Mike Matusow Goes Off On Russ Hamilton

 
Mike Matusow is busting out and finally speaking about Russ Hamilton cheating him.

The guys on the Hardcore Poker Show landed an interview with Mike Matusow where The Mouth unloaded on Russ Hamilton.

To sum it up:

• Hamilton kept calling Matusow to play heads up, and MATUSOW KEPT LENDING HAMILTON $50K to play him heads up. We put that in all caps for emphasis, btw. "Can you ship me $50k so we can play heads up and I can steal it from you?" Man that guy has balls.
• Matusow claims to have evidence that proves Russ is 100% guilty (not that anyone doesn't think he is).
• The incident has changed Matusow's style of play negatively (we've heard this from other pros too).
• Other poker players are "pussies" for not being more vocal on the issue (couldn't agree more).

Listen: Clip 1| Clip 2| Clip 3| Clip 4| Clip 5

UltimateBet Awards Phil Hellmuth Pot on Losing Hand

 
UltimateBet's Phil Hellmuth has seen better days.

All right now, how many times do we have to say, "Quit playing on UB and Absolute Poker"? How many times?

Just when you think UB has bottomed out, another scandal. And this one involves their biggest star.

As first reported at pokerati here, Phil Hellmuth was involved in a pot during a $200/400 limit hold'em game where he held the losing hand yet was shipped the virtual cash.

The player on the losing end, DOUBLEBALLER, contacted customer support and eventually got his money back, but not before UB sustained another black eye on yet another software glitch.

While it's widely believed inside the industry that Hellmuth has had absolutely no involvement in any of the UB cheating scandals, this certainly won't help his rep to the masses.

Read more here and watch the hand play out here.

CEREUS Blocks Kentucky IP Addresses

Charlotte McKenna is a model from UK. Because we're arrogant U.S. Americans, we immediately thought that meant she went to the University of Kentucky. But no, apparently there is some "United Kingdom" across the Atlantic Ocean from us. Whatever.

The CEREUS network (comprised of online poker cheating sites Absolute Poker and UltimateBet) won't allow Kentucky IP addresses from accessing their sites. This is in accordance with Franklin County's  Circuit Court’s recent orders (from the domain seizure case).

From a press release:

"In complying with the Court’s orders, Tokwiro has agreed to implement an IP Block across its Absolute Poker and UltimateBet websites (both .net and .com), plus utlimatebet.tv. The Block will prevent players with IP addresses originating inside the Commonwealth of Kentucky from playing using AP and UB software, logging in or registering a new account, making deposits to the cashier, and transferring or receiving funds from other players. The IP Block will allow players with IP addresses originating in Kentucky to make withdrawals of existing account funds, but these players will not be able to make any new deposits or transfers.

Paul Leggett, Tokwiro’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We have taken this action in order to ensure that the vast number of our customers, who do not reside in Kentucky, continue to have access to our sites and to enjoy playing online poker without disruption or inconvenience.”

Love how CEREUS sites have suddenly developed a conscience. Hopefully everyone in the 49 other states will do a self-imposed banning of the CEREUS network now.

Dan Druff to Address 60 Minutes Fall Out, Mason Malmouth Bashing

The 60 Minutes feature on the Absolute Poker and UltimateBet online poker cheating scandals earned a collective "meh" from the Entities.

Yeah it wasn't great for online poker but it could've been way, way worse. The final piece was far from the outright "hatchet job" we were told it would be.

Not everyone shares this opinion though. Taking a lot of heat right now is Todd "Dan Druff" Witteles for his closing comments:

"The people who did this were very greedy and very blatant. But the scary thing is there may be other accounts out there like this, maybe even on other sites that are not being done with the same sort of recklessness. And maybe this has been going on on more than Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, maybe it's going on in several other places, and maybe it's still going on on these sites."

Pretty legitimate concern (although we don't believe it is happening), especially if you were actually one of the people who was scammed, as Druff was.

But Druff is getting slammed on 2+2 (start reading here). Even Mason Malmouth went on a 2+2 podcast to use Druff's comments as an opp to smack down NWP and call for some weird "regulations" of sites within the poker industry.

The funny thing about this is Druff was one of the guy's who helped unearth the Absolute mess, doing the poker community a big service. Dude is getting no slip-up equity for that. And in the 2+2 podcast, it was also revealed that Druff even clarified his "controversial" statement that he did feel safe on other sites, but 60 Minutes didn't air it.

Anyway, more high school drama is sure to ensue. Listen to Mason's chat here.

Read more on NWP here. Druff to go on NWP Radio as well.

