Update: Mark Seif comments on Absolute scandal; recent AP software update reportedly responsible for ’superuser’ hack
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While most of the details regarding the cheating scandal over at Absolute poker have, in a general sense, come to light, there are still some interesting stories emerging from the mess. The first is the fact that Absolute doesn’t seem to be suffering much, if at all, in the short term, at least when measured by the metric of player traffic, which is well within recent historical averages for AP.
Another is the response of AP’s primary sponsored pro, Mark Seif, to the scandal. Mark had served as a bit of a proxy for Absolute in the weeks when the story was breaking, often releasing the official statements of Absolute on his blog. Now, Mark has filmed an extended video blog on the story that you can view over at RawVegas TV. There’s no a whole lot new there, but it’s still interesting to hear his take on the whole situation. Highlights: Seif says he knew nothing, that Absolute will overcompensate impacted players, that the scandal won’t hurt chances for online poker regulation, that Seif met AJ Green and Green (shockingly) didn’t mention anything about being able to see hole cards, and that Seif doesn’t like DanDruff (Todd Witteles) over at NWP.
He, in fact, takes ‘umbrage’ at some of DD’s statements and makes a not-so veiled threat to sue near the end of the video.
Finally, Gambling911 is reporting that it was a flaw in a recent upgrade to the Absolute Poker software that allowed the ’superuser’ account to function, and that upper management at AP was apparently aware of the vulnerability on some level (although it isn’t clear that they knew the extent of the harm the vulnerability could cause). Excerpt from the G911 report:
Version 8.0 was the result of months of coding and design enhancements. But the software was not without its flaws as we have since discovered.
[…]
Gambling911.com sources reveal how a former Nine.com tech support specialist was also brought on to help in the development and testing of the newly upgraded software.
“This individual I seriously doubt was involved in cheating players,” our source discloses. “But what I do know is that he discovered the flaw and had presented it to Absolute Poker executives to show there was a problem with the software. His intention was to create a patch.”
But there appeared to be little if any follow up. Instead we now learn that one or more individuals used this knowledge to cheat some tournament players during the month of September.
More updates on the Absolute story as they events warrant.
