It was announced this week that the Canadian based Kahnawake Gaming Commission has completed its investigation into the alleged cheating scandal at Absolute Poker.

The Commission said in a statement that it will take another two weeks for its people to review the report and thereafter it will present its findings and make a decision regarding the future of Absolute Poker’s operations in the industry.

Last autumn, rumors began circulating on poker blogs and message boards that a certain favorite poker room may have been involved in cheating its customers during a playing session held on the site. Before long, much to many players’ disbelief, the name Absolute Poker came up. Indeed, it was hard to believe that a poker site with such a good reputation, and operating under the Kahnawake Gaming Commission banner, would risk its name and license to cheat its players. 

However, when the evidence started coming out, it was difficult to ignore the hard facts. Apparently, some players became suspicious of the playing patterns of a certain poker player on the site, especially since he seemed to know what his opponents’ hole cards were. One of the cheated players requested that Absolute Poker provide hand histories from the playing session. 

What followed was both bizarre and fortunate for the players – an Absolute Poker employee (possibly a whistleblower), sent the wrong file instead of the hand histories. In the file was a list of hole cards of all the players, and most importantly, their IP addresses. Armed with this information, the cheated players were able to trace the suspected observer to the same servers that host Absolute Poker, and to the particular name of a part-time owner of the site. 

After initially denying the accusations that were brought against their site, the management at Absolute Poker finally admitted that one of its employees had managed to get hold of important data that allowed him to cheat players out of amounts reaching into hundreds of thousands of dollars. The site has never brought a formal complaint against the employee, nor has it identified the person by name. It did, however, refund all the players who were cheated out of their money. 

Angry players and the poker community at large demanded that the body that licenses Absolute Poker, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission step in and review the matter. As mentioned, the investigation has now been completed and the Commission’s decision will be known within a fortnight.

Author:  Renee Kingsley