[apefish]

New cliffsnotes on the Absolute Soulreading issue.


This new set of notes will hopefully summarize the last few threads on the suspected cheating accounts in high stakes games at Absolute Poker in the last month or so.

---- Instead of walking everyone thru in chronological order from day one we are going to try to first summarize the activites that raised suspicions and provide a general overview of the issue.

---- We'll give you the raw data we have including hand histories and pokertracker shots and graphs where available.

---- Then we will give views from 2+2 posters including many of those who actually played in the sessions in question, and Absolute's responses or lack of them thus far.

---- and then some funnies/side stories that have come out of the threads.

People are encouraged to interpret the data for themselves instead of taking anyone's word for it. That makes for good debate. If you come across something you don't quite understand- chances are the question has already been asked in one of the threads.
Rather than asking the same question and bogging down this thread, please read the entire notes- in which the question may be answered already, or go read thru the other longer threads. They are long and sometimes tedious, but good reads. This way we can hope to avoid rehashing issues.

While doing all of this people should keep in mind that many of the people who have ended up taking the stance "something is definitely not right here" are among the last you may expect to take that side of an issue such as this.
Among those taking stances like that are one of the most respected tournaments players in these forums, an elite limit player and former party poker millions cruise winner, and several of the winning regulars in the games being discussed. This isn't your little brothers "ZOMG poker is rigged" thread.

Additional input has come from players who played against the suspected accounts in question in those sessions and from players from other forums.
In short- many high stakes winning players cannot find a reasonable plausible alternative for this stretch of data/results other than "he was able to employ some sort of unfair advantage that looks like he could see the cards of his opponents."
In many ways that is the core of the issue, that it is so far out of the norm that players who we can reasonably say are among the elite online players available to get opinions from have offered them- and they are damning.

But you don't have to take their word for it. Look at the hand histories and data sets offered. Read the discussion.
There have been some posters willing to play "devils advocate" on this- and we won't ignore that aspect in these notes.
This thread isn't about rehashing every tidbit that came up in other threads.
If you start doing that- expect a mod to break out the banstick if you continue.

This is not a thread for random tangential conspiracy theories, accusations about online poker in general, or a place to associate certain people with certain activities.
THAT IS VERBOTEN. Don't make Adanthar, Gild, or any of the other mods bust a cap now.

This is a serious issue that is at risk for being swept under the rug.
Hopefully the issues will be laid out as clearly as possible for people to read and ponder.

Thanks in advance for everyone taking the time to read thru it.

As a disclaimer, I don't play at Absolute Poker. I don't play high stakes. I don't play poker for a living. I don't know any of the people involved in any aspect in these hands in real life. I am a longtime online poker player and BBV poster who thinks this is important to discuss. Dat's it.

peace.





Here is the backstory for the issue. Many have contributed to it.




SECURITY FLAW AT ABSOLUTE POKER?

Shortly after a recent software upgrade at Absolute Poker, several accounts with suspicious names and identical maniacal playing styles sat down at the highest-stakes games offered there, where tens of thousands of dollars change hands every hour.
Established high-stakes online players quickly noticed these "maniac" players at the tables, and lined up to get a chance to take their money.
Amazingly, the top online pros all lost money to these players, at an incredibly fast rate.
Since these pros understand poker and statistics better than you or I, they used various software tools to analyze how they could have fared better against these maniacs.
They came to the same conclusion: the only possible way these maniacs could have won money is if they could see their opponent's cards.

There have been many, many people claiming "online poker is rigged" ever since it started. And these claims have always been dismissed easily and quickly by the statistics experts.
This time was different. The high-stakes players posted their findings on various online poker forums, and other experts who were not directly involved quickly validated their findings.
One thing stood out above all others. On the last round of betting (after all the cards had been dealt out), the suspicious accounts always raised or folded - they never simply called a bet. While some players with aggressive playing styles will often raise or fold, it is unheard of
to *never* call. "The only time it makes any sense to never call in these spots is if you know if you are ahead or behind-- in other words, if you know your opponent's hole cards," said OnlinePro1. "These maniacs made the right decision in these spots dozens of times in a row.

Others investigated these mystery players and found even more evidence:

- The maniacs had been "chip dumping", intentionally losing to other accounts.
- They had finished either dead last or in first place in a series of large online tournaments, another highly improbable statistical anomaly, perhaps in an attempt to cover their tracks
- Before the software upgrade, these maniacs had been huge money losers at the low-stakes games, perhaps in another apparent attempt to cover their tracks.

To an overwhelming majority of thinking players who have reviewed this evidence, the conclusion is clear and inescapable: Some form of cheating was taking place at Absolute Poker.
Now, this isn't a reason for anyone to conclude that "online poker is rigged" in general. This appears to be an isolated incident at a single online site (although highly unfortunate for the honest players involved who lost money). Absolute Poker has already suspended the accounts of these maniacs, and claims to be conducting an investigation.
In the name of fairness, and to reassure the poker community about the safety of play at Absolute Poker and at other online poker sites, we ask Absolute Poker to remiburse the players who lost money to these scam artists, to publish a full analysis of the security leaks and how they have been sealed, and to commission a third-party audit of their internal security systems.




**Here is another version that explains the original POTRIPPER 1K mtt win and how it aroused suspicions.**


Across the world, hundreds of thousands of people often take part in games of online poker. These games are typically run by a variety of businesses - businesses that make a long-term profit because of the safety, security and reliability of their games.
Recently, one operator, called "Absolute Poker" appears to have had cheating take place on their site. In short, it appears that certain player accounts are able to view the supposedly hidden cards of other players. In a game of poker it is impossible to beat someone who knows with 100%
accuracy what cards you have!
In Texas Hold'em poker, the most popular form of poker, each player is dealt two cards. These two cards are then combined with community cards to form the best five card poker hand for each player. The best two cards to be dealt are two aces - often called "pocket aces." This is closely followed in strength by a pair of kings, a pair of queens, and so on.
Playing in a recent tournament, the cheaters NEVER made a bet when any of their opponents had pocket kings, pocket aces or pocket queens. This would not be unusual - except that they made a bet on almost every other hand. In other words, they are playing every hand, except when their opponents have one of the strongest possible hands, and they have no possible way to know it (there are no relevant physical "tells" or signs in online poker compared to playing in person).
In Texas Hold'em, there are a series of rounds of betting on each hand. There is betting when the first two (hidden face down) cards are dealt, and then after three of the community cards are dealt face up, and then after the next community card, and then after the fifth and final community face up card. The cheater's betting patterns on each round are only explainable by someone who can see other players' cards.
For example, on the last round of betting, when all the cards are dealt, one hand is always going to be better than the other player's (sometimes they are tied and are the same, but this is irrelevant here). The players who are cheating always managed to make the right decision
at the end. If the opponent's hand was worse, the cheaters would bet or raise. If the cheaters' hand was worse, the cheaters would either fold, or sometimes make a big bluff. Not once did the cheaters call - because if you know what your opponents' cards are, you would never need to call.
Much of the data has been collected and analysed using a computer program called PokerTracker, which is used by many professional poker players across the world. This program records games of poker, and calculates statistics on how players play. Hundreds of hands were analyzed by many
top online professional poker players, and the consensus position is that these results cannot be achieved without some form of unfair advantage, or cheating.



This is the issue laid out as clearly as possible. Part two will contain the actual data and hand histories that have been analyzed so far.