Online Gambling Cheating

This story was first published on Nov. 30, 2008. It was updated on June 25, 2009. In the wild, wild west, when a poker player was caught cheating it was a capital offense, with the punishment quickly dispensed right across the card table. But today if you re caught cheating in the popular and lucrative world of Internet poker, you may get away scot-free. At least that s what seems to be happening in the biggest scandal in the history of online gambling. As 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft first reported last November, a small group of people managed to cheat players out of more than $20 million. And it would have gone undetected if it hadn t been for the players themselves, who used the Internet to root out the corruption. As a joint investigation by 60 Minutes and The Washington Post revealed, it raises new questions about the integrity and security of the shadowy and highly profitable industry that operates outside U.S. Law. If you had to pick the moment that the poker boom began, it was probably the day an unknown accountant named Chris Moneymaker won $2.5 million at the 2003 World Series of Poker.

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Suddenly every amateur with a hat, sunglasses and a stack of chips saw themselves as the next big money maker. Nearly 7,000 competed in last year s tournament for $180 million in prize money. But the fever has spread far beyond Las Vegas. It is the richest sporting competition in the world. And yet all this pales in comparison to the half million people who are playing on the Internet right now in the unregulated world of online poker. As we learned in a tutorial, all you have to do to play is log on to the Web, click your way to an online gambling site, open an account with your credit card, choose your game and pull up a seat at a virtual table.

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These people could be playing from anywhere in the world.

They could be here in the United States.

They could be, you know, in India.

They could be in South Africa, Australian computer security expert Michael Josem tells Kroft.

We should tell you that this $18 billion industry is illegal in the U.S., but the ban is almost impossible to enforce since the Internet sites and the computers that randomly deal the cards and keep track of the bets are located offshore, beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. Law enforcement. And unlike land-based casinos, there is almost no official regulation, enforcement or supervision. But it hasn t stopped thousands of mostly young men from making this their livelihood.

Todd Witteles, a former computer scientist-turned-poker pro, says you no longer have to go to Vegas to find a high stakes game. You could do it from your own living room, he says. You don t have to get dressed. You don t have to anything. It s right there on your computer.

Witteles says online poker is much different - faster, more aggressive and less personal. You re not lookin at somebody sittin across the table. You re just playing the cards that tumble out of the computer, Kroft remarks. Not only are you notIt s hardly a surprise that so many people as the question whether online casinos cheat or if the online casino they are patronizing is cheating.

This is a legitimate question as the answer could very well be yes , but keep on reading as it s not that simple. Do online casinos cheat in general - no, they don t, but there is a good chance that the online casino you have chosen to play at is cheating you.

There is nothing to prevent a bunch of crooks from creating a fake online casino to steal your identity, credit card information or to simply create an online casino where players always loose. At the same time there are many online casinos which are legitimate businesses and will never employ any cheating tactics to steal your money or sensitive information. Everyone knows that the casino business and even gambling in general is a bullet-proof system, i.e.

The house always wins in the long run.

The honest online casino companies know that and they act just like a land-based casino would - some players will win but the odds are always stacked against the player and it comes down to pure luck when a player wins big; but in the long run the majority of the gamblers will lose more than they would win.

Therefore those honest online casino establishments work very hard to build up a good reputation among the players and watchdogs - the more players gamble at the online casino, the more people will lose and more profitable the casino will be. You can find a great list of online casinos by clicking on the link - it s our selection of the best honest online casinos. Playing at those will take all down to whether you are lucky or have a good winning game strategy.

Those are honest online casino which will not use sleazy methods to cheat you. If you are lucky enough to hit one of the big jackpots at those casinos, you will get paid, period, so you can gamble there with confidence. On the other side, there are quite a few online casino cheating instances and plenty of online casinos cheating the players. You would not believe how many email we have received from people who complain about a casino simply disappearing from the face of the Internet - when we visit those casinos, we usually find a blank webpage.

There are criminal organizations which pay a few developers to create an online casino which is designed in a way to cheat players by never allowing them to win anything or simply don t pay people when they win at the casino.

These types of online casino cheating are unfortunately quite common, especially among people new to online gambling.

Those folks simply do a search on the internet for online casino and click and sign up with the first website they see. A big mistake.

That s why a list of honest online casinos like ours are very important - we don t simply weed out the cheating online casinos, we only list online casinos that have proven over the years that they are honest and pay the winning customers their due money.

