account hasn't been banned as of yet from Pokerstars, that's all that we can tell you with 100% certainty.
Considering that there may have been cheating involved in their biggest event of the year, you can forgive Pokerstars for taking some extra time to make sure that every detail is checked and re-checked before making an official decision and announcement.
#2 Absolute Poker: Going, Going..
Online poker room absolute poker in big trouble The Absolute Poker controversy keeps getting more wild by the day.
So when we last left you, Absolute Poker had issued a statement denying that anyone had access to a "superuser" account and that no one could see any hole cards. After poring over the hand histories and evidence, they said, they had found no evidence of any wrong-doing. They would continue to investigate though, they had said. I thought at the time that Absolute Poker would just go into ignore mode from that point on, and the issue would eventually be dropped.
Well hold on..
Apparently, "CrazyMarco" (the player who had come second in that now infamous tournament that was won by "Potripper") asked for the hand histories from this tournament from Absolute Poker.
Absolute Poker sent the hand histories. Unfortunately for them, they also included the hole cards of every player at the table, and not just CrazyMarco's hole cards.
After viewing just a couple of hands, you can come to the conclusion that Potripper was cheating. The evidence is overwhelming. It is just ridiculous, and I find it hard to believe that they didn't do a better job of hiding it. Always getting his money in good, and never putting in an extra chip when he is behind in a hand. Going over the top of a re-raiser of a board of 8d 6d 3s holding the Q 10 of clubs, when his opponents are holding K J and Q J. Holding pocket Jacks against an opponent holding A Q, and check folding on the turn when a Queen comes out. Playing almost every hand when his opponents aren't dealt a big hand, but folding when an opponent at the table is dealt a big hand. Open folding KQ one hand (when an opponent is dealt AA), but raising 2/6 UTG when none of his opponents at the table have big hands. Going through a stretch when he wins something ridiculous like 65 hands out of a total of 90 hands. You can go on and on; if you need to see for yourself, there is plenty of evidence on Pocketfives and Twoplustwo. The people on those sites have done a TREMENDOUS job in getting these hand histories out to the public. Who knows how many other tournaments on Absolute were won in this fashion?
Absolute automatically loses all credibility because they say that there was no evidence of a "superuser" account in the hand histories. Oh really?
The best part of this story is just being fleshed out right now though. Who was involved in this operation?
Absolute Poker not only made a huge blunder in sending out the hand history with all of the hole cards displayed, but they also included the email addresses / account id's / IP Addresses of everyone who opened up a table as an observer during this tournament.
Apparently an Absolute Poker account with an ID of 363 opened up Potripper's table two hands into the tournament and railed him the entire way. The ID number is significant because this would indicate that this account was one of the first accounts EVER at Absolute Poker, making it likely that this is a person with extremely close ties to the company (employee, owner, shareholder, etc.)
Potripper folds the first two hands of the tournament, then ID 363 opens up Potripper's table to observe, and suddenly Potripper starts going wild, winning practically every hand.
The prevailing theory in the poker community? Potripper was a dummy account, and ID 363 had access to hole cards, and was relaying them to "Potripper."
Apparently the IP address of User ID 363 resolves to Costa Rica as well, which is home to Absolute Poker.
The story gets more interesting by the minute, and I am doing my best to keep up with it.
I feel that it's important to report on this story, as it has big implications for online poker as a whole. In the end, protecting players is much more important to me than burning a bridge with an online poker room. We need to do our part to get the story out there, so that everyone can figure out exactly what happened, and make sure that it doesn't happen again. Nothing can be explained away in regards to this situation, the cat is out of the bag.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Find the best online casino odds
If you have the heart and soul of a gambler, but no outlet for your aspirations, it is time to do what you have thought of but never tried. Get busy at a casino online! On the other hand, if you are a seasoned online gambling veteran and feel that you are using your hard-earned cash on the wrong games, you may need to try something else. Consider this a guide or suggestion of what games play most in your favor. With the exception of some poker games, all online casino games are fairly easy to learn and often, the ones that are the most layered and most difficult to learn are truly only games of chance, so you can play with limited knowledge. With that serving as a disclaimer, consider learning a new game to help build your bankroll into a budget while you can scrape some profit off the top after every session of play.
In regards to your best online wagering, take into account the odds that belong to the house versus the player. One group of wagers that many don’t take into account in the online gambling world is sports gambling. You can read up on a game line and really make an educated bet that could potentially win you a nice percentage payout. In regards to sports gambling, talk to your friends that are sports fanatics. You may enjoy sports yourself and watch games, but if you haven’t played the sport at a high level of play, don’t consider yourself an immediate expert. There are exceptions, yet there are those who believe that because they hear Bill Walton and Marv Albert’s NBA commentary, they have been enlightened in regards to all things basketball. Anyone who has played a sport at the college or pro level can empathize with this statement; you have to deal with friends who attempt to educate you on all things athletic on a per game basis. So find a free education, because there is a load of money to be won on athletic events!
Within the casino walls there are of course popular games that offer good player odds. These would fall into a category of a smart wager. Generally, the games pit the player against a house dealer and offer different options within play. Consider games such as craps, pai gow poker and baccarat; all games that dependent on the bet made (Pass Line in craps, for example), offer the best odds to the player. This is a smart way to spend your money. You don’t want to cut into your bankroll immediately because you were “feeling” something. Let that feeling approach you again, after you have won a nice amount and then play with a little risk while keeping your budget and bankroll intact! When you take all the casino glitz away, you want to realize that you played with your head on and without distraction of the magic if. What if this, what if that? Be in the moment, choose your games wisely and know how to play them well and you will find your wagers to be wise and hold more potential than in any other scenario!
