Written by :
Published on :
The biggest news in the online poker sector Friday morning was that the world’s 6th largest network (3rd largest catering to the North American poker player), Cereus (home to the popular UB.com) had been acquired by Internet gambling pioneer Stuart Gordon.
The folks from Two Plus Two.com, one of the leading poker forums on the Web, immediately began questioning the validity of such an acquisition. Many suggested it was some type of “shell game” with Gordon’s Blanca Games just another corporation set up by the same folks who already run Cereus and UB.com.
One forum reader offered up this conspiracy theory:
I doubt we'll see any further disclosure. This is another shell game. The liquidators needed another payment from Tokwiro to pay Excapsa. Cereus 'owners' moved the assets to someone else.
Others point to the fact that the entity taking over Cereus, Blanca Games, was only set up last month. For the record Cereus alludes to this in their own press release, stating that Blanca Games was set up specifically to acquire online gambling ventures.
So is Stuart Gordon some alien who just landed on the planet Earth a few weeks ago, embroiled in some nefarious plot to reincarnate the Cereus Poker Network?
Stuart Gordon is indeed a real person - without a whole lot of controversy surrounding him we might add - and he has very much been involved with the online gambling sector since its inception in 1996. His BingoMania.com was among the first licensees in Antigua, one of the leading i-Gaming jurisdictions. Bingo operations have always been considered cash cows in the sector so nobody should be surprised if Gordon is sitting on a whole lot of loot.
Cereus and UB.com have been working tirelessly to repair their reputation following a much publicized “insider cheating” scandal that rocked the industry in 2007. The story was profiled on the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes. Following that scandal, Cereus was taken over by a company called Tokwiro and an overhaul of management followed. While Cereus refunded players they felt were even remotely affected by the scandal, diehard online poker enthusiasts seem intent on ensuring the company goes under and that any subsequent deals UB.com makes will only be with the devil.
By the looks of things, Mr. Gordon is hardly the devil.
Here is his bio as it appears onthe BingoMania.com website:
Hi. I'm Stuart and I love bingo. I live in Antigua, which is a beautiful island in the Caribbean. I'm the Chief Fun Officer at Bingomania.com where I'm responsible for everyone who works at the Bingomania HQ and everyone who plays at the Bingomania.com community website. As you can imagine my job entails a huge amount of fun and a tiny bit of stress...every now and then. =)
I live with my girlfriend Ariana, and we have 4 dogs – American Staffordshire Bull Terriers.
The purpose of the Our People section, is to give you a look inside the Bingomania HQ, so that you can get to know myself and my team a bit better. I hope you enjoy playing at BingoMania as much as I enjoy working here.
A dog lover can’t be all that bad.
UB.com advised Gambling911.com that “there will be no changes to any staff or any of the operations”. Presumably that means that COO Paul Liggett will remain in his current position, though an official statement regarding his future is expected early next week. Through Liggett's leadership, the company has prospered.
For the naysayers, there will always be some doubt in regard to Stuart Gordon and his intentions, and whether he is really from this planet.
We have not obtained his birth certificate.
---
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
