Ever since the superuser scandal broke out at Ultimate Bet Poker there has been dissatisfaction in the online poker world.

Everyone believed that the enquiries, reports and revelations were little better than fig leaf jobs.

A handful of aliases of online players were named but the big fish were free. A sum of $6 million was paid back to the cheated players, but this was just the tip of the iceberg. 

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission that had licensed Ultimate Bet and many other us poker sites was in a quandary. The simmering discontent was such that if it did not take appropriate action its own formidable reputation would become suspect. Probably more to save its own skin it appointed the Catania Gaming Consultants to probe the issue. The preliminary findings were released on the 29^th of September by Murray Marshall, Senior Advisor of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. What everyone was whispering about came out in the open. Russ Hamilton was the brain behind the fraud. The report states, “The Commission found clear and convincing evidence to support the conclusion that between the approximate dates of May 2004 to January 2008, Russell Hamilton, an individual associated with Ultimate Bet's affiliate program, was the main person responsible for and benefiting from the multiple cheating incidents.” 

Hamilton’s name had come up time and again in poker blogs and articles but Hamilton always denied any wrongdoing. One of the first persons to finger Hamilton was Arem. Arem linked the aliases of some of the superuser account owners to a home owned by Hamilton in Las Vegas. Three of the superusers were connected with Hamilton’s family in some way. Though Hamilton denied all this he was never prepared to defend himself publicly. Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok requested Hamilton to appear on PokerRoad Radio and clear his name but Hamilton did not do so. He told them that his lawyer had advised him not to respond to the allegations and asked them to wait for a few months for the facts to come out. 

A few months are now over and things have become worse for Hamilton. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission intends to prosecute him to the full extent the law allows. Their report clearly states. “Furthermore, the KGC is currently in contact with the appropriate law enforcement agencies and intends to fully cooperate in the prosecution of all individuals involved in the UB cheating incidents.” In a sense it is sad that a brilliant poker player should come to this sad state. Hamilton came into the limelight when he won the 1994 WSOP Main Event, which got him a bracelet, a million dollars and his body weight in gold. He was responsible for bringing Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke to Ultimate Bet. Hamilton’s latest venture the Ultimate Blackjack Tour was started in 2005. 

The preliminary report has also confirmed that the amount involved is greater than the $6.1 million already paid by Ultimate Bet to the cheated players. Ultimate Bet has been asked to start reimbursing the additional amount from November. While the report does not name an amount, the figure of $60 million is doing the rounds on the grapevine. According to the grapevine some more big names will be revealed in the final report.