In regards to your best online wagering, take into account the odds that belong to the house versus the player. One group of wagers that many don’t take into account in the online gambling world is sports gambling. You can read up on a game line and really make an educated bet that could potentially win you a nice percentage payout. In regards to sports gambling, talk to your friends that are sports fanatics. You may enjoy sports yourself and watch games, but if you haven’t played the sport at a high level of play, don’t consider yourself an immediate expert. There are exceptions, yet there are those who believe that because they hear Bill Walton and Marv Albert’s NBA commentary, they have been enlightened in regards to all things basketball. Anyone who has played a sport at the college or pro level can empathize with this statement; you have to deal with friends who attempt to educate you on all things athletic on a per game basis. So find a free education, because there is a load of money to be won on athletic events!
Within the casino walls there are of course popular games that offer good player odds. These would fall into a category of a smart wager. Generally, the games pit the player against a house dealer and offer different options within play. Consider games such as craps, pai gow poker and baccarat; all games that dependent on the bet made (Pass Line in craps, for example), offer the best odds to the player. This is a smart way to spend your money. You don’t want to cut into your bankroll immediately because you were “feeling” something. Let that feeling approach you again, after you have won a nice amount and then play with a little risk while keeping your budget and bankroll intact! When you take all the casino glitz away, you want to realize that you played with your head on and without distraction of the magic if. What if this, what if that? Be in the moment, choose your games wisely and know how to play them well and you will find your wagers to be wise and hold more potential than in any other scenario!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Money Laundering thru Online Gambling with Bots!
Well, here's some more dirty dealing in online gambling. For those of you who've heard about money laundering through brick and mortar casinos, now some clever criminals have figured out how to do their laundry while gambling online! This article appeared yesterday in the UK's The Register.
Online casinos hit by bot armies
Don't bet against money laundering robots
By Burke Hansen in San Francisco → More by this author
Published Tuesday 9th October 2007 10:15 GMT
Botnets are fulfilling law enforcement fears that online casinos could prove fertile ground for money laundering, according to a recent, little-noticed report by risk compliance firm Fortent.
Some are engaging in variations of an old casino scam, in which preprogrammed-to-lose bots transfer dirty money - obtained through stolen credit cards, illicit drug sales or whatnot - to a chosen winner. Others flood a room and conspire to defraud a legitimate player by leveraging the mathematical advantage inherent in knowing more of the cards. Another scam involves spamming a known player in the hopes of stealing password and account information, and then bleeding the account dry through the fraudulent games described above.
Fulltiltpoker.com apparently got hit by a botnet attack recently and refunded money to the defrauded customers. A USA Today tally last month estimated that $2.5 mil to $3.5 mil per year are laundered this way.
"We are definitely seeing activity by bot-herders in online casino games, which is something we hadn't seen before," Symantec security analyst Zulfikar Ramzan noted.
We've generally been skeptical of allegations that the online casino industry would make a good platform for widespread money laundering, primarily due to the ready-made trail left by the transactions. However, the use of botnets is more problematic, due to the fact that until recently botmasters had not been targeted by the FBI, and the actual computers involved belong to innocent third parties.
Money laundering can theoretically be accomplished through many types of transactions - for example, by selling phony merchandise on eBay and transferring the money without delivering anything at all. It's therefore questionable just how much more susceptible cybercasinos are than other online businesses to money laundering. Risk compliance companies like Fortent or AccuitySolutions have products to push, after all. However, the fact that the US authorities have driven much of the online gambling and payment processing activity underground raises serious concerns about just how secure some of these sites are.
Not that gamblers are a risk-averse group, of course.®
Burke Hansen, attorney at large, heads a San Francisco law office
Online casinos hit by bot armies
Don't bet against money laundering robots
By Burke Hansen in San Francisco → More by this author
Published Tuesday 9th October 2007 10:15 GMT
Botnets are fulfilling law enforcement fears that online casinos could prove fertile ground for money laundering, according to a recent, little-noticed report by risk compliance firm Fortent.
Some are engaging in variations of an old casino scam, in which preprogrammed-to-lose bots transfer dirty money - obtained through stolen credit cards, illicit drug sales or whatnot - to a chosen winner. Others flood a room and conspire to defraud a legitimate player by leveraging the mathematical advantage inherent in knowing more of the cards. Another scam involves spamming a known player in the hopes of stealing password and account information, and then bleeding the account dry through the fraudulent games described above.
Fulltiltpoker.com apparently got hit by a botnet attack recently and refunded money to the defrauded customers. A USA Today tally last month estimated that $2.5 mil to $3.5 mil per year are laundered this way.
"We are definitely seeing activity by bot-herders in online casino games, which is something we hadn't seen before," Symantec security analyst Zulfikar Ramzan noted.
We've generally been skeptical of allegations that the online casino industry would make a good platform for widespread money laundering, primarily due to the ready-made trail left by the transactions. However, the use of botnets is more problematic, due to the fact that until recently botmasters had not been targeted by the FBI, and the actual computers involved belong to innocent third parties.
Money laundering can theoretically be accomplished through many types of transactions - for example, by selling phony merchandise on eBay and transferring the money without delivering anything at all. It's therefore questionable just how much more susceptible cybercasinos are than other online businesses to money laundering. Risk compliance companies like Fortent or AccuitySolutions have products to push, after all. However, the fact that the US authorities have driven much of the online gambling and payment processing activity underground raises serious concerns about just how secure some of these sites are.
Not that gamblers are a risk-averse group, of course.®
Burke Hansen, attorney at large, heads a San Francisco law office
Dirty Poker in the New York Times!
