Thursday September 18th, 2008

Poker site cheating plot a high-stakes whodunit
$75 million claim filed against Canadian software firm with murky pedigree

By Mike Brunker
Projects Team editor
MSNBC
updated 6:09 a.m. PT, Thurs., Sept. 18, 2008

software powering a leading Internet poker site so they could see their opponents' hole cards have triggered a $75 million claim against a Canadian company, msnbc.com has learned.

The alleged subterfuge on UltimateBet.com — one of the 10 top poker sites — is the biggest known case of fraud targeting an Internet gambling site and its customers, according to the company that owns the site. It is similar to a case of cheating that occurred last year on UltimateBet’s sister site, AbsolutePoker.com, but this time the thieves ran the scheme for far longer — at least from January 2005 to January 2008, it said.

Word of the $75 million U.S. claim ($80 million Canadian) — the first indication of the scope of the alleged cheating — emerged this week when msnbc.com contacted a court-appointed liquidator overseeing the voluntary dismemberment of Excapsa Software Inc. of Toronto, which formerly owned and licensed the poker software to UltimateBet and other gambling sites. The claim was filed by Blast-Off Ltd. of Malta, a private company that currently has an ownership interest in Ultimate Bet.

“We’re taking it seriously and are in contact with the stakeholders with a goal of settling the claim,” said the liquidator, Sheldon Krakower, president of XMT Liquidations Inc. “… It’s a very touchy situation. We’re just trying to get everything done.”

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Link: http://www.gpwa.org/

Jokertat Poker has received the GPWA Seal of Approval

Link: http://maximumpokerleaguempl.blogspot.com/

She’s afraid of heights, but she keeps Maximum Poker League flying high!

Real name: Sharon Liss
City currently residing in: Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
Age: 40
Favorite food: All Seafood (except clams)
One book everyone must read: The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson
Your gaming sites: www.maximumpokerleague.com

OK, let's start with the two questions everyone wants to know about...What is the back story behind your screen name and your avatar?
My sister and I used to love the “Care Bears” (the show with the cute little pastel-colored bears) when we were kids. My sister started calling me SharBear (Shar was short for Sharon). Come to find out there actually was a ShareBear! It has stuck with me ever since. She still calls me that today! The 613 is my birthday.
As far as the avatar, I have a set of ’50s pin-up women on ace cards. I use them as my avatar for all forums I belong to.

How did you become interested in online poker? What's your favorite game? What's the most you've ever won playing online?
We used to play card games growing up, but it was mostly Michigan Rummy for pennies. As an adult I started playing blackjack. About three years ago my dad told me about poker that you can play online for real money. He introduced me to poker forums, so I absorbed everything I could about different types of card games before playing for money. Once I started playing I was hooked.
My favorite game at the moment is Omaha, either Hi or Hi/Lo. I’m not a huge fan of limit, but I love a great game of H.O.R.S.E. No-Limit Hold’em will always remain one of my favorites because it was the first game I learned to play online.
The most I ever won to date would be a seat into the 2006 WSOP Ladies Event on King Solomon Poker. I won the entry plus travel expenses. It started with a $3 satellite. Also, in 2006 I hit a royal flush on 32Red Casino for $4,000.

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Passed in 2006 as a "rider" to the Safe Ports Act, the UIGEA has been controversial from the beginning (even though it was voted for almost unanimously). It was attached to the Safe Ports Act by conservative Republican Senators Bill Frist and Jon Kyl, but its inclusion was voted for by almost every member of Congress.

In recent weeks, some legislators have made efforts to overturn the bill -- or at the very least, to clarify the nature of its vague wording. Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank has recently emerged as the default leader of this movement. His anti-UIGEA bill, HR 5767, has so far been defeated, but seems to have clued Congress in to the fact that many Americans dislike UIGEA.

Since then, Texas Republican Pete Sessions has introduced a bill that seeks to "clarify" UIGEA, claiming (with justification) that UIGEA is basically unenforceable because it relies on financial institutions to do the work of the Justice Department. However, some online poker players (including the PPA) have spoken out against Sessions' bill, stating that it's not the proper solution to the problem.

So, although no real progress has been made in the fight against the UIGEA, we are definitely seeing more legislators cluing in to the fact that it might help their popularity to try to get the law changed.

And this is where you come in: Congress acts on the will of the people, so don't be afraid to send a letter (or letters!) to your representatives and let them know how unfair this bill is. It directly affects our livelihood, after all. It's up to the people to get this thing overturned; Congress isn't about to do it on its own.