Does the US Justice Department Care if You (Americans) Get Cheated Playing Online Poker?

You always read and hear that one of the US Justice Department's biggest reasons for its seemingly endless legal pursuit of online poker sites such as Full Tilt and PokerStars is that it just cannot stomach the fact that US players fall prey to online poker cheats using bots, collusion and other forms of cheating to wipe out their accounts, including plain and simple "wiping out accounts" without the victim even getting to an online poker table.

Is this true?

Absolutely not! The US justice department couldn't give two aces about whether or not you get cheated playing poker online. Many US attorneys probably think you deserve to get cheated if you're breaking the law to play poker online. The truth is that the Justice Department prosecutors chasing online poker moguls are motivated by nothing more than politics. What better way to shine up their resumes than by busting online poker bigwigs raking in billions through their "illegal" activity. Indictments and subsequent convictions bringing either jail time, fines or both can further a prosecutor's career, especially one with higher aspirations in government.

That said, We still must heed the one and only real and legitimate claim that the US Justice Department has in its campaign against online poker being played from the United States. That is the fact that minors and even young children can get access to online poker sites and gamble at a very tender--and DANGEROUS--age.

Did Someone or "Someones" Cheat the Atlantic City Tropicana Out of $6 Million on the Blackjack Tables???

In stunning news yesterday, the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City reported nearly two million dollars in losses for the month of April on its blackjack tables. This is HIGHLY unusual and probably never happened in a single month before, not only in Atlantic City but perhaps in Las Vegas as well. Casino blackjact tables might have a losing day or two or three...but a losing month? NEVER!

The Tropicana also reported having lost $6 million to a single player. That's right--SIX MILLION! So what happened here. Is this a major blackjack cheating scandal we're soon to hear about? Is it another MIT blackjack card-counting ring? Or is that the casino raised the limits sky high for some preferred high roller (they can do this with New Jersey Casino Control permission) and got beat?

Well, I really don't know, but what makes me suspicious of a possible huge cheating ring (and I say cheating ring because just because one player won the money, others could have been involved in various capacities), is that the Atlantic City Borgata reported breaking even on their blackjack tables for the same month of April. Breaking even over a month on casino blackjack tables is about as rare as the casino showing a huge loss on its blackjack tables. So I am thinking it's possible that the same $6 million-winner at the Tropicana had something to do with the Borgata's poor blackjack-earnings performance for the same thirty days.

Stay tuned! We might soon be hearing of a HUGE casino cheating scam.

Craps Cheat Teams Hitting Pennsylvania Casinos

Since Pennsylvania casinos obtained table games last year, we've been hearing mostly about poker and blackjack cheating scams. But now the craps cheating teams are working the state's casinos. The first PA casino cheating bust for craps nabbed Dennis Sweeney, 67, of Germansville and Thomas Rooney, 49, of Reading, PA. They were bagged at the Hollywood Casino at Penn National for using a dice-control craps cheat scam. Supposedly Rooney slid the dice so that at least one of them would not hit the back wall of the craps table and tumble while Sweeney diverted the table's attention with good ol' Irish banter so the craps crew working the table would not notice the scam. I do not know if the crew eventually noticed or surveillance up in the sky caught on. The two craps cheats pocketed $2,400 on the craps tables before being busted.

My take: Well, "Rooney and Sweeney"...or "Sweeney and Rooney"...sounds like a good ol' fashioned Irish casino cheating ring!

Foxwoods Hold-Out Device Baccarat Cheats Get Prison Time

Source: Reuters

A South Korean man and woman were each sentenced to more than a year in prison on Monday for a card-game gambling scheme last year that defrauded a Connecticut casino of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Prosecutors said Young Su Gy, 60, and Wookyung Kim, 34, traveled to the Foxwoods Resort Casino from South Korea to play Macao-style midi-Baccarat, a game in which the house dealer handles the cards.

Several times last fall, Gy used a so-called holdout device in his sleeve with which he could switch cards in and out of a game to his advantage, prosecutors said.

A holdout device can be a slight-of-hand trick or a hidden mechanism to hold and hide a card.

Kim meanwhile acted as a so-called blocker, distracting casino staff from observing Gy's use of the trick, authorities said.