Well, for those of you who don't recall the "Peeker" hole-card reading software I wrote about in my book "Dirty Poker," read this article that recently appeared in the New York Times. Not many people wanted to believe me when I exposed this type of cheating in online poker, but as John Lennon said in his song "Imagine," "I'm not the only one..."
September 20, 2007, 9:42 am
How Not to Cheat
By Steven D. Levitt
Let’s say you discover an old lamp and rub it, and out comes a genie offering to grant you a wish. You are greedy and devious, so you wish for the ability, whenever you play online poker, to see all the cards that the other players are holding. The genie grants your wish.
What would you do next?
If you were a total idiot, you would do exactly what some cheaters on the Web site Absolute Poker appear to have done recently. Playing at the very highest stakes games, they allegedly played every hand as if they knew every card that the other players had. They folded hands at the end that no normal player would fold, and they raised with hands that were winners but would seem like losers if you didn’t know the opponents’ cards. They won money at a rate that was about 100 times faster than a good player could reasonably expect to win.
Their play was so anomalous that, within a few days, they were discovered.
What did they do next? Apparently, they played some more, now playing worse than anyone has ever played in the history of poker — in other words, trying to lose some of the money back so things didn’t look so suspicious. One hand history shows that the players called a bet at the end when their two hole cards were 2-3 and had not paired the board … there literally was no hand that they could beat!
I don’t know whether these cheating allegations are true, because all the information I am getting is third-hand. The poker players I’ve talked to all believe it to be true. Regardless, I bet these guys wish they had it to do over. If they had just been smart about it, they could have milked this gig forever, winning at reasonable rates. For the stakes they were playing, they could have gotten very rich, and their scheme would have been nearly undetectable.
(Note that I say nearly undetectable, because while that poker site probably never would have detected them, I am working with a different online poker site to develop a set of tools for catching cheaters. Even if these guys were careful, we would catch them.)
Tags: cheating, crime, gambling, poker
September 20, 2007, 9:42 am
How Not to Cheat
By Steven D. Levitt
Let’s say you discover an old lamp and rub it, and out comes a genie offering to grant you a wish. You are greedy and devious, so you wish for the ability, whenever you play online poker, to see all the cards that the other players are holding. The genie grants your wish.
What would you do next?
If you were a total idiot, you would do exactly what some cheaters on the Web site Absolute Poker appear to have done recently. Playing at the very highest stakes games, they allegedly played every hand as if they knew every card that the other players had. They folded hands at the end that no normal player would fold, and they raised with hands that were winners but would seem like losers if you didn’t know the opponents’ cards. They won money at a rate that was about 100 times faster than a good player could reasonably expect to win.
Their play was so anomalous that, within a few days, they were discovered.
What did they do next? Apparently, they played some more, now playing worse than anyone has ever played in the history of poker — in other words, trying to lose some of the money back so things didn’t look so suspicious. One hand history shows that the players called a bet at the end when their two hole cards were 2-3 and had not paired the board … there literally was no hand that they could beat!
I don’t know whether these cheating allegations are true, because all the information I am getting is third-hand. The poker players I’ve talked to all believe it to be true. Regardless, I bet these guys wish they had it to do over. If they had just been smart about it, they could have milked this gig forever, winning at reasonable rates. For the stakes they were playing, they could have gotten very rich, and their scheme would have been nearly undetectable.
(Note that I say nearly undetectable, because while that poker site probably never would have detected them, I am working with a different online poker site to develop a set of tools for catching cheaters. Even if these guys were careful, we would catch them.)
Tags: cheating, crime, gambling, poker
Friday, September 14, 2007
Belichick likened to a slot cheat!
This article appeared September 13th on AOL sports.
Bill Belichick: More Like a Card Counter or a Slot Machine Fixer?
How bad is Patriotgate, the cheating scandal that got Patriots coach Bill Belichick busted by the NFL today? Did Belichick just do what any coach would do to gain an edge? Steve Czaban sums it up nicely:
Don't give me the whole "cheating goes on all the time in sports, don't get so righteous" argument. Cheating does happen all the time, and so does PUNISHMENT for cheating. Mild cheating that doesn't involve technology, is one thing. Using tools and schemes and electronics is another.
That's RIGGING. It's the difference between counting cards in a casino, versus using a magnet to jack-up a slot machine's payout.
There's something respectable about counting cards, and something shameful about rigging a slot machine. By ordering an assistant to tape opposing coaches' signals, Belichick crossed over to "rigging a slot machine" territory.
Well, personally, I think the whole thing is blown out of proportion. This kind of stuff goes on all the time in sports. A good example of it is in baseball where baserunners on second base steal the opposing catcher's signs to the pitcher, or when opportunistic managers and coaches in dugouts steal the opposing third-base coach's signs to the batter. The same thing goes on in tennis where coaches illegally signal their players on the court to change something in their game.
But there is on thing I can relate to in this article: the comparison of card-counting to rigging slot machines. If Belichick did indeed cross the line by ordering an assistant to tape the opposing coach's signals, then, in my day, I jumped over the Grand Canyon if you want to compare card-counting to my moves!
Bill Belichick: More Like a Card Counter or a Slot Machine Fixer?
How bad is Patriotgate, the cheating scandal that got Patriots coach Bill Belichick busted by the NFL today? Did Belichick just do what any coach would do to gain an edge? Steve Czaban sums it up nicely:
Don't give me the whole "cheating goes on all the time in sports, don't get so righteous" argument. Cheating does happen all the time, and so does PUNISHMENT for cheating. Mild cheating that doesn't involve technology, is one thing. Using tools and schemes and electronics is another.
That's RIGGING. It's the difference between counting cards in a casino, versus using a magnet to jack-up a slot machine's payout.
