AP, rigged, etc. #8981.4 - the plot thickens

[aig]

Does that look anything like AJ Green?

[h11]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
On September 3rd, 2007 a small jet plane caught on fire before taking off on the runway at San Jose Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica. The two passengers on the private jet were Scott Tom and his pregnant wife.

[/ QUOTE ]
So Scott Tom really almost died in a fire? I need to start making more productive wishes.

[/ QUOTE ]

So we have three plane accidents - AJ Green was on a commercial flight, 90 passengers or so, with his boss from nine.com, where the engine caught on fire soon after takeoff, we have the private jet where the front wheel blew up on takeoff, about six or seven ap passengers, and now this one with Tom and his wife with a fire on board? And we have that person posting about how investors are owed 250 million, paid peanuts, defrauded in a sale to a shell company, ignored when they call to ask about their investment, and he comments about the bargain rates on hitmen in Costa Rica. This just screams made-for-TV movie.

[cjd]

[ QUOTE ]

i hesitate to mention this because it seems so trivial, but I remember the first time I withdrew from AP to neteller. The amount was something like $669.69 and I requested a full withdrawal. the total amount disappeared from my account but only $669 showed up at neteller. The $.69 went mia. At the time i remember thinking that was kinda [censored] of AP but didn't make a big deal over it. (the numbers are made up because I don't remember the actual amounts.)

That's not much, but over time I suppose it would add up.

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't thought much about this either, but now that you mention it, the rakeback deposits I get from rakeback.org every month are rounded down to the nearest dollar as well. Their site will say it transferred $258.86 to me, but I'll only get $258 in my account.

I assumed it was rakeback.org rounding, but maybe not?

[tolbiny]

[ QUOTE ]
So yeah, it is galaticly stupid to have such a feature

[/ QUOTE ]

Someone watched a few good men on AMC last night.

[pokerstudAA]

Any problems, additions, or other comments to this please let me know.

THE PLAYERS

ABSOLUTE POKER
More details on the ownership structure of the Absolute Companies at the bottom of this post.

AbsolutePoker.com is headquartered in Costa Rica and licensed and regulated in Canada. Absolute Poker purchased Ultimate Bet in Oct, 2006. $10 million in cash and about $140 million in 5 future annual payments. Absolute Poker controls four sites: SITES: (4) Absolute Poker, Big Chip Poker, Goal Poker, VegasPoker247

The real company that Scott Tom and AJ Green ran is Absolute Entertainment, and that's where deposits go.

KAHNAWAKE GAMING COMMISSION KCG WEBSITE
P.O. Box 1799
Old Malone Highway
Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, QC J0L 1B0
CANADA

Established June 10, 1996 and presently comprised of three members appointed by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake: David Montour (Chairperson), Melanie Mayo, and Kevin Kennedy. The Commission is empowered to regulate and control gaming and gaming related activities conducted within and from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake in accordance with the highest principles of honesty and integrity.

The KGC is currently investigating Absolute Poker. Joseph Tokwiro Norton is a leader. Mr. Norton is presently a special consultant for The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited, a founder and CEO of Turtle Technologies and CEO of Mohawk Internet Technologies.

-----------------------------------------
THE FRATERNITY - SAE - MONTANA Many of the founders/employees of Absoulte Poker can be linked to this Montana Fraternity.

SCOTT PHILIP TOM

AP was started by Scott Tom and a few Ivy league friends back in 2003. Phil Tom and the other fathers of these kids bankrolled the venture, and Absolute Poker was born. Phil Tom is Scott Tom's FATHER, not his brother. The IP address that this 'other' account was logged in from was traced to the home cable modem of Scott Tom, CEO of Absolute poker. scott@rivieraltd.com is apparently the CEO, and is also the owner of account POTRIPPER. Scott Tom is also apparently the owner of the STEAMROLLER account.

[ QUOTE ]
Scott Tom may also go by the name of Scott Beckley as he was primarily raised by his mother from ages 2-15 in Montana while his father lived in Washington. He lived breifly with his father for one year where his father allegedly failed to pay for a medical expense, at which point he returned to live with his mother in Montana.

Cause No. 79964, Fourth Judicial District Court of Montana, Missoula County 1996.

[/ QUOTE ]
On September 3rd, 2007 a small jet plane caught on fire before taking off on the runway at San Jose Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica. The two passengers on the private jet were Scott Tom and his pregnant wife. The plane's destination was Colombia and the rumored cargo on the plane was $2-3M in cash. Officials at Absolute Poker confirmed to Point-Spreads.com that Tomm was on the jet, however, deny any money was onboard.

If you guys remember, there were two people watching Potripper's table. One is #363; the other is assumed to be Potripper. That second account's email address is scott@rivieraltd.com. The IP address cross-references to someone named Scott Tom, who also appears to be an owner at AP. It should also be noted that the first part of the rivieraltd.com email is "scott@".

Scott Tom has been spamming poker forums as recently as June 2007 on behalf of Absolute Poker. Scott Tom has account at Ultimate Bet under the name of 'PotChopper'

[ QUOTE ]
From brsavage, a highly respected member of the poker community: "Scott Tom is not an ex employee of Absolute. He was at the sale from Excapsa to the AP ownership group, and we have him tied to AP in recent history and I have confirmed from parties within that he is in fact STILL in control of AP. He may be in seclusion in Panama, but his attorneys are acting at his behest in trying to maintain contol of AP."

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Absolute's statement: "With respect to the claims that Scott Tom, a former Member of Team Absolute Poker, is in anyway involved in wrong-doing, Absolute Poker has requested a formal investigation into that matter as well. Mr. Tom has not been involved with Absolute Poker for over a year and to the best of our knowledge, information and belief has not had access to any of Absolute Poker’s systems, databases or information."

[/ QUOTE ]
---------------------------------
AJ GREEN



Previously know as Allan Grimard he recently changed his name to AJ GREEN. AJ GREEN is the VP of operations at nine.com. Nine.com shares the same office building as Absolute Poker in Costa Rica. While at Nine.com, AJ had a portrait done of himself that hung on his wall over his desk. The photo was a picture of him "American Beauty' style laying spread out on his futon covered in hundred dollar bills. While living in Costa Rica, AJ bought a house in Escazu outright with cash.

The Potripper account belongs to AJ Green, former Director of Operations at AP and Scott Tom's best friend. AJ Green is currently VP of operations at nine.com and the former director of operations at Absolute. AJ Green was formerly known as Allan Grimard and had a name change once moving to Costa Rica. AJ Green is also POTSLAMMER, he of the 3 posts shilling for AP in his only thread. As we already know, The Watchdog, who comes in to defend him and co-shill for AP in that thread, is probably Scott Tom. AJ Green/Potripper on AP [almost certainly] = FATRAISER on Stars.

"We wanted to provide a safe environment for our other popular sites," said AJ Green, VP of operations at Nine.com. "iovation has a proven record of decreasing fraud and stopping crime rings from forming and coming back resulting in a much more secure environment for ourselves and our clients"

BRENT BECKLEY
Director of Payments and Risk Management at Absolute Poker and alumnus from SAE frat in Montana from 1999. President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon's UM chapter. That player is Brent Beckley, another major player at AP. Brent Beckley worked for AP when a poster propped there. He was a part of support and security. Brent Beckley's last known city of residence is Miami, which is the location of one of the cheater accounts. He was a frat brother of Scott Tom in Montana. Brent plays as RUNNINONMT on UB. His email is brent@rivieraltd.com. Steamroller, a cheating account, is known to have played from Miami. Absolute Poker's recent press releases come out of Miami.

"While fraudsters continue to evolve and devise new ways to exploit our competitors, it is our belief that by continuously improving our 'fraud tool kit' that we can provide the safest place to play poker online," said Brent Beckley, director of client services at Absolute Poker.

