Cheating Casino Keno Via Paint on the Keno Balls??

Well, the last time I heard anything about major keno cheat scams was the one engineered in Atlantic City by disgraced and ex-con former Nevada Gaming Control Board employee Ron Harris, who rigged the Random Number Generators to produce keno jackpots for his accomplices. Now we are hearing about a keno scam that might be using extra or lesser paint on some of the keno balls to make them more or less likely to get sucked up through the vacuum tube into the winner's tray.

Article:

"It is not often discussed these days in an era of RNGs (random number generators) and automated ball selection devices, but back in the day there used to be theories advanced that the way keno balls were painted might have some effect on the outcome of the selection, either unintentional or intentional (cheating.)

The idea of unintentional effect comes from the fact there is, of course, a different amount of paint on each ball, at least it appears that the number "1" for instance might have maybe 1/3 the amount of paint as the number "80." Since paint is not weightless, what’s colored on ball number 80 will necessarily weigh three times as much as the ball marked 1.

Assuming, of course, the depth of the paint layer is constant, etc.

Now, a heavier ball tends to get selected more, at least that is the theory. The theory (I call it a theory because it is plausible but never to my knowledge proven) is that heavy balls sink to the bottom in a mechanical cage and the ball selector is at the bottom of the mechanical cage.

Similarly, in a blower the theory is the heavy ball sinks to the bottom, where the jet of air blasts it straight up the tube.

So if you subscribe to this theory (I don’t) you would play numbers with a lot of paint on them and avoid those digits with less color. This theory was obviously difficult to test back in the day, but now anyone with access to enough actual game draws can do a statistical analysis of the occurrence of 1-9 vs. 10-80.

If the statistical analysis of real life occurrences indicates the weight of the paint makes any difference, you will find it there.

The real scientific question is, "Is the effect of differences in paint weight significant?" I say probably not. I think the differences in weight from ball to ball are probably just as great from imperfections in material and production process as they are from paint.

This is just my opinion though. It would be interesting if someone with a very sensitive scale could weigh a set of balls and we could actually see some results.

So the unintentional effect of paint is ruled out but there is also concern with the use of paint to tamper intentionally with the game’s results. In other words, the use of paint as a cheating device."

Drew McIlvain and Seth Palansky Speak on Major Poker Cheat Chip-Dumping Incidents at Harrah's Tunica World Series of Poker Event!

Chip-Dump Poker Cheats?

Source: Poker News
During the last level of play on Day 1a of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event at Harrah's Tunica, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team was told that Drew McIlvain was disqualified for collusion. In the days following the event, a thread was started on TwoPlusTwo, and Mcilvain himself posted an explanation.

We reached out to McIlvain to get the full story, and we also spoke with Seth Palansky, the Vice President of Corporate Communications at Caesars Entertainment, to learn more about the hand in question, and the appeals process.

Can you first explain what happened?

Drew McIlvain: I’m sitting at Table 26, Seat 9, and I’m doing decent. I’m picking good spots, and my opponents are basically just giving me their chips. I’m literally running them over. A friend of mine comes to the table, and he re-raises the guy to my right — we’ll call him Terry — and Terry re-raises my friend Andrew. Andrew raises all-in, Terry calls. Terry has pocket kings, Andrew has pocket aces, there’s a king on the flop and Andrew is eliminated. Terry is excited.

In another hand, I have pocket nines and make it 2,200. There’s a guy in Seat 4 who calls and the flop comes king-king-seven. I check, he bets 2,200, and I call. The turn is a nine — it brings a third club — I check, gets bet 7,000, and I call. The river is the , I lead for 7,000, he quickly goes all-in, and I call. He has pocket aces, and I win.

Then, Terry tells me that I played the hand very well and he was very surprised that that’s what I had, and I think that I heard him say that I was a good player — or maybe that it was a good play. One of the two.

There’s a hand that — I wasn’t watching much of it — but Terry has on a queen-high board, and I think there’s a nine on the flop. The turn is nothing, and a bigger fellow goes all-in on Terry. Terry calls. The guy had and the river was a jack to give him a straight. So Terry is down to right around 15,000, and within the next five hands — while I’m standing and stretching — Terry comes up to me and taps me on the shoulder. I turned, and verbatim his words are, “Next time I’m in the small blind, and you’re in the big blind, I’m going to go all-in, and you call.”

So this wasn’t during a break?

DM: No, there we’re probably 25 minutes left in the day. So he says what he said, and I say like “OK, whatever.” And I’m thinking to myself, 'what the f**k?' A) Why would he want to get rid of his chips? B) Why is he choosing me? and C) Is he telling the truth? Is he bluffing?

