No Such Thing as Super User in Absolute Poker Case

A representative speaking on behalf of Absolute Poker tells Gambling911.com "a super user account does not exist".

A report in eGaming Today suggests likewise:

Many people have suggested that there are "super user" accounts or account types that are able to see hole cards. Perhaps such accounts are not able to play, only observe tables -- the account #363 found observing POTRIPPER. Some people have gone so far to suggest such an account has legitimate purpose, for testing or fraud detection.

There is absolutely no legitimate purpose for any account nor any backoffice system to be able to view hole cards of a hand while it is in play. Creating such a feature would be an enormous breach of ethics and security. The existence of such a feature would be a huge temptation for insider cheating.

Fraud and collusion detection systems work off hand histories, compiled upon completion of a hand. Never should it be possible to compile a hand history of a hand in-progress.

Absolute Poker is in the midst of a public relations nightmare they can't seem to wake up from following an "internal breach" where they claim an employee was able to review other players hole cards during live tournament play.  Various sleuths in the online poker sector insist that at least one former Absolute Poker founder was involved in the scheme.  Absolute has promised compensation to all affected players and a thorough audit by an outside firm.

While super users may not exist, there is a market for robot poker players that places the game in serious jeopardy.   

Bots and Online Poker

"Insider cheating" is nothing new to the online poker world.  One of the original Internet poker websites, Paradise Poker, was long suspected of incorporating robots into poker games prior to being purchased by Sportingbet.  The early bots were used to make the poker rooms seem more busy than they actually were.

But there are individuals looking to cash in using these bots.

There is actually a market for poker robots that sell for just under $50 (we won't disclose where). 

Here is how one such company describes its product:

Human Poker players have two major flaws. One is emotion. Part of the key to good Poker is keeping your emotions in check. In a live game you can give away 'tells' or get upset and start playing poorly. This is often called 'steaming' or going 'on tilt'. Greed and over-confidence when the cards are going your way can be just as bad. Computers don't have this problem, giving them a natural advantage since they will always play their 'best' game. The other major flaw is lack of patience. People play too many hands before the flop, throwing money away with hands that should have been folded. Poker Robot waits for only the very best hands!

What occurred at Absolute Poker is really just the tip of the iceberg.  The online poker community has put the word out that they are no longer going to tolerate any more monkey business, whether it's a robot, low level employee or someone very high up on the food chain of the Internet poker room (i.e. one of the owners).

But robots have been a part of the online poker landscape for some time.

Phil Robinson of the Mail on Sunday pointed this out back in 2005: