Casino Counterfeit Chip Cheat Scam Busted In Kansas City

The Argosy Casino in Kansas City has reported a $100,000 loss following a counterfeit chip scam. The Missouri Highway Patrol confirmed that a man scammed the Argosy Casino off Interstate 635 in Riverside using counterfeit $100 chips. A 36-year-old suspect was arrested by state gaming agents last week, but he has not been charged. The man is under investigation, accused of making hundreds of fake $100 chips, then cashing them in for more than $100,000.

"I'm surprised they were able to do it and get away with it. That's a large sum of money," said Brenda Terrill, a Raytown resident who was gambling at the Argosy Casino on Monday.

During their monthly inventory, casino officials realized they had extra chips and discovered the fakes, which were slightly thicker than the casino's chips, officials said. Argosy Casino Hotel and Spa general manager Ameet Patel said they studied surveillance video and identified a suspect. When that suspect showed up last week, investigators arrested him.

"I guess with the state of the economy, people are trying new ways to provide for themselves," said Lawrence resident and casino patron John Griffin.

Highway Patrol has not yet released the suspect's name but said the investigation is ongoing. Patel said about 1,100 phony chips had been discovered so far.

PokerNews Gets Suggestions From Top Poker People How To Stop The Cheats!

PokerNews welcomed the New Year by asking a number of industry experts to share their views on the past, present and – most importantly – the future of poker. Throughout this series, these experts' opinions serve to outline the shape of the modern poker world and provide an indication of what 2009 and beyond might hold. PokerNews also noted that these experts' opinions do not necessarily represent the views of PokerNews itself.

Contributing to the question are: Matthew Parvis, Editor-in-Chief of Bluff Magazine; Nat Arem, the founder of the PokerDB; famed high-stakes cash and tournament player Barry Greenstein, a member of Team PokerStars Pro; and Pauly "Dr. Pauly" McGuire, the author of the Tao of Poker blog and columnist for Bluff Magazine.

Today's question: If there was one change that you would like to see specifically made to the online game or by major online sites in the coming year, what would it be?

Nat Arem: One thing that I'd really like to see happen would be the equivalent of a cheaters and scammers "information share" go on between a bunch of different sites. I really think that a lot of those people cause problems for online poker and I think it would be great if online poker sites were willing to share information the same way that Vegas casinos do. I'm surprised that it hasn't happened yet.

Dr. Pauly: Just a reliable method to deposit and withdraw money. "Reliable" meaning, with some of the sites, every few weeks it's changing. Some people have to wait three days and other people have to wait three weeks just to get a check or some sort of response for a cashout. At the same time, too, people come to me all the time asking for me to fund their online poker accounts. People want to play poker, it's just they don't have an easy way to do that. That's kind of more of a personal preference, but I think it's more of a basic, logistical thing they can change. That's kind of a loyalty system – as people know they can get money in and out of Full Tilt or PokerStars relatively easy, more people will play there.

Matthew Parvis: I would love to see the online poker sites -– maybe the top five online poker rooms in the world -- create some sort of governing body within themselves. We've seen what happens when a company is allowed to just kind of "run itself wild" and I understand that there are regulating committees out there and international kinds of regulation; however, I think that it's too important for the industry in that the major sites such as PokerStars and Full Tilt throw this serious network into that batch right now. I think they need to come together in a way, and yes, I understand they compete against each other for a player base. But at the same time, if they were to come together and put together some sort of ethics and regulatory constitution that each of the sites stuck with, [they would be] able to come down upon one another if there was some sort of devious attempt at cheating such as with the Absolute/UB scandal. If you're being governed by your peers, I think that would be a very, very strong way of doing things. These sites are going to continue to operate -- at least the top five, I think, are going to continue to try to grab their piece of the market and piece of the pie -- but if they were to form some sort of regulatory body, I think that would be an amazing thing that could really help transform and bring unity into the industry. I think that would be the one change that I would like to see happen.