I’d like to definitely make it clear that had I known that if someone had told me that they would be giving me their chips, that I needed to go to the floor and make it clear that that was the case, I would’ve done that. Nevertheless, I didn’t know, and I didn’t do that. But how do you believe him? How do you assume that a short stack is going to donate you their chips?

So then we talk again, and he’s like, “How should I do it?” And I’m like, “Man, I don’t know.” And he mentioned something about raise, re-raise, and as soon as he said that I walked back to the table and he was still talking. That’s where I would assume a few people could have heard him say something, because I’m walking back to the table and he’s still talking.

At that point, why didn’t you go to the floor?

DM: I guess because I just didn’t know that he was serious. I still believe, in my eyes, that he just wants a cheap double-up. I’m still confused about why I’m the one he wants to give his stack to. Honestly, I just didn’t know that that would’ve been the proper ruling. I just didn’t know that I needed to make the floor aware that this guy was now convinced that he was going to give me his chips.

So the guy’s game plan was to give them to me when I was in the big blind and he was in the small blind. Well, that never was an option because under the gun I have pocket eights, I make it 3,000, it folds all the way to him, he makes it 6,000, I go all-in, and he calls with . The flop is . The turn is a — giving him a straight draw — and he bricks. He busts out, shakes my hand, tells me good luck, and he quickly — I mean I’m getting the chips and someone at the table comments about how fast he’s leaving — and I turn to look and I see his wife either has him by the arm and is pulling him, or he’s trying to catch up with her. One of the two, but he was in a hurry to get out of there.

What happened then? Did the floor come up to you? Did someone at the table call the floor?

DM: Bill Bruce immediately taps me on the shoulder and says, “Why don’t you come with me for a second.” So know I’m thinking, “Great, did he really set me up? What the f**k just happened?”

He says, “That hand looked awfully suspicious” — he may have mentioned colluding — then he asks, “What just happened there?” I explained to him the hand, and he asked if we talked before the hand. I said we did. I explained to Bill how everything happened, and he started to walk away. I asked him what’s going on, and he told me I was on a penalty. I asked him for how long, and he said potentially for the rest of the tournament.

At this point, I’m thinking, “Great. I just told Bill the truth, and now somehow I’m going to get f**ked.”

The security guard, or someone from Mississippi Gaming, comes in and they tell me to follow them. I assume that we’re going to look at the footage and listen to the audio of me and Terry’s conversation, that [in] no way, shape, or form, says that I’m helping him synchronize this or like I’m paying him under the table. I'm hoping — I’m praying actually — that they’ve got the audio, and if someone can convince [me] that I cheated with this guy, then I’m a terrible person.

When I get back there the first thing the guard does is make a phone call and say, “Andrew McIlvain is disqualified from the main event.”

I don’t know if someone told him that I was disqualified, or if he made the judgment, but I knew nothing about what happened.

Were you escorted off of the property at that point?

DM: Well, when the guard left the room, I told him this was a misunderstanding, and that I did not cheat and I did not collude. He leaves for like 30 minutes, and I literally have my head buried in my hands praying to Christ — I don’t go to church, I pray more than the people who did. I just didn’t understand. I was so confused. I was in shock.

As soon as the guard returned, he asked me about the conversation I had with Terry. And again I explained to him Terry’s game plan, and that he was going to donate his chips to me because I’m assuming he was so impressed by my nines play and — I didn’t mention this to you — but in the first conversation he told me it doesn’t make sense for me [Terry] to get another room for another night to come back so short-stacked.

Never did I say no, but never did I fully agree that this was going on or I couldn’t wait to get his chips.

The security guard told me I had been caught cheating, and he had paperwork for me to sign. He read a little bit of it, then I started reading the rest, and he asked me why wasn’t signing it. I told him I was reading it — truthfully I don’t even remember what the paperwork said — and I signed it, and they 86’d me from the property.

Can you return to the property?

DM: I cannot. I’ve been calling Harrah’s, and I’ve been emailing Harrah’s. I’m just trying to figure out what kind of evidence they have that I didn’t know about. I’ve also contacted Mississippi Gaming just to get a little information about whether or not I’m completely banned from the entire state of Mississippi or what. Most importantly, I’d like to hear the audio of me agreeing with this guy that we’re going to be chip dumping.

I’ve heard reports that my table was interviewed, and at first I wondered how my table could turn on me? How could they say they heard something if they didn’t? Why would they want me gone? And then I thought to myself, “I’m running them over. Why would they want me to stay?”

Not all poker players are good people. Probably a lot of the people that play poker are terrible people, so they would quickly want me gone as fast as possible. I’m not saying that I’m a great person, but if there were somebody at the table, and there was a potential collusion going on, I would be like, “Get him the f**k out of here, I’m not playing with him.”

