Absolute Poker responds to Kahnawake Gaming Commission Report
Related Articles
Absolute Poker released a statement today that they no doubt hope will be the final chapter in the largest (reported) cheating scandal in online poker. In the statement, Absolute responded to the findings of a Kahnawake Gaming Commission Report published earlier this week that detailed the nature and level of Absolute’s involvement in a security breach that allowed players on several accounts to see their opponent’s hole cards.
The most interesting angle on this story to many is that so few people seem to care about it anymore. Developments in the scandal, which initially generated a massive groundswell of backlash from the community, now seem to result in barely a flicker of interest on forums and poker news sites.
The full text of the statement is reprinted at the end of this post. Below are a few links to various sources reporting on the KGC report and Absolute’s ensuing statement.
- Wicked Chops accurately highlights the collective shrug that’s been the general response to the story.
- Pokerati is suitably outraged (and has a nice archive of editorialized coverage of the scandal).
- PokerBlog doesn’t understand why people are still playing on Absolute. We’re with them on that one.
- A related 2+2 thread in NVG generates all of 11 posts.
Text of Absolute statement:
ABSOLUTE POKER RESPONDS TO KGC FINDINGS
(JANUARY 11, 2008) — Absolute Poker (AP) issued the following statement today in response to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission’s (KGC) release of its report “In the Matter of Absolute Poker Investigation Regarding Complaints of Cheating.”
“When Absolute Poker notified the KGC of the security breach in our system, we had every expectation that the Commission would undertake a comprehensive and fair investigation. After reviewing the published report, we recognize the completeness and accuracy of the KGC conclusions, and we accept without reservation the KGC’s findings and sanctions. Most importantly, we are pleased, after these many months, that Absolute Poker can finally put behind it a most distressing and regrettable experience for the Company, its employees, and its customers.
“The KGC points out that ‘AP has taken the appropriate actions to address the vulnerability in its systems…and to prevent its systems from being compromised again…’ AP has appointed a team of both internal and external members to improve controls and install safeguards, and accepts the audit findings as an opportunity to improve our internal practices and guarantee the safest playing environment in the industry.
“We are pleased that the KGC’s findings of fact point out that ‘there is no evidence to indicate that the impugned activities were initiated or sanctioned by AP…or were intended to benefit AP, as a corporate entity.’ The report also states that ‘AP made expeditious efforts to appropriately reimburse all players…with interest’ who were affected by the cheating.
“The Company also regrets the inadvertent deletion of certain gaming logs and records during the course of the investigation, although AP is relieved that these deletions did not, according to the KGC, ‘prevent the Commission from obtaining sufficient information…’
“Having experienced first-hand the devastating impact of a security breach, we fully appreciate the importance of trust and security for AP itself and the broader industry. A secure site goes to the heart of player confidence, and we are more committed than ever to ensuring that confidence. To that end, we have taken it upon ourselves to convene on January 18, 2008 the first of a series of ‘poker security summits’. AP will invite respected and independent members of the poker community to focus on innovative and cutting-edge ways to further improve AP’s security and enhance its transparency.
“As AP has repeatedly stated in the past, we regret the damage done to our players and to our own reputation by this incident. We acknowledge that the Company did not act with sufficient speed to uncover the fraud; however, once we were convinced of the veracity of the allegations, we moved quickly to inform the KGC and to reimburse affected players. While AP is paying a severe penalty for the fraud perpetrated upon the Company and its customers, we are gratified that we can now close the book on this sordid affair and return our full focus to providing the safest, most secure, and most eenjoyable poker playing experience in the industry.”
