"Personally I think that it's great to see AP have taken the first steps to resolving this issue.  I am VERY pleased that the players are getting money back, including tournament buy ins, moving up placings AND some interest as well...... 

"Am I putting money back onto AP?  No.  Is it possible I may in the near future.  Depends on where this goes.

"(It) is a huge step in the right direction.  Like I said, I still have many unanswered issues and questions, and am not putting money back on anytime soon.  However, if this hugely complicated issue keeps moving in the right direction (including using trusted ppl like Nat) then I think eventually this thing may get sorted.

A lot people need to calm down I think.  Have patience, this will take a long time to sort out."

In September 2007, Absolute Poker began defending itself following accusations made by members of several Internet forums that the online poker room has a "superuser" account, which allows one player to read the hole cards of another during a game.   By October, widespread Internet allegations of cheating led to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission opening an investigation.

Although allegations had been made about several accounts, one of the most remarkable pieces of evidence was a complete history of a tournament in which a player called "Potripper" played. This history was far more complete than normal, and included all hidden hole cards for all players. It was sent out, perhaps by accident, when a player complained about suspicious play. Reviewing the data, well-known mathematician and gaming expert Michael Shackleford said:

Hand after hand POTRIPPER’s play is consistent with that of a player who had knowledge of every player’s hole cards. The majority of hands show POTRIPPER bluffing at just the right times when his opponents were weak. Yet, when he was hopelessly outmatched, even with good cards, he laid them down. 
On October 19, an unofficial source within Absolute Poker claimed that an employee hacked the system to "prove a point".  On October 21, Absolute released an official statement:

It appears that the integrity of our poker system was compromised by a high-ranking trusted consultant employed by AP whose position gave him extraordinary access to certain security systems. As has been speculated in several online forums, this consultant devised a sophisticated scheme to manipulate internal systems to access third-party computers and accounts to view hole cards of other customers during play without their knowledge.
[...] We will pay for all losses suffered by the affected players as soon as our audit is finished and the amounts are determined.

Several reports put the amount of money won through cheating (and thus, lost by other players) at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Evidently, the recent events have had little negative impact on Absolute Poker's business according to websites that monitor the online poker room's traffic numbers and buy-ins. 

Still, the fact that most in the online poker community are taking more of a "wait and see" attitude should not be misinterpreted by the company as an "everything is fine now, let's move on" position.  Poker players will demand the culprits be punished beyond simple termination.  They will require reassurance that such an incident never happens again.

While there is talk of culprit AJ Green preparing to blackmail Absolute management over past improprieties, it should be noted that Green had not started working for Absolute prior to 12 months ago.  Whatever "knowledge" he may have of the company before October 2006 should only be interpreted as "hearsay". 

Both Green and Absolute Poker founder Scott Tom (also implicated in the crime) remain missing in action as of press time.  Both individuals were using aliases while working in Costa Rica.  Their given names have not been officially announced. 

Absolute Poker has invited any interested parties from the online poker community to observe the investigation.  So far, it is not known if anybody has taken Absolute up on its offer. 

Some of the leading poker websites and publications have elected to ignore the Absolute Poker debacle entirely.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher

Originally published October 26, 2007 10:30 am ET