So if you are looking for anScandal TimelineAn overview of the investigation into the cheating scandals at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet. David Paredes, 29, a Harvard graduate and lawyer turned hedge fund employee began playing online poker around 2004. Live poker is much slower, Paredes says, comparing live poker with online play. I can probably play 30 hands an hour live, whereas if I m six-tabling online I can probably get somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 to 600 hands an hour. One of the most popular forms of online gambling is Texas Hold Em, a poker game where the bluff is critical. Here, we walk through the basic rounds of betting in Hold Em, where the key is to win the pot by having the best five-card hand at the table - or at least convincing others that you do. Glossary Card Rankings In the fall of 2007, rumors of cheating at high-stakes tournaments were rampant in the world of online gambling. After one particularly conspicuous game, Marco Johnson requested his hand histories from Absolute Poker after losing thousands to a player named Potripper.

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Fellow poker player Serge Ravitch explains the final hand of that infamous tournament and how it convinced many players of the cheater s insider strategy. Glossary Card Rankings Q&A on Internet Gambling Investigative reporter Gilbert M. Gaul and online poker player Serge Ravitch were online to discuss the cheating scandals and the debate over onlineExamining Ethics The Online Gambling Dilemma Curing the Online Pornography Problem Other Online Ethical Issues Links Webgraph Home Slideshow Online GamblingIn 2007, news of cheating at two of the world s biggest online poker sites rocked the world of Internet gambling. Both scandals came to the forefront after aggressive detective work by several players who suspected the cheating.

The players persistence in pushing reluctant online poker officials to acknowledge the scandals - and pay out millions in refunds to scammed players - appears to be a victory for the self-policing nature of the Internet. But the cheating has also bolstered objections by critics who view Internet gambling as an unregulated, murky industry.

Washington Post investigative reporter Gilbert M. Gaul answered questions on Monday, Dec. 1 at 1 p.m. ET about his reporting on Internet gambling, joined by Serge Ravitch, an online poker player and one of the detectives in the Absolute Poker scandal. Full investigation: Inside Bet Gilbert M. Gaul: Hi everyone.

Welcome to our chat today on Internet gambling.

Sorry for the delay getting going but we are now ready to take your questions. Anonymous: Where are these companies taxed? Gilbert M. Gaul: It s unclear if the companies highlighted in the stories pay taxes in Australia.

That s because the Kahnawake consider themselves to be a soverign nation, outside of federal and provincial law. Other companies have chosen to locate in places where their taxes will be minimized, such as the Isle of Man and Costa Rica. Richmond, Va.: This is all very interesting, but I thought online betting was illegal.

True? Serge Ravitch: Placing sports bets is illegal as per the Wire Act, but playing online poker is not covered by the Act and is not illegal under federal law. A handful of states (Washington state) do ban it, but it s legal to play in the vast majority of the US. Castle Rock, Colo.: Why don t any of the stories mention how UB and AP formed the new company called Cereus? Gilbert M. Gaul: Cereus was just formed the other day and it s unclear how if at all it changes things.

The press release says that the new company reflects the owner s renewed commitment to improving security.

We ll have to see how that plays out. Buxeuil, France: Have any cheating allegations surfaced regarding online backgammon sites? Serge Ravitch: I don t have any direct knowledge of that, but unlike poker, backgammon has been solved by computers (there is always a mathematically correct play) and there are definitely programs out there that let people cheat in that fashion. It comes down to whether those sites adequately police themselves to ban those cheaters. Rockville, Md.: I understand that being able to see other players hole cards gives you a big advantage, but there is still the luck of the draw on the 5 community cards. A 7-2 off-suit can beat pocket aces if the other 5 cards benefit the 7-2 player. It seems that in the articles, the cheaters never lost. Is that true? If so, it seems that they knew the 5 community cards before they were shown.

Cheated by on line gambling?How does one go about determinging if something is legitimate or a fraudulant scam? I'd like to do a little online casino, but I'm nervous that I might get boned in the rear. I thought t.

Online gambling fraud/refund.?I've been cheated by an online gambling site, how do I go about getting my money back?

Cheated by online gambling site, How do I get my money?They changed the balances in my account and took my winnings away, saying fraudulent acctivity on the account, but I won fair and square!

Online Gambling security?I was conned by absolutepoker.com. I tried to get my money back by filing a visa debit card dispute with my bank. My bank stated that neither I nor my bank have chargeback rights when it comes to.

So.I'm interested in online gambling.?

Do you trust online gambling(casinos)?how should i know they don't cheat??I need some information and literature on online gambling and a study on how it is fair. I want to investigate what technology is used to make sure cheating in minimized on online gambling websites.

Online cheating?I need some information and literature on online gambling and a study on how it is fair. I want to investigate what technology is used to make sure cheating in minimized on online gambling websites.

Do you think the government will legalize online gambling soon to help the economy?Why is it currently illegal to gamble online? Sources?

Online Gambling Analysis?Do you have heard an online gambling that cheats? Because I am currently playing blackjack with the computer as the dealer.Maybe you can help me