Russ Hamilton and 31 accomplices are fingered in UB cheating scandal

11 September 2009

By Gary Trask

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) confirmed today through the release of an 11-page document that cheating occurred at online poker room UltimateBet and that the point man for the incident -- former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Russ Hamilton -- did not act alone.

In the release, the KGC named the accounts used to cheat UB players out of their bankrolls and stated that Hamilton was "the individual who ultimately bears responsibility" for that cheating and that he had 31 accomplices, who were not named in the report. But the 117 usernames used in the cheating were listed in the report.

The KGC added that it has "provided extensive information to law enforcement authorities, including the names of 31 individuals who were associated, to varying degrees, with Russell Hamilton, the cheating accounts and/or transactions related to the cheating accounts."

The 11-page document also reported that Tokwiro, the owner of UltimateBet, refunded more than $22 million to players affected by the cheating and also paid $1.5 million in fines. It also revealed that there were 23 accounts and 117 usernames used in the cheating and the majority of the money was paid through player-to-player transfers on UB.

"Despite the unfortunate circumstances that resulted in this cheating, we are satisfied that the actions taken by the (KGC) provided an equitable result for affected players – our first priority," KGC Chairman Dean Montour said in a press release. "We remain optimistic that this experience and the lessons learned from it will result in a higher standard of gaming regulation for companies licensed and regulated within the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake and elsewhere."

It was almost a year ago that the KGC released the initial findings of an audit conducted on UB in regards to the cheating allegations that took place between May 2004 and January 2008. The incident marked the second time in less than a year that a Tokwiro property has had to investigate unfair play at one of its poker rooms. Earlier in the year the KGC fined Tokwiro's Absolute Poker $500,000 after it was revealed players with "superuser" accounts that could see hole cards of opponents had cheated.

Click here to read the complete text of the 11-page report that was released by the KGC today. The 117 usernames are listed on page 7 of the report.

Russ Hamilton and 31 accomplices are fingered in UB cheating scandal is republished from iGamingNews.com.