In one of the most bizarre online poker stories of the year, a former consultant of Russ Hamilton presented the online poker community with clear evidence that Hamilton was the mastermind behind the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal that dates back nearly a decade. Travis Makar produced these tapes late last night in an attempt to clear his name and counter Iovation’s attempt to backdoor their business into the Nevada online poker industry.
*Quick Update Links*
1st Secret Recording Released on PFA – http://pokerfraudalert.com/radio/ub-scandal-meeting.mp3
2nd Secret Recording Released on PFA – http://pokerfraudalert.com/radio/ub-scandal-meeting2.mp3
The now defunct site suffered from a rogue software version that allowed a player to open a “God Mode” platform that made all players’ hole cards available to the user, while at the same time allowing the same player to sit at a real money table on a different computer. This was allowed in real time, even from a two computers on the same IP address.
Russ Hamilton clearly admitted that he stole at least $16 million in the recorded meeting between him, Greg Pierson and UB attorneys. The entire discussion centered on damage control and how to get out of refunding the full amount stolen by Hamilton, who refused to pay any of this money back from his ill-gotten gains. In addition to Ultimate Bet management, executives at Absolute Poker were also aware of the cheating. Several familiar names outside of the past Ultimate Bet management structure were mentioned. These names include Scott Tom, Joe Norton and Paul Leggett.
Russ Hamilton agreed to help decide which players would receive a refund. He expressed his thoughts in a way most people can only describe as arrogant. Some players were discussed as being worthy of a full refund, while others that were clearly not liked by Hamilton were trash talked and potentially refused a refund.
Cheated players were not the only ones mentioned. Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth came up in the tapes as well for different reasons. Annie Duke was accused of using the God Mode to replay hand histories not available to all players, while the discussion members decided how to address concerns that Hellmuth was likely to have with the cheating scandal.
Hamilton was quick to point out his cheating was known by others in the company. He even alluded to some stolen funds being redeposited into the company’s balance sheets or reinvested into the site’s marketing. It was later hinted that Iovation, a player verification service, was launched with funds taken directly from the scandal. The others involved in the meeting did not dispute any of Hamilton’s claims.
Here is a list of the files leaked today.
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