OSCAR HILT
Oscar Hilt = another one of Scott Tom's frat brothers, and was also employed by Absolute, as the CFO. CFO Oscar Hilt Tatum IV, although it seems that he sometimes goes by a combination of just 2 of those names such as Hilt Tatum IV or Oscar Hilt. - There have also been references to Scott Tom now living and/or operating/pulling strings out of Panama. Oscar may be there too, evidenced by this page which appears to be a list of individuals granted residency status by the government of Panama, and has a listing for two Americans named "Oscar Hilt Tatum IV" and "Oscar Hilt Tatum III" for April 9th, 2007. (Note that their records don't have any listing for Scott Tom, at least not since Sept 2005 when the database begins.)

Absolute managment made quite a scene when photos from Hilt's wedding were discovered and posted on the 2+2 message boards. These picture revealed many of the top players involved in Absolute Poker management and possibly ownership.

[ QUOTE ]
Absolute's Statement:"HILT TATUM IS COMPLETLEY UNCONECTED WITH THIS CASE - HE HAS NEVER BEEN THE CFO - HIS WIFE AND FAMILY ARE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS INVESTIGATION - THE COMPANY IS TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING - I URGE YOU TO CONTACT THE MODS AND HAVE ALL PICTURES REMOVED - PLEASE TRY AND HELP THIS BEYOND THE CALL - AND THEY ARE AS INNOCENT AS ANYONE. "

[/ QUOTE ]

WILLIAM WILLIS MCMANON - Frat allum from 1995
The speculation is that William McManon might be the user of the account "MCBill." MCBILL won a $100,000 dream package on absolute after little tournament play on the website. There are active McBill accounts at Full Tilt and PokerStars.

SHANE ALAN BLACKFORD - 1997 SAE Montana Allum.
Shane is the administrative contact for Innovative Data Solutions - a Costa Rican Company somehow related to Absoulte Poker. Shane was also a member of the SAE fraternity.

MARK SEIF
Mark seif has huge endorsement deal dating back from when Scott Tom is CEO of AP. Mark Seif has been seen in public with Scott Tom many times. Mark Seif is rumored to have a minor ownership interest in Absolute.
SEIF's QUESTIONABLE SESSION

--------------------------
OTHER ABSOLUTE EMPLOYEES
These Employees are most likely not involved. However, so little is know about Absolute's operations anyone who is in anyway realted should be mentioned.

CURTIS OLSON - is listed as a consultant who is also the VP of Technology at Absolute Poker.
DAVID CLAINER - Senior VP at Absolute Poker
FRED ROMAN - Affiliate Relations Manager for Absolute Poker (apparently has not worked at Absolute for over 1 yr.)

-----------------------------------
THE ACCOUNTS

Most of these account have recently won large buy-in tournaments on Absolute Poker. Many have similar questionable play. Most have played very few tornaments on Absolute before winning a large buy-in event.

USER 363 - Unknown - observed Table of Potripper in 1K win
1. This guy "enters" table 13 at 2007-09-12 21:02:14, which is 2 minutes and 14 seconds after the tourney started.
2. Table 13 is the table which POTRIPPER was playing on
3. He never leaves the table, which means he was observing the table until at least 11:20 PM EST (at least, that's how I understand this)
4. His IP address is based in Costa Rica.
5. This is the most damning. He is user id 363 at AP. That means he was created in the system very very early on. Most of these user ids are in the 6 or 7 figures.

The guy who was on the same IP as the user 363 had his email set to an email that is hosted by Kahnawake Gaming Commission.

[ QUOTE ]
Absolute's statement:"The results of that investigation indicated that to the best of Absolute Poker’s knowledge, information and belief there was no security breach. Specifically, Absolute Poker’s internal investigation determined that it is impossible for any person, device, program, script or other means to see hole cards."

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Absolute's 2nd Statement:"Absolute Poker has identified an internal security breach that compromised our systems for a limited period of time."

[/ QUOTE ]
GRAYCAT - Crushed High stakes limit games on Absolute. Chip dumped large amounts to SUPERCARDM55. GREYCAT won more that $100,000 in high stakes limit games on Absoulte. Might have never had a losing session.

DOUBLEDRAG -DOUBLEDRAG won huge amounts of money in high stakes no-limit games on Absoulte playing nearly every hand. DOUBLEDRAG chip dumped $200k and $300k to Romnaldo (or REYMNALDO) -THESE ARE 3 CONSECUTIVE HANDS where DOUBLEDRAG and ROMNALDO capped every street playing $200/$400 heads-up, only to have DOUBLEDRAG fold for one bet on the river. HERE
After cheating story became public DOUBLEDRAG dumped 27k on the tables.

