Russ Hamilton The Most Hated Man in Online Poker?

Following WickedChopsPoker (WCP) Raw Vegas exclusive video interview with online poker cheat and one time World Series of Poker main event winner, Russ Hamilton, the backlash has been fast and furious - not to mention expected.

"I seriously hope this mother ****er dies a long, slow, painful death," posted one member of the Never Win Poker Forum.  "How can he seriously not even say a word to defend himself?  He truly must not understand how guilty this makes him look."

Some of the anger was also lodged towards poker pro Layne Flack, who apparently has little problem remaining buddies with Hamilton.

"It infuriates me that he has no words!" commented one angry reader of the Pokerati website. "Can't even defend himself... And Layne, hanging out on the course with an alleged criminal (one who has yet to even attempt to clear his own name), ducking from the cameras. Nice. Degeneracy at its finest."

Hamilton was profiled on 60 Minutes this fall for his role in an insider online poker scandal involving the popular card room, UltimateBet.com

But not everyone was so down on Hamilton for his failure to comment on the cheating scandal.

Another reader of the Pokerati website had this to say:

"For several months, Russ Hamilton hasn't given any comment on the UB scandal. So Raw Vegas ambushed him at a country club and took video of him ... not giving any comment on the UB scandal. How does this qualify as anything even remotely newsworthy?

"If your lawyers tell you to be silent, you stay silent. And any lawyer (or interrogator) will tell you that pure silence is so much more effective than saying, "No comment." Any engagement at all on your part is -EV. The U.S. Bill of Rights Clearly States That Silence ≠ Guilt."

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher