I know, another LeBron take on the internet is something you don't want to read. But if I'm not going to sleep before I get this posted? I may as well put it out there.
Did I watch the special? No. I did not watch the special. Like most of us on the internet, the mere idea that LeBron James was going to get an hour to massage his ego made me sick. I would rather replay the frustrating sequence of Mr. Zero in GTA San Andreas and watch the delightful paintball episode of Community than attempt to stomach this.
Any problem with him signing with Miami? I believe that they're going to implode at some point. Strange things happen. Wade's injury prone. Bosh is mercurial. See the above paragraph. for my opinion on LeBron. That being said, he seems to be playing with his friends. And on that instance alone? I have no problem with LeBron.
But the biggest and my potential most hypocritical problem? His ego trip is a win. Seriously. Remember the premise of the special was to get people talking about him.
What's this post about?
Kevin Durant could be considered as much of a transcendent talent as Mr. James. And you could ask your average casual NBA fan about him and they may not know that he signed an extension with the Thunder. A classy, quiet move. And he should be rightfully regarded highly for it.
But he lost the news cycle. And I helped.
Yay, huh?
Showing posts with label Taint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taint. Show all posts
Friday, July 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
So you know how it seemed odd that Oregon suspended Blount for the year?
Especially when you realize that Byron Hout got "internal punishment?" Well, E.J. Prince broke out something interesting on twitter. What, exactly, did he say, well...
So you have a University that has a talented but troubled running back, who has a bad game. And you've got some cocky dude in the doucheband saying the one thing you're not supposed to say. Was his action justified? No. But was it understandable?
Yeah. But Oregon completely overreacted in response. It's submarining a first round talent's future to end his senior season like that. And especially considering that on Sportsmanship week, some dumbass from Idaho decides to rub it in. And nothing happens.
I always liked Boise State. But this sort of thing? Indefensible on all sides.
@iamcutdacheck: Just talked to Jamere Holland (from Oregon WR) said that L. Blount socked dude from Boise State cuz he called him a nigger
So you have a University that has a talented but troubled running back, who has a bad game. And you've got some cocky dude in the doucheband saying the one thing you're not supposed to say. Was his action justified? No. But was it understandable?
Yeah. But Oregon completely overreacted in response. It's submarining a first round talent's future to end his senior season like that. And especially considering that on Sportsmanship week, some dumbass from Idaho decides to rub it in. And nothing happens.
I always liked Boise State. But this sort of thing? Indefensible on all sides.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Jerry Tarkanian is right.
If you don't recall, Tark is the man who waged a one man war against the NCAA for the better part of three decades. Put it this way, Tarkanian was the Duke family, and the NCAA was Boss Hogg. And he said something that rang true.
I'm going to paraphrase this, but essentially, the NCAA wants to keep its big programs as shining beacons of hope. However, the smallest programs get smacked upside the head for little more than a pick-up game. Don't believe me?
Here's the story of Southest Missouri. They've just been put on a three year probation. It includes three seasons of vacated wins as well as scholarship reductions. This is a strong penalty. And what's it all for?
A two and a half hour drive, two hundred and thirty-nine dollars, and a pick-up game of basketball? And that kills the program for a decade. Even though the staff wasn't forthright about it, this is still merely a missle to a bomb considering the enforcement of the sins of a program like USC (I mean, there's still no punishment for O.J. Mayo yet?) or UConn (Nate Miles and or Ater Majok).
We all know that the NCAA is broken. I wish it wasn't. But it is. This is just the latest instance of it.
I'm going to paraphrase this, but essentially, the NCAA wants to keep its big programs as shining beacons of hope. However, the smallest programs get smacked upside the head for little more than a pick-up game. Don't believe me?
Here's the story of Southest Missouri. They've just been put on a three year probation. It includes three seasons of vacated wins as well as scholarship reductions. This is a strong penalty. And what's it all for?
The committee found that the impermissible presence of men's basketball coaching staff members during summer strength and conditioning activities and observation of out-of-season pick-up games occurred in 2006 and 2007. The committee also found that impermissible extra benefits were given to two men's basketball
student-athletes: one in the amount of $239 for unpaid institutional fees in
August 2007, and the other when the former assistant coach drove a
student-athlete 171 miles from campus to Memphis in October 2006.
A two and a half hour drive, two hundred and thirty-nine dollars, and a pick-up game of basketball? And that kills the program for a decade. Even though the staff wasn't forthright about it, this is still merely a missle to a bomb considering the enforcement of the sins of a program like USC (I mean, there's still no punishment for O.J. Mayo yet?) or UConn (Nate Miles and or Ater Majok).
We all know that the NCAA is broken. I wish it wasn't. But it is. This is just the latest instance of it.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
The "Your Guy" Phenomenon...
I'm going to level with you. I cannot abide what Michael Vick has done. Training animals to kill each other and all that is disgusting. But it's a sin that he's paid his debt to society for.
I'm not going to cheer for the man. But he deserves a chance at playing football again. Worse sinners have been allowed to see the field again. I'm not going to hit the cheer button for him. At least, I wasn't before I started hearing the rumblings.
And it's a deep philosophical argument. Not in the Jim Rome provocative, you'd shove Farve out of the way for Rodgers, but bring Vick in sort of way. But should I be all "thank you athletically gifted freak, thank you for coming to join my team?"
It's obvious that he will add a dimension that the Packers haven't had since the days of the late-90's Super Bowl runs. And it's obvious that the Wildcat would play a major role if the Packers decided to take the PR hit. But I honestly don't know. It would be simple just to say don't sign him.
But I want the Packers to win. And if Vick is my guy? So be it.
I'm not going to cheer for the man. But he deserves a chance at playing football again. Worse sinners have been allowed to see the field again. I'm not going to hit the cheer button for him. At least, I wasn't before I started hearing the rumblings.
And it's a deep philosophical argument. Not in the Jim Rome provocative, you'd shove Farve out of the way for Rodgers, but bring Vick in sort of way. But should I be all "thank you athletically gifted freak, thank you for coming to join my team?"
It's obvious that he will add a dimension that the Packers haven't had since the days of the late-90's Super Bowl runs. And it's obvious that the Wildcat would play a major role if the Packers decided to take the PR hit. But I honestly don't know. It would be simple just to say don't sign him.
But I want the Packers to win. And if Vick is my guy? So be it.
Monday, July 27, 2009
I'm not one for nuance...
But there is a difference between being turned on by someones aesthetic and objectifying them. The difference is blurry, but it's there. Two posts ago, I set a decision to you. I put up some pictures that turned me on. You may see it exploitative, but hey. Potato pototo.
I also know that women don't need my help defending themselves. They're smart and have shaper tongues then your average bear of a dude. This is why (even if I'm one of the last ones to report on this) I am quite annoyed with Electronic Arts. If you don't know about it. Feast your eyes on this. Click the thumbnail.
What this is was EA's promotion for a game called Dante's Inferno. It asked people to "commit acts of lust" toward booth babes. These are women who are attractive and use that attractiveness to promote various acts of of pop culture. And while the intention here was something along the lines of a photo hunt, the wording?
It does seem like an open interpretation to sexually harrass women hired by EA and other companies, let alone random attractive women who decided to come to the comic-con dressed as their favorite character. And no matter their choice of employment. It's never okay to bring that implied invitation to the table.