There's something respectable about counting cards, and something shameful about rigging a slot machine. By ordering an assistant to tape opposing coaches' signals, Belichick crossed over to "rigging a slot machine" territory.
Well, personally, I think the whole thing is blown out of proportion. This kind of stuff goes on all the time in sports. A good example of it is in baseball where baserunners on second base steal the opposing catcher's signs to the pitcher, or when opportunistic managers and coaches in dugouts steal the opposing third-base coach's signs to the batter. The same thing goes on in tennis where coaches illegally signal their players on the court to change something in their game.
But there is on thing I can relate to in this article: the comparison of card-counting to rigging slot machines. If Belichick did indeed cross the line by ordering an assistant to tape the opposing coach's signals, then, in my day, I jumped over the Grand Canyon if you want to compare card-counting to my moves!
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Top Ten No-Nos if You're gonna Cheat Casinos!
10) Don't stand out in a crowd (like a Caucasian in Macao)
9) Don't approach the table if you're hands are shaking
8) Don't cheat mini-baccarat if you think it's blackjack
7) Don't try a mini-baccarat false shuffle scam--at least for a while!
6) Don't flirt with cocktail waitresses after you've done a move (you too, girls!)
5) Don't brag to cocktail waitresses that you just did a move (they'll rat you out!)
4) Don't switch in a cooler
3) Don't do high-tech poker scams if you've written a book how to prevent them
2) Don't tell your girlfriend you're cheating casinos (if she doesn't get her cut, she'll rat you out too!
1) Don't tell ANYONE you're cheating casinos (Not even your mother! She may not rat you out, but she's definitely gonna want a big Mother's Day gift!
Hope everyone has had a great summer. I'll see what I can come up with for the fall!
9) Don't approach the table if you're hands are shaking
8) Don't cheat mini-baccarat if you think it's blackjack
7) Don't try a mini-baccarat false shuffle scam--at least for a while!
6) Don't flirt with cocktail waitresses after you've done a move (you too, girls!)
5) Don't brag to cocktail waitresses that you just did a move (they'll rat you out!)
4) Don't switch in a cooler
3) Don't do high-tech poker scams if you've written a book how to prevent them
2) Don't tell your girlfriend you're cheating casinos (if she doesn't get her cut, she'll rat you out too!
1) Don't tell ANYONE you're cheating casinos (Not even your mother! She may not rat you out, but she's definitely gonna want a big Mother's Day gift!
Hope everyone has had a great summer. I'll see what I can come up with for the fall!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Tennis great Kafelnikov linked to cheating?
A few weeks back, for the first time, the ATP, tennis's governing body, announced that it is investigating a suspicious betting pattern during a match between Nikolay Davydenko, a ranked player, and Martin Vasallo Arguello, a huge underdog, who nevertheless received most of the $7 million in betting action, EVEN after having already lost the first set. Betfair reported that the amount wagered was 10 times more than usual, incredibly on an underdog already down a set.
Well, this is reminiscent of a situation in a match between Yevgeny Kafelnikov, then a highly ranked player, and Fernando Vicente, who had been unranked and winless for several months, but incredibly took almost all of the action and won in three sets.
How is this related to the poker and gambling world? Well, several months ago I was asked if I'd heard any reports of Kafelnikov's being involved in a Russian professional poker cheating team. The person asking said he'd heard that Kafelnikov had been involved with the ex-Olympic gold-medal-winning Russian gymnast, Vera Shimanskya, who had indeed been arrested in a poker cheating scandal in Spain. So is there a connection there? I have no evidence on Kafelnikov, but the circumstantial evidence against Kafelnikov is adding up. He has also been caught in photographs with known Russian mobsters.
Anyone out there seen him playing lately?
Here's the article on the latest suspicious tennis betting-pattern, which includes paragraphs on Kafelnikov's suspicious match.
LONDON, England (AP) -- Tennis officials are following up reports of suspicious betting patterns in a match involving world number four Nikolay Davydenko, who retired when playing a lowly-ranked opponent in an ATP tournament in Poland.
art.davydenko.jpg
Davydenko pulled out of his second round match in the final set with a foot injury.
In an unprecedented move, British online gambling company Betfair voided all bets placed on Thursday's second-round match at the Prokom Open in Sopot between the defending champion and top seed Davydenko and world number 87 Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina.
Betfair said it received about $7 million in bets on the match -- 10 times the usual amount -- and most of the money was on Arguello to win, even after Davydenko won the first set 6-2.
"You try to leave it to the players to play the game the right way," said Andy Roddick, ranked fifth in the world. "I think we expect that of them. If something's found that's shady, I, for one, will be extremely pissed off.
"Obviously you want to wait and see it play out, but it's too bad that it only takes one idiot to ruin things and create a bad story."
Arguello won the second set 6-3 and was leading 2-1 in the third when the Russian retired. Davydenko said he aggravated a left foot injury in the second set. He received medical attention from a tournament trainer before deciding to quit.
"I don't think that he (Davydenko) has something to do with this," Arguello said later. "I was playing against him, but he was playing also with an injury, and that's all that I know about the match, and that's also what I felt in the match. I felt nothing else."
Betfair, which has had an agreement with the ATP since 2003 to share information on any irregular betting activity, said it was concerned with the volume of wagers coming in on Arguello from the start.
"We think the market quite clearly wasn't fair," Betfair managing director Mark Davies said.
"The prices seemed very odd. As a result, in the interest of fairness and integrity and in consultation with the ATP, we have decided to void the market and return all stakes to (bettors)."
It's the first time the company has taken such a step in any sport. Davies said Betfair would turn over its betting records for the ATP to investigate.
"The ATP takes issues surrounding gambling extremely seriously," the men's tour said in a statement. "We are committed to ensuring our sport remains corruption free and have strict rules in place governing this area.
