Online Poker Players Get Back $22 Million Dollars

Published: Saturday, September 12, 2009 Online-Casinos.com

According to a press release statement from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission Chairman Dean Montour, the Commission has ordered the return of $22 million dollars to poker players who were cheated. The allegations involved Ultimate Bet which in January of 2008, saw players reporting "statistically anomalous results" while engaging in games against certain Ultimate Bet players. An investigation was launched immediately, and the findings were astounding and unprecedented in the online poker community.

The owners of Ultimate Bet, Tokwiro Enterprises, which is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission was fined $1.5 million dollars and was ordered to disburse $22 million dollars back to cheated players.

The Commission has required Ultimate Bet to upgrade their control systems, to stop this from happening again. The action was necessary for Ultimate Bet to continue to hold their licensing. Online gambling has, according to the press release, never seen such a large sanction with both the fine and the reimbursement being quickly paid.

Ultimate Bet has been made safe again, and the group has shown the commission that it will not tolerate any form of cheating. Prior to the upgrades to Ultimate Bet's software, the 'super user' accounts could be used by cheaters to view the hole cards of the other players. The use of a "super user" account will not be available ever again, thus the issue is a thing of the past.

Chairman Montour said of the action, "Despite the unfortunate circumstances that resulted in this cheating, we are satisfied that the actions taken by the commission provided an equitable result for affected players, our first priority. We remain optimistic that this experience and the lessons learned from it will result in a higher standard of gaming regulation for companies licensed and regulated within the Mohawk Territory of Kanawake and elsewhere."