So in conclusion? EA's marketing staff is more special than the twenty-seven year old slacker who gets outworked by elderly and the mentally low. I may bring a locker room post or two, but I am only marginally dickish. Be classy. Be good and be funny, and you'll have a better shot than just going om nom nom and honking various soft tissue humps.
I'm all over the place today. I dunno.
I also know that women don't need my help defending themselves. They're smart and have shaper tongues then your average bear of a dude. This is why (even if I'm one of the last ones to report on this) I am quite annoyed with Electronic Arts. If you don't know about it. Feast your eyes on this. Click the thumbnail.
What this is was EA's promotion for a game called Dante's Inferno. It asked people to "commit acts of lust" toward booth babes. These are women who are attractive and use that attractiveness to promote various acts of of pop culture. And while the intention here was something along the lines of a photo hunt, the wording?
It does seem like an open interpretation to sexually harrass women hired by EA and other companies, let alone random attractive women who decided to come to the comic-con dressed as their favorite character. And no matter their choice of employment. It's never okay to bring that implied invitation to the table.
So in conclusion? EA's marketing staff is more special than the twenty-seven year old slacker who gets outworked by elderly and the mentally low. I may bring a locker room post or two, but I am only marginally dickish. Be classy. Be good and be funny, and you'll have a better shot than just going om nom nom and honking various soft tissue humps.
I'm all over the place today. I dunno.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hey, did you know that the NBA Referees just screwed over another non-Laker team?
It's true! I'll give you a second to process that.
Okay, now this wasn't as egregious as previous situations (2002 Western Conference Finals, 2006 NBA Finals.) The Magic hit their free throws? It would be a 2-2 series. But they didn't. So the game went to overtime.
But, when you have a superstar like Kobe Bryant who...shall we say, has a bit of Bruce Bowen in him?
The referees allow that to happen. He aims his elbow in the general direction of other peoples head and does not get called for it. And tonight? It allowed for a dagger to be plunged into the heart of the Magic. Jameer has to get new dental work. Pietrus will get some form of punishment, the Lakers get a tainted win.
And that's the shame. This was a classic. At least it was until the referees stuck their head in it.
Bah. Bah I say.
Okay, now this wasn't as egregious as previous situations (2002 Western Conference Finals, 2006 NBA Finals.) The Magic hit their free throws? It would be a 2-2 series. But they didn't. So the game went to overtime.
But, when you have a superstar like Kobe Bryant who...shall we say, has a bit of Bruce Bowen in him?
The referees allow that to happen. He aims his elbow in the general direction of other peoples head and does not get called for it. And tonight? It allowed for a dagger to be plunged into the heart of the Magic. Jameer has to get new dental work. Pietrus will get some form of punishment, the Lakers get a tainted win.
And that's the shame. This was a classic. At least it was until the referees stuck their head in it.
Bah. Bah I say.
Monday, May 18, 2009
I have better things to do than rail against the Happy Youngster.
There's good small forwards to peep up on you. A true test of why there is no chance we can know just how Stephen Strasberg is going to do. (And I am looking at you unnamed Padre Scout saying he's an NL-ready starter. You don't know. Stop lying.)
But suddenly, I have a Chris Coghlan-The Happy Youngster take. And suffice it to say? There are habits that are cute, and there are habits that are annoying. This guy's behavior? Definitely gone beyond the pale.
He's not playing free safety for the Badgers. He's not attacking the passing lanes like Mike Kelley. He's an adult. He does not need a major league baseball if he's not going to play the game. He is everything that is wrong with fandom. He is Ronnie Wickers, he is Red Sox nation, he is every fan who gives their city or a bad reputation.
You don't wear the opposing teams colors. You don't make diving catches for a baseball. You don't cheat from your seats. And you don't make Steve Bartman look good.
Man...I'm writing for writing sake here. Sorry. More to come.
But suddenly, I have a Chris Coghlan-The Happy Youngster take. And suffice it to say? There are habits that are cute, and there are habits that are annoying. This guy's behavior? Definitely gone beyond the pale.
He's not playing free safety for the Badgers. He's not attacking the passing lanes like Mike Kelley. He's an adult. He does not need a major league baseball if he's not going to play the game. He is everything that is wrong with fandom. He is Ronnie Wickers, he is Red Sox nation, he is every fan who gives their city or a bad reputation.
You don't wear the opposing teams colors. You don't make diving catches for a baseball. You don't cheat from your seats. And you don't make Steve Bartman look good.
Man...I'm writing for writing sake here. Sorry. More to come.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
You know why I had nothing to say about Manny?
Because I'll be honest. I didn't care. I don't care. Sure, way back when, my first big post was based on the cheatery of three Baltimore Orioles. But that was just because I am a whore for readers. That one person who doesn't come here for the pictures of Bianca Beauchamp? I love you.
Anyway...why I don't care about Steroids. Simple. My baseball team sucked for the duration of the era. As you know, the kid is a fan of your Milwaukee Brewers. And from 1988 to 2006? The Brewers were good exactly once. And you know why they were good?
Pat Listach. The 1992 American League Rookie of the year. Straight speedster. The 1992 Brewers were the team that held the record for most players with 10 or more steals. They had a game where they used 24 singles to score 22 runs. This was not a team built on two power hitters.
Maybe that's why they fell short. But that's neither here nor there. The team was usless for most of my childhood and the majority of my adult life. If Jeromy Burnitz or John Jaha cheated? They clearly did not cheat enough. In fact? Purely on speculation, Jeff D'Amico probably cheated at some point during the mid 1990's. But it got them nowhere.
It's like the aphorism. Cheaters never prosper. If the Brewers did the former, it never got them the prosper. So you know what? Meh.
(Now watch Ryan Braun test positive for lady drugs.)
Anyway...why I don't care about Steroids. Simple. My baseball team sucked for the duration of the era. As you know, the kid is a fan of your Milwaukee Brewers. And from 1988 to 2006? The Brewers were good exactly once. And you know why they were good?
Pat Listach. The 1992 American League Rookie of the year. Straight speedster. The 1992 Brewers were the team that held the record for most players with 10 or more steals. They had a game where they used 24 singles to score 22 runs. This was not a team built on two power hitters.
Maybe that's why they fell short. But that's neither here nor there. The team was usless for most of my childhood and the majority of my adult life. If Jeromy Burnitz or John Jaha cheated? They clearly did not cheat enough. In fact? Purely on speculation, Jeff D'Amico probably cheated at some point during the mid 1990's. But it got them nowhere.
It's like the aphorism. Cheaters never prosper. If the Brewers did the former, it never got them the prosper. So you know what? Meh.
(Now watch Ryan Braun test positive for lady drugs.)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Celtics are growing Easier to Hate...
Not for nothing. They still don't have a vintage San Antonio Spurs sort of quality to their hatred just quite yet. But you have the Billionaires Bruce Bowen in Rondo. A mad King in Kevin Garnett. And lest we forget what Big Baby did tonight?
Pie facing a junior high kid? Not cool.
Okay. I get it. You substitute teach in the Junior High and you see tweens at their worst. But you're getting an America that wants to see you lose to the Cavs in five, Celtics fan?
And as @RussBengston shows?
You're rooting for the bad guy.
Pie facing a junior high kid? Not cool.
Okay. I get it. You substitute teach in the Junior High and you see tweens at their worst. But you're getting an America that wants to see you lose to the Cavs in five, Celtics fan?