Watch the full 60 Minutes piece below for more perspective in case you did miss it.

Watch CBS Videos Online

60 Minutes Online Poker Cheating Expose - What Did You Think?

 
Absolute Douchebags: Potripper and other online poker cheaters were finally featured on 60 Minutes last night.

60 Minutes aired its online poker cheating story last night. Some initial thoughts:

• Could've been worse.
• Especially when Steve Kroft started it off by saying that you can simply access an on site by logging on to the "world wide web..." At least he didn't go with "Information Superhighway^TM."
• Come on, Todd. You could've at least told them to refer to you as Todd "Dan Druff" Witteles. Nice NWP representing nonetheless.
• The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is absolutely useless.
• The fact that no criminal action has been brought against Russ Hamilton is disgusting.

We're currently working on a major Russ Hamilton story, and like 60 Minutes, tried contacting him about a month ago and had similar results. We know of a few big name pros who Hamilton personally stole money from through a super-user account. The dude is a slimeball.

More to come...but read more on the scandals here, here, and here.

Surely You Can't Be CEREUS

CEREUS is the name of the new Absolute Poker + UB super poker platform, which not ironically at all is also the name of the genus name for a cactus plant, as CEREUS will likely leave your account as dry as a desert.

In what has to be the best news ever for people who enjoy buying timeshares, taking part in pyramid schemes, flushing their money down the toilet, or simply getting robbed, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker have decided to "integrate customers and features" and create one big super user account scamming online poker platform called CEREUS.

According to the press release:

Today, the management of both Absolute Poker and UltimateBet announced the upcoming launch of CEREUS: a new poker platform that will integrate the customers and features from both poker rooms, instantly making CEREUS the third largest online poker network.

Also according to the press release:

CEREUS is the result of more than 12 months innovation and development.

We'd love to sit in on those R&D meetings. "Ok guys, we've developed some ground-breaking super-user technology that will more randomize results so the guy manning the account doesn't actually win EVERY SINGLE hand, minimizing short-term profits but enabling us to present more logical long-term winnings." "Brilliant!"*

There is so much wrong and ridiculous about this it's, um, ridiculous. Doesn't matter though as it seems most people don't care and keep playing these sites. Regardless, read the full press release on the WCP forum here and pick out your favorite lines. For a reminder on why you should never, EVER play on these sites, go here, here, here, and here.

Related, Joanna Krupa doing Ed Hardy is cereusly super.

* Sadly, this conversation might've actually happened.

BREAKING: 60 Minutes Interviews Mark Seif, Mike Sexton, Greg Raymer on Online Poker Cheating Scandal; Feature Rumored to Be a "Hatchet Job" on the Industry

The long awaited 60 Minutes feature on the Absolute Poker online poker cheating scandal took a big step to hitting the small screen today. And Wicked Chops Poker is the only site with photos of the news event.

Anchor Steve Kroft, 62, interviewed Mark Seif (wearing an Absolute Poker jersey), Mike Sexton (not wearing a Party Poker one), Linda Johnson (why? was Shari Flanzer unavailable?), and Greg Raymer (wearing a Poker Stars shirt). The interviews took place in an empty Rio Amazon Room around 11am.

We overheard Raymer discussing the need for the U.S. American government to regulate online poker, and we can surmise because we're smart-like-that that the rest of the messaging from the group was on point with the PPA's platform. Raymer, a Libertarian, said he doesn't see why the government should regulate his actions if they cause no harm to others. Johnson (why her again?) and Sexton both agreed with the need for regulation and taxation.

The wild card in this mix is that 2+2 poster and founder of the AbsolutePokerCheats.com website (here), Michael Josem, was also interviewed. How the stories weaved by Seif and Josem regarding the Absolute scandal will surely be a focal point of the piece and may eventually influence (ever so slightly) how legislators decide to handle the legality of online poker moving forward.

Unfortunately, word from our sources indicate that this 60 Minutes feature will be an outright "hatchet job" on the online poker industry. Although that's really not much of a shocker. But it's certainly not good news either.

More photos from the interviews below. The one of Josem with Seif in the background (second from left) is particularly great.

View the full 60 Minutes online poker scandal photo gallery here. If you swipe photos we appreciate the link back to WCP. And definitely re-watch Mark Seif's interview on the Absolute scandal from last October here or view it in its entirety after the jump.

Dad Who Bankrolled Absolute Poker Wins Event #11

Phil Tom (above) is not your typical WSOP bracelet winner.

And that's not just because he's a newly elected Davidson Matthew Club member.

Or that he denied Greg "FBT" Mueller his second bracelet in two years.