Barry Greenstein: Well, I'm one of the fortunate people who gets to make the decisions... or gets very involved in them. That's one of the main reasons I joined PokerStars is because I am able to make suggestions about the software, and what I do is every few months, actually, I give them my current list of changes I'd like to see implemented. For instance, to give you an idea, the last two that got implemented were a graphical "last hand display" where we got a nice display, and they even have it with a replay where you can see the way the bets came in and all that. Before, we just had the last hand in text mode, chat stream or whatever you want to call that -- and it just was too hard to follow. Even if you got a hand history, it was really hard to process while you were playing. Now the way it is, it's pretty neat and they did a great job, better than I had suggested. The programmers and designers did an excellent job.

Initially I gave them 30 changes I would like to see implemented and I had ten that were high priority, ten medium priority, and ten low priority. So now, what I do is always keep the number-one, high-priority issue on the burner. So after they got that one done, especially in LA since so many people play badugi -- and even in Europe, we have a lot of people playing badugi -- my one after that for the end of this year was badugi. A lot of these changes go slower than I would hope, but they finally promised me by November they'd get badugi and they delivered. In November they got badugi; now I'm hoping they will increase the stakes. My next number-one, high-priority item is going to come out in January.

(PokerNews): Is it a user feature?

Barry Greenstein: I'll get to that -- it's remarkable. A lot of times I'll say, "Why can't we do this?" It seems to me it would take me only a day or two to program it myself, but they have to make sure that nothing changes in the stability of the build. They test it; every one of these sites does this. So it takes longer than I expect all the time and I'm always frustrated: why don't they have multiple groups of programmers doing all the things I want? You see with all the websites that they don't have everything; they don't have the new games. I think PokerStars is probably the leader there but the other ones – obviously, I'm sure they ask themselves, why doesn't every site have every game in every situation? It's harder than we all think because it's just a monstrous piece of software already. They have to make sure that everything works together. So getting to the suggestion that we'll see in January -- that is, if it is [then] -- let me just say that you will have some different types of games of no-limit hold'em. It will be a little different, but I think it will be very popular.

How 'Bout "Texas Cheat'em instead of Texas Hold'em?!

New Twist in Cheating at Poker!!! This is more than a good laugh!

D3Publisher Reveals an Ace Up Their Sleeve with New Game Texas Cheat ‘Em from Developer Wideload Games!

There’s No Limit to the fast-paced, frenetic action poker players will enjoy with D3Publisher’s newly announced game, Texas Cheat ‘Em, from fan favorite developer Wideload Games. Texas Cheat ‘Em is a new take on the classic Texas Hold ‘Em rules, turning an average online poker table upside down by layering party games and other gambling minigames on top of the basic rules, and allowing players to cheat to win! Gamers of all levels can hoodwink their opponents in Texas Cheat ‘Em; novice competitors who craft good cheating strategies by using x-ray vision, pre-cognition, chip stealing, card swapping and more can defeat more veteran card players. The game is confirmed for Xbox LIVE® Arcade for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®Store for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system for Spring 2009 and Windows PC at a later date.

“Alex Seropian and the team at Wideload know how to make great games, and their trademark quirky sense of humor abounds in Texas Cheat ‘Em,” said Pete Andrew, vice president of product development, D3Publisher. “We feel confident that the comedic tone, party atmosphere and interactivity of Texas Cheat ‘Em are tailor-made for today’s casual online gaming audience.”

“We upped the ante on traditional online poker and set Texas Cheat ‘Em in a decidedly irreverent world where players can do what they’ve always wanted to do – cheat!” said Scott Corley, Director of Wideload Shorts. “It’s a hilarious online card playing experience that gets even more fun as players become cheating masters.”

Cheating is FUNdamental in Texas Cheat ‘Em! Cheat attacks are earned by players through more than a dozen minigames like Roulette, Slot Machines, Dice or Rock, Paper, Scissors. Texas Cheat ‘Em replaces time usually spent waiting for others to deal or bet in online poker with loads of fun planning cheats or playing minigames, and offers single-player as well as multiplayer options for up to eight players for a truly unique and robust gameplay experience. Online features are a priority for Texas Cheat ‘Em. All versions will support voice chat and Leaderboards, both console versions will support Achievements/Entitlements, and the Xbox LIVE Arcade version will support Party Chat and Avatars.

