Is the Absolute Poker Scandal Nearing Conclusion?

My first show, after moving Keep Flopping Aces from holdemradio.com to http://www.roundersradio.com/ was an unbridled success. Jennifer Newell was my guest and we discussed her continuing series of articles about the Absolute Poker scandal that’s been appearing in Poker Player Newspaper (http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/articles.php?sort=author&id=75).

Highly Placed Source Says the Audit Report Will be Released Soon

Rounder’s Radio offers is the ability for listeners to call in on toll free lines, and one of our callers was a senior level guy at Mohawk Internet Technologies, the data center that provides hosting for Absolute Poker and other online casinos.

While Jennifer and I had been wondering when the long-awaited audit report would be complete and when Absolute Poker would comment on it—see my posts dated December 29 and January 3 for more details—our caller told us that the audit is, in fact, now finished, and will be released soon.

Who is Joe Norton, and Why Should That Name be Important to You?

He also clarified some of the ownership issues regarding Absolute Poker, pointing out that Joe Norton (pictured left), former Grand Chief of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake is the owner of Tokwiro Enterprises, which holds a 100 percent interest in Absolute Poker. Our caller told us that the tribe itself does not own any online poker room, that Absolute is certified (licensed) by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and that if their license were to be suspended or revoked, Mohawk Internet Technologies would not be allowed to continue to host them.

On the other hand, it’s important to understand that Mohawk Internet Technologies was founded by Joe Norton, and that he still holds considerable influence in the firm.

This puzzle still remains to be solved, and it won’t be solved until Absolute Poker’s response to the audit report is made public, along with their plans to ensure that this kind of cheating scandal can never happen again.

We may never see the perps arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced, but from the perspective of poker players what matters most is what happens going forward—whether Absolute Poker constructs security systems that cannot be gaffed, and does provide the internal security that precludes episodes like this from cropping up again in the future.

The oversight—or at least the credibility—provided by Kahnawake Gaming Commission is on the line too. A few more scandals like this will cost them dearly, because other online poker sites they now host will be reluctant to locate on server farms that have had a history of “issues.”