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SHOOTING THE MESSENGER? (Update)
2008-08-22

Absolute Poker threatens online information portal over scandal disclosures

Reports on the lavish spending and personal appearance of ex-Absolute Poker consultant Allan Grimard, and news of an indictment against the father of Absolute Poker founder Scott Tom yesterday on the gambling information portal 911 (see previous InfoPowa report) have ignited legal threats from the troubled poker room's owners, Tokwiro Enterprises.

Interest in the Tokwiro subsidiaries Absolute Poker and UltimateBet continues as a result of unanswered questions concerning the multi-million dollar "hole card" cheating allegations which have swirled around the companies for months.

Tokwiro needs to be sure of its ground, as 911 has prevailed in other legal struggles and as we went to press was showing no signs of taking the offending article down, instead insisting that its report was based on verifiable fact.

The gambling information portal's relationship with Absolute Poker has clearly deteriorated, with founder-editor Chris Costigan reporting that his website had been threatened with legal action by Absolute Poker's Joann Priam.

Priam, who's official designation in not known, apparently demanded that the offending article be removed from the Gambling911.com website, saying: "Our legal counsel is requesting that this be pulled by 6:00 PM EST today or they feel it necessary to issue you a formal letter. This type of situation certainly doesn't lend itself to a mutually beneficial and rewarding business partnership moving forward."

The article in question reported that the father of an Absolute Poker founder is under sealed indictment in the US.

The threat seems to have triggered further disclosures, with 911 claiming that it had tracked down one Allan Grimard and Scott Tom in Los Suenos, Costa Rica, while conducting an undercover investigative report.

"Grimard is alleged to have been involved in a massive "insider cheating scandal" at Absolute Poker," the new disclosures report. "He has apparently used that money to purchase a brand new yacht, SUV and is in the process of building a mansion along with Absolute co-founder Scott Tom. Grimard and Tom were both observed laughing about the Absolute Poker scandal."

And providing the promise of more fireworks, 911 reminds readers that the CBS news magazine, 60 Minutes, has been following developments in this matter.

The information portal emphasises that although the Kahnawake Gaming Commission oversees Absolute Poker, it is unclear if they would be party to any legal battle that might ensue.

In another story on the site, the threat by Absolute Poker is described as denying the validity and truth of the story on Grimard. The story goes on to describe observations on Grimard by a 911 source, and reports that Grimard was overheard bragging about his new vehicle and the millions of dollars he has in the bank, "all from his days at Absolute Poker."

"A low level supervisor at both Nine.com and Absolute Poker does not make millions of dollars," the article notes. Grimard was also reported as "living it up on his brand new yacht," and "joking about the Absolute Poker scandal."

911 also claims that Absolute Poker founder Scott Tom is a partner in Grimard's new real estate venture at Los Suenos - an upmarket suburb in Costa Rica.

"Absolute Poker has done absolutely nothing to explain why both Scott Tom and Allan Grimard left the company so abruptly and why certain individuals involved with the online poker room seem so intent on discrediting the factual information provided by Gambling911 related to Grimard's whereabouts," the portal observes in an editorial comment.

The portal counterattacks the allegations that its reportage lacks validity and reveals that it has been meeting with trusted industry colleagues this week to determine if Absolute Poker is still associating with Grimard and other suspects in the cheating scandal who are yet to be held accountable for their participation.

"Certain unnamed individuals with involvement at Absolute Poker have expressed disgust over how the company has refused to hold "persons of interest" accountable for their roles in the said cheating scandal," the editorial concludes.

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ONLINE POKER ACE HITS A GOOD PATCH
2008-08-22

Durr boosts his bank balance by $850 000 in a week

Online and land poker pro Tom "durrrr" Dwan has been the subject of much online discussion, and not a little sympathy, in recent weeks due to bad cards that proved costly for the big bettor, but all that changed this week as he scored bigtime online.

Dwan gives the impression of being philosophical about the major swings and wins experienced by players as prolific as he, persevering with a controlled standard of quality play until the cards turn his way, and that happened in a 14 hour sally into Full Tilt and Poker Stars online games this week, according to the tracking site MarketPulse.com.

Although previous bad rides this year have left Dwan over a million in the hole, his $850 000 most recent winning streak has flattened that red ink out considerably....and with many of the top online poker pros active this week he could see further improvements in his fortunes in NL Hold'em games.

Players were apparently lining up to have a go at the big $200/$400 six-max game at Full Tilt, with virtually all of the top players looking to get in on the action. Those who did included Hac "trex313" Dang; Chris "Genius28" Lee; jimmie23; howisitfeellike; David Benyamine and Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond, but it was Tom Dwan who ran away from the pack in both his Pot-Limit Omaha and No-Limit Hold'em sessions.

Major 'donators' included patatino; Phil Ivey; Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies and Ariel "DaEvils" Schneller, MarketPulse reports.Dwan took Phil Ivey for two buy-ins ($200 000) in just 15 hands of heads-up PLO at one point.