And as @RussBengston shows?
You're rooting for the bad guy.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Hey New York?
This meme that you have perpatrated about Mike Cameron being overpaid? I just wish I could pull the same shit. Why? Because it is beyond clear to even the dimmest light of the baseball literati that Mike Cameron is paid at a level commiserate to his skills.
Why? Because he is essentially Torii Hunter at 6 million dollars less money. Solid power for a center fielder. Cameron has a better eye in comparison to Hunter's ability to hit .270. And both have defenses that a scout would still score above 70 out of 80.
Yeah, he's not a steal at twice the price, but you get it. He's not exactly Joey Gaithright.
Or Melky Cabrera...
Yeah, I know. I'm spitting into a wind tunnel with this. But Doug Melvin should have been fired if he took a package of Melky and Igawa. I mean, a 24 year-old with three full seasons of below average baseball, and a 28 year-old 4A pitcher for a longtime consistently above-average pro at a good price?
Yeah. The Yankees are walking away from that spectacular offer. Just like I'm "walking away" from an "offer" for a Villain Girl to engage me in "sexual congress." Good looking out New York.
Good looking out.
UPDATE: You're killing me, Doug.
Why? Because he is essentially Torii Hunter at 6 million dollars less money. Solid power for a center fielder. Cameron has a better eye in comparison to Hunter's ability to hit .270. And both have defenses that a scout would still score above 70 out of 80.
Yeah, he's not a steal at twice the price, but you get it. He's not exactly Joey Gaithright.
Or Melky Cabrera...
Yeah, I know. I'm spitting into a wind tunnel with this. But Doug Melvin should have been fired if he took a package of Melky and Igawa. I mean, a 24 year-old with three full seasons of below average baseball, and a 28 year-old 4A pitcher for a longtime consistently above-average pro at a good price?
Yeah. The Yankees are walking away from that spectacular offer. Just like I'm "walking away" from an "offer" for a Villain Girl to engage me in "sexual congress." Good looking out New York.
Good looking out.
UPDATE: You're killing me, Doug.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
10 Mysteries that will haunt me.
I have things that I want to ask. Hypotheticals and rhetoricals. I am perplexed by things. I need to bring them out into the ether. If they get answered? Awesome.
If not, that's okay too?
1. If you're the University of Clemson and you have James Davis and C.J. Spiller in your backfield, why would you have them go this deep into the season without 200 combined carries?
2. Alaska, what the fuck? They're felons. FELONS!
3. Why does ESPN try and tout the Trojans as a national title contender? It is not going to happen. Never. Ever.
4. If W. was made with a director who didn't have his head up his ass, would it be awesome?
5. Will CC Sabathia get 175 million dollars over six years?
6. Can I have some of Frank Miller's drugs? For someone who was such good friends with Will Eisner in life, how did he make a tribute movie so shitty in death?
7. Will America have their own Ewa Sonnet?
8. The folks at the Dugout need their own Instant Message Book Deal? They need to be the Chuck Todd of Baseball Book Deals, am I right? Joey Votto's mom would approve.
9. Robert Wagner as Mr. Wilson? I am aghast! Aghast!
10. I believe in Rashad Jennings. He blows Peter Alima away in terms of Liberty's greatest athlete. Am I making this up?
If not, that's okay too?
1. If you're the University of Clemson and you have James Davis and C.J. Spiller in your backfield, why would you have them go this deep into the season without 200 combined carries?
2. Alaska, what the fuck? They're felons. FELONS!
3. Why does ESPN try and tout the Trojans as a national title contender? It is not going to happen. Never. Ever.
4. If W. was made with a director who didn't have his head up his ass, would it be awesome?
5. Will CC Sabathia get 175 million dollars over six years?
6. Can I have some of Frank Miller's drugs? For someone who was such good friends with Will Eisner in life, how did he make a tribute movie so shitty in death?
7. Will America have their own Ewa Sonnet?
8. The folks at the Dugout need their own Instant Message Book Deal? They need to be the Chuck Todd of Baseball Book Deals, am I right? Joey Votto's mom would approve.
9. Robert Wagner as Mr. Wilson? I am aghast! Aghast!
10. I believe in Rashad Jennings. He blows Peter Alima away in terms of Liberty's greatest athlete. Am I making this up?
Monday, September 1, 2008
I believe that political points of view are malleable.
There are several events in a persons life where if fate just turned left instead of right? Their point of view would be different. I mean, me at 35 is different from me at 27 is different from me at 19. And you all know the Apocryphal quote from Churchill, am I right?
That being said, something came across the transom that if it comes true would break any chance of me ever voting Republican again if it comes to pass.
"Sen. McCain signaled he may give his acceptance speech via satellite from the disaster zone. [from Hurricane Gustav]."
Seriously. He wants to accept his nomination amidst the rubble of a very powerful Hurricane. In terms of dick moves? This is between sleeping with your brother or sister's spouse and stealing key resources from a charity.
This is thinly exploitative. This is trying to make your bones on the back of the frightened and the suffering. Bush wasn't stupid enough to pull this shit in 2004. And you know what? He pulled every other god damn trick in the book.
I once respected John McCain. Maybe I was young and stupid, but I did. But you know what? He's a weathervane. He goes where his instincts tell him politically. And he might actually do this.
He's going all-in for the Presidency, and if he gets in? We are fucked. Fucked fucked fucked.
That being said, something came across the transom that if it comes true would break any chance of me ever voting Republican again if it comes to pass.
"Sen. McCain signaled he may give his acceptance speech via satellite from the disaster zone. [from Hurricane Gustav]."
Seriously. He wants to accept his nomination amidst the rubble of a very powerful Hurricane. In terms of dick moves? This is between sleeping with your brother or sister's spouse and stealing key resources from a charity.
This is thinly exploitative. This is trying to make your bones on the back of the frightened and the suffering. Bush wasn't stupid enough to pull this shit in 2004. And you know what? He pulled every other god damn trick in the book.
I once respected John McCain. Maybe I was young and stupid, but I did. But you know what? He's a weathervane. He goes where his instincts tell him politically. And he might actually do this.
He's going all-in for the Presidency, and if he gets in? We are fucked. Fucked fucked fucked.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Has McCain given up?
Conservatives seem to think so.
They hate the choice of Sarah Palin. Hate it with passion and fire of 1,000 suns. Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney feel used. His age has just become a factor again (a.k.a. It's someone who was mayor of a tiny Alaskan town not more than two years ago, and McCain has a 1 in 3 shot of not making it two terms). And you know what? The inexperience of Obama, such as it is also goes out the window. All politics is local, but the Mishagoes of South Ossetia are a whole other animal than Wasilla, Alaska.
But I'll call it like I see it. It's a cynical play to regain some of that Maverick luster that he once had. It would be an inspired choice, if she wasn't so flawed in the vetting process. And no, I'm not talking about inexperience. I'm not even talking about her James Dobson sort of Republicanism, which only an idiot Democrat would support.
It's been proven that she's attempted to use her political influence to fire an Alaskan State Trooper in a bitter custody fight with her sister.
An unethical Republican? I am shocked. SHOCKED!