Would you say that the way you play could be seen as confrontational?

DM: Absolutely. It has a lot to do with my personality — I’m very outgoing. Truthfully, there’s been times where I’ve said things that I know I shouldn’t have said. I have a few African-American friends, and from time-to-time and I’ll say like, “Hey n***a.” I know I shouldn’t say that around some people, but I guess it’s just natural for me to say things. But yes, I definitely like to be in the conversation, and I like to be heard. Maybe that’s why I won a ring. I had quite a few chips going into the mishap, if you will.

You played in a number of events in Tunica. Did you receive any penalties before this incident?

DM: Yes, there was one. I can kind of give you rough around the edges. I went up to a table where a friend was sitting behind a few girls, and ultimately I was asking him if any of the dealers had dealt him a really crappy hand and he lost a lot of chips. But, what I really said was, “has anyone blanked your sister.”

So Kevin [a floorman] comes up to me and tells me that he heard this, and I told him that was 45 minutes ago. I ended up blinding out of the satellite I was in. I should’ve got a penalty then, as opposed to 45 minutes later.

Are you in the middle of an appeals process right now?

DM: To tell you the truth, I don’t know. No one will respond. Yes, there will be an appeal. It’s literally a nightmare that I walked into. I don’t know if it was God’s way of punishing me or what is was, but I got absolutely n*****ed.

Is there anything you would like to add?

DM: The real questions that I have are: If there was such a big possibility that this was going to happen before it did, why didn’t somebody stop Terry? Why am I the only one that’s being investigated? Maybe Terry has been talked to, and maybe Terry has leaked some false information, but I don’t know.

I’m truly disappointed in the way things went down. This is not what I expected coming into trying to make this a career. It’s the sickest beat I’ve ever taken. If you think getting aces beat by kings is bad, try getting disqualified from the main event for colluding with someone that you don’t even know.

PokerNews also sat down with Vice President of Corporate Communications at Caesars Entertainment, Seth Palansky to discuss due process in instances like this and the appeals process.

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team in Tunica wasn’t provided very many details regarding the hand in question. Can you tell us anything more than, “he was disqualified?”

Seth Palansky: After a review by the security team, he was escorted from the property. There were only 20 minutes left in the day at the time the incident occurred, and therefore the tournament staff was still gathering information when security looked into it.

The evidence included both video and audio. He bagged his chips for the night, but obviously didn’t come back to use them. Technically was he disqualified? He was banned from the property, and therefore couldn’t come back to play his chips. Ultimately, all of the evidence showed that in no way would he have continued in the event anyway.

What happens with the unknown player who “dumped” his chips?

SP: Last I heard, they have his information and they are reaching out to him. He faces discipline, as well.

What happens in these situations beyond the hand in question? Is there any further investigation?

SP: In most cases, there’s surveillance and the corroborating evidence is overwhelming. If we’re going to go through the process, not allow a player to continue playing, and escort them from the property, it’s because it’s very cut and dry that an offense was committed.

My understanding is that Tunica has banned him from the property, and at that point there’s a denotation in his records and it is investigated and discussed further to see whether or not that ban extends company-wide. It’s still in that process now.

Is there any kind of appeals process?

SP: Sure. Anyone is welcome to plead their case, and this gentleman in question did admit some things during his interview process that affected the result in this case. Ultimately, in cases that involved alleged cheating or collusion in our poker events, you can say all you want, but the video doesn’t lie.

We care more about the integrity of the tournament and ensuring that our players don’t have to worry about that entering an event. At the end of the day, it’s hard for an individual to get re-instated when they’ve committed an act that is in violation of our rules, but we do accept a review and go through the process to see if it makes sense to lift the ban.

According to Drew, the “dumper” came to him and told him what was going to happen. What would have been done if Drew then relayed that information to the floor?

SP: It’s hard to hypothetically determine that, but obviously it’s against the rules to collude, so his proper course of action is to notify the tournament staff that someone has attempted to collude with him.

The definition of collude in the dictionary that I have in my hands, is two words: conspire together. He admits to having more than one conversation with the gentleman about it. Clearly by conversation number two, he had the ability to tell the guy, “I’m not interested, let’s play poker.”

At the end of the day, an act took place that was collusion, and any party involved in colluding is not tolerated in our events.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

SP: In general, for readers to understand, this happens from time to time. No one is suggesting that anyone entered the tournament with a scheme to chip-dump, collude, or cheat. You don’t have to be the instigator to find yourself in a situation that affects your standing in an event or at our properties. It’s not about intent.

