AP Visit: I'm going to Costa Rica

[timmay28]

Just an observation. A week ago the general feeling of this forum seemed to be that Absolute going down would hurt poker in the short term, but good for it long term. Looks like the attitude has changed a bit since then.

[SgtJake]

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Nat, I would assume that moving a large amount of cash through customs would raise some eyebrows, but Ikestoys was wondering if you would secrete some gold bars in your rectum so he can be made whole.

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zomgrotflmao

[TomHimself]

i really wonder how much they ould pay u nat

[CybrPunk]

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And Mason -- not that we don't all owe you a debt of gratitude for helping our poker games via books/forums/etc, but the silence from your end on this issue has been deafening. I think I speak for more than a couple people here (which I believe I'm authorized to do) when I say that I would have liked to see 2+2 representatives do a little more with respect to this unfolding scandal than pop into threads to remind us of your intellectual property rights. But perhaps you have done a lot of things behind the scenes that I'm simply not aware of.

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Sorry to go off-topic here, I'll end on topic tho...

I have to say that I highly doubt Mason or 2+2 has done much behind the scenes. I've seen this official "non" stance from the admins here all too often and, honestly, it sours me on the 2+2 brand to see that the people who make a living from the poker community, as well as the hosts of the largest online poker community (and one of the largest online forums worldwide) are not willing to take any sort of stand for the game we love or the people that sustain their livelihoods.

There are times I think it's a shame that this forum has to exist on the servers of a company that, truthfully, appears to do the least to help the industry and poker community as a whole. I can't recall a single instance throughout the course of the past year where poker has faced some sort of scrutiny or scandal and 2+2 has done more than issue a statement prepared by their attorney about how they have no stance.

2+2 is a publishing company that happens to be poker-oriented. Don't fool yourselves into thinking that 2+2 is going to stand up for the poker community or do things on our behalf. They can't even let a statement like Nat's slip. Mason is sure to show his face as soon as someone says they're representing this community, yet where were the statements during the times that UIGEA was passed, when Party pulled out from the US and when this scandal first started.

In the end, they just want to keep their legal costs down while book sale figures soar. That's what book publishers do, they publish books.

/rant

Nat -

Ignore the haters and do what you feel is right in this case. You've been nothing but a class act and have done a tremendous amount of work for people without being compensated for it already. There are plenty of people who will offer their opinions or viewpoints and make ridiculous statements like you should be doing this for free. You and I both know the people who would say those things are:

A - TOOLS
B - People who didn't lose anything in this scandal

I think it's a great thing for the poker community at large to have someone like yourself invited down to AP and I don't see any reason why you should forfeit your income for that period.

The one thing I haven't seen mentioned that should be of interest is how many layers of security from front-end to back-end systems and who had the ability to access and of the middle security layers as well as which ports were open between front-end/back-end, what type of communication is permitted from one server to another and is there anywhere in this configuration that allows for network scanning/packet sniffing equip.

[ligastar]

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So it's really just about....trying to help them get back on their feet in any way I can.

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Why? This whole thing is fishy. Best thing that can happen is Absolute goes down the tubes and serves as a warning and lesson to the other major sites to make sure that their *sses are squeaky clean. No one should be helping Absolute.

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[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Carl:

You're going to need to be patient. We are active on this issue, and when appropriate you'll hear from us.

Best wishes,
Mason

[waveydavey]

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Okay, I've received a very interesting offer that may change the whole angle of my visit and will address some of the concerns expressed in this thread. I will explain further once I talk to AP management about it and think it over.

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Hmmm. Interesting stuff. I know you'll keep us up to date with what information you can when you can, but my oh my this is an interesting topic to follow if nothing else!

[DonkeyKing]

Nat,

This thread is getting out of hand. I think it would be a good idea of organizing solid questions people have brought up in this thread so people aren't continually asking the same question over and over again. You're going to have multiple threads re: your trip so it would be great to have an updated questions AP will be asked in the very first post re this entire controversy (like the AP cheat threads had updating forensics information to forum goers).

1. and I know I'm echoing this, AP organizational reports before and after is a must.

2. How much does AP disperse bonuses or additional payments to their directors/executives regarding the success of AP. (you likely won't get this but this is very pertinent to a scandal of course)? What is determined reasonable?

3. What security measures, monitoring, etc. does AP employ to maintain the integrity of their system?

4. Do they have SOPs of their security monitoring?

[ua1176]

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Okay, I've received a very interesting offer that may change the whole angle of my visit and will address some of the concerns expressed in this thread. I will explain further once I talk to AP management about it and think it over.

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let me guess. they offered you a job or something?

[adanthar]

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Names need to be released. People need to be prosecuted. Full disclosure of ownership history. Complete statements from all of those accused.

AND Absolute Poker goes out of business.

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okay, you get right on that, chief

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Whatever. Go ahead and give them a clean bill of health and then start playing there. When they freeze your money up and you get stiffed you will be singing a different tune. The United States government is more than capable of freezing assets in these types of situations.

But maybe it is a good idea to give them a free pass FOR THE GOOD OF POKER. Hahahahahaha.

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no, seriously, you ought to get right on that.

I keep saying this: you have almost as much info as we do. 90% of it is in the public domain. you obviously have a different opinion about what should be done, so go and do it.