Reply to comment

The Absolute Poker scandal mostly flew under the mainstream media's radar last year, but as the old saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Maybe George W. Bush can't get that cliche correct, but if he played online poker he would definitely understand it's meaning right around now.

The news is now official as UltimateBet has admitted that it has suffered its own cheating scandal.

And this time, the mainstream press is noticing. Canada's National Post newspaper is already on top of the story.

A media organization with an already conservative bent, on Saturday the Post published a stark story about the state of security inside the poker world, with an article titled Native policing of gambling in doubt after online cheating.

And while I'm generally loathe to agree with conservative views of online gambling, I'm having a hard time disagreeing with the premise of the article, which questions whether the Kahnawake reserve has the balls to properly regulate the gaming companies under its watch.

Right now, it looks like it doesn't.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission has to realize how this looks from the outside. We are living in a world where the very existence of the online gambling industry hangs in its perception of being honest and professional, even if it is not regulated by the government.

And what is Kahnawake showing the world?

Here is a company, Tokwiro Enterprises, which is controlled by the former chief of Kahnawake - the same chief that ushered in the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, by the way. And his company has suffered not one, but TWO major security breaches - each of which seriously draws into question the honesty of online poker - in the last eight months.

Let's be honest here, from the outside it looks like Mr. Norton created a fiefdom where he is free to operate like a half-assed pirate without suffering any consequences. And the Kahnawake Gaming Commission is looking like a bunch of well-paid rubber stamps.

The first breach, involving Absolute Poker, resulted in $500K in fines and some threats of more intense vigilance in the future. In other words, a slap on the wrist for an organization of that size. And it looks like the promise of further vigilance really made a difference, didn't it?

If this incident only draws a similarly lax punishment for UltimateBet, it could lead to the entire online gambling industry being viewed as nothing more than one big rigged scam. Really, who wants to play online poker after reading these stories? Who wants to play online roulette or blackjack ever again?

Now, Tokwiro is trying to once again laugh off the incident as a simple matter of former employees who took advantage of the system and situation. Basically, the same excuse as last time, but now it's looking very tired and not at all like any lessons have been learned.

Yes, Tokwiro is also trying to get ahead of the situation by banning the miscreants and refunding those who were cheated. But I'm sorry, but that is not enough.

This is the second time Tokwiro has embarrassed the entire industry. This is the second time they have blemished the industry's reputation for honesty, and there is no guarantee that this situation won't result in a massive political backlash that ends all hopes for legalization. Frankly, I was surprised that the Absolute Poker scandal didn't explode in everybody's face. I will be doubly surprised if this situation doesn't turn very ugly in the mainstream media.

There were already rumors of a 60 Minutes expose about online poker. Now, we know why is hasn't aired yet - Steve Kroft is likely still gathering all of the juicy facts about the latest scandal. Maybe there was a chance that the original story could have had a positive spin, but this situation blows that chance out of the water. So let's get prepared for a full frontal assault on the industry, because it is coming - and we deserve it.

I know there are two sides to every story, but it is too late for that. This is a situation that has to be dealt with forcefully... in the best interests of the entire industry.

The only way to teach a valuable lesson is to take away something valuable.

In the brick-and-mortar casino industry, scandals like this usually result in a temporary loss of a gaming license for a few days or more. Hell, when a bar gets caught serving alcohol to minors, it will usually get shut down for a week.

In this case, Mr. Norton and Tokwiro Enterprises need to be shown that their actions - or lack thereof - have consequences.

UltimateBet needs to be taught a lesson.

The question is: Will the Kahnawake Gaming Commission step up and deliver that lesson?

spaces.covers.com