Absolute Poker Paying Super-User Sleuth to Visit HQ in Costa Rica

In what may be a really good/bad idea, one of the sleuths who first broke open the Absolute Poker super-user account scandal, Nat Arem (in photo), has accepted an invitation by Absolute to visit the company's heaquarters in Costa Rica in an attempt to gain further insight into the insider cheating scam that hasn't so much rocked the online poker world as it has merely fueled forum fodder for the past few weeks with zero effect on the poker site's bottom line.

In a post on 2p2, the 25-year-old Arem, who many know as the founder of thepokerdb.com and who has a small stake in Bluff Media, makes it known up front that he is receiving compensation from Absolute Poker. How much, he isn't saying yet.

While most seem hopeful that Arem's visit will shed light on the actions of AJ Green, Scott Tom and his Absolute frat tards, many question what can really be gained from a paid trip by Absolute taking place on its own turf with everyone putting on their best face. No doubt this is more of a paid public relations ploy than anything in attempt to win back the trust of the online poker community by winning over one of the guy's speaking for that community.

When asked himself what he is hoping to accomplish in Costa Rica, Arem stated:

I'm hoping to bring back a detailed report for online poker communities explaining my thoughts on the cheating that went on (they have promised to show me details of how it happened), the current management, the effectiveness of the audit, etc.

Arem also states that he plans plan on offering Absolute "a fair amount of advice" on how it should handle the situation from here on out, which, considering they plan on compensating him, sounds a bit like a paid consultant gig to us.

Last we checked the forums, Arem, a stand-up guy who's worked endlessly on uncovering this scandal for absolutely no money, seems to be reconsidering his plans to go to Costa Rica on Absolute's dime. Keep track of the latest in the 2p2 thread here.

UPDATE: Arem just posted on 2p2 saying "FWIW, I am not going anymore on AP's dime" and states that he's most worried about the appearance of being compromised if paid by Absolute. Read about here (scroll down).

Nat Arem's personal blog here.