Exposed: Cheating Online at Absolute Poker

In a previous article, Yes, You Can Cheat at Online Poker, I make the assertion that, yes, cheating is possible when playing online poker. Of course, most people disbelieve this fact. I am constantly amazed by the masses of players who take comfort in the assurances of poker websites that cheating these days is not a reality. Well, if ever there were any doubt regarding this question of whether cheating at online poker actually occurs, these events should put the matter to rest once and for all.

During an online tournament at Absolute Poker, some players became suspicious of how another player was winning. After the tournament, the player who finished second filed a complaint and requested a copy of hand histories for the tournament. This is usually a routine matter, and poker websites provide such information whenever requested. But in this particular instance, Absolute Poker inadvertently supplied more data than just hand histories. The file they sent appeared to be gibberish at first, but upon further analysis, actually revealed all hole cards for all players as well as IP addresses and other proprietary info. In other words, the poker website accidentally revealed a veritable gold mine of information.

This data shows a cheating scheme that may be linked directly back to Absolute Poker itself!

An observer came into this poker room and apparently informed the winning player of all other hole cards during the tournament. For example, the player in question folded his first two hands before this observer entered the room, and then folded no other hands for about twenty minutes until he folded pre-flop when another player held a pair of kings. This type of playing continued throughout the entire tournament.

And it gets worse. This observer was apparently in cahoots with Absolute Poker. His IP address and account name traces to the servers that host Absolute Poker. This evidence suggests that an insider at Absolute Poker had access to all hole cards in real time and that he relayed that information to an outside accomplice.