UB.com included in seize of Poker websites

Anyone know anything?

I had <$30 in my UB account.

 

I just logged in. The site is still up, my money still appears to be there. Games are underway.

First thing I did was check the date of the article, but it wasn't April 1 ...

 

On the other hand, going to ub.com doesn't look promising

 

site was transferred at ubpoker.eu

 

Info from Costa Rica where 3 sites shut

Dated April 15, 2011


The Federal Bureau of Investigation shuts down three of the largest poker sites in
probe that could mean the end of online gambling - and the loss of thousands of
well paid jobs - in Costa Rica.

In a surprise move on Friday: "Three of the largest online poker sites have been
shut down by the Feds in a probe that could bring about the death of the internet
gambling industry."

The entire U.S. online poker industry has approximately 2.5 million Americans
players betting around $30 billion annually.

According to a statement from the Justice Department, the founders of three
big online poker companies have been charged with "bank fraud, money
laundering, and illegal gambling offenses." In addition, "restraining orders were
issued against more than 75 bank accounts utilized by the Poker Companies
and their payment processors, and five internet domain names used by the
Poker Companies to host their illegal poker games were seized."

Three of the defendants are Canadians. One of them, Isai Scheinberg, 64, the
founder of PokerStars - with "an estimated $1.4 billion of annual global revenue
and some $500 million in profit, "has dual Israeli-Canadian citizenship and lives
in the Isle of Man. Late in 2010 PokerStars, claims it has legal opinions from five
U.S. law firms saying it is not violating any laws.

This could unfortunately be the final, deadly blow to the online gaming industry
in Costa Rica which employs thousands of people who all earn well above the
average salary.

You can see who's been charged at:

[ http://www.welovecostarica.com/public/3049.cfm ]

 

Interesting that Scott Tom was named as an owner of ub/ap in the indictment yet everyone has said it has new owners.

 

Phil, Annie, Hollywood Dave and everyone sponsored by UB/AP claimed it was a new company with new owners yet one of the leading original scum bags in the cheating is indicted as a current owner.

Hollywood's statement from your on your site: That's a pretty inaccurate characterization. I'd be happy to give you a more complete breakdown of the situation you're referring to:

Several years ago there was a significant scandal in which the former owners/management sold Ultimatebet & then continued to play on the site with the aid of their old diagnostic software, which allowed them to view poker players' hole cards & cheat people out of quite a lot of money. It was horrible, and when the new management discovered what was happening, they took several steps to handle the situation.

If Scott Tom sold his interests in the company why is he indicted as an owner?

First and foremost, they immediately cut off any access that anyone involved with the old site still had, and started an investigation into the extent of who was involved & the level of damages players incurred. A comprehensive list of cheating accounts that had access to this hole card software was compiled, and the new management ended up refunding every dollar lost by players to these accounts over every single hand played. The total refund -- out of pocket for new ownership -- was in excess of 20 million dollars. Since then they've tried to recoup portions of this expense from the old investment group that sold them the compromised site.

Not everyone was paid back they claim records of hands played were lost.
Secondly, and just as importantly, they completely rebuilt the entire software platform for both Ultimatebet & Absolute Poker from the ground up, calling it 'Cereus.' This was not only to make sure that no one with any former access could continue to use backdoors into the client to cheat players, but also to build in an incredibly stringent set of security measures greater than any other site in the industry.

Eventually Ultimatebet rebranded as simply 'UB' to completely break with the former site & in my opinion, is now one of the *safest* places to play poker & blackjack online thanks to the extreme level of scrutiny & transparency that's followed. Of course the site will always have its critics, but to simply say 'the site is crooked' or 'the site cheated players' doesn't take into account the fact that the SITE didn't do any of these things; previous management/ownership did, AFTER they sold it.

As far as the cheaters themselves, there have certainly been some names released, Russ Hamilton's in particular. Unfortunately there is no court of law that has the jurisdiction to prosecute these particular international internet crimes. Our best hope is to wait until the USA's stance on internet gambling matures & the US justice system is more receptive to prosecuting these types of crimes. The good news is, the evidence is all digital so its not going anywhere -- and the new UB has the most incentive of all to truly bring these perpetrators to justice, since they footed the $20+ million in refunds out of pocket, as a good faith measure & to get the company back on track.


Finally, i take particular exception to the insinuation you made that i have sold out in some capacity; let me assure you that there is absolutely no amount of money they could pay me to trade my personal integrity or my reputation in the gaming world. Those of you that know me know that no matter how much of a loud-mouthed punk I may sometimes act like in the media, I have always conducted myself in every business or gaming transaction with 100% honesty. And there is no way I would involve myself with UB if I wasn't completely satisfied with the response & measures they've taken in light of such a terrible event.

Ultimately, I wouldn't expect anyone to play on the site who didn't have the same confidence as I do in the software & integrity of the company. And by all means, do your own homework on this issue, as there are plenty of forums out there offering an awful lot of evidence, analysis & criticism on every aspect of what happened.

However, it is not my intention to turn this announcement of new BJ tourney offerings on UB into yet another thread on another website about aspects of the scandal. All i can say is, if you are that unsettled on the issue, then no one is forcing you to be involved with the new BJ schedule. But I for one can only vouch for where things are now, and have nothing but excitement for the truly awesome things just around the corner on UB.

rock on, people. March 15th!

-hd.
As of today in an agreement with the DOJ Pokerstars, Fulltilt and UB/AP can refund players money Pokerstars has started allowing cash outs while Fulltilt and UB/AP are refusing to allow cash outs.

 

Maybe Hollywood Dave will come here and explain why he said UB/AP had new owners,Brent Beckley,Scott Tom and the others were no longer with UB/AP, and it could now be trusted but the DOJ says different. Heard this: The sponsored pros new slogan: "Learn, chat and flee with the pros".

 

just wondering

Any opinions on the following:

Is the owner of a an offshore sportsbook and/or online casino with no live poker software, in violation of the US law if he takes my deposit from my bank or credit card?

If yes............then shouldn't indictments be brought against all these companies? is selective enforcement in play? is that legal?.........prosecute some but not all?

.............i miss the good ol days..........windows 3.1.........computers were two grand plus.........you felt like you owned something..........now buy a new laptop when the current one gets bogged down............ooops sorry......buy an itablet, ipad, iwhatever............

 

1. Yes it is a violation of the law.
2. I think the DOJ went for the big 3 first, other indictments will follow at a later date. And yes selective enforcement happens. Kinda of like when I was a traffic officer and pulled over a speeder and was asked why I didn't get the other speeders I told the driver he was going the fastest so I got him. The others I'll catch another time they won't stop speeding.

 

And some sportsbooks have been caught: Last year UK –based website Sportingbet settled a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department to the tune of $33 million

 

I thought voting for Obama was supposed to stop all this. Could it be this is just about extracting taxes from us?

 

History of UB/AP

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/article1166818.ece Despite what Hollywood Dave said it seems to always have under the same crooked management and owners, other than adding stockholders who got shafted.

 

Blanca Games replied that there is no bankruptcy but UB/AP will continue without US.


z

 

left or right ???

i read both articles ken smith and zweeky refered to.

I don't think the left hand knows what the right hand is doing at ap/ub.

If i were a betting man-----i would say it is less than 3 in 10 that we will ever see a penny of our money.

And yes---left hand does not know what my right hand is doing either.

That makes me equal to ap/ub.

Onebounce