Texas Cheat ‘Em is a Wideload Shorts production. The game is rated “T” (Teen, Ages Thirteen and Older – Simulated Gambling) by the ESRB. For more information about Texas Cheat ‘Em, you can visit www.d3publisher.com.

New Poker Room CardSpike.com Already Facing Cheating Allegations!

Online poker affiliates claim a relatively new room has been stiffing them. That room is CardSpike.com, launched last this past summer. A number of its affiliates and some industry observers have told Gambling911.com the new online poker room is owned by some individuals behind Casino Affiliate Programs, also known as CAP - an online gambling affiliate conference promotion group.

Payton O'Brien, Senior Editor for Gambling911.com questioned why anyone from CAP would risk their highly successful business model to engage in such a conflict of interest, not to mention the legal ramifications.

"We know and respect the folks behind CAP," O'Brien stated. "For whatever the reason there are quite a few people who have it out for CAP, which sometimes makes it difficult to separate facts from fiction. "The two people who are behind the program, claim that they do not own it but are only managing the affiliate aspects of the company through effectivemedia.com which is related to Casino Affiliate Programs," a source tells Gambling911.com.

What is known, however, is that CardSpike has been giving many of its affiliates the run around.

"Since the launch of CardSpike, affiliates have made a number of complaints," one of its affiliates claims. "There are still outstanding payments owing to rakeback players."

Angry CardSpike.com affiliates have also taken their anger to the TwoPlusTwo Posting forums.

"The fraudulent "safety seal" (paid for) at PAP/CAP (poker affiliate programs and casino affiliate programs) is a sham, this site is run by ******.

This company has told SOME affiliates to stop sending players, even though most affiliates and some players have not been paid or cashouts processed.

Why tell a select few affiliates to stop sending players? I believe this poker room was opened as a hit and run operation and frankly think the Cake Network should do something about it - and fast!"

The Cake Poker network hosts CardSpike.com.

While cashout issues tend to be the norm due to limited processing access for US facing online poker rooms, a number of the complaints filed have come from those affiliates operating outside the United States.

Nat Arem, who became widely known for his role in unveiling a cheating scandal involving Absolute Poker, has also warned affiliates and players alike not to patronize the CardSpike.com website.

"I want to make everyone aware, that, if you do sign up for a Cake Poker network rakeback account, do NOT do it at CardSpike," he warns on his own blog website. "CardSpike is a rogue skin on the Cake Poker network that has been delaying making payouts for months now. If you're going to sign up for rakeback on the Cake Network, do it either at Cake Poker or Players Only. There are many reputable rakeback operators who run rakeback on these networks."

Negreanu Speaks Out On Poker Cheating

What I’m about to say may surprise you. You might be a cheater and not even know it.

If you are in a poker game for money and are taking it easy on one of your buddies, you are cheating yourself, your friend, and every other player in the game. I realize that’s a bold statement, but it’s absolutely true.

In the poker world, we have a term for this type of play. It’s called soft playing. When two friends, spouses, relatives or flat out cheaters don’t bet against each other, they’re soft playing.

Soft playing destroys the integrity of the game of poker and it’s wrong, flat out wrong.

I realize that many players have no idea that this behavior is so unethical. More often than not, soft playing (not to be confused with slow playing) is done innocently with no harm intended. Perhaps a gentleman doesn’t want to take a lady’s last $20. Or, one player doesn’t want to raise his friend because his friend is losing too much money.

Well, if you are so concerned with your buddy losing money, or if you’re trying to get a date, by not betting against a beautiful woman, try taking them both out to dinner after the game. The poker table is no place for compassion and kindness. I’m sort of kidding, but I think you get the idea.

The unintended byproduct of soft playing a friend is how it affects the action for the rest of the players at the table. For example, let’s say that you and a pal both make the final table of a No Limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament that pays the top five finishers. There are six players remaining and you and your buddy are still hanging in. Remember, the next player out gets nothing. Everyone at the table wants to see someone get knocked out so that they can finish in the money.

How do you think the other players at the table would feel if you are soft playing your friend?

By not playing hard against him, you are absolutely cheating the other players at the table. That may not have been your intention, but ignorance of the rule won’t get you off the hook when you get caught. Soft playing in a tournament can result in severe penalties, including disqualification to both you and your friend.