Both of them wagered on the games and made thousands of dollars at a time, prosecutors said.

"Through this scheme, Gy and Kim were able to defraud Foxwoods of several hundred thousand dollars," said David Fein, U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, in a statement.

In U.S. District Court in Hartford, Judge Alvin Thompson sentenced Gy to 18 months in prison and Kim to one year and a day in prison for cheating the Uncasville, Connecticut-based Foxwoods, a casino complex operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

They also got three years supervised release and were ordered to pay restitution of $870,505.

They had faced the possibility of 20 years in prison.

The two were arrested in November, and in February they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and theft from a gambling hall on Indian land.

They admitted causing losses of between $400,000 and $1 million to Foxwoods.

My take: Wow! This seems like quite a light sentence. Convicted craps cheat Richard Taylor, who ran a casino craps cheating operation at Foxwoods that netted $70,000, got ten years in state prison for his efforts. In effect, he got ten times the time the Koreans got but only cheated the casino out of about one-tenth of what the Koreans did.

Try and figure casino justice!

Online "Cheat Roulette Experts" and Their Online Roulette Cheating Software...What's the Real Gig Here?

Many of you online roulette players, I am sure, have come across so-called online-roulette-cheating-expert sites telling you about their software to help you successfully cheat online roulette, and some of them even give you moral advice about online roulette cheating as if to say that they already know that you know their online roulette cheating software is the goods, and now the only thing left for you to decide is whether you should cheat or not...almost like cheating at online roulette is no more difficult than taking candy from a baby.

Here is such an online roulette cheating expert site with the following aritcle. It's called popular-hobbies.info and here's what it says:

"Owner of CheatRoulettex, an online resource for people learning how to cheat roulette, Jake Jenkins has become concerned about the meteoric rise in roulette software. While potentially lucrative, Jenkins warns that few consider the risks that go into attempting to cheat roulette both off line and online.

“I’m not one to advise people whether or not they should cheat roulette. However, it would be irresponsible of me to give the green light to people wanting to cheat casino games like roulette” Jenkins notes. “Using roulette software has been an excellent investment for many people. And there’s no question that it beats using your gut to pick numbers or color. However, I’ve noticed that the advertisements for those programs don’t take into consideration the very real risk that comes with trying to cheat roulette. CheatRouletteX.com preaches responsible use of roulette software.

What are the potential risks that come from cheating roulette? “First, there’s the very real possibility that you can get caught. Most of the time, this will only result in the closing of your online casino account. However, certain casinos may take things a step further and press charges and/or seek to get your winnings back.”

What can gamblers do to minimize the risk of running into problems as they cheat roulette? Firstly, you should choose your roulette software wisely. There seems to be new products popping up every single day. Many of these are unproven in terms of effectiveness. Even worse, they can leave footprints that will allow the online casinos to possibly prosecute you. To avoid this mess, only use reputable lottery software to cheat roulette. Also, ensure that the bank account that’s linked to your casino isn’t the same one you use for bill paying. Some casinos can wipe out your entire bank account, leaving you broke.”

Jenkins notes that, although serious, the likelihood of you getting busted are quite slim. “While gamblers should be concerned and aware of the risk of trying to cheat roulette, this doesn’t mean cheating equals being caught. I just think it’s important to inform people about the potential downsides of cheating casino games. While you may not get busted while you utilize cheat roulette software, you should at least be a little weary while you do it.""

So, what about this?

In short, it's all about nothing because the online roulette cheating software pitched here and on all these other online-cheat-expert sites is worthless bullshit. It is even less effective than roulette computers being used to clock the ball in real brick and mortar casinos.

Is the Future of Playing Online Poker in the US Threatened by US Justice Department Attack on Online Poker Sites?

It may be a form of online poker cheating by the US Justice Department, meaning that they are doing everything they can to cheat US citizens and residents from playing online poker, which is something that a great many of them apparently want to do.

Just recently the US Justice department indicted eleven people associated with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, charging them with massive tax frauds, money laundering and various other charges. Does this mean that you as a player are somehow threatened by the US government if you continue playing or trying to play poker online?