"In addition we have memorandums of understanding with U.K. and European betting companies that ensures information pertaining to any ATP Tour match that may look suspicious, based upon gambling patterns, is shared with us immediately."
ATP officials said Friday that Davydenko had left Poland.
"Normally I try to fight to the end but it was very painful and I may have done even more damage by trying to finish the match," Davydenko said immediately after the match.
"Since the beginning of Monday I've had a problem with my left toes. Today that became a problem with my foot."
Since losing in the fourth round at Wimbledon to Marcos Baghdatis, Davydenko lost three straight first-round matches -- to Gael Monfils at the Swiss Open, Florent Serra at the Dutch Open and Gilles Simon at the Croatia Open -- before beating Andrei Pavel, 6-3 6-4 in the opening round in Poland.
Arguello lost 2-6 6-4 6-2 on Friday in the quarterfinals to another Argentine player, Jose Acasuso.
"I saw Davydenko playing very well the first set, and I saw also that he had problems with his feet, and that was true, he was not inventing that, so it's difficult to suspect him," Arguello told The Associated Press by telephone from his hotel room in Sopot.
Fellow Russian Marat Safin, playing this week in Washington, declined to speculate about the Davydenko situation.
"I don't really care," Safin said. "Whatever people do, and whatever they want to do, I don't care. I just want to play my matches and enjoy my time. I've enough problems myself."
At Wimbledon in 2006, Betfair reported irregular patterns surrounding a first-round match between British wild card Richard Bloomfield and Carlos Berlocq of Argentina.
Berlocq, who was ranked 170 places higher than Bloomfield, lost 6-1 6-2 6-2. Most of the bets placed were on Berlocq to lose. However, no wrongdoing was detected.
Allegations of match-fixing in tennis have cropped up in the past.
In 2003, bookmakers reportedly suspended betting six hours before Russian player Yevgeny Kafelnikov's match in Lyon, France, against Fernando Vicente after a big wager was place on the Spaniard.
Vicente, who had been winless for several months, won in straight sets. There was no suggestion either player was involved in wrongdoing, and no investigation was made by the ATP.
Several Russian tennis players were photographed a few years ago with Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, a suspected mobster from the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, who was accused of fixing the pairs and ice dancing events at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Photographs of Tokhtakhounov with Kafelnikov, Safin and Andrei Medvedev were taken off Medvedev's Web site in 2002 after the man's arrest.
Tokhtakhounov spent nearly a year in a Venice, Italy, prison but escaped extradition to the United States in 2003 on the Olympic rigging charges.
Well, this is reminiscent of a situation in a match between Yevgeny Kafelnikov, then a highly ranked player, and Fernando Vicente, who had been unranked and winless for several months, but incredibly took almost all of the action and won in three sets.
How is this related to the poker and gambling world? Well, several months ago I was asked if I'd heard any reports of Kafelnikov's being involved in a Russian professional poker cheating team. The person asking said he'd heard that Kafelnikov had been involved with the ex-Olympic gold-medal-winning Russian gymnast, Vera Shimanskya, who had indeed been arrested in a poker cheating scandal in Spain. So is there a connection there? I have no evidence on Kafelnikov, but the circumstantial evidence against Kafelnikov is adding up. He has also been caught in photographs with known Russian mobsters.
Anyone out there seen him playing lately?
Here's the article on the latest suspicious tennis betting-pattern, which includes paragraphs on Kafelnikov's suspicious match.
LONDON, England (AP) -- Tennis officials are following up reports of suspicious betting patterns in a match involving world number four Nikolay Davydenko, who retired when playing a lowly-ranked opponent in an ATP tournament in Poland.
art.davydenko.jpg
Davydenko pulled out of his second round match in the final set with a foot injury.
In an unprecedented move, British online gambling company Betfair voided all bets placed on Thursday's second-round match at the Prokom Open in Sopot between the defending champion and top seed Davydenko and world number 87 Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina.
Betfair said it received about $7 million in bets on the match -- 10 times the usual amount -- and most of the money was on Arguello to win, even after Davydenko won the first set 6-2.
"You try to leave it to the players to play the game the right way," said Andy Roddick, ranked fifth in the world. "I think we expect that of them. If something's found that's shady, I, for one, will be extremely pissed off.
"Obviously you want to wait and see it play out, but it's too bad that it only takes one idiot to ruin things and create a bad story."
Arguello won the second set 6-3 and was leading 2-1 in the third when the Russian retired. Davydenko said he aggravated a left foot injury in the second set. He received medical attention from a tournament trainer before deciding to quit.
"I don't think that he (Davydenko) has something to do with this," Arguello said later. "I was playing against him, but he was playing also with an injury, and that's all that I know about the match, and that's also what I felt in the match. I felt nothing else."
Betfair, which has had an agreement with the ATP since 2003 to share information on any irregular betting activity, said it was concerned with the volume of wagers coming in on Arguello from the start.
"We think the market quite clearly wasn't fair," Betfair managing director Mark Davies said.
"The prices seemed very odd. As a result, in the interest of fairness and integrity and in consultation with the ATP, we have decided to void the market and return all stakes to (bettors)."
It's the first time the company has taken such a step in any sport. Davies said Betfair would turn over its betting records for the ATP to investigate.
"The ATP takes issues surrounding gambling extremely seriously," the men's tour said in a statement. "We are committed to ensuring our sport remains corruption free and have strict rules in place governing this area.
"In addition we have memorandums of understanding with U.K. and European betting companies that ensures information pertaining to any ATP Tour match that may look suspicious, based upon gambling patterns, is shared with us immediately."
ATP officials said Friday that Davydenko had left Poland.