They hate the choice of Sarah Palin. Hate it with passion and fire of 1,000 suns. Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney feel used. His age has just become a factor again (a.k.a. It's someone who was mayor of a tiny Alaskan town not more than two years ago, and McCain has a 1 in 3 shot of not making it two terms). And you know what? The inexperience of Obama, such as it is also goes out the window. All politics is local, but the Mishagoes of South Ossetia are a whole other animal than Wasilla, Alaska.
But I'll call it like I see it. It's a cynical play to regain some of that Maverick luster that he once had. It would be an inspired choice, if she wasn't so flawed in the vetting process. And no, I'm not talking about inexperience. I'm not even talking about her James Dobson sort of Republicanism, which only an idiot Democrat would support.
It's been proven that she's attempted to use her political influence to fire an Alaskan State Trooper in a bitter custody fight with her sister.
An unethical Republican? I am shocked. SHOCKED!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Sentences on sports...
In sports, it has been a slow news weekend. Elvi's hype for the Olympics, but he does not make many posts here. I, however? I cannot get hype.
And when I have many half-ideas going through my head? I go all tangential.
So let's clean my head out, eh?
And when I have many half-ideas going through my head? I go all tangential.
So let's clean my head out, eh?
- The Milwaukee Bucks officially sign Fransisco Elson. The Bucks lead the league in backup Dutch Centers. Elson is a high-energy defensive back-up. He could have a Zaza Pachulia style impact in Milwaukee.
- Matt Sanchez hurts his knee doing a low-impact warm-up designed to get your hips warmed up. Mitch Mustain is your USC quarterback. He is Shiva the destroyer.
- John Beck is as good as gone in Miami...and considering that he was on the single worst team in the decade as a rookie? It may be too soon.
- Byron Leftwich and Daunte Culpepper signed by Pittsburgh? Multiple possibilities here. A) Charlie Batch's injury is more severe than initially thought. B) Dennis Dixon is going to be a receiver. C) Someone's career is going to be over come September.
- Personally, Byron Leftwich still has something in the tank. Culpepper got by on his athleticism.
- Eric Gagne! Motherfucking Cocksucker blew a game to the Nationals! The Goddamn Nationals!
- There's a similarity between Brett Favre and disgraced manwhore John Edwards. I may explore it further. I may not. I'm still cranky in reference to Gagne.
- And Prince Fielder freaking laid down a bunt! What the hell?!?
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
I strongly dislike Cubs fans...
They are just as obnoxious as sports fans in the tri-state area northeastward. Seriously, those kids in Onoro get violent. Anyway, you've heard the stories of the Cubs fans beating the crap out of a dude who threw a red bull at their tour bus. You've heard stories of the Cub fans who cost a Sox fan an eye, at a birthday party for a two year old. And yes, at this point, you've probably heard the story I'm telling you.
But Elvi's a Cub fan. And he is guilty by association. These kids are classy.
Home Run Derby has the full story, but you know what?
The video of these class acts is here.
Yeah. Cubs fans are freaking awesome.
But Elvi's a Cub fan. And he is guilty by association. These kids are classy.
Home Run Derby has the full story, but you know what?
The video of these class acts is here.
Yeah. Cubs fans are freaking awesome.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Expanding further on the Duality of Sweatpants and Bentleys.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is only one prong of the issues with Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. And Steven Ware came up with a veritable copendium of crminial acts that the Mohawk Tribe (who run the KGC) have committed in the last decade.
From the smuggling of Drugs, Immigrants, and Tobacco to trying to establish themselves as a tax haven, to accusations of aboriginal extremism. This native tribe controls servers for three of the four major poker sites.
This is a definite worthwhile read. Click please.
From the smuggling of Drugs, Immigrants, and Tobacco to trying to establish themselves as a tax haven, to accusations of aboriginal extremism. This native tribe controls servers for three of the four major poker sites.
This is a definite worthwhile read. Click please.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Duality of Sweatpants and Bentleys...
We all love comfort. We all love convenience. And when you can do something exciting and fun from the comfort of your own home? It's a spectacular experience. Who wouldn't want to pretend to be a high roller in sweatpants? That's what online poker offers.
But when you decide to make a move into the online poker world, you enter into a trust. You trust that the only thing that decides your game will be a lot of talent and a dash of luck. You trust that you aren't going to get fucked in the ass by people you don't know. But of course? Trust means nothing when there are billions of dollars at stake.
Absolute Fraud Reporting by Steven Ware a.k.a. Cornell Fiji
The superuser scandal began about one year ago. In August 2007, a player known as POTRIPPER won the $1,000 weekly buy-in tournament with an incredible play. He came in raising with an abnormally high pre-flop percentage of hands, and he played pitch-perfect post-flop poker. And he won his hand on a crazy call.
On the final hand? The board read 4hKdKh7s. POTRIPPER’s opponent, Marco Johnson, playing under the name CrazyMarco, made a massive check-raise all in with a flush draw 9h2h only to be called by POTRIPPER’s Tc9c. POTRIPPER’s ten high, no pair, no draw held up to win the tournament.
Marco asked for a hand history, and after three other players were chrushing high limit games with a losing strategy? He found that, for example, POTRIPPER only made four pre-flop folds and every time the other player held a massive pair. He played like he saw the hole cards. He held a superuser account, and Absolute Poker covered it up.
So knowing the what, when, where, and having the why on the matter, the only thing that's left? Who was POTRIPPER? The e-mail address and IP address linked to the Superuser Account was the same as that of another observer using the e-mail address scott@rivieraltd.com, the owner of which was allegedly Absolute Poker co-founder Scott Tom.
And as far as Rivera Ltd.'s e-mail servers go? The investigative team at two plus two's forums found that Further investigations revealed that the mail server IP (66.212.244.147) was allocated to Absolute Entertainment SA at Mohawk Internet Technologies data center (po12.dr4.kdca.mohawk.ca.) And this data was proven to be covered up soon enough after that point.
Why was this covered up? Because Mohawk.ca means the Canadian Mohawk Indian Tribe. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is the regulatory arm of the Mohawk Indian Tribe. The former Grand Chief of the Mohawk is Joe Norton. Joe Norton currently runs Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG. Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG owns and operates Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet.
So what was the Absolute Poker aftermath? Not much. There was an internal investigation. They said that while there was no superuser account, game security had been compromised.
But the fact of the matter? They knew this was going on, and they had no time nor inclination to fix this. If it wasn't for Marco, this may still be going on.
NioNio
After the Absolute Poker scandal it was clear that the poker sites were unwilling to regulate themselves and that the Kahnawake Gaming Commission was also uninterested with protecting the game. Frustrated by what seemed to be another major cheating scandal by a Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG poker site, posters on twoplustwo set out to find the truth.
While reviewing hands that they had played, twoplustwo posters 'trambopoline' and 'dlpnyc21' noticed that they had both lost significant sums of money to the player ”NioNio”. In only 3,000 hands against trambopoline and dlpnyc21 ”NioNio”, had profited an astonishing $300,000.
”NioNio” had an incredibly high VP$IP of approximately 60/40 (meaning that he put money into the pot preflop with 60% of the hands that he was dealt and that he raised preflop with 40% of his hands, abnormally high statistics for a winning player in these games). He cold called 3 bets and 4 bets at an abnormally high frequency and he made very thin value bets and repeatedly made what would otherwise be questionable calls against bluffs. Essentially, his play was consistent of that of a poor poker player, not one who was winning $300,000 in 3,000 hands.
