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It's finally here. The much anticipated 60 Minutes segment on insider cheating and online poker. At the center of the investigation, AbsolutePoker.com, which has worked over the past year to repair its reputation.
In truth, Absolute Poker responded much faster than many of its colleagues have in the past. A number of online sportsbooks and online casinos in particular have been involved in various payout disputes relating to software cheating (by the players), bonus abuse and much more. Absolute reimbursed affected customers within a three month period and prior to the completion of an internal investigation. Of course that company is now maligned by the reality that it was trusted associates of the company who engaged in the cheating.
The results of the four-month investigation by 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft, producer Ira Rosen and The Washington Post's two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Gilbert Gaul will appear this Sunday, November 30, at 7 p.m. EST/PST on 60 Minutes.
"He was raising, just really, really bad hands against very good hands. He seemed to play crazy," says Todd Witteles, a computer scientist turned poker player who believed he was losing too much to the same person. "It seemed like he was giving his money away. Except the only thing was, he wasn't losing. He was playing in a style that was sure to lose, but he was killing the game day after day," Witteles, who played a key detective role, remembers.
Michael Josem, a player and a computer security expert, plotted the odds of such consistent success. "We did the mathematical analysis to find that they were winning at about 15 standard deviations above the mean...approximately equivalent to winning a one-in-a-million jackpot six consecutive times."
The cheating, which netted the cheaters more than $20 million.
The 60 Minutes report starts out by proclaiming "online poker is illegal and unregulated in the United States". It is not, however, illegal to play online poker - rather the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act makes it against the law to operate an online poker room from the States.
Absolute Poker and its sister room, UltimateBet.com, continue to thrive. It remains to be seen how damaging the 60 Minutes report will be. This incident and any other involving online poker cheating - while extremely serious - remain isolated incidents. The industry has evolved significantly over the last decade. Bringing these issues to the forefront has helped in that respect.
One thing is certain: The 60 Minutes piece will be a ratings juggernaut. The show follows either the Jets/Broncos game or the Steelers/Patriots game depending on the market and this is the type of segment that will be promoted throughout the games.
