On Tuesday, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) posted a press release on its website outlining the sanctions that the organization has imposed against one of its licensees, Ultimate Bet. In addition, the report pointed at Russ Hamilton as the “main person responsible” for the scandal. Hamilton’s Las Vegas home was linked to one of the accounts involved in the actions on Ultimate Bet, “Sleeplesss,” back in July.
The KGC report was publicly released on Tuesday and states, “The Commission found clear and convincing evidence to support the conclusion that between the approximate dates of May of 2004 to January 2008, Russell Hamilton, an individual associated with Ultimate Bet’s affiliate program, was the main person responsible for and benefiting from the multiple cheating incidents.”
Following the positive linkage from the Sleeplesss account to a home owned by Hamilton in Las Vegas, poker pros Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok sat down with Hamilton after his lawyers advised him not to appear on the PokerRoad Podcast. Greenstein stated that he came away from the interview feeling as if, when the final report was released, Hamilton’s name would be cleared. The KGC’s findings also hint at other parties being involved: “The KGC is currently in contact with the appropriate law enforcement agencies and intends to fully cooperate in the prosecution of all individuals involved in the UB cheating incidents.” Who the other parties are remains to be seen.
In addition to confirming that Russ Hamilton was the main person behind the scandal at Ultimate Bet, the following actions were taken:
- By November 3rd, UB “shall commence refunding all players accounts found to have been adversely affected by the cheating.” The report states that, to date, the online poker site has refunded $6.1 million in money to its players.
- By November 3rd, UB “is to remove any and all persons deemed as ‘unsuitable’ by the KGC.” This could include any employee in the company. In addition, gaming and operational records must be turned over to Frank Catania, who is leading the KGC’s investigation.
- Ultimate Bet must keep all “web logs and game logs” open for inspection by Catania’s team.
- Ultimate Bet has been assessed a $1.5 million fine “for its failure to implement and enforce measures to prohibit and detect fraudulent activities.”
If UB fails in any way to abide by the above guidelines, the report states that its gaming license will be revoked. It also remains to be seen who the “unsuitable” employees are and what effect their removal will have on the online poker room, which is now owned by Tokwiro. Ultimate Bet was slated to join with Absolute Poker to form the CEREUS network. However, no official changeover has been made. Absolute Poker was itself the subject of a large-scale super user scandal involving the screen name POTRIPPER.
In the case of Ultimate Bet, Hamilton and others involved exploited an auditing tool to see the hole cards of other players at the table. The Commission’s report stated that this occurred for nearly four years. In a press release distributed by Ultimate Bet on July 8th, the site states that the cheating began in January of 2005. The KGC report pinpoints the beginning of the scandal as May of 2004, or eight months prior. In addition, the popular television news program, “60 Minutes,” is slated to air a report about the Ultimate Bet scandal on October 26th.
Ultimate Bet is currently in the middle of its Aruba Poker Classic, which is the site’s marquee yearly live event.