NioNio's play was nearly identical to the play of POTRIPPER with one exception; where POTRIPPER would only raise or fold on the river, NioNio would on occasion call. It would eventually become obvious this served to make his omniscience less obvious.
Concerned about NioNio's play trambopoline turned to www.MyPokerIntel.com, a website which records all high stakes games that are played online, to gather more evidence.
MyPokerIntel.com provides a summary of anyone’s last 14 sessions. In those 14 sessions, NioNio had 13 winning sessions and was up approximately 135k. His one losing session consisted of a mere 2k loss. The stats on MyPokerIntel.com also showed that NioNio had beaten the games at a rate of 114 big blinds per 100 hands over the 8,000 hands that he had played. As a base of comparison, the absolute best players in the world strive to win 15 bb/100.
What was even more incriminating was the fact that the last date he played on that account was September 4th, the same week the AP scandal broke.
It seems that NioNio had won over 600k in a mere 64 hours of play, a hourly rate of $9,687.96/hr. One of the ‘wow’ figures from this investigation is that the average American works 2088 hours a year, not counting overtime. If NioNio worked for those same 2088 hours he would have an annual salary of $20,209,668.48.
So what did Ultimate Bet do? They had a three month investigation which said nothing more than NioNio had an "abnormally high win rate" and refused any further comment. Why does this matter? Because one of their security matters was that all name changes had to go through Ultimate Bet. And as the story broke? Guess who got their name changed?
If you guessed NioNio? You are correct sir.
So what did Ultimate Bet do? What any good company would do.
ADVERTISE
You've seen commercials for Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker around the clock on ESPN. But after the scandal broke? They made a whole new set of commercials starring part-owner and 11-time WSOP Champion Phil Hellmuth and sent champion and author Annie Duke around to anyone whom would interview her. And after this? The shouts about the fraud were muted.
That is until... and we'll list this step by step. (from 2+2 poster Vizer02)
1. Brainwashdodo, a person who claims to be a UB employee, posts for the first time in the “Annie Duke a liar?” thread, alluding to additional information he may have.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…13&postcount=9
2. Brainwashdodo makes a post showing a screenshot taken from the UB admin panel. This is not the real NioNio account, as this one was created 04/19/2008 and is a play money account only.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…9&postcount=71
4. Brainwashdodo also makes a post with 4 links to screenshots taken from the UB admin panel. He shows the account info for kid55, mamamiya, buckskin, and ShaqTack. These screenshots were later removed due to personal info being available on them; however here are two of them with the personal info removed. The kid55 account belongs to Freddy Deeb and the Buckskin account belongs to Lyle Berman. Several people assumed Freddy had a part in the cheating, but as of now there is no proof of that except for the fact that his account was suspended 1 day before the ShaqTack account was suspended, with the exact same comment “(Acct disabled. Do not re-open. Any inquiries please forward to Paul/Nolen. SAraya/ub sec, Tkt #8313668.)”
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/3765/buck2tq6.jpg
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/9540/kid2ok9.jpg
5. UB releases a new statement regarding the investigation:
Status Update on NioNio Investigation
July 8, 2008 -
UltimateBet’s continuing investigation has confirmed that other usernames, in addition to those previously identified on this site, were associated with the cheating scandal.
The additional usernames include: Crackcorn55, , GrabBag123, gravitation, Bgroup, H_Curtis, Twenty 1, WacoManiac, Broke_In_L_A, ShaqTack, BlueBerry101, 55WasHere, Xnomas, dannyboy55, Indy05, SlimPikins2. The same perpetrators we had previously identified controlled all of these usernames; there are no new perpetrators involved, only new usernames.
We have also confirmed that the cheating dates back further then we initially believed. We can now confirm that the cheating began in January 2005, long before Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG acquired UltimateBet from the previous ownership.
Tokwiro regrets that we did not discover this scheme during our due diligence when we purchased UltimateBet in October 2006, and that we did not identify the fraudulent activity until this recent investigation. We remain committed to our players, and to resolving this problem completely. We will start refunding players for any net losses in hands played with the usernames listed above once we complete our investigation.
Tokwiro considers itself to have been a victim of this fraud and we are continuing to explore our legal options. As part of this effort, we are compiling all of the information we have gathered in regard to the perpetrators and their activities, for possible use in any legal action.
We will continue to provide updates on our investigation, as we are still looking at a few accounts. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the poker community for their invaluable contributions to this investigation and remind them that we remain committed to fully examining any claims of fraud that we receive.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this investigation, please contact us at pokersecurity@ultimatebet.com
6. NoLimitLeagues analyzes the posts from Brainwash and notices ShaqTack (a known cheating account on UB) had gone through several name changes, including WhakMe, slimpikins2, HolyMucker, and broke_in_l_a, however WhakMe and HolyMucker weren’t listed on UB’s original statement. UB added WhakMe and HolyMucker to their statement after this observation was posted on 2+2. Also, later Trabopoline talks to Paul, the current CEO of UB, who says it was simply a coincidence that the two names were added late.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=94http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=956
7. People start analyzing the transaction audits posted by Brainwashdodo, and the biggest piece of info in these transaction histories showed that -Fred- made a transaction to ShaqTack for $10,000. ShaqTack was one of the known cheating accounts. Also, it seems that the accounts RussHamilton and –russh- were funding other accounts through the –Fred- account because of transfers like the following. This is important because Russ Hamilton is a previous owner of UB. The –Fred- account appears to be an account primarily used to transfer funds to an assortment of players.
a. 517706057 50000.00 Transfer From RussHamilton 2006-DEC-11 04:49:01 PM customer req
517687967 -50000.00 Transfer To Poppychullo 2006-DEC-11 04:41:25 PM customer req
b. 525311086 10000.00 Transfer From RussHamilton 2006-DEC-16 03:58:12 PM customer req
525251767 -10000.00 Transfer To slug2 2006-DEC-16 03:12:52 PM customer req
c. 377361587 40000.00 Transfer From -russh- 2006-SEP-03 05:40:03 PM customer req
377269310 -10000.00 Transfer To ShaqTack 2006-SEP-03 04:26:02 PM customer req
374958034 -5000.00 Transfer To crosdsr 2006-SEP-02 01:20:13 AM customer req
374406862 -30000.00 Transfer To Devilfish 2006-SEP-01 06:38:09 PM customer req
8. Trambopoline explains that the email address that was registered to the NioNio account was the same one that was registered to the H B account. The H B account was also funded by the –Fred- account. The name listed as the owner of the H B account is Haim Bajayo.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=315
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=329http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=789
9. Annie Duke does an interview on PokerRoad radio. She says that Brainwashdodo was trying to blackmail UB. She explains how the cheating was supposedly done, and states that UB is now probably one of the safest sites to play on. She responds to questions about the interview here:
http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-for…erview-3063139
10. People begin posting contact information of people who might know something about the UB software, in case 2+2’ers investigating this topic want to get in touch with them and try to ask questions. Several of the people are former programmers and developers of the UB software who worked for ieLogic (developers of UB software) and IOvation (another software company tied to UB). I’m only listing these because someone requested they be added to the cliffnotes so someone can try questioning them. The last post talks a little more about UB’s connection with ieLogic.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=989
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=989
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…postcount=1137
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…postcount=1139
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…postcount=1141
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=932
11. N 82 50 24 posts this summary regarding the known information of the cheating accounts:
Okay, so these are the total names release by AP and UB:
The following account names are known to have been used in the fraudulent activity:
NioNio
Sleepless
NoPaddles
nvtease
flatbroke33
ilike2win
UtakeIt2
FlipFlop2
erick456
WhackMe44
RockStarLA
stoned2nite
monizzle
FireNTexas
HeadKase01
LetsPatttty
NYMobser
WhoWhereWhen
The additional usernames include:
Crackcorn55
WhakMe
GrabBag123
gravitation
Bgroup
H_Curtis
Twenty 1
WacoManiac
Broke_In_L_A
ShaqTack
BlueBerry101
HolyMucker
55WasHere
Xnomas
dannyboy55
Indy05
SlimPikins2
a. In the first set of names, we know that:
NioNio was changed to NYMobser on Sep 5th, 2007. His other account name was H B. The name on the account was Haim Bajayo and the email was isrelly@aol.
