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To date, Gambling911.com has been the only mainstream news media outlet covering the suspicious deaths of online gambling website portal creator, Kenneth Weitzner, and his wife Jackie Balance Weitzner.
Aside from a handful of website posting forums, few if any industry-related news venues have covered what was initially believed to be a "suicide pact". Others have cast doubts on whether Jackie actually entered into such a "pact".
Weitnzer was considered a pioneer in the world of online gambling portals, creating one of the very first such websites, ThePrescription.com (now called TheRx.com). Weitzner fancied himself a psychiatrist, having gone to school to enter that particular field. He never received his license, however. Weitzner would later sell his beloved website for just over $2 million and start a similar vehicle called EOG.com or Eye On Gambling.
The poker media has almost entirely ignored the Weitzner double suicide story despite his site being the first to prominently feature soon-to-be-billionaire Ruth Parasol's initial online casino company. She would ultimately go on to found PartyGaming/PartyPoker, the single biggest IPO of 2004 on the London Stock Exchange. Weitzner in some ways was the father of today online poker portals. His site had a successful posting forum before TwoPlusTwo.com evolved into what it is today.
Based on information obtained by Gambling911.com, a major media outlet is in the process of investigating the Weitzner deaths with the final article due out later this month.
Weitzner and his wife were found last month in a detached apartment on their sprawling Chesapeake, Virginia property, dead from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning and an overdose of pills. Suicide notes were reportedly found at the scene though offered little explanation for a motive. Rumors suggest that Ken Weitzner either owed a million dollars from a losing bet NCAA Championship bet or he was about to be indicted.
Weitzner acted as an informant for the Feds during a 1990's investigation into Medicare fraud. It is also believed through an investigation being conducted by Gambling911.com that Weitzner had been interviewed by federal agents in late 2006 or early 2007 following passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Additionally, he was subpoenaed to provide information related to Las Vegas golf course developer and sports bettor Billy Walters. Weitzner was flown to San Diego as part of this subpoena though it is not known what information he offered up.
Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