Absolutely not! Do not worry. The US government is going through all these motions but even it knows that someday, probably in the near future, online poker, and even online gambling in other forms, will be regulated if not totally legalized in all 50 United States. In any event, Uncle Sam is not going to come after you and seize your computer and throw you in jail for anything you do concerning online poker--unless you are running an online poker site based in the Unites States.

Poker Cheat Marking Cards Getting Lots of Attention

Sefula Seji has been a moderately successful poker pro of late, but now the question is, How much of that moderate success does he owe to cheating at poker, specifically card-marking? And that's not to say that Seji hasn't engaged in other forms of poker cheating at the brick and mortar poker tables.

The New Jersey native (I know a thing or two about card-cheats from New Jersey) got busted at the Sands casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where flocks of mostly amateur and borderline professional cheaters have been trying their tricks since table games came to Pennsylvania casinos last year. Seji's trick was using sandpaper to mark tiny scratches on the tops of the card-backs. I don't know if he was marking all the cards or only high-value cards as the information being passed along does not seem to me very accurate. In any case, though, Seji's card-marking poker cheating scheme is getting lots of attention in the poker-cheat world.

Why?

Is it that this guy was something special as a cheater? No, I don't think so. Although it appears that Seji's card-marking talents were respectable, marking cards with sandpaper is a very old scam and should be detected by casino surveillance if the cheats take a lot of exposure doing this. I think Seji is getting attention simply becasue he is another poker pro, whether it be in brick or mortar poker rooms or online, who has gotten caught cheating. Just like Russ Hamilton, Sorel Mizzi, Josh Fields (JJProdigy), Seji is getting lots of press for his cheating antics, especially online. His notoriety will soon fade--until he gets caught cheating again.

Do I think Seji is also an online poker cheat?

Well...probably

US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SHUTS DOWN MAJOR ONLINE POKER SITES SERVING THE UNITED STATES! ...ELEVEN ONLINE POKER OPERATORS INDICTED!

Source: informationweek.com

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday announced the indictment of 11 individuals involved with online poker websites on charges of bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling.

The defendants include the founders of the three largest Internet poker companies that do business in the US: Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker, and PokerStars. The government seized five Internet domain names associated with these companies. The government alleges that the defendants engaged in an elaborate scheme to dupe or bribe banks to process gambling profits in violation of U.S. laws.

"Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don’t like simply because they can’t bear to be parted from their profits," said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement.

The 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act made it a crime for gambling businesses to knowingly accept most forms of payment for illegal Internet gambling. The defendants allegedly tried to circumvent these rules with the help of individual payment processors, also named as defendants, who helped disguise gambling revenue as payments to phony merchants selling non-existent goods such as jewelry or golf balls.

The scheme also allegedly involved bribing small banks to process payments in return for major investments in the banks, or buying the banks outright.

Two of the defendants were arrested in Nevada and Utah respectively. A third is expected to appear at his arrangement in New York next week. The other eight defendants named are presently outside the U.S. and have yet to be arrested.

The indictment seeks $3 billion in civil and forfeiture penalties and restraints on 76 bank accounts in 14 countries.

The last widely reported Internet domain seizure didn't go so well for the government. Following the seizure of 10 domain names in February for alleged involvement in child pornography, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged that a number of lawful websites had been temporarily disabled in the process.

Absolute Poker made news in 2007 as a result of a cheating scandal.

My take: Is this the beginning of the end of online poker in the United States?

No way, Jose!

Online Poker Players Speak Out on Full Tilt's block of Poker Tracking Websites

Source: Poker News Daily

Most players view the recent move by Full Tilt Poker to block the ability of online poker tracking sites such as SharkScope and PokerTableRatings (PTR) from receiving data favorably.

SharkScope stated in an update on April 5th, “We respectfully request that all online players carefully consider the option of playing at sites other than Full Tilt and communicating to Full Tilt your opinions and rationale about why you prefer to play elsewhere.”

This has set off a firestorm of discussion on the online poker forum TwoPlusTwo. Much of the talk centers on how players use data from tracking sites and whether this information offers them an unfair advantage. A majority of the players on TwoPlusTwo have strongly voiced their opposition to such tracking sites and programs.