"Normally I try to fight to the end but it was very painful and I may have done even more damage by trying to finish the match," Davydenko said immediately after the match.
"Since the beginning of Monday I've had a problem with my left toes. Today that became a problem with my foot."
Since losing in the fourth round at Wimbledon to Marcos Baghdatis, Davydenko lost three straight first-round matches -- to Gael Monfils at the Swiss Open, Florent Serra at the Dutch Open and Gilles Simon at the Croatia Open -- before beating Andrei Pavel, 6-3 6-4 in the opening round in Poland.
Arguello lost 2-6 6-4 6-2 on Friday in the quarterfinals to another Argentine player, Jose Acasuso.
"I saw Davydenko playing very well the first set, and I saw also that he had problems with his feet, and that was true, he was not inventing that, so it's difficult to suspect him," Arguello told The Associated Press by telephone from his hotel room in Sopot.
Fellow Russian Marat Safin, playing this week in Washington, declined to speculate about the Davydenko situation.
"I don't really care," Safin said. "Whatever people do, and whatever they want to do, I don't care. I just want to play my matches and enjoy my time. I've enough problems myself."
At Wimbledon in 2006, Betfair reported irregular patterns surrounding a first-round match between British wild card Richard Bloomfield and Carlos Berlocq of Argentina.
Berlocq, who was ranked 170 places higher than Bloomfield, lost 6-1 6-2 6-2. Most of the bets placed were on Berlocq to lose. However, no wrongdoing was detected.
Allegations of match-fixing in tennis have cropped up in the past.
In 2003, bookmakers reportedly suspended betting six hours before Russian player Yevgeny Kafelnikov's match in Lyon, France, against Fernando Vicente after a big wager was place on the Spaniard.
Vicente, who had been winless for several months, won in straight sets. There was no suggestion either player was involved in wrongdoing, and no investigation was made by the ATP.
Several Russian tennis players were photographed a few years ago with Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, a suspected mobster from the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, who was accused of fixing the pairs and ice dancing events at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Photographs of Tokhtakhounov with Kafelnikov, Safin and Andrei Medvedev were taken off Medvedev's Web site in 2002 after the man's arrest.
Tokhtakhounov spent nearly a year in a Venice, Italy, prison but escaped extradition to the United States in 2003 on the Olympic rigging charges.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Atlantic City Poker Scam is clarified and deepens for Forte
The big high-tech poker scam busted in June and made public last week now seems to be confined to private games taking place in pricey hotel rooms inside the Borgata Hotel Casino. At least this is what the media is now reporting. Apparently the high-tech equipment was used to cheat high stakes players. Their trick was using tiny cameras to catch their opponents' hole cards and radio that info to cohorts in the game. Whatever the case, Steve Forte's claims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time now look much more like the wrong claims!
Here's the article:
Police crack high-stakes poker scheme
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
ATLANTIC CITY — The police weren’t bluffing when they busted in on a high-stakes poker scam at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
What they found was a room filled with high-tech surveillance equipment that allowed a cheating ring to rip off poker players who participated in private games, authorities said.
One of four men arrested at Borgata on June 7 by New Jersey State Police was Steve Forte, a Las Vegas gaming consultant who is an internationally recognized expert on ways to thwart casino cheaters.
Forte, 51, is the author of Casino Game Protection, described on his Web site as a comprehensive guide covering the intricacies of casino scams and strategies. Perhaps the members of the State Police Organized Crime Bureau and Casino Unit read Forte’s book before making the Borgata raid.
Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, said Forte and his alleged co-conspirators set up private, big-money poker games at Borgata to cheat unsuspecting players. The private games were not connected to Borgata’s normal casino operations.
The scam artists used strategically placed surveillance cameras to peek at the players’ hands. The information was secretly relayed to an accomplice who wore an undetectable radio receiver in his ear. Computer programs and marked playing cards also were used by the cheaters to enhance their chances of winning, according to Aseltine.
“They were involved in a high-tech cheating scam that utilized sophisticated video and audio equipment, along with laptop computers,” Aseltine said.
Authorities divulged details of the scheme for the first time Tuesday, although they declined to say how they cracked the case. The investigation continues and could lead to other casino jurisdictions, including Las Vegas.
Forte, who lives in Las Vegas, was charged with using a computer and cheating devices to commit theft, attempted theft by deception and conspiracy. Joseph T. Ingargiola, 50, of Playa del Rey, Calif., Stephen Phillips, 52, of Las Vegas, and James Calvin Harrison, 41, of Duluth, Minn., are facing the same charges.
All four have been released on bail pending court hearings.
Forte did not return messages Tuesday to a Las Vegas telephone number listed on his Web site. He is the president of a consulting firm called International Gaming Specialists.
The Web site says Forte has been hired by gaming companies and law enforcement agencies worldwide to help them catch casino cheaters. He has acted as a gambling adviser for “Dateline NBC,” the Discovery Channel and a number of motion pictures, including “Rounders,” a 1998 movie starring Matt Damon about a reformed gambler who returns to playing high-stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks.
In addition, Forte produced a four-part video series distributed worldwide to “help protect all those that play in private games from card and dice cheaters,” his Web site says.
Forte and the other suspects used hotel rooms at Borgata to conduct their alleged scheme, according to Aseltine. The games were private and not connected to the casino’s regular poker play.
At the same time that the scam was unfolding in June, Borgata had held a $1.7 million poker tournament that attracted 337 players and was billed as the largest event of its type in Atlantic City. Dave Coskey, Borgata’s vice president of marketing, said the tournament was untouched by the alleged cheating ring.
“To the best of my knowledge, they weren’t targeting our tournament,” Coskey said. “It was off the gaming floor. It wasn’t affecting our gaming at all.”