I want to caution people: surveillance is so good these days, and these cameras are so well-equipped. There’s audio, and everything is being recorded and can be reviewed. It’s not the old days where everything is on VHS. It’s all digitally recorded, easy to file, and easy to find. It’s just not wise to put yourself in a situation where you gain chips dishonorably.

We have to ensure that this doesn’t occur — whether it’s intentional or not is not the bar.

Cute Little Chicago Casino Blackjack Cheat Trick

The following happened at a Chicago Casino:

Source: Chicago Sun Times

Even with a dealer, a floor supervisor and a pit supervisor, and even with electronic surveillance, sometimes things happen on table games that shouldn’t.

Payout mistakes are made, and usually caught. A player is mistakenly given a card he doesn’t want, and that gets corrected, too.

But a reader relayed to me something he’d seen at a blackjack table that no casino wants to happen. I’ve been playing for a quarter century, and I’ve never seen this:

“I saw something odd happen, and was wondering if you’d ever seen this,” he wrote. “The player to my right had an 11, and the dealer had a 5. The player said, ‘Double for less,’ only the stack he pushed out was bigger than his bet. He put it right next to his bet, and the dealer didn’t seem to notice. To be honest, she’d been acting pretty bored all along, moaning about when her break was coming, and I don’t think she was noticing much of anything. When he said he was doubling for less, I guess she was expecting to see two different stacks, and it never dawned on her that the bigger stack came last.

He won the hand, and the dealer paid him on both the original bet and the double for ‘less.’ He left a few hands later. I guess the casino would have been pretty upset had they caught it, huh?”

They’d have been upset all right. Adding something extra to a double-down bet is cheating just as surely as past posting in roulette — putting down a wager after the winning number is known — or trying to add chips to your main blackjack bet after seeing your cards. Casino personnel from the dealer to the surveillance room are trained to look for scams like that.

Had the dealer been alert, she’d probably just have told him that was too much, to adjust his bet. And had security caught the move, maybe all they’d have done is demand he return the overage. Maybe they’d have gone further, especially if they’d spotted a pattern. He could have been barred from the casino, blacklisted, even arrested on felony charges.

The potential consequences are far greater than the gain. Don’t even try.

My take: Well, it's easy to say "Never try cheating a casino in any case," but in some casinos with sleepy and experienced dealers...well?

Gaming Tech Giant IGT Fined Nearly $400K in Online Poker Cheating Scandals

Source: Gaming Today

The Missouri Gaming Commission has announced a settlement with International Game Technology in which the Nevada-based gaming machine manufacturer agreed to pay a fine of $375,000 for not telling regulatory officials about a federal subpoena and other law enforcement actions related to its electronic bingo games in Alabama.

Officials said the information failures deal with the company’s receipt of a federal subpoena in June 2008 requesting documents related to IGT’s business dealing with VictoryLand and the Jefferson County (Ala.) Racing Association. It also cites a January 2009 letter IGT received from Alabama Gov. Bob Riley notifying it of a new task force targeting illegal gambling.

The Commission agreed that IGT did inform Missouri’s agency of a June 29, 2010, seizure of electronic gambling machines from the Greenetrack gambling center, but the Missouri settlement document says IGT did not promptly tell the agency of the seizure of a single machine from the same site several weeks earlier nor of resulting litigation.

The settlement also cites a failure to promptly notify the Missouri Gaming Commission of an attempted raid at the VictoryLand gambling site in January 2010 that resulted in litigation.

Missouri’s gaming regulations require gambling companies to inform the state regulatory agency of any subpoenas, and investigations of substantial changes to the information previously submitted as part of its licensure.

My take: The fine should have been at least a few million...They let the bastards off cheap!

Pair of Poker Card-Swapping Cheats Go Down in Pennsylvania Casino

Source: Lehigh Valley Live

Two people were arrested Friday at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem after police say they were caught cheating at poker.

Pennsylvania State Police based at the Gaming Enforcement Office inside the casino say Jose L. Rodriguez, 46, of Hialeah, Fla., and Sandro Alonso, 38, of Guttenberg, N.J., were seen swapping cards with each other while playing Texas Hold 'Em Poker.

Alonso told authorities he and Rodriguez also have cheated at Texas Hold 'Em before at Sands and also at Mohegan Sun in Luzerne County, according to court records. Alonso said he started cheating at cards a couple of months ago to earn extra money, records say.

Both men were charged with four counts of cheating, attempted theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception, according to a news release.

Rodriguez also allegedly had four counterfeit American Express credit cards and was also charged with four counts each of access device fraud, forgery and tampering with records or identification.

Both men were arraigned and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.

My take: $25,000 is a high bail for a casino or poker cheating crime. I guess they're taking it seriously in Pennsylvania...even with amateur poker cheats.