Poker is not a team sport. It’s every man for himself. It’s perfectly okay to root for your buddies and hope they do well, but when it’s time to play the game, you have to give it your all.

All by yourself, that is.

Soft playing is, more often than not, totally innocent. But you need to be aware that there are snakes out there, and it’s important that you spot them before they team up against you.

If you’re playing online and you smell something fishy, e-mail customer support and have them investigate. At reputable poker sites, a representative will look into your claim by reviewing the hand(s) in question, as well as the betting history of the suspected cheaters. If suspicious betting behavior is detected, the crooks will be banned from the site and you will likely receive a refund for the money you lost due to player collusion.

If you see something strange in a live game, notify the floor man immediately and ask him to investigate.

Maybe Annie Duke Should Not Have Stood By UltimateBet After All??

Despite numerous rumors to the contrary, poker pro Annie Duke revealed to Gambling911.com's Jenny Woo this week that she is willing to continue to put her name behind UltimateBet.com. The 3rd largest online poker room catering to North America was embroiled in a "cheating scandal" last year.

"I really have a lot of faith of the new management's commitment to offer a good quality secure site," Annie Duke told Woo.

In Part Three of Jenny Woo's interview, Ms. Duke discusses the UltimateBet fiasco and her full reaction as well as her opinion on the changes made with this year's World Series of Poker, specifically the delayed final table. Here is some of what she said:

JENNY: What did you make of Peter Eastgate's win in the WSOP? And what's your opinion on the changes that were made this year?

ANNIE: Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch most of it which was up until the final table because I was tied up in New York on a schedule where t.v. wasn't really an option. I haven't been able to catch up on that yet but I did watch the final table. I felt that honestly he played the best of everybody at the table. From what I saw at that final table I felt that he deserved it of anybody at that table. He played really really well. The thing that I liked about Peter in particular was that I saw a lot of really hyper-aggressive play. Now to be fair I didn't see the whole final table, I saw what was on t.v. I don't know much else about him but I'm impressed the way he played. But as far as the young thing, I don't think it's particularly surprising. Poker is getting to be such a young game. There's so many people in their early twenties entering that event and a lot of them are really really good. I'm glad to see somebody who I felt was very talented win that event.

As far as the delay - I know that it definitely raised ratings which is really important and I think that whatever delay people had to take understanding that the better poker that runs on t.v. the better it is for the poker economy which is better for you as an individual. People should really try to think of the big picture as opposed to whatever inconvenience they're feeling by it. I think that we had the misfortune of having that delay introduced in a very very important election year in which I think it took away much of the ability of the WSOP being able to hype their players and get people to pay a lot of extra attention to what was going on. This wasn't' just an election year. This was a super duper high profile important election year. If it were to happen during Kerry-Bush, I think we could of probably gotten more focus on poker world. (Haha) I think there's no question that that will happen again next year but with it being a little bit shorter. It'll be interesting to see what happens next year when people are actually interested in interviewing these people as opposed to thinking about Sarah Palin.

JENNY: There has been a lot of controversy surrounding a much publicized insider cheating scandal involving UltimateBet. You have stood firmly by their side through all of this. How have your friends on the poker circuit reacted to this scandal?

ANNIE: I think that there's mixed reactions. Everybody's horrified that it happened - including me. I just want to get that out of the way. There are no excuses for what happened. It's ugly, it's ridiculous and it's incredibly upsetting. With that being said, I think there's a large portion of people out there who got their money back which I think is amazing. I had one player call me up who's an old time player playing for a really long time and who said to me, "Annie in all the years that I've been playing and all the times that I've been cheated this is the first time I've ever gotten my money back." I think that there's recognizing there are things that have happened. This was not the site cheating anybody, this was individuals cheating people. It's really horrible that it happened but the site did good by it and made sure that everybody go their money back and let's move on because the site is secure. There are other people who had a fair reaction to it - which is - you can't compensate me for the loss of confidence. My heart really goes out to those people because they are absolutely right. We go into these games and the moves that you think are supposed to work aren't working. Now you start to take those out of your game and I understand that it can have a deep and long term and long lasting affect on your game. They're right, there's no way for UltimateBet to compensate somebody for whatever long term affects that event had on their game. So to that I don't really have an answer. As far as the monetary issues, for me it was all made good on. In this administration - so to speak- definitely stood good by everything, has an amazing security center going forward, they made good on something that wasn't their fault.