STEAMROLLER
STEAMROLLER won the $150 buy-in on 8/19/2007 for $20,700. STEAMROLLER also won the $100 buy-in on 8/19/2007 for $1636. Absolute Poker admitted this account belongs to the Absolute Poker staff. Steamroller is linked to Scott Tom. STEAMROLLER was from Miami. Verified by report with Tom on July 27th under the STEAMROLLER account and email confirming from Absolute. Two different people have reported to Dan Druff that STEAMROLLER had flashed between $200k and $500k on the table in the past, bragging that he had "wired it in".


OSCAR133 - There was an "Oscar Hilt" at SAE in 1999.
2 tournaments, 1 9 entrants, 1 296, won both, total winnings 38k. OSCAR133 won the $500 buy-in on 10/6/2007 for $37,500.

POTRIPPER - won $1K tournament on 9/12/2007 for $30,000. User #2234890 is POTRIPPER in the AP user database. POTRIPPER folded his first couple hands before the 363 observer entered the table... and that's when he started the suspicious activities. .xls file mistakenly sent out by Absoulte support.
YOU TUBE OF WIN

PAYUP - Won $1K on 8/23/2007 for $35,700. Sheets a well known internet pro commented: "but it was on august22, before the potripper tourney, where I got 2nd to one of the cheating accounts, Payup, in the 1k mtt.

[ QUOTE ]
Comments about this tournament from respected player Sheets: "I laughed about Payups invincibility throughout the course of the tourney with inissint while on the phone but didnt think anything of it really until 2+2 started looking into the potripper tourney which i THINK occured later. I sent adanthar my hh for the payup tourney and he essentilly confirmed that the same shenanigans were involved and the payup account was also closed by AP. - sheets "

[/ QUOTE ]
MCBILL
There is speculation that this account is linked to another SAE Montana Fraternity brother - WILLIAM WILLIS MCMANON. On 10/7/2007 won $200 buy-in event for $100,000. Montana resident and online poker player "MCBill" probably feels like he's struck gold this week after winning access to a possible over $100 million in online poker tournament prize pool money. Absolute Poker revealed that the online poker player hailing from Helena, Montana has won the 5th Absolute Dream Package on October 7th.

2 other accounts
There are apparently 2 other accounts that have won $150 tournaments on Absolute that are not mentioned here.
-----------------------------
ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP
I found some information of the companies that run absolute HERE Pretty Interesting read.

Key points about Absolutes Ownership: Apparently, at least 4 companies have 100% ownership in Absolute Poker.

1. Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG
From Absolutes website:
[ QUOTE ]

“Absolute Poker and this website is solely owned and operated by Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, Route 138, Kahnawake, Quebec J0L 1B0. Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG is owned by a Mohawk of Kahnawake, and is operated from the sovereign nation of the Mohawks of Kahnawake, located near Montreal Quebec.

[/ QUOTE ]
The Ultimate Bet web site shows the same (or similar) statement.

2. Blast Off Limited
From Poker Scout:
[ QUOTE ]
Poker Scout provides the following about Absolute Poker:
Owner: Blast Off Limited (private company) Headquarters: Malta Server Location: Kahnawake, Canada


[/ QUOTE ]
The Malta Registry of Companies is HERE but I cannot find Blast Off, Ltd.
Blast Off Ltd, is a privately owned Maltese company. The headquarters are in Malta and servers are located in Kahnawake, Canada. Blast Off Ltd, purchased Excapsa Software (Ultimate Bet) in Oct., 2006, in a five-year planned transaction totaling $130 million.
Blast Off Ltd Controls ten SITES: (10) Bet21.com, Benefitpoker, Cardplayer, DevilfishPoker.com, DV8 Poker, Green Tie Poker, Magic Palace Poker , UltimateBet*, UltimatePoker* , UpperClassPoker Network and Sites Networks and Sites

3. Absolute Entertainment, SA

[ QUOTE ]
I also came across another name: ”Absolute Poker is a downloadable poker room and casino using Proprietary Software licensed in Kahnawake. It is one of 2 online gaming sites owned by Absolute Entertainment, SA.”