Canadian Casino Dealer Using False-Shuffle Cheat Scam in Blackjack and Baccarat Faces Prison Time---IF He Doesn't Come Up With Restitution Cash

Source: starphoenix.com

If Christopher Stone-Spyglass doesn't come up with a chunk of cash by mid-April, he may have to spend some time behind bars for helping more than six card players cheat the Gold Eagle Casino in 2008 and 2009.

At a hearing in provincial court Wednesday, Judge Violet Meekma told the former blackjack and poker dealer she's unlikely to give him a conditional sentence for his central role in the months long scam unless he makes a significant, upfront restitution payment to the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA), which owns the casino.

Five of the six gamblers who were charged last year alongside Stone-Spyglass following lengthy investigations by SIGA and the RCMP have already pleaded guilty to theft or cheating at play. All of them paid restitution and avoided incarceration with conditional sentences or probation. One player is still before the courts.

Stone-Spyglass started giving unfair advantages to various players - not all of whom have been identified - within a few months after SIGA hired and trained him as a dealer in 2008, Crown prosecutor Mitch Piche told Meekma.

The dealer used several methods, such as falsely shuffling cards and dealing them in a set order so that "wins were virtually guaranteed," Piche said.

He also flashed cards at blackjack players, eliminating the element of chance to their benefit, and allowed them to withdraw money from the table after placing bets if the cards were not in their favour, court heard.

The players simply took advantage of Stone-Spyglass's activities, and are seen as less culpable than him, Piche said.

The only way the dealer personally profited was when he repeatedly passed $100 chips to a player by concealing them under $5 chips - a direct method of theft that cost the casino $6,000. Stone-Spyglass pocketed half of that money, but otherwise he "appears not to have been motivated by personal remuneration in any way," Piche said.

The casino lost about $20,000 as a result of the scheme, which lasted until January, 2009 and was caught on tape by surveillance cameras, he said.

Piche told Meekma the Crown takes no position on whether or not Stone-Spyglass should be incarcerated or receive a conditional sentence for stealing from his employer.

If he's sent to jail, a 12-month term would be appropriate, but if he's allowed to serve his time in the community it should be 18 months with a curfew, Piche argued, adding Stone-Spyglass should also be ordered to repay $12,600 in monthly instalments.

Defence lawyer Randy Kirkham said Stone-Spyglass supports a wife and three children. He has a steady employment record, but was recently laid off from a job and is now waiting to start work in Fort McMurray, Alberta, which leaves him temporarily cash-strapped, Kirkham said. He expects a sizable income tax refund this year and may also be able to get a loan for an upfront payment before he returns to court for Meekma's sentencing decision in April, court heard.

Kirkham noted his client cooperated fully with SIGA and RCMP investigators from the start of their investigations and gave them all the information they needed. "Personal and family issues" made Stone-Spyglass want to stop working as a dealer for the casino in the fall of 2008, and he sought career counselling from SIGA's human resources department, but was ordered to continue in the job, Kirkham said, telling Meekma the cheating activity was a "foolhardy way of trying to get himself terminated."

My take: The real danger here is that the desperate dealer might resort to more casino cheating scams to obtain the cash needed to avoid prison time in connection with this casino-cheat scam.