I feel like being part of a solution and making sure that there are good and secure options going forward. I think my brother said this to somebody, "look UltimateBet's going to continue with or without Annie, it's going to still be there. Would you rather have Annie there trying to make sure that everything is secure going forward or would you rather have her just leave and not be a voice for the community"? So that was my take on it. I just felt like the right thing to do was to try to make sure this was handled well, that people were made whole, to have people feel that they had somebody they could talk to about it and that I could do what I could to make the site better and to make it a good option for people. I really have a lot of faith of the new management's commitment to offer a good quality secure site and I'm willing to continue to put my name by that.

One of the things that I said - and I said it in my testimony - is that online poker is unique to other financial markets because in other financial markets when you get cheated there's no way to make anybody whole. One of the reason's why people should feel very comfortable about playing online is because when incidents like this happen the sites will stand up and behave if they're regulated and make the community whole. Well, if I'm endorsing a site that's going to do just that and I walk away then I'm a total hypercritic anyway.

JENNY: What's next for you in the poker circuit?

ANNIE: I'm really going to be stepping up to the number of tournaments that I play now that I'm out of my dispute with the WPT. I'm going to be heading to Vegas on Saturday (Dec. 13) and I'm going to be playing in the Main Event there at Bellagio. Then I'm going to be playing at this thing at the Commerce. I'm just really going to step up the number of major events that I'm playing. It's funny that you ask that because I was talking to somebody in November and I was looking what had happened to my schedule; I had intended to play at the Bike (The Bicycle Casino - Los Angeles) at the end of August and then I had a commitment come up. Then I had intended to play down in Aruba but had to go to New York. And I was going to do two Poker After Dark's but I was still in New York. I finally got back and I can finally play at the Bellagio. But literally it was three months of intense "I'm going to play this, I'm going to play this, and I'm going to play this" where everything else in my life kept getting in the way.

I've now gone through my schedule and have blocked out tons of poker coming up so that I can start being a poker player again.

JENNY: Thank you so much for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to do this interview.

ANNIE: Thank you. Talk to you soon.

Phil Hellmuth Implicated in NEW UltimateBet Online Poker Scandal!

In the aftermath of their sisterly online insider poker scams, Absolute Poker and UltimateBet formed the Cereus Poker Network, and were at great pains, along with the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, to assure players all had been fixed as far as cheating is concerned.

Along With Absolute Poker, UltimateBet is one of the two online poker rooms brought to mainstream attention by "60 Minutes" coverage of their cheating scandals. You would think that we wouldn't hear about any new cheating incidents on either site for a while...But new allegations have surfaced!

A hand played online this weekend resulted in the losing player being awarded the pot. When the mistake was pointed out on the Ultimate Bet forum, the moderator declared it a "software glitch" and said he'd look into it. However, circumstances make the incident seem more ominous.

Reprints of the hand played reveal the losing player who took the pot to be none other than Phil Hellmuth, poker legend and Ultimate Bet spokesman. Further, the hand was played in a most unusual fashion. Hellmuth's opponent, Doubleballer, had the king of diamonds and queen of hearts in his hand. The flop came out king-king-jack, rainbow.

Doubleballer raised before the turn and the river, and Hellmuth called, seeing a two and a nine, with no flush possibilities. Doubleballer bet his three kings at the showdown, Hellmuth called, and then mucked. But Hellmuth was paid rather than Doubleballer.

On a hand in which Doubleballer clearly had three kings, it would seem Hellmuth would either fold, or raise. Raising could be a bluff, or indicate a full house of another set of kings with a higher kicker possible. But to call, when the hand was apparent, with losing cards, seems strange.

Once the story reached the poker forums, other incidents at Ultimate Bet came to light. One player told how he was nearing the end of a tournament, when the program thanked him for finishing in sixteenth place, even though two cards had yet to be dealt. Another mentioned meeting a small blind of $100, then folding, only to find $700 in chips deducted.