Also, nvtease, sleeplesss and NoPaddles are the same account. It went in the following order… Until April 6th, 2007, the account was known as nvtease. From that point until Sept 5th, 2007 (same date as above), the account was known as NoPaddles. After Sept 5th, 2007, the account was known as sleeplesss.
In addition, the name on that account was Lauren Makar and the address was a Las Vegas address. I won’t release the address on here because, more than likely, the person was innocent. Does anyone know how to look up property ownership records in some database? If so, post a link/explanation. Also, if you know the name Lauren Makar, please let us know.
Lastly, this account cashed out WAAAAY more than it should have. Like hundreds of thousands of dollars that was not won at the table. It seems like it was a money funnel of some kind.
I feel pretty bad releasing names because these people were probably just pawns being used by the real cheaters, but if it comes down to that, the people with this info will just have to do that until something comes out. The dirt is out there.
12. N 82 50 24 promptly followed up that post with this groundbreaking post, basically stating that the physical address listed for the nvtease/NoPaddles/sleepless accounts (confirmed superuser accounts) is owned by Russ Hamilton, the prior owner of UB.
a. OMG wow…
The address is
138-19-810-002 HAMILTON RUSSELL & CAROLYN *20060523:03704 05/23/2006 JOINT TENANCY 200 SUBDIVIDED LOT
Okay people, the address on three of the accounts is owned by Russ and Carolyn Hamilton.
Any questions?
FWIW, this was the info given out by a UB whistleblower (not brainwash, as far as I know):
Customer ID: Token ID: Username: Status: Creation Date: Update Date:UNITED STATES Customer Phone: 702326xxxx Customer Birthdate: 1967-xx-xx Email Information: Address: atease@vegasinbox.com
I got rid of some information like the birthdate and phone number to protect whoever Lauren Makar is.
13. UBdataRus posts a screenshot of some of the nopaddles account’s winnings from poker
14. There is still speculation about who still owns UB. A post from Dan Druff on NWP:
Wow.
There’s more to this story from an NWP angle that meets the eye, which I’ll talk about in more detail later.
Basically, when we were investingating the AP Superuser scandal (in the fall of 2007), a confidential source told me that Russ Hamilton really still owned AP and UB, and that the “sales” were pretty much a cover-up in post-UIGEA times.
I posted it as an NWP front page story and on 2+2.
Very shortly thereafter, we got a tilt phone call from Russ Hamilton where he was SCREAMING on Dustin’s voice mail, demanding that we call him.
I called him, and he told me that what I posted was blatantly false. He demanded that I take those posts/stories down, as I was putting him in jeopardy of being investigated by the Justice Department. Since I had no proof at the time, and was simply quoting a confidential source, I decided it was better that I take the whole thing down. While it was very newsworthy if true, it could also be very damaging if false, and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it up under those circumstances.
Given what has come to light, now perhaps everything makes more sense.
---------------------------------------
So, what does this mean? This means that the World Series of Poker Champion Russ Hamilton and Ultimate Bet co-owner is one of the front men of this seemingly endemic fraud and corruption which contains both the software developers as well as other Ultimate Bet board members. They saw your cards and they took your money. And you weren't alone.
Lyle Berman co-founded the World Poker Tour, and his friends and neighbors sent him to the cleaners. There's dirty dealings coming through here. Nat Arem (a.k.a. N 82 50 24) has received threats on his life.
I know it's a lot to digest, I know that if you aren't in the world of Poker, it may not mean that much. But the fact of the matter? The old school is doing an excellent job of killing the Golden Goose. The alleged new frontman and 1990 World Series of Poker Champion Mansour Matloubi has his own myriad of problems as well.
This is grand larceny. This is fraud. This is a call for independent regulation of online poker sites. Because let's be honest, if online poker is controlled by the Bentley riders?
This will only keep happening.
UPDATE: Official proof comes that the -Fred- account that transferred money to one of the superusers belonged to Fred David, one of the original owners and investors of ultimatebet.com.
UPDATE II:From Two Plus Two poster Moneyline...
dannyboy55, one of the confirmed superusers, qualified for and played in the 2005 Aruba tournament. I just contacted UB asking for a list of participants in the tournament and they claimed they no longer have that info "for security reasons."
But when you decide to make a move into the online poker world, you enter into a trust. You trust that the only thing that decides your game will be a lot of talent and a dash of luck. You trust that you aren't going to get fucked in the ass by people you don't know. But of course? Trust means nothing when there are billions of dollars at stake.
Absolute Fraud Reporting by Steven Ware a.k.a. Cornell Fiji
The superuser scandal began about one year ago. In August 2007, a player known as POTRIPPER won the $1,000 weekly buy-in tournament with an incredible play. He came in raising with an abnormally high pre-flop percentage of hands, and he played pitch-perfect post-flop poker. And he won his hand on a crazy call.
On the final hand? The board read 4hKdKh7s. POTRIPPER’s opponent, Marco Johnson, playing under the name CrazyMarco, made a massive check-raise all in with a flush draw 9h2h only to be called by POTRIPPER’s Tc9c. POTRIPPER’s ten high, no pair, no draw held up to win the tournament.
Marco asked for a hand history, and after three other players were chrushing high limit games with a losing strategy? He found that, for example, POTRIPPER only made four pre-flop folds and every time the other player held a massive pair. He played like he saw the hole cards. He held a superuser account, and Absolute Poker covered it up.
So knowing the what, when, where, and having the why on the matter, the only thing that's left? Who was POTRIPPER? The e-mail address and IP address linked to the Superuser Account was the same as that of another observer using the e-mail address scott@rivieraltd.com, the owner of which was allegedly Absolute Poker co-founder Scott Tom.
And as far as Rivera Ltd.'s e-mail servers go? The investigative team at two plus two's forums found that Further investigations revealed that the mail server IP (66.212.244.147) was allocated to Absolute Entertainment SA at Mohawk Internet Technologies data center (po12.dr4.kdca.mohawk.ca.) And this data was proven to be covered up soon enough after that point.
Why was this covered up? Because Mohawk.ca means the Canadian Mohawk Indian Tribe. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is the regulatory arm of the Mohawk Indian Tribe. The former Grand Chief of the Mohawk is Joe Norton. Joe Norton currently runs Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG. Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG owns and operates Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet.
So what was the Absolute Poker aftermath? Not much. There was an internal investigation. They said that while there was no superuser account, game security had been compromised.