Unconfirmed reports had circulated that the suspects had tapped into a live video feed from a camera showing the “hole cards” of players in the poker tournament. However, Coskey said there were no hole-card cameras and no television coverage of the event, so the tourney could not have been compromised.
“There was no concern of a hole camera being tapped,” he said. “There couldn’t be, because we didn’t have a camera. There was no television.”
Here's the article:
Police crack high-stakes poker scheme
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
ATLANTIC CITY — The police weren’t bluffing when they busted in on a high-stakes poker scam at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
What they found was a room filled with high-tech surveillance equipment that allowed a cheating ring to rip off poker players who participated in private games, authorities said.
One of four men arrested at Borgata on June 7 by New Jersey State Police was Steve Forte, a Las Vegas gaming consultant who is an internationally recognized expert on ways to thwart casino cheaters.
Forte, 51, is the author of Casino Game Protection, described on his Web site as a comprehensive guide covering the intricacies of casino scams and strategies. Perhaps the members of the State Police Organized Crime Bureau and Casino Unit read Forte’s book before making the Borgata raid.
Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, said Forte and his alleged co-conspirators set up private, big-money poker games at Borgata to cheat unsuspecting players. The private games were not connected to Borgata’s normal casino operations.
The scam artists used strategically placed surveillance cameras to peek at the players’ hands. The information was secretly relayed to an accomplice who wore an undetectable radio receiver in his ear. Computer programs and marked playing cards also were used by the cheaters to enhance their chances of winning, according to Aseltine.
“They were involved in a high-tech cheating scam that utilized sophisticated video and audio equipment, along with laptop computers,” Aseltine said.
Authorities divulged details of the scheme for the first time Tuesday, although they declined to say how they cracked the case. The investigation continues and could lead to other casino jurisdictions, including Las Vegas.
Forte, who lives in Las Vegas, was charged with using a computer and cheating devices to commit theft, attempted theft by deception and conspiracy. Joseph T. Ingargiola, 50, of Playa del Rey, Calif., Stephen Phillips, 52, of Las Vegas, and James Calvin Harrison, 41, of Duluth, Minn., are facing the same charges.
All four have been released on bail pending court hearings.
Forte did not return messages Tuesday to a Las Vegas telephone number listed on his Web site. He is the president of a consulting firm called International Gaming Specialists.
The Web site says Forte has been hired by gaming companies and law enforcement agencies worldwide to help them catch casino cheaters. He has acted as a gambling adviser for “Dateline NBC,” the Discovery Channel and a number of motion pictures, including “Rounders,” a 1998 movie starring Matt Damon about a reformed gambler who returns to playing high-stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks.
In addition, Forte produced a four-part video series distributed worldwide to “help protect all those that play in private games from card and dice cheaters,” his Web site says.
Forte and the other suspects used hotel rooms at Borgata to conduct their alleged scheme, according to Aseltine. The games were private and not connected to the casino’s regular poker play.
At the same time that the scam was unfolding in June, Borgata had held a $1.7 million poker tournament that attracted 337 players and was billed as the largest event of its type in Atlantic City. Dave Coskey, Borgata’s vice president of marketing, said the tournament was untouched by the alleged cheating ring.
“To the best of my knowledge, they weren’t targeting our tournament,” Coskey said. “It was off the gaming floor. It wasn’t affecting our gaming at all.”
Unconfirmed reports had circulated that the suspects had tapped into a live video feed from a camera showing the “hole cards” of players in the poker tournament. However, Coskey said there were no hole-card cameras and no television coverage of the event, so the tourney could not have been compromised.
“There was no concern of a hole camera being tapped,” he said. “There couldn’t be, because we didn’t have a camera. There was no television.”
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Breaking Vegas Ultimate Cheat Episode
For those of you who never had the chance to see the History Channel's "Breaking Vegas" episode about my 25 years of escapades in the world's casinos, it is being aired on Tuesday, July 24th, at 10 p.m EST, 9 p.m CST and 7 p.m. PST. Please note that the episode will air on the BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL, not the History Channel, and it is called "The Ultimate Cheat." Enjoy it, and let me know what you thought!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Some Serious Dirty Poker!!!
The big poker scam finally happened! First it was the big baccarat scam in May, now the Borgata poker room in the midst of Atlantic City's biggest tournament ever has been stung with a high-tech poker scam aimed at its biggest players. Did you ever imagine cheaters intercepting the live feed from the cameras that show you players' hole cards on TV? Well, you bet, that's exactly what happened. One of the people arrested in the scam, Steve Forte, is considered the number-one casino anti-cheating consultant in the world. I know Forte pretty well and was shocked to hear he had allegedly reentered the world of "Dirty Poker."
And now all the people who badmouthed my book "Dirty Poker" as a gross exagerration of the cheating in major tournament poker can open up their eyes and see the truth!
Here's the news article:
I-Team Exclusive: Poker Cheating Scheme
July 18, 2007 02:05 AM
It sounds like the plot of one of those flashy casino heist movies -- a team of thieves, armed with high tech equipment concocts a scheme to steal vast sums of money from big shot gamblers.
It really did happen, although law enforcement officials are still unwilling to talk about it. Gaming agents in New Jersey arrested four suspects, including a Las Vegas man known internationally as an expert in how to thwart casino thieves.
In late June, the elegant Borgata in Atlantic City launched the largest poker event in the town's history, a $5,000 per-person buy in tournament with 337 players vied for $1.7 million. But someone else was after the money as well; a team of high tech cheats with a scheme worthy of Oceans 11.