“I completely agree as long as it levels the field for all players,” posted “Polar Beard.” “In my opinion, sitting at a table an hour or two is more than enough to have a good idea of your opponents’ style and competence.”

“If a tracking service remains available for a select group of players, then it’s (a whole) other ball game,” “Polar Beard” concluded.

Several players admit to actively using such services as SharkScope and PTR, but they agree that they should probably be shut down. “Even though I use PTR and Sharkscope pretty often, I’d be happy to see all sites cut them off,” poster “mchu1026” shared in the TwoPlusTwo thread.

With Full Tilt blocking poker tracking sites, many are calling for the largest site in the industry, PokerStars, to step up and do the same.

“Well done FTP for blocking PTR, now step up Stars,” poster “raidalot” writes. “What really needs to be blocked urgently are the tools that store and sell hand history data and/or player stats (or provide them in the form of HUDs). I have never used PTR, but I see on the home page that it provides ‘premium content’ such as VPIP and other player stats. This sort of site should be banned by any poker site interested in the long term future of the internet game.”

Another poster, “knef,” contacted PokerStars regarding the tracking situation and the site told him that it is “trying” to block tracking sites from receiving information. “PokerStars is aware that there are people who try to break our rules on data mining and consequently I’m pleased to advise that we are in the process of improving our software to stop this activity,” “knef” reports a PokerStars support team member named “Regina” as saying.

Although the wave of opinion is against tracking sites, some posters point out that these sites were important in breaking several recent scandals in the online poker world. “PTR has helped crack down on multi-accounting, cheating, bots, and chip dumping,” stated “RY889.” “The majority of you guys are losing players and I don’t blame you for wanting your stats hidden, but for us winning players, it has been a useful tool for game selecting.”

Several top pros have weighed in as well. Team UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy gave his two cents: “It’s because PTR got bought by Zynga and FTP wants (to) draw the line in the sand.” Jordan “scarface79” Smith seemed to side with the minority, stating, “Easier to hide their super users,” while Jay “SEABEAST” Kinkade sided with the majority: “Great move, thanks FTP.”

Shawn “buck22” Buchanan, who holds Red Pro status on Full Tilt Poker, weighed out the pros and cons. After his analysis, he posted, “Unless the large majority here either works for FT or is a bit thick, I honestly can’t see the benefits to this.”

Busted Canadian Casino Cheats Identified But What They Did is Still Unclear

I came across this article about the recent casino-cheating bust in Saskatchewan. It identifies the dealer and the players arrested but does not give any further information about what actually happened. To boot, the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority says it does not know if the seven arrested casino cheats were working together or alone, which seems pretty stupid to me. Of course they were working together, or at least the dealer was involved with all of them.

Article: Live games dealer Christopher Stone, 25, was charged with cheating at play and theft over $5,000. Also charged were Xiao Zhuang, 32; Wade Wang, 36; Ceciellia Swiftwolfe, 28; Ken Mark, 28; Christopher Belanger, 38; and Rueben Bear, 27. The charges were laid following a two-year investigation initiated by officials from the Sask. Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) and Indigenous Gaming Regulators Inc. Battlefords RCMP were contacted and a criminal investigation was launched. An RCMP gaming expert was brought in to review the evidence, including surveillance videos.

“The Gold Eagle Casino has the procedures and policies in place to deal with these sorts of things. They did a good job of providing us with information and making sure this was dealt with in an appropriate manner,” said Cpl. Jason Teniuk with the Battlefords detachment.

The charges did not stem from a single event, but a series of incidents over an 18-month period, said Teniuk. He declined to say how much money was involved. RCMP have not determined if the individuals charged were working together.

“Not all seven were there at the same time,” said Teniuk. “Whether they were working as a group or not I don’t know.” The accused will appear in Provincial Court May 30. All have been banned from SIGA casinos.
Daniel Morin, director of security and surveillance with the Sask. Indian Gaming Authority, said the organization has a number of controls in place in its casinos to safeguard against cheating, including supervisors in the live games area, surveillance departments and monitoring the financial highs and lows at each table.

“The big thing for us is we want to make sure we have good clean gaming in our casinos, and we will take whatever measures are necessary to keep gaming integrity at a high level,” he said. “We consider this [incident] proof that what we’re doing is working.”