But the fact of the matter? They knew this was going on, and they had no time nor inclination to fix this. If it wasn't for Marco, this may still be going on.
NioNio
After the Absolute Poker scandal it was clear that the poker sites were unwilling to regulate themselves and that the Kahnawake Gaming Commission was also uninterested with protecting the game. Frustrated by what seemed to be another major cheating scandal by a Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG poker site, posters on twoplustwo set out to find the truth.
While reviewing hands that they had played, twoplustwo posters 'trambopoline' and 'dlpnyc21' noticed that they had both lost significant sums of money to the player ”NioNio”. In only 3,000 hands against trambopoline and dlpnyc21 ”NioNio”, had profited an astonishing $300,000.
”NioNio” had an incredibly high VP$IP of approximately 60/40 (meaning that he put money into the pot preflop with 60% of the hands that he was dealt and that he raised preflop with 40% of his hands, abnormally high statistics for a winning player in these games). He cold called 3 bets and 4 bets at an abnormally high frequency and he made very thin value bets and repeatedly made what would otherwise be questionable calls against bluffs. Essentially, his play was consistent of that of a poor poker player, not one who was winning $300,000 in 3,000 hands.
NioNio's play was nearly identical to the play of POTRIPPER with one exception; where POTRIPPER would only raise or fold on the river, NioNio would on occasion call. It would eventually become obvious this served to make his omniscience less obvious.
Concerned about NioNio's play trambopoline turned to www.MyPokerIntel.com, a website which records all high stakes games that are played online, to gather more evidence.
MyPokerIntel.com provides a summary of anyone’s last 14 sessions. In those 14 sessions, NioNio had 13 winning sessions and was up approximately 135k. His one losing session consisted of a mere 2k loss. The stats on MyPokerIntel.com also showed that NioNio had beaten the games at a rate of 114 big blinds per 100 hands over the 8,000 hands that he had played. As a base of comparison, the absolute best players in the world strive to win 15 bb/100.
What was even more incriminating was the fact that the last date he played on that account was September 4th, the same week the AP scandal broke.
It seems that NioNio had won over 600k in a mere 64 hours of play, a hourly rate of $9,687.96/hr. One of the ‘wow’ figures from this investigation is that the average American works 2088 hours a year, not counting overtime. If NioNio worked for those same 2088 hours he would have an annual salary of $20,209,668.48.
So what did Ultimate Bet do? They had a three month investigation which said nothing more than NioNio had an "abnormally high win rate" and refused any further comment. Why does this matter? Because one of their security matters was that all name changes had to go through Ultimate Bet. And as the story broke? Guess who got their name changed?
If you guessed NioNio? You are correct sir.
So what did Ultimate Bet do? What any good company would do.
ADVERTISE
You've seen commercials for Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker around the clock on ESPN. But after the scandal broke? They made a whole new set of commercials starring part-owner and 11-time WSOP Champion Phil Hellmuth and sent champion and author Annie Duke around to anyone whom would interview her. And after this? The shouts about the fraud were muted.
That is until... and we'll list this step by step. (from 2+2 poster Vizer02)
1. Brainwashdodo, a person who claims to be a UB employee, posts for the first time in the “Annie Duke a liar?” thread, alluding to additional information he may have.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…13&postcount=9
2. Brainwashdodo makes a post showing a screenshot taken from the UB admin panel. This is not the real NioNio account, as this one was created 04/19/2008 and is a play money account only.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…9&postcount=71
4. Brainwashdodo also makes a post with 4 links to screenshots taken from the UB admin panel. He shows the account info for kid55, mamamiya, buckskin, and ShaqTack. These screenshots were later removed due to personal info being available on them; however here are two of them with the personal info removed. The kid55 account belongs to Freddy Deeb and the Buckskin account belongs to Lyle Berman. Several people assumed Freddy had a part in the cheating, but as of now there is no proof of that except for the fact that his account was suspended 1 day before the ShaqTack account was suspended, with the exact same comment “(Acct disabled. Do not re-open. Any inquiries please forward to Paul/Nolen. SAraya/ub sec, Tkt #8313668.)”
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/3765/buck2tq6.jpg
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/9540/kid2ok9.jpg
5. UB releases a new statement regarding the investigation:
Status Update on NioNio Investigation
July 8, 2008 -
UltimateBet’s continuing investigation has confirmed that other usernames, in addition to those previously identified on this site, were associated with the cheating scandal.
The additional usernames include: Crackcorn55, , GrabBag123, gravitation, Bgroup, H_Curtis, Twenty 1, WacoManiac, Broke_In_L_A, ShaqTack, BlueBerry101, 55WasHere, Xnomas, dannyboy55, Indy05, SlimPikins2. The same perpetrators we had previously identified controlled all of these usernames; there are no new perpetrators involved, only new usernames.
We have also confirmed that the cheating dates back further then we initially believed. We can now confirm that the cheating began in January 2005, long before Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG acquired UltimateBet from the previous ownership.
Tokwiro regrets that we did not discover this scheme during our due diligence when we purchased UltimateBet in October 2006, and that we did not identify the fraudulent activity until this recent investigation. We remain committed to our players, and to resolving this problem completely. We will start refunding players for any net losses in hands played with the usernames listed above once we complete our investigation.
Tokwiro considers itself to have been a victim of this fraud and we are continuing to explore our legal options. As part of this effort, we are compiling all of the information we have gathered in regard to the perpetrators and their activities, for possible use in any legal action.
We will continue to provide updates on our investigation, as we are still looking at a few accounts. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the poker community for their invaluable contributions to this investigation and remind them that we remain committed to fully examining any claims of fraud that we receive.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this investigation, please contact us at pokersecurity@ultimatebet.com
6. NoLimitLeagues analyzes the posts from Brainwash and notices ShaqTack (a known cheating account on UB) had gone through several name changes, including WhakMe, slimpikins2, HolyMucker, and broke_in_l_a, however WhakMe and HolyMucker weren’t listed on UB’s original statement. UB added WhakMe and HolyMucker to their statement after this observation was posted on 2+2. Also, later Trabopoline talks to Paul, the current CEO of UB, who says it was simply a coincidence that the two names were added late.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=94http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=956
7. People start analyzing the transaction audits posted by Brainwashdodo, and the biggest piece of info in these transaction histories showed that -Fred- made a transaction to ShaqTack for $10,000. ShaqTack was one of the known cheating accounts. Also, it seems that the accounts RussHamilton and –russh- were funding other accounts through the –Fred- account because of transfers like the following. This is important because Russ Hamilton is a previous owner of UB. The –Fred- account appears to be an account primarily used to transfer funds to an assortment of players.