No, Phil Tom is one of the dad's who bankrolled the launch of Absolute Poker back in 2003.

According to Absolute Detectives:

"AP was started by Scott Tom and a few Ivy league friends back in 2003. Phil Tom and the other fathers of these kids bankrolled the venture, and Absolute Poker was born. Phil Tom is Scott Tom's FATHER, not his brother. The IP address that this 'other' account was logged in from was traced to the home cable modem of Scott Tom, CEO of Absolute poker. [email protected] is apparently the CEO, and is also the owner of account POTRIPPER. Scott Tom is also apparently the owner of the STEAMROLLER account."

Read the full Absolute Detectives "who's who" report on Scott Tom here.

While none of this at all implicates Phil Tom in any of the Absolute Poker scandal from last year, it's an interesting wrinkle that's not widely being reported by the so-called poker "media."

For the win, Tom banks $477,990, or just a few mil shy of what Potripper stole from people in high-stakes games.

Get full payout and results here.

Easing Back Into Poker News with Joanna Krupa

After a nice long Memorial Day weekend, we're going to ease back into this whole "poker news" reporting thing. And with the 2008 World Series of Poker just a few days away, what better way to do so than with the hottest girl to ever play in a WSOP, Joanna Krupa. In fact, we're pretty sure we've used the above pic in a post before. So what. Like you care. 

• Sam Grizzle apparently gives "Deadbeat" Dayne Baverman a run for his money as the world's greatest dad. (link)
• Poker pro David Singer wins FTP's $25,000 Heads-Up Online Poker Championship. (link)
• With apologies to the Sports Guy, the "homeless man's version" of the WSOP, the Second Annual Binion's Poker Classic, has been announced. (link).
• Those 2006 WSOP Joanna Krupa pics leave you wanting more? Get your Joanna Krupa fix with this compiliation gallery. (link)
• Players at an underground poker club are robbed thousands of dollars. Looks like the perps got away, avoiding induction (for now) into our Stupid Poker Criminals Hall of Fame. (link)
• And finally, Dr. Pauly on the UB online poker cheating scandal. (link)

60 Minutes to Take on Absolute Poker Insider Cheating Scandal

Online poker is about to get some unwanted mainstream media attention.

Word from various sources is that 60 Minutes, the venerable television news program watched mostly by people who do the early bird and smell like mothballs, is doing an investigative story on the Absolute Poker insider cheating scandal, which didn't so much rock the online poker world last October as much as it became forum fodder for a few weeks then fizzled.

According to Nat Arem, the Atlanta kid who helped break the scandal wide open, veteran reporter Steve Kroft will be getting his Mike Wallace on in places like Canada, Costa Rica and Las Vegas as he does a "soup to nuts" piece on how AJ Green, a VP at Absolute Poker, was able to swindle millions of dollars from online poker players by using a "super user" account that allowed him to see opponent's hole cards.

From Arem's blog:

"A few weeks ago, I was contacted by 60 Minutes in conjunction with a reporter from the Washington Post regarding a story about the Absolute Poker scandal from last fall. I was told that they wanted Adanthar and myself for on-camera interviews with Steve Kroft. I later found out they were also interested in interviewing Michael Josem and Marco Johnson. Basically, I spent a little while on the phone with the producer and the Washington Post reporter and recapped the whole story as well as I could from memory. I talked about my involvement and contribution, along with all the other people who were involved."

Vikki Blows Is Not Absolute Poker's UK Ambassador

In a follow-up story to our earlier post on Liv Boeree being named Absolute Poker's UK ambassador, potential Official Wicked Chops Poker Girl of 2008 Vikki Blows was not named Absolute Poker's UK ambassador.

However, Vikki Blows does have a new website with lots of NSFW pictures and videos, which definitely isn't the worst way to spend a few minutes in the bathroom.

Visit VikkiBlowsLovesHate.com

More Vikki Blows below:

Vikki Blows Photos
More Vikki Blows Photos
Vikki Blows Video

Thanks to reader Roachie for the link.

New Absolute Poker UK Ambassador Liv Boeree No Lacey Jones, Wears Spandex

Absolute Poker, who just a few months ago was enveloped in the Potripper cheating scandal that nobody even talks about now, has added a new poker hottie to their stable.

Liv Boeree, who is definitely no Lacey Jones but isn't exactly bad on the eyes either, will be the UK ambassador for Absolute. According to the Absolute Poker website, the 23 year-old Boeree is a "whiskey-drinking, spandex-wearing, Metallica-loving rock chick with an astrophyics degree..."

Who is she, Poochie?