New RICO Complaint Filed Against UltimateBet.com

Source: courthousenews.com

High-stakes poker players claim that UltimateBet stole $20 million from "crooked" online poker games by exploiting security flaws that allowed others - or the website and its operators themselves - to see players' hole cards.
In the federal RICO complaint, eight named plaintiffs claim they lost $2 million in the rigged games. Lead plaintiff Daniel Ashman says the cheating scandal has "been the subject of intense public interest and scrutiny."
Named as defendants are the online poker and gambling website operator, 6356095 Canada Inc. aka Excapsa Software, and 10 John Does.
The complaint states: "UltimateBet (aka Ultimatebet.com) is an online poker and gambling website that has and continues to serve players in the United States. 6356095 Canada, Inc. (formerly Excapsa Software, Inc. or 'Excapsa') and Does 1-10 are holding companies, licensing entities, marketing companies, software firms, and individuals organized in or residing in jurisdictions throughout the world that developed software for and/or operated UltimateBet by and through which owners of Excapsa sought to direct and shield its illegal and fraudulent activities from courts, police, and tax authorities. Individual Doe defendants are owners, operators, officers, employees, and/or agents of Excapsa. While UltimateBet is not itself a legal entity, it is the vehicle through which defendants operated various conspiracies to defraud plaintiffs and the broader public.
"Since at least June 2003 and until at least January 2008 Excapsa/UltimateBet did conspire to and did direct, effect, and permit the theft of over $2 million held in plaintiffs' online poker accounts at UltimateBet.com. Specifically, by creating and making use of an intentional a security flaw in the UltimateBet.com software, and with the assistance of owners, agents, and employees of Excapsa and its various subsidiaries that operated UltimateBet, defendants either allowed others to or did directly view plaintiffs 'hole cards' during high-stakes poker matches run at UltimateBet.com.
"With the assistance of owners, operators, officers, employees, and/or agents of Excapsa and its subsidiaries, the cheaters were further able to change their online identities to avoid detection and to improperly funnel their illicit proceeds through various UltimateBet accounts in a manner that would have been impossible without insider assistance. Through these activities, defendants stole or caused to be stolen at least 20 million dollars from plaintiffs and other high-stakes poker players at games run by UltimateBet."
The named plaintiffs come from five U.S. states, one Canadian province, and Peru. "At this time, plaintiffs suspect but do not know the identities of Does 1-10," the complaint states. "Evidence, some of which is discussed below, has arisen that some of the founders and management of UltimateBet and Excapsa, including Greg Pierson, Jon Karl, Jack Bates, Russ Hamilton, and others who formerly operated (and may continue to be involved in the operation of) UltimateBet were likely aware of or involved the conspiracy to cheat players. However, because the identities and activities of UltimateBet and those who have profited from its operations has been intentionally shielded though numerous agents, subsidiaries, and foreign corporations, it will be necessary to conduct significant discovery before a complete list of defendants can be identified. After such discovery, plaintiffs will seek to amend the complaint to add additional defendants."
In "the UltimateBet.com online poker cheating scandal," the complaint continues, "plaintiffs and other high-stakes online poker players were cheated out of millions of dollars in crooked online poker games where their opponents (employees, agents, owners, and/or officers of Excapsa/UltimateBet) had illicit access to players 'hole' cards. Plaintiffs unknowingly played games of high-stakes poker with their cards essentially face-up. The facts underlying the case have already been the subject of intense public interest and media scrutiny, including a feature story on 60 Minutes, an investigative series by the Washington Post, a feature article by MSNBC, and hundreds of articles and news reports across the Internet."
The plaintiffs say that UltimateBet has a "history, ownership, and business structure" that is "cloaked in layers of obscurity as a result of intentional efforts by the individuals profiting from the enterprise to avoid scrutiny. This is hardly surprising as the prospect of criminal prosecution under the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1084, the Illegal Gambling Business Act, 18 USC 1955, RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et seq., and similar statutes has haunted operators of Internet gambling sites from their inception. In 2011, a Grand Jury in the Southern District of New York returned an indictment against the current owners of UltimateBet (Scott Tom and Brent Backley) and owners of other online poker rooms for violation of these and other federal statutes.
"At the same time, Excapsa Services Inc. has suffered no harm, either due to the nature of its operations (often conducted through various and sundry foreign subsidiaries) or the cheating that took place while it owned and operated UltimateBet. Instead, since 2006, when it 'sold' UltimateBet (via the sale of various operating subsidiaries) to Tokwiro Enterprises in what appears to be a related-party transaction, Excapsa has been involved in liquidation proceedings in Toronto, Canada. As part of these proceedings, the assets (mainly cash from operations and from the sale) are being disbursed in an orderly manner to Excapsa's shareholders, which include individuals who knew of and participated in the high stakes poker cheating."
The complaint claims that "a related cheating scandal that took place at UltimateBet's sister site Absolute Poker. UltimateBet and Absolute Poker are now operated by the same holding company, Tokwiro Enterprises, allegedly a Mohawk sole proprietorship owned by the Joseph Norton, the former Grand Chief of the Kahnawake Tribe, which operates the KGC [Kahnawake Gaming Commission]."