[/ QUOTE ]
Absolute Entertainment S A
Address: C/O Wendy Y Oxley, Belize City
Country: Belize
Industry: Offices of Holding Companies, NEC
Line of business: Holding Companies, Nec, Nsk
Dunn & Bradstree Internations Business Information Report

4. Innovative Data Solutions
We also know about Innovative Data Solutions - a Costa Rican Company somehow related to Absoulte Poker. This is the name displayed at the front of the gambling911 photos of Absolute's Offices and was confirmed by Michael Davis.

INNOVATIVE DATA SOLUTIONS:
IDS Technical Consulting
Oficentro de Sebana
San Jose, Costa Rica
Telephone - 011-506-520-0525
Email - info@idsworld.net

Innovative Data Solutions
SBO 306, 7333 NW 54th Street
Miami, Florida 33166
United States
6786312244

[GaryTheGoat]

Chief,

Absolutely true transparency now or hire many, many more lawyers.

Chief: How much is your fee?
Professional Liar: How much do you have?
Chief: $25000000000000000000000000000
Professional Liar: Ship it!!!!!!!!!!

gg


ammbo,

[ QUOTE ]
...surprising that these links did not generate more discussion...

[/ QUOTE ]

They may not have been openly discussed much, but they were not overlooked. I appreciate this information and welcome more.

Thanks


Edit: ps PokerStud you da Absolute stallion.


gg

[cjd]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi guys,

I just wanted to drop in and give some thanks to all you guys who have been working on this project. I can safely say that I would have probably never known that I was playing on such a scummy site if it weren't for BBV... lol

As an ex-small stakes grinder at AP, I never expected to get a piece of the refund cash (I have only ever played 2 tourneys at AP), but as it turns out the two times I tried out the $500 buy-in $150k guarantee, there was a cheater involved. I received refunds for both tournaments today, ID#1871011 and ID#1873546. I cashed in one tourney, but I must have beaten the cheater because I wasn't credited with any money for moving up a spot.

Anyway, thanks again guys. I am about $1k richer because of all your hard work.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of the cashing placings have the same payouts, at the bottom end. Like, they may say spots 10-13 all get $x, and spots 14-18 all get $y. I don't know which way AP intends to credit people for moving up a spot, but I assumed it meant if you finished in 13th, you'll be credited any extra than if you finished 12th -- which may be the same amount.

[LuckyMux]

A couple of thoughts (okay, three):

1) Anything AP does now is far too little, far too late. We have had ample proof that the company is rotten to the core. Don't even think about helping them to survive this crisis - because if they do, online poker will permanently suffer.

2) Popcorn-gate (which I hope you good US citizens have reported by now?) proves that no amount of ill-gotten gains was too small for these scumbags. It also shows they were thieving little sh*ts long before Potripper - so there will be MANY money-skimming scams between then and now. Any method you can think of, from Superman 2 'save the pennies' onwards, you can bet they thought of too. The alternative is a period of quiet honesty...

3) In the great scheme of things (no pun intended), this story hasn't even STARTED yet. My most recent poker-related article was about 'old-time' cheating. My next is about this, the WCOOP, collusion and chip-dumping (all reasons I no longer play anything but HU or micro-stakes). If the poker mags won't run it, the likes of Maxim or FHM will. More senior journos than me are following this, too.

(PS. Bravo, PokerStars... if it's all true and can be confirmed by a truly independent audit, starting yesterday. Same goes for every other vendor. Your ball, guys.)

[luckyjimm]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but do you think the FBI are interested in this, and what happens if someone from Absolute tries to get into the USA?

[niss]

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry if this has been asked before, but do you think the FBI are interested in this, and what happens if someone from Absolute tries to get into the USA?

[/ QUOTE ]

Pursuing law enforcement? How come nobody has thought of this already?

Sorry Jim, I don't mean to be snotty to you in particular. This question has been asked about 731 times in the various threads.