Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6804075. Video is also available at that link.

Steve claims he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The scheme did not target the casino games, they targeted poker tournament players "off the floor" - I am still trying to guess what that may mean but I don't have any ideas yet.

side note - Mason has commented numerous times about how good his book Poker Protection is, its been on the list of books for me to buy but I haven't gotten to it yet. He is considered the #1 expert in the field of countering cheats.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

I would tend to believe Steve. He has been to my office a couple of times. He would have too much to lose by participating in a scam. I am hopeful his explanation is true.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
I would tend to believe Steve. He has been to my office a couple of times. He would have too much to lose by participating in a scam. I am hopeful his explanation is true.

[/ QUOTE ]

But as a professional he hurts his credibility being in the room while a criminal act is taking place, and is an accomplice by the sheer fact that he was witness to a criminal act - an unfortunate situation because my understanding is that Steve is a class act and a true expert in his circles. The more I think about it the more I guess this might have been an online scam. Perhaps the goal was to play a a high-limit player HU with a computer infected with a Trojan horse - allowing them to see the hole cards? at least this theory would match the cryptic statement released by Borgata authorities.

If he was just a witness, will this affect his consulting business? What are the laws in Vegas for gaming consultants with felony charges?

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

Charge - not much. Might be a problem with a conviction.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

Hi TT:

I know Steve Forte and find this report upsetting. He's the very best at what he does and no one else comes close. My hope is that, as Steve says, he was just in the wrong place at the wong time and that he can show he's not involved.

Best wishes,
Mason

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hi TT:

I know Steve Forte and find this report upsetting. He's the very best at what he does and no one else comes close. My hope is that, as Steve says, he was just in the wrong place at the wong time and that he can show he's not involved.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Mason - at first I was going to tell you about Steve via PM because i know he is a trusted friend, but since the TV station did a full report I thought it would be an interesting topic for us to follow in this forum. Hopefully more people will learn about his book Poker Protection through this thread, possibly the only positive result that may come from this case for some time.

I am crossing my fingers this is related to on-line fraud so companies can discover methods to protect end users better, and of course i am also hoping that Steve can exonerate himself - perhaps through a paper trail proving his intentions were good.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

I cannot figure out how this is not a weird deal. Makes no sense. Too much to lose. If anyone should know the "wages of sin," it would be he. If anyone should know better... Criminals are going to be caught, and he knows it. Catch me if you can? Nah, it just doesn't make any sense at all.

I can't imagine he's been a fraud all along. Too many smart people out there.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

Maybe TT or Mason can answer this, since you guys seem to know this guy. What is Steve Forte's backround? How did he get into this line of work? He must have been a magician or slight of hand artist right? Is he one of those reformed cheaters that got busted then decided to use his skills for good? Kinda like that guy in the movie 'Catch me if you Can'.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hi TT:

I know Steve Forte and find this report upsetting. He's the very best at what he does and no one else comes close. My hope is that, as Steve says, he was just in the wrong place at the wong time and that he can show he's not involved.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't this the moment to consult David for some bayesian advice? How many times have innocent people been caught in a room full of cheating equipment before and therefore what are the odds for Mr. Forte not being involved?

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe TT or Mason can answer this

[/ QUOTE ]

I am not qualified to answer, I'll leave that for Mason if he wants to respond.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe TT or Mason can answer this, since you guys seem to know this guy. What is Steve Forte's backround? How did he get into this line of work? He must have been a magician or slight of hand artist right? Is he one of those reformed cheaters that got busted then decided to use his skills for good? Kinda like that guy in the movie 'Catch me if you Can'.

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.steveforte.com/author.html

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

I'd say 8:1 odds that he is guilty.

5:1 odds that he pleads out.

2:1 odds it goes to trial and he is convicted.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

The sad part about it is that the name of the player with the fixed i-pod or the relay-device in his shoes didn't become public. Would be really funny if it was a prominent person like...

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Maybe TT or Mason can answer this, since you guys seem to know this guy. What is Steve Forte's backround? How did he get into this line of work? He must have been a magician or slight of hand artist right? Is he one of those reformed cheaters that got busted then decided to use his skills for good? Kinda like that guy in the movie 'Catch me if you Can'.

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.steveforte.com/author.html

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice. But in that picture he looks shady.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
The sad part about it is that the name of the player with the fixed i-pod or the relay-device in his shoes didn't become public. Would be really funny if it was a prominent person like...

