Friday, January 08, 2010

FBI Says Online Poker Cheating is Easy!



Source: Bob Hartman, CasinoGamblingWeb.com

A letter from a top FBI official to US Representative Spencer Bachus states that online poker cheating can occur by several methods. The anti-gambling demagogue is collecting whatever evidence he can dredge up to slow the momentum gathering behind the regulation of online gambling, and revealed the letter today at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on Internet gaming.

The letter was written November 13th by Shawn Henry, who is FBI Assistant Director in charge of the cyber division. Henry asserts that players can unite or exploit technology to artificially affect results at Internet poker.

"There are several ways to cheat at online poker, none of which are legal,? wrote Henry. ?The online poker vendors could detect this activity and put in place safeguards to discourage cheating, although it is unclear what the incentive would be for the vendor."

Regulation could require licensed online gambling sites to use technology to guard against fraud, just as is expected to prevent money laundering and underage participation. Without government oversight, consumers at online poker sites are left vulnerable to the manipulation Henry describes.

Online poker cheating at Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet was uncovered by observant players, who meticulously documented unlikely play results to eventually reveal corrupted software employed by the gambling sites. Certainly, vendors who are well-protected against cheating would have the incentive of drawing business from sites that could not verify games are honest.