Written By: ThePokerBonus.com
If you’re an online poker player who lives under a rock (some do), then maybe you haven’t heard about this yet. The poker world is embroiled in another cheating scandal, this time involving Ultimate Bet Poker. The last big cheating scandal involved Absolute Poker, who as many of you know also owns UB. Sound like a coincidence? Well, that’s a different subject in itself, not what I’m going after in this article. To tell you the entire story I would need to write something equally the volume of Moby Dick. Instead, I want to talk about the ramifications of these types of scandal, hopefully some of you will have clever comments and perspective to add.
Proponents of the UIGEA will tell you this is exactly why it should be enforced. I will tell you this is exactly why we need regulation. UIGEA, nor will any other law will stop online gambling from happening in the United States. People want to play, and they’re going to play. As has been mentioned by poker experts thousands of times over, the only realistic result which can come from such a law is that the gambling sites will become less secure for players. If you’re a rogue gambling site who isn’t afraid of the US government, are you going to fear players? Of course not, which means that more players will be susceptible to having their funds stolen from them, cashouts will be nearly impossible, and gambling sites who want to involve themselves in cheating will do so. Do you think a site like this will care if you’re 14 years old or that you’ve already blown the family fortune? Of course they won’t. Regulation is the only way the industry can actually move forward and create a safe environment for players.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, cheating. So here we are again in the midst of another high profile cheating scandal where players themselves have become the police. Can we trust Ultimate Bet to sort this out honestly on their own? If you believe what most are saying, UB had a large part in this, possibly even being the ones who created the super-user accounts in which the cheating took place on. How often do criminal incarcerate themselves? Not too often.
Where does this leave us? Unfortunately it leaves us in exactly the same place we were before these cheating scandals took place. Will any change within the industry come from this? No. During the Absolute Poker cheating scandal, player signups actually went up as a result of the added exposure it brought to them. What message does that send? Until there is real regulation, accountability, and punishment there is little to no reason for the rooms to do the things that are needed to stop these things from happening.
Realistically how do these cheating scandals affect you? Well, that’s a subject which is very debatable, but here’s my take on it. If you’re a micro through middle limit player, probably very little. Typically when people are greedy enough to cheat, they tend to do it in high stakes games and tournaments. They aren’t generally trying to cheat a $2/4 game. While most players probably aren’t affected, the highest profile players and games are. This draws a lot of negative attention to the game and gives proponents of making online gambling illegal firepower to support their side. With scandals like this popping up every year or so now, it makes me wonder if anything is ever going to change. How does anything ever get accomplished?
Any comments?
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