The complaint cites a transcript from the "60 Minutes" report, broadcast in November 2008, which states: "The virtual poker games are actually run on computers servers from a Canadian Indian reservation outside of Montreal. It's all licensed by the sovereign tribe of the Mohawk nation, which has no experience in casino gambling and doesn't have to answer to Canadian authorities.
"The [current] grand chief is Mike Delisle.
"Chief Delisle says Internet gambling is illegal in Canada, but tells ['60 Minutes' reporter Steve] Kroft, 'We're not Canadians. We're a member of the Haudenosaunee Five Nation Confederacy. And we're Mohawk Kahnawake people. We're not
Canadian.'
"And that legal distinction has allowed the Kahnawakes to rake in millions of dollars a year by licensing Internet gaming sites and housing their computer servers on the reservation. They now register and service more than 60 percent of the world's Internet gaming activity from a highly protected and nondescript building that used to be a mattress factory."
The plaintiffs continues, in their 42-page complaint: "KGC, the regulatory body to which UltimateBet claims to answer, is part of a self-proclaimed sovereign entity located on a few square miles just across the St. Lawrence River from metropolitan Montreal. The Canadian government has had a history of tense, even violent, relations with the Kahnawake Tribe, who are notorious for cigarette and gun smuggling. The Canadian Government considers the licensing and regulatory activities of the KGC to be illegal." (Footnotes omitted.)
The plaintiffs say that they uncovered the cheating by sharing information at the online poker forum, twoplustwo.com.
In the complaint, they claim they identified a player who they suspected was a "superuser" who could see their cards, and other unknown players they suspected of cheating.
"Members of the twoplustwo.com forums discovered, among other things, that certain accounts with highly improbable win rates often logged on to UltimateBet right after a similarly suspicious account had logged off. Also, many of the suspicious players simply disappeared, never to return, after booking huge wins at high-stakes games, an extremely unusual pattern of activity. Finally, the high-stakes online poker community is relatively small and many high-stakes players know one another from their hundreds of hours of play together, from discussing poker strategy online, and from meeting at live events, such as the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. However, no one had an information about the real world players behind the suspect UltimateBet accounts," the complaint states.
The players say that Tokwiro admitted, in a May 29, 2009 press release, that six player accounts had been cheating, listed 18 account names that "participated in this scheme," and offered refunds.
The complaint states: "UltimateBet has admitted that at least six accounts (presumably six separate individuals), some or all of which belonged to employees and/or owners of Excapsa Software, Inc., used a software vulnerability to steal millions of dollars from players on its site. However, UltimateBet did not then and to this day has not released the names of any individual other than Russ Hamilton, a former World Series of Poker Winner, early manager/employee of UltimateBet, and shareholder of Excapsa, on who UltimateBet has sought to pin the exclusive blame.
"However, given the nature of the security breach (which is essentially built in to the underlying software) and UltimateBet's willingness to protect the identities of the cheaters, it is likely that the cheaters were high-level members of UltimateBet's management and/or software engineering team, and/or its founders and original programmers, as only such individuals could create and exploit the software loophole, frequently change the names of cheating accounts to avoid suspicion, and bypass security measures designed to prevent the cash out of illegitimate winnings. Statements from insiders at UltimateBet have corroborated these suspicions."
The plaintiffs add that the refunds UltimateBet offered also have been shrouded in secrecy: "While UltimateBet has provided 'refunds' to certain players, it has largely kept its methodology for doing so secret. Moreover, it has refused to publicly release or even send affected players hand histories from the compromised games, so that they might determine the accuracy of the refunds; it has refused to provide a full account of its investigation, so that players can examine whether the list of fraudulent accounts is complete; it has not addressed the role of cheating accounts in other poker games, such as high-stakes tournaments or high-stakes limit (as opposed to no-limit) games; and it has refused to compensate players for lost interest, lost profits, emotional distress, or any other form of damages. In short, UltimateBet has acted as its own investigator, judge, and jury in this matter and has stifled any public scrutiny of its 'investigation.' ... Cheated players are bringing this action because they believe that only a public and impartial tribunal can accurately determine the full scope of the cheating and the identities of the individuals behind it."
Finally, the plaintiffs say: "Under federal and state law, the affected players have a right to learn the truth of who cheated them, how they were cheated, and to receive appropriate redress for their injuries. UltimateBet should not be allowed to control the investigation into its fraudulent activities and to set the terms of any penalty unilaterally."
The players seek an injunction and damages for RICO conspiracy, conversion, interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unfair business practices, fraud and negligence.
They are represented by Alan Engle with Meador & Engle, of Anaheim Hills.

