Over two years have passed since “Black Friday” shut down three of the largest online poker operations in the United States. PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network sites Absolute Poker and UB.com (formerly known as UltimateBet) were all affected by the indictments in 2011, but only one of those entities failed to come back to the poker industry. A new book expected next month from a renowned gaming author is expected to look at that history, but it might not be the book that people are looking for regarding the subject.
“Straight Flush,” which is expected to be released on May 28 (according to Amazon.com), is a book written by noted gaming author Ben Mezrich. Mezrich, who previously has written such popular tomes as “Bringing Down The House” (the story of the MIT Blackjack Team that Mezrich was a part of that became the basis for the movie “21”) and “The Accidental Billionaires” (about Mark Zuckerberg’s creation of Facebook and the basis for “The Social Network“), will take on the story of Absolute Poker this time around. Through interviews with the participants, Mezrich looks at the history of the company and its rise and fall in the online poker industry.
According to Mezrich’s website, six college friends from the University of Montana conceived the site and, after basing it in Costa Rica, brought Absolute Poker to the world. “At its height, Absolute Poker was an online empire earning more than a million dollars a day, following savvy business strategy and even better luck,” the website says. “One problem…the U. S. Department of Justice was gunning for them.”
Some of the men that Mezrich will be writing about are well known to the poker community because of the downfall of Absolute Poker. Scott Tom and Brent Beckley were two of the defendants that were named in the “Black Friday” indictments of 2011, alleging multiple violations of various U. S. laws. That indictment led to the shutdown of Absolute Poker in the United States (along with its sister site UB.com) and its eventual closure.
Beckley was one of the first people indicted under the “Black Friday” case to receive significant jail time. Although he attempted to fight the case for a bit, Beckley eventually pled guilty to charges of violating U. S. gambling laws as well as conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. He was sentenced to a 14-month jail term last July.
Tom was one of the key figures in the Absolute Poker “superuser” scandal that rocked the poker world in 2007. That scandal, which also affected (as it was known at the time) UltimateBet.com, involved culprits using software that allowed them to see the hole cards of their opponents and, as such, enabled them to have a significant advantage. Named in the “Black Friday” indictments, Tom is one of three men that have yet to be apprehended by U. S. authorities and it is not expected that any arrest will occur soon.
It isn’t known at this time how much of that history will be discussed by Mezrich in his book. While an important piece of the company’s history (and the history of online poker), Mezrich may be more interested in telling the story of how those simple “college kids” were able to build such an empire. He may get into the eventual downfall of Absolute Poker, but it may not be the total story that those in the poker world are looking to learn.
Noted poker journalist Haley Hintze, whose coverage of not only the Superuser scandals at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet but their eventual downfall has been excellent, was signed by Dimat Enterprises in 2011 to author a book on virtually the same subject as Mezrich – the rise and fall of the companies. Although she is continuing to work on the book at this time, she has had to put it aside, according to her Twitter account, for “life situations.” “I’d prefer to wait until after Mezrich’s whatever appears,” Hintze wrote on Twitter last month.
Which will be the more revealing book, Mezrich’s effort with its insider looks or Hintze’s well researched background tome? We will at least have the first look at Mezrich’s view of the situation when “Straight Flush” is released next month.