UltimateBet guaranteed a long and exhaustive audit of all software after the cheating last year. But it appears there are quirks, and worse, still happening in the system. Until the Kahnawake and Cereus respond more transparently and forcefully, Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, and online casinos will gladly accept the customers fleeing these Internet gambling sites.

What will happen next???

Poker Players Alliance Launches US Ad Campaign To Regulate Cheat-Plagued Online Poker

The Poker Players Alliance launched a new newspaper advertising campaign Tuesday aimed at underscoring the need for federal regulation of poker. The ad, which comes after recent stories on cheating scandals at Ultimate Bet and Absoluter Poker appeared in the Washington Post and 60 Minutes, will be placed in three influential Washington, D.C. newspapers - The Hill, The Politico and Roll Call.

"It's time for some straight talk," the ad declares, with a picture of a hand holding a royal flush over a poker table as the background. The ad goes on to argue that sensible federal regulation is the only way to protect the millions of Americans who play Internet poker every day. "We can't guarantee that every company will play by the rules," it reads, "But we're certain good laws will deter and punish those that don't." It adds that the federal government has neglected its responsibilities; wrongly believing that censoring the Internet will prove effective.

"This does nothing to protect consumers," reads the ad. "What it does is limit our personal freedoms and drives players underground or overseas. Worse, billions of dollars that could be raised from regulation are lost. And in this economy every nickel counts."

On November 19, the US Treasury and Federal Reserve pushed through the final regulations for financial institutions to adhere to the 2006 UIGEA bill, which effectively banned Internet gambling by outlawing the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites.

Companies have been given until December 1, 2009 to comply.

Absolute Poker Hits Top 10 Safest Online Casinos!

Who says there´s no redemption for online poker sites hit by cheat scandals? Believe it or not, my computerized rankings of safest online poker rooms now say that Absolute Poker has made the list. Will it stay there? Wait and see...Will UltimateBet soon make the list? I don't know but if its board makes good on their promises, it certainly has a chance.

Simple Ingenious Poker And Casino Cheating Scams…Where Have you Gone?

For the past five years we have been hearing about high-tech poker and casino cheating scams. For the past two years, most of what we’ve been reading about on the Internet has been online poker cheating, especially the software manipulation insider cheat scams at UltimateBet and Absolute Poker. But what about simple brick and mortar casino cheating? Has the simply ingenious genre of casino cheating been forever obliterated by the genesis that has evolved into high-tech digital camera, laser and microcomputer cheating? Will we ever again see effective casino cheating moves performed by that delicious combination of wit and balls?

Remember my famous Savannah roulette pinching/dragging move that fooled casino surveillance for five years and bilked casinos worldwide for millions? If you don’t, read about it. It is surely a refreshing break from the barrage of articles about 60 Minutes’ coverage of the UltimateBet online cheating scam, and the Savannah needed no computers, lasers, cell phones or digital cameras. My partners and I did it with just our hands and our balls, and to date it remains the best gambling cheating move ever, either online or off. It may not have earned the $60 million that the UltimateBet online hole-card-reading poker scam did, but it never got caught either and made the trio who performed it rich enough to never have to work again.

In any event, I hope to hear of a real “nuts and bolts” brick and mortar casino or poker cheat scam because I am starting to lose the faith. I retired from casino cheating nine years ago, and no one has followed in my footsteps. I am not encouraging people to cheat casinos, but people will always try to cheat the casinos regardless of what I say or don’t say. I am only saying that instead of reading about all this high-tech gizmo wizardry cheating, which seems to get caught anyway, I would love to hear of an old-school cheating team coming up with a clever cheat move that would put a smile on my face.

Remember, I don’t care what anyone says…For me, the best casino moves are those that are simple and fly beneath the radar. Remember that magical acronym “KISS?” That’s right, “Keep It Simple Stupid!” So if anyone out there hears about any clever old-fashioned poker or casino cheat moves, please let me know and I will be glad to write about them.

And if you’re a cheat team worthy of my envy and are out there now doing a great “low-tech” move, don’t forget to let me in on it as soon as you’re done, the way I let you in on the Savannah!