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

[h11]

[ QUOTE ]
I admit I haven't followed everything this weekend. But doesn't it seem more likely to you that Joe Norton owns AP/UB in name only? After the UIGEA and Neteller arrests, anyone with exposure owning a poker site has to be scared crapless. Except for an untouchable Mohawk Indian with a license from Canada.

So some sort of backroom deal is worked out to put Joe Norton's name on it. But just by common sense I'd be really surprised if a single entity from an Indian nation had the means and especially the motivation to purchase something as large as AP/UB outright.

[/ QUOTE ]

The gambling license fees paid to KGC are more than ten million dollars a year. The charges for a thousand gambling sites running servers has to be more than that. In addition, many other businesses run servers there - banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms etc. because the internet spine runs right under the reservation, along the river separating the US from Canada. More than a thousand workers from outside the reservation go into the reservation to work there. I vaguely recall reading that the server business makes a profit of more than twenty million dollars a year. In addition, Mr Norton has an interest in a firm selling cigarettes which has possibly sold a billion dollars of the things. Again, Canada and the US have high taxes on cigarettes, giving the Mohawks an edge. The German army recently bought $8.5 million dollars worth of cigarettes from them, for instance. In addition, Mr Norton should be willing to pay more for the firm than other buyers would because he probably owns the server farm, meaning his costs for that part of running the business are much lower than the cost for other possible purchasers. So I think it's very possible that he is a real owner, putting down tens of millions, and a note for the rest, given to buyers very anxious to make a sale if they ever want to go back home to the US again. But maybe you're right, maybe he's just a nominee for the old owners, put their to provide legal cover.

[El Diablo]

suzzer,

Exactly. Now, they may indeed technically "own" Absolute Poker. But if that's the case, I'd wager a zillion dollars that AP has contracts in place with other companies to provide marketing, promotion, and technology services that add up to basically all their revenues.

[TonyRoflmao]

suzzer,

All evidence points to you being right on this. Banks are in the name of Absolute Entertainment, SA in Costa Rica for both Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker:
http://www.ultimatebet.com/banking/d...hod/bank-wire/
http://www.absolutepoker.com/banking/deposit-bw.asp

To anyone who really cares to know who the C-level executives at Absolute are you can purchase their Business Information Report here:
http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbdescri...IBIR_0194-IBIR

or directly from Dun & Bradstreet.

As has been mentioned, Blast Off, Ltd. in Malta purchased Excapsa who owned Ultimate Bet. It is Blast Off, Ltd. that owns these companies, and they are headquartered in a complex called Vincenti Buildings in Valleta, Malta that's tenants read like a who's who in post-UIGEA online gaming. There's also several law offices there.

Googling Vincenti Buildings is an interesting read.

[h11]

[ QUOTE ]
suzzer,

Exactly. Now, they may indeed technically "own" Absolute Poker. But if that's the case, I'd wager a zillion dollars that AP has contracts in place with other companies to provide marketing, promotion, and technology services that add up to basically all their revenues.

[/ QUOTE ]

Were I the sellers I would prefer to be paid in the form of cash and notes rather than in the form of contracts. Contracts can be voided more easily, such as for a claim, valid or not, of poor service, etc. I bet a note is worth more in a bankruptcy proceding than a contract to provide future services, too, should that ever come up. But Mr Norton probably doesn't have employees familiar with these services, might worry that the old AP hands wouldn't be as loyal to him as the old guys, so maybe he did contract with the old guys for such services. But I would really doubt the value of these contracts equals all or most of the value of the revenue stream. As to Absolute Entertainment SA being the banking agent - I assume Mr Norton owns that company. SA is the same thing as our Inc., I think, and it's easy to buy shares. The name stays the same, but the shareholders are different. The news reports about Blast Off a year ago are not now tracked by the statements on the web sites of the two poker sites, nor does Blast Off appear in the statement recently issued. Some have said that Blast Off is owned by Russ Hamilton, and on that basis have said that Mr Hamilton is the real Mr Big - but those reports were later retracted here. The Blast Off connection is based on news reports of status a year ago, and contradicts more recent information. So I doubt that means there is now a real, hidden Blast Off owner lurking. But I could be wrong.

[mother_brain]

So I emailed the photographer of these jet crash pictures earlier in the thread. Pointed him to this thread and asked if he knew anything about the passengers. Just got his response:

Hello there and thank you for contacting me,

I will try to clear up some points, first the jet didn't catch fire, and actually there were six people on board. Unfortunately I only know the names of the pilots: {dont think i should probably post these}. Now that I read this thread, here is something interesting that may be useful:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1259142/L/

The first comment reads as follows:

It was a very scary ride. hope this never happens again to us.

It was written by a visitor from Antigua & Barbuda, which kind of make sense when it comes to on-line poker and gambling. If you really need to, I will do my best to get you the list of the passengers on board. This may take me some days.

Thanks a lot, have a good night.

[mother_brain]

another response further down:

A visitor from Costa Rica posted Wed September 5, 2007:
I was a passenger. I feel blessed.

[brick]

Geting broader coverage. Sorry if these links have been posted:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sportsscop...ted-poker.html

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/NewsSt...px?story=63559

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/20...lown-wide-open/

[waveydavey]

That USA Today one basically says give up, there's nothing you can do about it. Wankers.

[goofyballer]

[ QUOTE ]
[1] It is, of course, possible in theory that PokerStars has written such software since I left its employ in April. I'm prepared to bet 100% of my bankroll that they didn't do that.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think there's a very important question here on everyone's minds: Lee, how big is your bankroll? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

(thx for WLLH btw, it was the first poker book I ever read and it set me on the path to becoming the goofy poker baller I am today [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img])

[Spiff]

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