[Johnny Hughes]

The recent poker scandals about cheating online and in tourneys will create new controls to regain the confidence of the public. Scandals, including this one, always follow a simple four stage model. In the first stage, there is the scandal, ongoing illegal or unethical activity. Stage two is the exposure through investigative reporters, whistle blowers, and the law. Stage three is the cover-up, which is as natural as water running downhill. The fourth stage is reform, change, new laws, new controls to avoid past illegal activities and regain the confidence of the public.

If you look at any scandal from Watergate, sex scandals, Pentagon purchase scandals, TV preacher scandals, sports drug scandals, and on and on, they fit this four stage model
When there is exposure, the finger is pointed, it nearly always turns out that the first crime detected is just the tip of the iceberg. It is not their first rodeo. When someone is caught doing something weird in Internet poker, it is nearly a cinch they have done it before as often as it worked. Poker players are on a lifelong quest to find out what works and do what works.

The attempted cover-up, stonewalling, denial phase is often based on loyalty to co-workers, our hatred of being branded a snitch, and some type of real ignorance hoping this will all just go away. With the Absolute scandal, we are still in stage two and stage three.
Cover-ups are wonderful in that they draw the press and shine a big, bright light on the whole affair. Many people lose their jobs or go to jail because of the cover-up who were not involved in the original crime. Watergate, Ollie North, Scooter Libby, who at Absolute??. Stonewalling leads to charges of obstruction of justice and perjury.

Everyone in poker knows this is a serious business and the public needs to be shown some change and new controls against cheating. Cheating and allegations of cheating hurt all the good poker players. The fourth step is reform and change. Heads roll, people go to jail, new laws are made, things change to guarantee the public there will be no more cheating.

It is time for the reform stage in poker. All online sites, casinos, tournaments, and top players need to inform the public that real reform is here, now!

Long ago, one of my early mentors, Curly, was caught at the Democratic Convention, I think Okie City 56 or 52, running a huge dice game for the delegates. He was wearing a name tag showing he was a delegate. This made national news on the AP wire. He had a dice shaving machine that shaves off the edges to create dice called five per cent edge work which ups the house advantage from 1.4141 per cent to 5 per cent. The police found this and many boxes of dice and lots of money and guns in the trunk of his car.

After that story got out all over the country, Curly would put a huge bowl of dice on the table in West Texas craps games, where the shooter had lots of choices. I never knew, but guessed all the dice were edge work or flats.

Cheaters are dumb going in and usually get caught sooner or later. Anybody you can cheat, I can beat on the square. Reform is coming, book it!

Johnny Hughes