If you had the ability to sit at a poker table and see your opponents’ hole cards at all times, how would you use your superpowers? For an Absolute Poker user named ‘Potripper’ this was not a hypothetical question, but rather a reality. It turns out that Potripper used his ‘gift’ not only immorally, but also quite stupidly. The Absolute Poker scandal is primarily a story about the blinding power of greed, but it is also a great example of why internet forums and blogs are considered to be the watchdogs of this new medium.

It all started back in 2003, when the software at Absolute Poker was in its first development stages. Test accounts are established in order to make sure that the pot is correctly distributed among the winning hands. One of these is known as ‘supper account #363’. The user(s) of this account can see all the hole cards at the table, and at this stage it can NOT be used at real money games. The ID of the account proves that it is one of the first to be opened at Absolute Poker, suggesting that only someone from the inside, like an employee, developer, owner, share holder etc. can gain access to it.

A few months later Absolute Poker is open for business. Four different and completely independent accounts are opened - Graycat, Steamroller, DoubleDrag, and Potripper. These players come from different parts of the US, and they do not know each other. They play at Absolute Poker for a bit, don’t do too well, and do not log into their accounts for several years. These are real actual players, not the cheaters.

Fast forward to 2007. The software at Absolute Poker goes through a major upgrade, and someone at Absolute Poker comes across account #363. Our villain understands the infinite power he would gain by using this account at real money tables. He takes control of several inactive accounts, including Graycat, Steamroller, DoubleDrag, and Potripper, and changes their passwords at the server level. It is clear by now that whoever is doing this has insider access to Absolute Poker software.

Using super account #363 from a separate computer, he can now participate in real money games as any one of the other users he owns, and see his opponent’s hole cards. He makes sure to loose his winnings to other accounts that he controls, using family and friends to cash out the money. This is an attempt to not call attention to any one of his accounts, and not to raise suspicion.

Though at first our villain is considerably careful, he first starts to slip around September 2007. The ability to literally make endless amounts of money blinds his senses, and he becomes more and more obvious. Some players start to sense that there is cheating and collusion going on at Absolute Poker, and rumors start circulating around online poker forums and blogs. One of the suspected accounts, DoubleDrag, is mentioned by a player who feels he must have lost to a cheating scam. Shortly after the allegations are published online, our villain logs in as DoubleDrag and carelessly loses large amounts of money in a clumsy attempt to cover his tracks.

Here is where we take a break from the virtual world of online poker, and follow an incident that may or may not be directly related to the scandal. On September 3rd a small private jet on its way from Costa Rica to Colombia catches fire and is forced to say on the ground. The tow passengers on the plane were Scott Tom, co-owner of Absolute Poker and president since 2005, and his pregnant wife. No one was hurt among the passengers and crew. The rumored cargo, which was also saved, was around $3 million dollars in cash.

To be continued…

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