Surprised Absolute's marketing department didn't pull the "snowboarding/Dungeons and Dragons playing/blowjob-loving" card.

Before becoming an aspiring poker pro, Boeree is (probably?) most known for work with Ultimatepoker.com Showdown, Gutshot TV, Ladies’ World Poker Open, and the World Series of Poker Europe.

In related news, Lacey Jones is just running away with our "Hottest Girl in Poker" poll. Voting ends next week.

Visit Absolute Poker UK spokesperson Liv Boeree's website for more pictures

Vote for WCP's Hosttest Girl in Poker

Watch Mark Seif's comments on the Absolute Poker Scandal

Absolute Poker Insider Cheating Scandal Downgraded to "Boring"

The Absolute Poker insider cheating scandal that first rocked the poker world a few weeks ago, or at least a few poker forums here and there, has gone from the stuff movies are made about (i.e. super user account, rogue employee swindling $7 mil, unicorns, plane loaded with cash crashing on take off, gay sex love fest between Montana frat boys who run AP*) to a total snoozefest.

Putting us asleep most recently was news that Nat Arem, one of the forum-ers who blew the scandal wide open, flew down to Costa Rica on PokerNews.com's dime to "investigate" the matter, and he came back unscathed and alive. Yep, no kidnapping, no roughening him up, no smoking gun found after sneaking into someone's office and going through their desk drawers only seconds away from being caught. Nope, the only thing we got was Arem signing a NDA and Absolute Poker releasing an "interim" statement from some nameless person that doesn't name names and says as little as possible to as few people as possible (statement, which you can read after the jump below, was sent primarily to a couple people on the forums).

The only thing that really woke us from our slomber was Arem saying on 2p2 that he thinks Scott Tom has retained "his ownership interest and is probably at least more removed than before from operational control." Not that we didn't expect this but it's just that with all the focus on AJ Green, not many people seem to be talking about Tom anymore even though it seems obvious that he was very much in the know with what Green was doing or had done and did everything he could to protect his friend (photo at right of Tom and Green in Montana last winter). It's also obvious that online poker players are still playing on Absolute Poker and thus don't really give a damn that with every hand they play they are still putting money in Tom's pocket.

We guess we'll just have to rely on karma for Tom to get his due.

Check out part 1 of Arem's account from his Costa Rican trip over at PokerNews.com here.

Also check out Nat's own blog for the cliff notes version of the above here.

For the exact opposite of the above photo but just as scandalous go here.

* The Absolute Poker frat boys may not engage in gay sex frequently with each other a lot.

Dan Druff's Rebuttal to Mark Seif on RawVegas.tv

Todd Witteles, otherwise known as Dan Druff from NeverwinPoker.com is pissed. In our last episode of Wicked Chops Poker’s "The Toke", Mark Seif had some choice words for Dan. Now Detective Druff is in studio to defend himself and give his stance on the Absolute Poker Super-User Account scandal.

Watch Dan Druff's video rebuttal below or at RawVegas.tv

Heads Up: Neverwin Poker's Dan Druff to Respond to Mark Seif on RawVegas.tv, And Other Updates

Neverwin Poker's Dan Druff (at right) is set to respond to Mark Seif on RawVegas.tv on Wednesday around 9am EST. Click here around 9am to watch the video, or come back to WCP for the embedded version.

In case you missed AJ Green's potripper.com site launch, click here.

Earlier today, Seif blogged about his interview on RawVegas.tv, clarifying some key points. Read that post here. Watch his RawVegas.tv interview here.

For the top 10 topless movie scenes of all-time, a list that features poker player Shannon Elizabeth, click here.

Surprise! Absolute Poker Screwed PR Firm Out of $43,000

The New York Times, which is like the Gambling911.com of everyday news, except not as respectable (in the reporters with nice boobs department), did a story today on a PR firm that's reportedly owed $43,000 by Absolute Poker for services rendered in connection with a college tuition promotion that ran a few years ago (not to be confused with the "Intern for AP, Get Herpes" campaign.

The firm, Publicity Guaranteed, charges for each article it successfully pitches and after Absolute failed to pay in full, it took the online poker site to court. It also recently sent out a statement to about 100 newspapers, detailing Absolute's failure to pay.

Commenting on the public shaming, Nat Kurok of Publicity Guaranteed said, "We're just saying we're someone else that got shortchanged by Absolute Poker, and this should be public knowledge."

According to the article, an Absolute Poker executive named Paul Leggett promised he would call back with a comment but did not.

Check out the NY Times piece here.

In news just as shocking as the above, Paris Hilton once again looked like a stupid ho for Halloween.