a. 517706057 50000.00 Transfer From RussHamilton 2006-DEC-11 04:49:01 PM customer req
517687967 -50000.00 Transfer To Poppychullo 2006-DEC-11 04:41:25 PM customer req
b. 525311086 10000.00 Transfer From RussHamilton 2006-DEC-16 03:58:12 PM customer req
525251767 -10000.00 Transfer To slug2 2006-DEC-16 03:12:52 PM customer req
c. 377361587 40000.00 Transfer From -russh- 2006-SEP-03 05:40:03 PM customer req
377269310 -10000.00 Transfer To ShaqTack 2006-SEP-03 04:26:02 PM customer req
374958034 -5000.00 Transfer To crosdsr 2006-SEP-02 01:20:13 AM customer req
374406862 -30000.00 Transfer To Devilfish 2006-SEP-01 06:38:09 PM customer req
8. Trambopoline explains that the email address that was registered to the NioNio account was the same one that was registered to the H B account. The H B account was also funded by the –Fred- account. The name listed as the owner of the H B account is Haim Bajayo.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=315
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=329http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=789
9. Annie Duke does an interview on PokerRoad radio. She says that Brainwashdodo was trying to blackmail UB. She explains how the cheating was supposedly done, and states that UB is now probably one of the safest sites to play on. She responds to questions about the interview here:
http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-for…erview-3063139
10. People begin posting contact information of people who might know something about the UB software, in case 2+2’ers investigating this topic want to get in touch with them and try to ask questions. Several of the people are former programmers and developers of the UB software who worked for ieLogic (developers of UB software) and IOvation (another software company tied to UB). I’m only listing these because someone requested they be added to the cliffnotes so someone can try questioning them. The last post talks a little more about UB’s connection with ieLogic.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=989
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=989
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…postcount=1137
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…postcount=1139
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…postcount=1141
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh…&postcount=932
11. N 82 50 24 posts this summary regarding the known information of the cheating accounts:
Okay, so these are the total names release by AP and UB:
The following account names are known to have been used in the fraudulent activity:
NioNio
Sleepless
NoPaddles
nvtease
flatbroke33
ilike2win
UtakeIt2
FlipFlop2
erick456
WhackMe44
RockStarLA
stoned2nite
monizzle
FireNTexas
HeadKase01
LetsPatttty
NYMobser
WhoWhereWhen
The additional usernames include:
Crackcorn55
WhakMe
GrabBag123
gravitation
Bgroup
H_Curtis
Twenty 1
WacoManiac
Broke_In_L_A
ShaqTack
BlueBerry101
HolyMucker
55WasHere
Xnomas
dannyboy55
Indy05
SlimPikins2
a. In the first set of names, we know that:
NioNio was changed to NYMobser on Sep 5th, 2007. His other account name was H B. The name on the account was Haim Bajayo and the email was isrelly@aol.
Also, nvtease, sleeplesss and NoPaddles are the same account. It went in the following order… Until April 6th, 2007, the account was known as nvtease. From that point until Sept 5th, 2007 (same date as above), the account was known as NoPaddles. After Sept 5th, 2007, the account was known as sleeplesss.
In addition, the name on that account was Lauren Makar and the address was a Las Vegas address. I won’t release the address on here because, more than likely, the person was innocent. Does anyone know how to look up property ownership records in some database? If so, post a link/explanation. Also, if you know the name Lauren Makar, please let us know.
Lastly, this account cashed out WAAAAY more than it should have. Like hundreds of thousands of dollars that was not won at the table. It seems like it was a money funnel of some kind.
I feel pretty bad releasing names because these people were probably just pawns being used by the real cheaters, but if it comes down to that, the people with this info will just have to do that until something comes out. The dirt is out there.
12. N 82 50 24 promptly followed up that post with this groundbreaking post, basically stating that the physical address listed for the nvtease/NoPaddles/sleepless accounts (confirmed superuser accounts) is owned by Russ Hamilton, the prior owner of UB.
a. OMG wow…
The address is
138-19-810-002 HAMILTON RUSSELL & CAROLYN *20060523:03704 05/23/2006 JOINT TENANCY 200 SUBDIVIDED LOT
Okay people, the address on three of the accounts is owned by Russ and Carolyn Hamilton.
Any questions?
FWIW, this was the info given out by a UB whistleblower (not brainwash, as far as I know):
Customer ID: Token ID: Username: Status: Creation Date: Update Date:UNITED STATES Customer Phone: 702326xxxx Customer Birthdate: 1967-xx-xx Email Information: Address: atease@vegasinbox.com
I got rid of some information like the birthdate and phone number to protect whoever Lauren Makar is.
13. UBdataRus posts a screenshot of some of the nopaddles account’s winnings from poker
14. There is still speculation about who still owns UB. A post from Dan Druff on NWP:
Wow.
There’s more to this story from an NWP angle that meets the eye, which I’ll talk about in more detail later.
Basically, when we were investingating the AP Superuser scandal (in the fall of 2007), a confidential source told me that Russ Hamilton really still owned AP and UB, and that the “sales” were pretty much a cover-up in post-UIGEA times.
I posted it as an NWP front page story and on 2+2.
Very shortly thereafter, we got a tilt phone call from Russ Hamilton where he was SCREAMING on Dustin’s voice mail, demanding that we call him.
I called him, and he told me that what I posted was blatantly false. He demanded that I take those posts/stories down, as I was putting him in jeopardy of being investigated by the Justice Department. Since I had no proof at the time, and was simply quoting a confidential source, I decided it was better that I take the whole thing down. While it was very newsworthy if true, it could also be very damaging if false, and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it up under those circumstances.
Given what has come to light, now perhaps everything makes more sense.
---------------------------------------
So, what does this mean? This means that the World Series of Poker Champion Russ Hamilton and Ultimate Bet co-owner is one of the front men of this seemingly endemic fraud and corruption which contains both the software developers as well as other Ultimate Bet board members. They saw your cards and they took your money. And you weren't alone.
Lyle Berman co-founded the World Poker Tour, and his friends and neighbors sent him to the cleaners. There's dirty dealings coming through here. Nat Arem (a.k.a. N 82 50 24) has received threats on his life.
I know it's a lot to digest, I know that if you aren't in the world of Poker, it may not mean that much. But the fact of the matter? The old school is doing an excellent job of killing the Golden Goose. The alleged new frontman and 1990 World Series of Poker Champion Mansour Matloubi has his own myriad of problems as well.
This is grand larceny. This is fraud. This is a call for independent regulation of online poker sites. Because let's be honest, if online poker is controlled by the Bentley riders?
This will only keep happening.
UPDATE: Official proof comes that the -Fred- account that transferred money to one of the superusers belonged to Fred David, one of the original owners and investors of ultimatebet.com.
UPDATE II:From Two Plus Two poster Moneyline...
dannyboy55, one of the confirmed superusers, qualified for and played in the 2005 Aruba tournament. I just contacted UB asking for a list of participants in the tournament and they claimed they no longer have that info "for security reasons."
Thursday, July 10, 2008
So the Clippers were willing to roll up to 81 million for Brand?
Elton Brand has been a man of hard work and all out effort. He is of average personal character and a certain noblity in his warriordom for the Clip Joint. That being said? If Dunalevy said that they were willing to go up to Philadelphia money, then David Falk is a duplicitious asshole.
Did I just stumble onto something obvious?
Let's be honest. The only reason this isn't Carlos Boozer II is because Donald Sterling is a man that George Shinn and Robert Sarver look down at with relief. For they are not the worst owners in the sport. An asshole screwed an asshole, and now the Sixers have a potential nucleus.
Ah well.
THE SPURS SIGNED ROGER MASON JR.!!! WHOO!!!
Did I just stumble onto something obvious?
Let's be honest. The only reason this isn't Carlos Boozer II is because Donald Sterling is a man that George Shinn and Robert Sarver look down at with relief. For they are not the worst owners in the sport. An asshole screwed an asshole, and now the Sixers have a potential nucleus.
Ah well.
THE SPURS SIGNED ROGER MASON JR.!!! WHOO!!!
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