Absolute Poker's PotRipper Cheating Scandal

In less than two months, rumors about the Absolute Poker "Super User" account have gone from rumor, to a story widely believed by internet poker players, to a scandal that has been all but proven. The twisted tale of how a user named PotRipper could see other players cards was bad enough, but to hear allegations that this poker cheat was actually an employee of Absolute Poker has sent shock waves throughout the world of online poker.

The controversy that shook the core of the $12 Billion online poker industry began last month with a high stakes poker tournament that was played at Absolute Poker. Marco Johnson, a 21-year old resident of Las Vegas finished second place in that tournament. Even though he was happy to claim the $20,000 prize for second place, something about the game just seemed odd to Johnson.

Johnson requested a copy of his hand history for the tournament so that he could take another look at his play and the hands he dealt. What he received was something entirely different - an item that sparked the biggest controversy to ever hit the online poker industry. The hand history report that Johnson requested should have been a simple list of the hands he was dealt during the course of the poker tournament. What Absolute Poker sent, presumably by mistake, was an excel spreadsheet that showed the cards and IP addresses of every player in the tournament. That is where the story gets interesting.

With this new file in hand, new questions about the tournament were raised. Of particular interest was the activity of a player using the name PotRipper, who claimed a $30,000 prize for finishing the tournament in first place. PotRipper's play in the Absolute Poker tournament was highly suspicious, enough the Johnson immediately felt as though he had been cheated. Before making such an accusation, however, Johnson reviewed the file with industry experts, who came to some startling conclusions.