|
PokerPages > Poker News > Poker News
Poker News - Poker News
Search News:
Ultimate Bet to Refund $15.1M to Poker Players Affected by ScandalThu, Nov 6th, 2008 @ 12:00am A statement released Nov. 5 by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) corroborates Tuesday's story run in Canada's National Post saying that Excapsa Software Inc. will pay USD $15 million to Blast Off Ltd., owned by former Kahnawake grand chief Joe Tokwiro Norton, which bought Ultimate Bet from Excapsa in 2006. The settlement will enable Ultimate Bet/ Blast Off to pay an estimated $9 million, on top of the USD $6.1 million already paid, to poker players affected by the hole card cheating scandal while playing on Ultimate Bet between 2004 and 2008. An Ontario Superior Court judge Monday approved the USD $15 million settlement to be paid by Excapsa shareholders to Blast Off to allow Ultimate Bet to stay in business, be licensed by the KGC, and to refund all cheated players, as part of Excapsa's liquidation proceedings. According to documents filed by the liquidator, Blast Off originally sought USD $81.4-million in damages for being sold corrupted software. That figure included USD $5-million for harm to Norton's reputation and USD $49-million for damage done to the company's value as a result of the cheating controversy, which has been widely publicized in and out of the gambling world. Presumably the remainder of the $15 million award over the $9 million Ultimate Bet has calculated it still needs to pay out to affected players, will go toward the above damages. BACKGROUND The KGC, which regulates online gambling run out of the Mohawk Territory in Canada, reported in September that it had found "clear and convincing evidence" of "multiple cheating incidents" on Ultimate Bet (between May 2004 and January 2008) involving software being used to enable insiders to see opponents' hole cards (click here for related article). The KGC identified poker pro and 1994 WSOP bracelet winner Russell Hamilton, a former consultant to Ultimate Bet, as "the main person responsible" for the cheating. Mr. Hamilton has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing, and he has not responded publicly to the commission's allegations. It gave Ultimate Bet until this past Monday November 3rd to resume refunding players. The site has already paid out US$6.1-million but has calculated that it owes at least another US$9-millon to people who were cheated. "The good message, and the message that Ultimate Bet wants to send, is that it not only cleaned up and took out the tool, but it's refunding players, many of whom probably don't even know that they were cheated and probably don't have the proof." SECOND SCANDAL This past January, Absolute Poker- another site owned by Norton that was involved with a cheating scandal- was fined $500,000 by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. This time, the Commission fined BlastOff $1.5 million for the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal. Media has noted how these cheating incidents may have affected Kahnawake's reputation as a reliable gaming jurisdiction. This past January, the UK's Gambling Commission's announced in a newsletter that it had refused to add Kahnawake to a "white list" of jurisdictions permitted to advertise online gambling in the lucrative U. K. market along with Antigua (who they since just approved). Read Related Articles:
More Poker News Articles
Moon and Cada Heads-Up, Ivey 7th at WSOP Main Event Final Table After a marathon session at the most esteemed table in the poker world, a 21-year-old and a logger are set to go one-on-one for the World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet.
PokerStars Launches New UK and Ireland Poker Tour PokerStars.com has announced the start of a new poker tour with stops throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. The UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) will kick off in Galway, Ireland in mid-December, and the first event in the UK will be held in Manchester in February.
Peerless Media Agrees to Purchase World Poker Tour Enterprises According to a Monday press release, WPT Enterprises Inc., mothership of the World Poker Tour, is now the rightful property of Peerless Media, Ltd., subsidiary of online giant PartyGaming.
Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Hit the Amazing Race Rail After surviving six legs of the Amazing Race by the skin of their teeth, poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were finally eliminated in the CBS reality show's most recently aired episode. Michelle and Ho, the last women standing in the 2008 and 2007 World Series of Poker Main Events, gave reality television fans another chance to watch poker personalities compete away from the felt. Annie Duke garnered quite a following earlier in the year on another reality show competition, NBC's Celebrity Apprentice.
Isaac Baron Dominates Caesars Classic Main Event Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron ran over the final table of the Caesars Palace Classic $5,000 Main Event, amassing a huge chip lead and going home with the $246,928 first prize. It took two long days to narrow the 162-person field to the final ten. A very high percentage of the entrants were recognizable tournament circuit players, and unsurprisingly, the stacked field produced a tough final table lineup.
Tonight- ESPN shows Day Before WSOP Main Event Final Nine are Set- Oct 27 Tonight (Oct. 27) at 9pm ET, ESPN will broadcast highlights of action on the day before the Final Table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was set. Only 27 players remain when this one-hour show begins.
Frenchman Wins PokerStars EPT Warsaw Poker Tourney At the PokerStars European Poker Tour Warsaw No Limit Texas Hold'em main event that wrapped up yesterday, French businessman Christophe Benzimra finished first taking home 358,644 Euros in prize money, while Italian poker pro Alfio Battisti finished second in the tournament.
Vedes Conquers WPT Festa al Lago Final Table Tommy Vedes is the WPT's newest champion! Vedes outlasted 274 players to win the Festa al Lago title and the $1,218,225 first prize. Freddy Deeb, who began the final table with the chip lead, hoped to win his third WPT title and tie Gus Hansen's record. Instead, Deeb was forced to settle for 4th place, leaving room for a new WPT champ. Click here for in-depth coverage of the action and photos from the final table.
Will Hungarians Get Taxed on Poker Soon? Hungarian lawmakers have plans to tax poker winnings and regulate clubs to generate much-needed revenues during the country's worst economic crisis since the end of communism, reports Germany's Deutsche Weele.
Freddy Deeb Leads World Poker Tour Final Table The WPT Festa al Lago Main Event is down to the final six after five tough days of play. Two-time WPT champion Freddy Deeb brings the chip lead along with the benefit of his under-the-lights experience into Monday's televised final table. Deeb previously won the WPT Season III Aruba Poker Classic and the Season VII Celebrity Invitational. He also owns two World Series bracelets and has amassed over $6 million in tournament winnings. A win on Monday would add $1,218,225 to that total. Click here for photos from the felt and final table chip counts. |
Online Poker »
Poker News »
Blog Coverage
Top News
Moon and Cada Heads-Up, Ivey 7th at WSOP...
PokerStars Launches New UK and Ireland... Peerless Media Agrees to Purchase World... Top Tournaments
|
All Poker and free play poker content ©2009 Advanced Global Applications, LLC. All rights reserved.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, visit either: National Council on Problem Gambling or Gamblers Anonymous International Service