[/ QUOTE ]

Ugh. So is it likely that TDA rules will be updated to ban iPods? Fitting a new shuffle in the casing of a full-size iPod would leave plenty of room for, well, anything really.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

News Update - it was a private game held held in the hotel rooms at the Borgata. Joseph T. Ingargiola, 50, of Playa del Rey, Calif., Stephen Phillips, 52, of Las Vegas, and James Calvin Harrison, 41, of Duluth, Minn., are facing the same charges.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

hmmm, not looking good for Steve Forte....

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
hmmm, not looking good for Steve Forte....

[/ QUOTE ]

I was down at the Gamblers Book Club buying his book, they tried to sell me multiple copies because "we expect to sell out". We talked about Steve's situation, the employee said "Steve called and asked us not to comment".

caveat - the employee isn't the most aware guy in the world, Howard probably would have given me a much better and 20x longer comment about Steve Forte - I have lots of [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] for Howard!

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

Don't tell me he was doing research for a new book.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

I did sell out but was able to re-stock. The story makes it sound like this was going on for a while.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

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I did sell out but was able to re-stock. The story makes it sound like this was going on for a while.

[/ QUOTE ]

NY Times.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6804075... The scheme did not target the casino games, they targeted poker tournament players "off the floor" - I am still trying to guess what that may mean but I don't have any ideas yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem with that initial article is that it was badly written and impossible to figure out what the writer was trying to say.

From the follow-up articles it is easier to conclude that the 4 people are accused of setting up a private game in a hotel room and that they were allegedly trying to lure high-stakes players to play in that game. We have to take into consideration that sometimes news articles do not have all the facts and/or that sometimes the facts are distorted because of lack of information.

Steve Forte is an internationally acclaimed researcher in the field of crooked gambling. He is an author, consultant and lecturer. Throughout his professional career he has been conducting research on crooked gambling. Now the logical question is: how would he learn all that stuff? The logical answer is that he has to hang around people who use these techniques and/or equipment. So, if he made a statement that he was observing, we have to take his word for it and wait to see what happens. Some people were posting mean posts in another thread on this board, and I thought that was unfair. It is perfectly fine to speculate, but it is not fine to post mean remarks based on very little information that is available at this time.

If Steve Forte says he was an observer we have to take that into consideration. Perhaps it was still a bad decision for him to infiltrate like this, on his own, but we also have to take into consideration that this was not some kind of violent crime or anything of that nature. He says he wanted to watch. If you read his latest book he also says, in his book, that watching this kind of action is what he does and what he's always done. If he weren't watching he'd have nothing to write about, except recycling the information that has already been published in the old books.

I say that he's got already enough to worry about, right now, as is. And at least we don't have to jump on his neck on this board, as we really don't have the facts.

Finally, some may be under the impression that I am some kind of friend of his. This is not at all the case. Yes, I have exchanged about 3 emails with him in my entire life, in the stretch of about 3 years. I never met him, I never talked to him on the phone, but I am very much familiar with his work.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
If Steve Forte says he was an observer we have to take that into consideration. Perhaps it was still a bad decision for him to infiltrate like this, on his own, but we also have to take into consideration that this was not some kind of violent crime or anything of that nature. He says he wanted to watch. If you read his latest book he also says, in his book, that watching this kind of action is what he does and what he's always done. If he weren't watching he'd have nothing to write about, except recycling the information that has already been published in the old books.

[/ QUOTE ]

Steve's problem is that even if he was only observing then he is an accessory. If the prosecutors/investigators uncover similar activity that he never reported then he is seriously screwed. Its the risk he took when choosing his career path, the industry wants data from Steve yet they don't want to know how Steve gets his information.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6804075... The scheme did not target the casino games, they targeted poker tournament players "off the floor" - I am still trying to guess what that may mean but I don't have any ideas yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem with that initial article is that it was badly written and impossible to figure out what the writer was trying to say.

From the follow-up articles it is easier to conclude that the 4 people are accused of setting up a private game in a hotel room and that they were allegedly trying to lure high-stakes players to play in that game. We have to take into consideration that sometimes news articles do not have all the facts and/or that sometimes the facts are distorted because of lack of information.

Steve Forte is an internationally acclaimed researcher in the field of crooked gambling. He is an author, consultant and lecturer. Throughout his professional career he has been conducting research on crooked gambling. Now the logical question is: how would he learn all that stuff? The logical answer is that he has to hang around people who use these techniques and/or equipment. So, if he made a statement that he was observing, we have to take his word for it and wait to see what happens. Some people were posting mean posts in another thread on this board, and I thought that was unfair. It is perfectly fine to speculate, but it is not fine to post mean remarks based on very little information that is available at this time.

