60 Min Program on Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet Scandal
60 Minutes have produced an interesting investigative program on the Absoulte Poker and Ultimate Bet scandal that occured last year. Whilst this story is fairly old news for those of us in the online poker community, it is nevertheless always interesting to see it all in a televised form. The program is a little biased against online poker, as they dont really highlight enough the fact that there are very legitimate sites out there, and that in a way there is a large level of self-regulation by the poker players themselves, to keep the sites honest. The latter point itself being emphasized by the fact that the isolated corruption in the industry was exposed by the sophistication of the online players in this very case. Here is the video:
Todd Witteles comes accross well in his ever-eloquent form, however they have probably edited out any comments about industry leaders such as PokerStars, and how the poker community has substantially more faith in sites like them (and others) regarding a level playing field being provided.
The Kahnawake Cheif appears in jeans and a Fred-Perry style sportsshirt, probably not doing great wonders for nurturing much faith in the presence of a highly regulated community. Not that sartorial factors should lead to any prejudgement ever, but they certainly impact in some form on people’s perceptions.
The most important outcome of the Kahnawake gaming commission’s investigation is that the players themselves were paid back. It is up to us to remain vigilant in the cases of unusual winning patterns or unusually played hands, and not be afraid to raise concerns quickly.
We as players are the ones who keep the sites operating by playing there and providing the rake, so any concerns need to be instantly raised with and addressed by the sites to ensure their legitamacy and maintain their ultimate survival.
Online poker is here to stay, and as always through poker history, the players have a huge part in being judge and jury into the legitmacy of the game they enter
Tags: 60 Mins, 60 Minutes, Absolute Scandal, Poker Investigation, Ultimate Bet Scandal