Photo above of Absolute Poker spokesmodel Serinda Swan because we couldn't find a photo of Absolute Poker spokesman Paul Leggett posing provocatively in lingerie.

Mark Seif on Absolute Poker Scandal: "I Had Nothing To Do With This"

For this week's websiode of "The Toke," Absolute Poker pro Mark Seif talks about the super-user account scandal at AP and attempts to clear the air about his involvement while addressing accusations leveled against him. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner shares how he initially heard about the scam and gives his take on AJ Green, the creepy looking kid reportedly behind the insider cheating scam. Seif also says that what happened could also happen at PokerStars.com or Full Tilt. Later in the video, Seif addresses accusations that he himself cheated during a session back in 2006 and takes shots specifically at DanDruff, co-owner of NeverwinPoker.com, for "fanning the flames."

Watch the full Mark Seif video below or at RawVegas.tv here.

Software Flaw Led to Abuse by Absolute Poker Official, Lacey Jones is the Front-Runner

Gambling911.com is reporting that a known flaw in Absolute Poker's recent software update was used by at least one high ranking official to his advantage. Or maybe it was her advantage. Neh, chicks don't cheat people for money. They get fake boobs and hair extensions instead. Sure, some may say that's cheating too but we see it differently. Not sure how, but we do.

Anyway, according to G911: "While the abuse has been well documented, reports of how key individuals came to take advantage of key flaws remain a mystery until now."

Read how, more or less, here.

Meanwhile, Wicked Chops Poker is reporting that former Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones (in photo above) is by all accounts the front-runner in our hottest girl in poker search. Some may accuse us of favoritism because Lacey is our favorite and when we say favorite we mean she's the girl who knows all of our dirty little secrets, ones that could send us to prison and we can't go to prison. We're way too pretty for prison.

Keep emailing in and/or posting your picks for hottest girls in poker. Think outside the box, so to speak.

Heads-Up: Mark Seif Video Interview Coming this Afternoon

Mark Seif stopped by the RawVegas.tv studios yesterday (we love those guys) to chat about the Absolute Poker insider cheating scandal, and among the topics discussed include:

- Meeting AJ Green and his impressions of the most hated man in online poker
- How he found out about the scandal and how he feels about the way Absolute's handled the situaton so far
- His response to the accusations of cheating leveled against him on the forums
- NWP's Todd "Dan Druff" Witteles and why he may sue him

Full video interview to be posted here at Wicked Chops Poker and RawVegas.tv this afternoon.

Until then, watch this related video of booth babes at the WSOP talking about "suck outs". Come to think of it, the video has nothing to do with the Mark Seif interview. But neither does this photo of Grace Park and that shouldn't stop you from looking. At least it didn't stop us and we're frickin' role models.

Absolute Poker Scandal: New Statement Released, Nothing New Said

Absolute Poker just released a new statement about the super-user account scam through its Costa Rican neighbor PocketFives and Nat Arem on 2p2 that basically says exactly what its old statement said.

The gist is that Absolute was a victim, the perp was a "consultant," Absolute responded "immediately" every step of the way (are "stonewall" and "listlessly" synonyms of immediately?), and the problem's been resolved and people will get their money back.

Ironically, it doesn't claim unicorns are real.

No name appears to be attached to the statement but our guess is it's from the guy in the image to the right.

Read the new Absolute statement after the jump.

WTF Baby! Scotty Nguyen Pimping Absolute Poker at US PokerBowl

Looking over at CardPlayer's coverage of the inaugural US PokerBowl, we couldn't help but notice the photo of Scotty Nguyen decked out in an Absolute Poker cap. Anyone know how to say "super-user account scam" in Vietnamese? If so, get with the former World Champ who we last saw pimping Full Tilt Poker at the 2007 WSOP.

Oh wait, we see that Scotty was playing on Team Detroit Absolute Nuts along with fellow Absolute Nutters Mark Seif, Kenna James, Kathy Liebert, Nick Brancato and Nickelback fan Rick Fuller. The embattled poker site run by cheaters for who knows how long, allegedly, must have been the team sponsor.

The Absolute Nuts. Frickin' hate the poker world sometimes.

In related news, the US Poker Bowl concluded, one of the teams won and we're pretty sure no one cares. Maybe it will play better on television when it eventually airs on Fox Sports. Kind of like the "So You Think You Can Porn" reality show we're working on.

Get results from the US PokerBowl here.

Learn how to master the swipe in Scotty Nguyen's break dancing tutorial here.

Photo of Scotty Nguyen from CardPlayer.com

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.