If Steve Forte says he was an observer we have to take that into consideration. Perhaps it was still a bad decision for him to infiltrate like this, on his own, but we also have to take into consideration that this was not some kind of violent crime or anything of that nature. He says he wanted to watch. If you read his latest book he also says, in his book, that watching this kind of action is what he does and what he's always done. If he weren't watching he'd have nothing to write about, except recycling the information that has already been published in the old books.

I say that he's got already enough to worry about, right now, as is. And at least we don't have to jump on his neck on this board, as we really don't have the facts.

Finally, some may be under the impression that I am some kind of friend of his. This is not at all the case. Yes, I have exchanged about 3 emails with him in my entire life, in the stretch of about 3 years. I never met him, I never talked to him on the phone, but I am very much familiar with his work.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for this well written reply. I gleaned more information here than in all the news articles combined.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6804075. Video is also available at that link.


[/ QUOTE ]

Link is unavailable - has it been changed?

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

They moved it to their archives. New location:
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story....=menu102_2_1_1

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]


Steve's problem is that even if he was only observing then he is an accessory. If the prosecutors/investigators uncover similar activity that he never reported then he is seriously screwed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah just ask the Falcons quarterback . . . . (I think Vick is guilty as charged)

But hope that they are treated innocent until proven otherwise.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

Unless he has some proof that he was going to blow the whistle on the scam, he is as guilty as the rest.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]

Unless he has some proof that he was going to blow the whistle on the scam, he is as guilty as the rest.

[/ QUOTE ]


lets not rush to judge unintentionally due to wording, remember Steve oddly is one of us; his research has helped expose the scams which are much rarer today. I think what you really intended to say is "Unless he has some proof that he was going to blow the whistle on the scam, he is likely to be found as guilty as the rest.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Unless he has some proof that he was going to blow the whistle on the scam, he is as guilty as the rest.

[/ QUOTE ]


lets not rush to judge unintentionally due to wording, remember Steve oddly is one of us; his research has helped expose the scams which are much rarer today. I think what you really intended to say is "Unless he has some proof that he was going to blow the whistle on the scam, he is likely to be found as guilty as the rest.

[/ QUOTE ]

I won't comment on the case, but I can say that his book, "Poker Protection" is truly outstanding and worthy of all the praise that it has gotten (and more). Any person playing for any appreciable stakes needs to read it.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Unless he has some proof that he was going to blow the whistle on the scam, he is as guilty as the rest.

[/ QUOTE ]


lets not rush to judge unintentionally due to wording, remember Steve oddly is one of us; his research has helped expose the scams which are much rarer today. I think what you really intended to say is "Unless he has some proof that he was going to blow the whistle on the scam, he is likely to be found as guilty as the rest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, if he was willing to let people get scammed (and not blow the whistle on the crooks) just so he could write a book about cheating, in my book he is as guilty as the scammers.
The justice system may come up with a different verdict, but how can you justify such actions? What would you say if you were one of the players to fall victim to the scam? Would you say he had no responsibility to notify the authorities?

Not saying he is guilty or innocent. Just saying that "I was just there to do research" is not an excuse.

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

[ QUOTE ]

Unless he has some proof that he was going to blow the whistle on the scam, he is as guilty as the rest. "I was just there to do research" is not an excuse.

[/ QUOTE ]

To da judge and jury: "This was a supervised experiment to see if it was possible to cheat the players using electronic methods. Everything was being documented for later publication and all funds taken from the marks was to be returned".

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

I don't understand the quote you are providing from Steve, was it literally, "I was at the wrong place at the wrong time?" and not, "I was just observing" even it if makes little difference?

Can you elaborate about being a class act?

I hear that phrase tossed around quite a bit, what does it mean in the cases mentioned in this thread?

The classiest thing a friend ever did for me poker-wise was to fold his winner on the river in a three-way hand so I didn't have to reach into my pocket to rebuy in a cash game, not that I knew about it until he told me later (hmmm, some would say that's not classy for poker though).

Re: Steve Forte, author of Poker Protection - arrested in NJ
 

I'm trying hard to think of ways to excuse Steve, but I'm coming up with bupkus:

...analogy to an imbedded reporter in an unjust war or occupation...

That's the best I can do, but only governments can be dismissive of collateral damage.