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MILLION DOLLAR BAD BEAT
2008-08-22

Party Poker breaks the badbeat record

Thursday saw a new world record for an online poker Bad Beat Jackpot created at Party Poker.com when a bad beat payout on an online table reached $1 013 381 and change, surpassing the previous record of $992 000.

The Bad Beat is a jackpot won on special tables if players lose with a hand featuring four of a kind, 8’s or better, and this is what happened to online player ‘Judith75’, from Germany when she hit quad 9’s this week. With such a hand it has to be very hard to think that you will lose the pot but ‘Hiyall’ from Scotland was sitting with the absolute nuts – a royal flush - a hand that is regarded by many as a 649/739/1 chance. The carnage on the table continued, however, as another player ‘Shoulderguy,’ also from Germany, revealed a full house!

The win came on a $0.50/$1 table and the table pot itself was only worth $24. With the quad 9’s being beaten by the royal flush, Judith75 won $354 683.57, whilst hand winner Hiyall scooped $177 341.79 + $24 from the pot. The other players at the table won $22 167.72.

PartyPoker's Bad Beat jackpot is only available on specially designated tables. Of the distributed amount, 50 percent goes to the loser of the hand who is subject to the bad beat, 25 percent to the winner, and the remaining 25 percent is split between the other seated players who took part in the hand. Players who sit out the hand are not rewarded. In the current record-breaking case ten players benefited.

The big money was flowing elsewhere in the Party Gaming group, too; One lucky player won $1.06 million on the Godfather slot at PartyCasino.com, while on the 8th August PartyBingo.com and ITVBingo.com launched their first GBP1 million jackpot game.

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ONLINE POKER ACE HITS A GOOD PATCH
2008-08-20

Durr boosts his bank balance by $850 000 in a week

Online and land poker pro Tom "durrrr" Dwan has been the subject of much online discussion, and not a little sympathy, in recent weeks due to bad cards that proved costly for the big bettor, but all that changed this week as he scored bigtime online.

Dwan gives the impression of being philosophical about the major swings and wins experienced by players as prolific as he, persevering with a controlled standard of quality play until the cards turn his way, and that happened in a 14 hour sally into Full Tilt and Poker Stars online games this week, according to the tracking site MarketPulse.com.

Although previous bad rides this year have left Dwan over a million in the hole, his $850 000 most recent winning streak has flattened that red ink out considerably....and with many of the top online poker pros active this week he could see further improvements in his fortunes in NL Hold'em games.

Players were apparently lining up to have a go at the big $200/$400 six-max game at Full Tilt, with virtually all of the top players looking to get in on the action. Those who did included Hac "trex313" Dang; Chris "Genius28" Lee; jimmie23; howisitfeellike; David Benyamine and Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond, but it was Tom Dwan who ran away from the pack in both his Pot-Limit Omaha and No-Limit Hold'em sessions.

Major 'donators' included patatino; Phil Ivey; Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies and Ariel "DaEvils" Schneller, MarketPulse reports.Dwan took Phil Ivey for two buy-ins ($200 000) in just 15 hands of heads-up PLO at one point.

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FTOPS 9 MAIN EVENT PAYS WINNER $432 400
2008-08-19

Big entry field for $500 buy-in tourney

The current ninth edition of the Full Tilt Poker Series main event lived up to its previous record for big names, large entry fields and top prizes this week, with 4 880 players entering the $500+$35 buy-in online spectacular, each hoping for the biggest possible slice of the guaranteed $2.5 million prize pool.

By the time the final table nine had been reached, player "Sckilla" was half a million in the lead with 4 646 087 in chips, chased by "Valleyho" on 4 177 484 and the eventual winner "Dubbeemin" on 3 574 154.

With the blinds at 60 000/120 000 and a 15 000 ante, 'TiltinShoes' was the first elimination, taken out by Dubbeemin. He was followed by aaaFRANCESCOzzz, who was eliminated by Pokerguru19 in eighth place. Leaving for the exit in seventh spot was Tvcsa, another victim of Pokerguru19.

Headed for the rail in sixth position was Hemlock1313 in the 80 000/160 000/20 000 level, busted out by Valleyho, who went on to eliminate Sckilla for a fifth placing, departing with the first of the six figure paychecks of just over $100 000. With blinds at 120 000/240 000 and an ante of 30 000, Valleyho maintained an aggressive run, next knocking out Pokerguru9 in fourth place for a payday of $132 500.

Moving into three handed action, Dubbeemin was strongly positioned with a chip count of 13 219 393, comfortably ahead of Valleyho (8 438 068) and TheTotalPkg (2 742 539) and some enterprising poker took place before TotalPkg was taken down in third place by Dubbeemin at the 140 000/280 000/35 000 level. TheTotalPkg collected $170 000 from the cashier on his way out.

Dubbeemin was now in a dominant lead position with 18 710 031 in chips against his heads up opponent Valleyho, who held 5 689 969, and the end came predictably fast with Dubbeemin collecting the $432 400 main prize, leaving second placed Valleyho with a payday of $262 500.

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