Home / Poker News May 2013 / The Ultimate Bet Cheating Scandal Revisited
The Ultimate Bet Cheating Scandal Revisited
Posted by: Randy Williams - Tue, 2013-05-14 11:44
The Ultimate Bet super-user scandal, which happened about 5 years ago, tainted the entire
online poker industry and its effects are felt to this day. Also, its various details keep emerging to this day. Last week, a Russ Hamilton’s former assistant, Travis Makar, made public an audio recording of a meeting between Hamilton and CEO Greg Pierson with Ultimate Bet attorneys Sanford Millar and Daniel Friedberg in which the super-user affair was discussed. Apparently, the recording had been made by Hamilton himself, as a precautionary measure to prevent himself from being made into a lone scapegoat when the cheating was eventually found out.
During the above said meeting, the concerned parties discussed various aspects of the cheating, pointing it out that Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth had been unaware of the cheating and they agreed it would be best if he were kept in the dark about it. They also said that Annie Duke knew about what was going on and that on a few occasions she’d made use of the super-user feature as well.
Hamilton has admitted to having perpetrated the scheme, and he’s also made it clear he wasn’t looking to make amends in the matter. Another interesting thing revealed through by the audio recording was the fact that Hamilton and his gang of merry men fleeced quite a few “name” players among their victims. Mike Matusow was one of their victims, together with Prahlad Friedman. Hamilton would allegedly call Matusow to play him heads-up at UB, and he would then thoroughly fleece him. Matusow has apparently recouped some of his money, but the emotional and mental damage he had suffered as a result of the cheating has never been addressed in any way.
Hollywood actor Ben Affleck was among the victims of the cheating as well.