Well-placed sources told the I-Team that New Jersey gaming agents staged a quiet raid on the Borgata and arrested four people. By one account, they stormed a hotel room and found it packed with electronic equipment. According to one source, gaming control initially believed the suspects had tapped into a live video feed generated by the hole card cameras that allow TV audiences to see a player's down cards in games of Texas Hold 'em, information that presumably could be relayed to a confederate playing in the tournament.
However, a spokesman for Boyd Gaming, which is a partner in Borgata with MGM, told the I-Team "the scheme did target high-end poker players, but off the floor," adding that "the security systems of the Borgata were never compromised, nor was the tournament. Customers were targeted but not the games."
The biggest surprise for gaming agents might have been who was involved. Among those arrested as part of the scheme was Las Vegas gaming consultant Steve Forte, regarded as a world class expert in countering cheaters. Forte's web site says he's been a consultant to MGM, Caesars, Station Casinos, as well as to the U.S. Attorney, FBI, Metro Police and the Clark County district attorney. His books and videos on how to counter gambling cheats are best sellers.
New Jersey authorities would not acknowledge that arrests were been made. However, Nevada Gaming Control told the I-Team they had been informed by New Jersey about the arrests, that four persons had been taken into custody including Steve Forte, and that a sensitive investigation was ongoing.
Back in Las Vegas, Forte has told friends that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, intimating that he was in the room with the alleged cheaters because he wanted to observe their methods and was not part of the scheme. Forte declined the I-Team's interview request but confirmed in an e-mail that he had been arrested. He says he maintains his innocence and will fight the charges at all costs.
The obvious question is could it happen at the much more lucrative World Series of Poker? Tournament commissioner Jeffrey Pollack says he's heard nothing about the New Jersey scandal but that he is confident that cheaters wouldn't stand a chance there.
WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said, "I can't reveal our specific security measures, otherwise they wouldn't be very secure. But needless to say, Harrah's has the ultimate commitment to both responsible gaming and security, and we have a state of the art surveillance system in place at all times here."
Casino sources say they believe the FBI is now involved in the investigation, possibly to find out if the same high tech scheme has been used before.
The I-Team contacted several of the poker players involved in the tournament. None of them saw anything unusual, nor did they see any arrests. That fits with other information the I-Team has about how the scheme was intended to steal from the poker players when they were away from the tables. No one is saying how the plot was supposed to work. Even the arrest information is being kept confidential.
The Channel 8 I-Team will have more information as it becomes available.
And now all the people who badmouthed my book "Dirty Poker" as a gross exagerration of the cheating in major tournament poker can open up their eyes and see the truth!
Here's the news article:
I-Team Exclusive: Poker Cheating Scheme
July 18, 2007 02:05 AM
It sounds like the plot of one of those flashy casino heist movies -- a team of thieves, armed with high tech equipment concocts a scheme to steal vast sums of money from big shot gamblers.
It really did happen, although law enforcement officials are still unwilling to talk about it. Gaming agents in New Jersey arrested four suspects, including a Las Vegas man known internationally as an expert in how to thwart casino thieves.
In late June, the elegant Borgata in Atlantic City launched the largest poker event in the town's history, a $5,000 per-person buy in tournament with 337 players vied for $1.7 million. But someone else was after the money as well; a team of high tech cheats with a scheme worthy of Oceans 11.
Well-placed sources told the I-Team that New Jersey gaming agents staged a quiet raid on the Borgata and arrested four people. By one account, they stormed a hotel room and found it packed with electronic equipment. According to one source, gaming control initially believed the suspects had tapped into a live video feed generated by the hole card cameras that allow TV audiences to see a player's down cards in games of Texas Hold 'em, information that presumably could be relayed to a confederate playing in the tournament.
However, a spokesman for Boyd Gaming, which is a partner in Borgata with MGM, told the I-Team "the scheme did target high-end poker players, but off the floor," adding that "the security systems of the Borgata were never compromised, nor was the tournament. Customers were targeted but not the games."
The biggest surprise for gaming agents might have been who was involved. Among those arrested as part of the scheme was Las Vegas gaming consultant Steve Forte, regarded as a world class expert in countering cheaters. Forte's web site says he's been a consultant to MGM, Caesars, Station Casinos, as well as to the U.S. Attorney, FBI, Metro Police and the Clark County district attorney. His books and videos on how to counter gambling cheats are best sellers.
New Jersey authorities would not acknowledge that arrests were been made. However, Nevada Gaming Control told the I-Team they had been informed by New Jersey about the arrests, that four persons had been taken into custody including Steve Forte, and that a sensitive investigation was ongoing.
Back in Las Vegas, Forte has told friends that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, intimating that he was in the room with the alleged cheaters because he wanted to observe their methods and was not part of the scheme. Forte declined the I-Team's interview request but confirmed in an e-mail that he had been arrested. He says he maintains his innocence and will fight the charges at all costs.
The obvious question is could it happen at the much more lucrative World Series of Poker? Tournament commissioner Jeffrey Pollack says he's heard nothing about the New Jersey scandal but that he is confident that cheaters wouldn't stand a chance there.
WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said, "I can't reveal our specific security measures, otherwise they wouldn't be very secure. But needless to say, Harrah's has the ultimate commitment to both responsible gaming and security, and we have a state of the art surveillance system in place at all times here."
Casino sources say they believe the FBI is now involved in the investigation, possibly to find out if the same high tech scheme has been used before.
The I-Team contacted several of the poker players involved in the tournament. None of them saw anything unusual, nor did they see any arrests. That fits with other information the I-Team has about how the scheme was intended to steal from the poker players when they were away from the tables. No one is saying how the plot was supposed to work. Even the arrest information is being kept confidential.
The Channel 8 I-Team will have more information as it becomes available.
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