My Take: I don't think this huge online poker cheating cheat scam will ever go away...and it shouldn't, just to serve as a reminder of what can happen in the nefarious world of online poker and online gambling in general.

Cheat Casinos in Cambodia...Risk Getting Your Fingers Cut Off!!!

Source: blackjackchamp.com

Cambodia casinos have taken a tough stance on dead beat players who fail to repay loans or gangs of cheaters who plagues the casinos throughout the world.
According to casino gambling news, Ms. Vo Thi Biet of got the shock of her life after finding a chopped of finger after signing for an express delivery parcel at her home in Vietnam.

What nearly made the elderly lady give up the ghost was that the finger belonged to her 23 year old son – who went with friends on a gambling trip to neighboring Cambodia a few days earlier. The package contained a note urging the mother to pay US $3,500 that her son borrowed and lost at a Cambodia casino and attempted to sneak out of the country without first covering his debt.

”They said my son’s friends left him as collateral with the loan shark and that my son escaped and was punished. His friends left him and never returned and there is no one but me to repay for his baccarat and blackjack card games loses at a Cambodia casino,” explained the distraught mother.

Luckily for her dummy of a son, his mother decided that he was worth saving. Just a few days later, Ms. Biet gave a thick wad of currency to a local agent of the Cambodia casino loan shark and soon her son, her wayward son was safely at home. The son claimed that he was captured with several others who escaped from the loan shark and everyone either lost a finger or an ear.

Cheater Feels the Pain at a Cambodian Casino
The chopped off finger and tales of mutilation and torture involving a Cambodian casino are not as rare as one may think. A few months earlier, a female Thai national, Mrs. C., was found dead at a border Cambodian casino.

A cleaning girl discovered the Thai national’s body inside her casino suite covered in thin razor cuts and cigarette burn marks strapped to a chair with fishing line and a plastic bag tightly wrapped around her head. Evidence of prolonged torture was unmistakable.

Police indicate that at least 3 million Thai Bhatt ($200,000 US) that the woman won during the previous days was missing. This is when the case took a strange twist when the dead woman’s Thai passport was determined to be a forgery.

Local police indicated that they were shown casino security tapes where the dead woman was seen wearing an electronic cheating device to win close to a quarter million US dollars at the Cambodia casino with the help of a local Cambodian blackjack dealer.

When police arrived at the blackjack dealer home, they were informed by neighbors that on the night of the murder they heard multiple motorbikes and cars enter and leave the residence throughout the night and in the morning their neighbor was gone.

Police were unable to interview or locate the blackjack dealer boyfriend, finding his home deserted with only a note to indicate that the man was distraught and planed to jump in a nearby lake to end his life. Authorities ruled both deaths as aggravated suicides.

Cambodia Casino Accepts Children as Collateral
Another recent event involved the 13-year-old daughter of a deranged gambler who apparently left the girl as a form of collateral at a Cambodia casino to cover his nearly US $5,000 debt. The grandparents of the girl received a call from a Cambodian casino loan shark threatening to sell their granddaughter to a Thai pimp to work the many whorehouses of Bangkok unless the gambling debts were paid.

The family had no option but to pay back the debt with interest. The father of the 13 year old girl hasn’t been found.

According to casino insiders, the recent incidents at Cambodian casinos were calculated acts aimed specifically at foreign gangs of professional casino hustlers and cheats who plague gambling destination throughout the world. Statistics show that tourists have little to worry about gambling at Cambodia casinos and millions flock each year to see the sights and enjoy themselves without problems.

However, those who enter a Cambodian casinos with the intent to cheat or escape loan repayment may find themselves in a world of problems to say the least. There is no need to be concerned, since there is always a foreign based online casino in Cambodia instead.

My take: If you gotta go to Cambodia, that's bad enough...if you gotta go to Cambodia to cheat casinos, that's even worse!!

Dirty Dozen Cheats Nabbed in Panaji Casino!

Where is Panaji?

What the heck do I know, but I will guess it is some island off the coast of India???

In any case, the cops there busted a cheat gang consisting of twelve people, two of whom are women. Now get this!!!...Their total take was 39.19 lakh LOL at least twice!

What the heck is lakh?

Well, I guess it's some kind of currency unit.

How much is 39.19 lakh in US dollars, British Pounds or Euros?

Beats me, but I doubt it's much! LOL

This was a credit card fraud where the Dirty Dozen swapped fraudulent credit cards to obtain gambling chips that they cashed out. It happened at a casino called the Casino Pride.

My take: Heck, I don't even know why I am writing about this, but I think I wrote about a casino cheat or poker cheat scam in Panaji before (I am not sure, how could I be?), and if I do remember right, it was another rinky-dink cheat scam for about the same amount of lakh...It did give me a good laugh, however.

Poker Cheat Nabbed in Pennsylvania Casino!

Source: Lehigh Valley Live

A 46-year-old Phillipsburg man cheated at least 15 times in December during three trips to the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, Pennsylvania State Police report.

Paul E. Catanio, of the 300 block of Thomas Street, profited $540 from sleight of hand tricks, police said. Catanio often doubled his initial bet after being dealt cards, a violation of game rules, according to court papers.

The move worked 13 of the 15 times he tried it, police said. On his last trip to the casino, Dec. 11, police and casino personnel confronted him after suspecting him of cheating, and he agreed to pay $40 restitution, police said. He was also ejected from the casino, according to court papers.

Casino personnel reviewed Catanio's December visits and found additional instances of cheating, police said, and concluded Catanio profited $500 during those visits. Police said Catanio played poker at the casino more than 30 times since August, but the casino only keeps a seven-day log of video records. Catanio was charged with prohibited acts and theft by deception. He was released on $20,000 unsecured bail.