18 Jan 12

Several Victims of Ultimate Bet Superuser Scandal Sue for Damages

Eight poker players who were allegedly cheated out of over $2 million while playing on Ultimate Bet between 2004 and 2008 are now suing for damages.

Earlier this week, eight poker players who were allegedly victims of the Ultimate Bet superuser scandal filed a civil lawsuit against Excapsa Software, Inc. (officially "6356095 Canada, Inc.") and 10 "John Does" (individuals who are either unnamed or whose identities have not been officially identified). The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Excapsa was the primary holding company for Ultimate Bet at the time the superuser scandal took place. The suit admits that the plaintiffs do not know the identities of the "John Does", but states that have reason to suspect Excapsa/Ultimate Bet management including Russ Hamilton, Greg Pierson, Jon Karl, and Jack Bates as some of them. These identities may be confirmed via information acquired through future investigations related to this lawsuit.

The eight individuals filing the suit are:

• Daniel "Ashman" Ashman
• Brad "Yukon Brad" Booth, a Canadian player who has appeared on both "High Stakes Poker" and "Poker After Dark"
• Thomas "tommyboy83" Koral
• Greg "Captain Zeebo" Lavery, the focus of the first episode of the poker documentary series "From Busto to Robusto"
• Dave Lizmi
• Daniel "KingDan" Smith
• Joseph Sanders
• Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf

These eight individuals are all high-stakes professional poker players who played on Ultimate Bet. They are claiming that over $2 million was knowingly stolen from the group as a whole, and that they are owed the money lost, potential earnings from money they could have won had their bankrolls not been depleted, and other punitive damages totaling "not less than $10,000,000."

It is important to note that this is NOT a class action lawsuit, and that the plaintiffs represent only themselves, rather than the collective body of cheated players.

 View the Official Complaint for Damages and Injunctive Relief

A Brief History of the Scandal

Russ Hamilton

The full story of the Ultimate Bet (UB) superuser scandal would likely require a book to tell, but here are several of the most important facts explaining broadly what happened:

• 1994 WSOP Main Event champion Russ Hamilton formed Ultimate Bet with businessmen Greg Pierson and Jon Karl (perhaps others were involved as well). The site launched in 2000.

• The software on UB included the capability for individuals with certain administrative access to remotely view hole card information of other players. This ability has been referred to as "God Mode."

• At some point, likely beginning in 2004, Russ Hamilton (and perhaps others) took advantage of "God Mode" in order to cheat other players. Hamilton would frequently sit at high-stakes tables and play opponents while viewing their cards.

• At least 117 user names, played through 23 accounts, stole over $22 million from high-stakes players by using this method of cheating.

• In 2008, the scandal was uncovered on the TwoPlusTwo.com forums. Statistical data of an UltimateBet screen name, "NioNio", was shown maintaining an impossible win-rate against world-class players.

• The Kahnawake Gaming Commission began an investigation and determined that Russ Hamilton was responsible for the cheating. Despite 23 UB accounts having been used to cheat, Hamilton was the only individual identified as guilty.

• Some refunds have been paid to players by UB, but the manner in which these refunds were calculated has never been exposed, and many players believe they are owed significantly more money than they received.

The individuals who are known to have been cheated out of substantial amounts of money include several well-known poker pros such as Mike Matusow, Prahlad Friedman, Tom Dwan, and Brad Booth.

PokerStrategy.com will continue to keep you informed as this story develops.

by Matt Kaufman