The scandals of poker online, seen by CBS 60 Minutes and The Washington Post

As we announced here, the eagerly awaited CBS survey on the problems of cheating and online poker industry has been broadcast Sunday November 30. 60 Minutes, commented by Steve Kroft, focusing on scandals about Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, which also have been the reason of a series of articles in The Washington Post.

After the report, there is much to say both in substance and form. The influence and audience of the broadcast on CBS 60 Minutes that many have feared the worst, anticipating a skewed portrait of an industry of online poker shown identified as untrustworthy, tide of cheaters of all kinds, ignoring the urgent need for regulations in place to protect millions of Americans who play online. For most unfortunately, these fears that online poker caricatured have proved largely based on the basis of the content and tone of the report aired last Sunday.

Gilbert Article Gaul in the Washington Post, however, was far more detailed and more balanced. The fact that the TV report adopts a sensationalist tone is more understandable to a certain point, the time allocated to the description of the facts are more limited than in the columns of famous investigative journalist. From the beginning of the story, the voice of Kroft sets the tone for the following: This problem (ndt: cheating on the sites of online gambling) raises many questions about the integrity and security of this obscure very profitable industry, operating far from U.S. law.

After a few words of introduction into the poker boom, briefly highlighting the importance of the victory of Chris Moneymaker and 2003 WSOP to the ease of playing poker online, the narrator insists Kroft its view: We should tell you that this industry which weighs $ 18 billion is illegal in the United States, but this prohibition is almost impossible to implement, given that websites and computers responsible for distributing the cards or registering bets are located outside, in outside the jurisdiction of law enforcement America. Unlike casinos in hard, there is virtually no regulation, and even less respect for the law or supervision.

The assertion that online gambling is illegal in the U.S. is very questionable and technically inaccurate. While the provision of money to a poker online via a U.S. bank is prohibited, but using foreign accounts to play with the funds that are deposited is perfectly legal. Even if there actually states that have officially banned and specifically online poker, this is not the case in the U.S. as a country. And to think that laws are ignored or that the sites are not supervised and exaggerated, as evidenced by the existence of the KGC (Kahnawake Gaming Commission), a monitoring committee which regulates the licensing of online games for much of Sites that have their server on the Indian territory of Canada.

The story continues with several online poker players such as Todd Wittels which describes how the Absolute Poker scandal began. But the narration quickly comes to evoke the scandal Ultimate Bet, crossing over the fact that these two sites have the same owner, but forget to mention that the two cheating have nothing to do and do not at all the same protagonists.

Todd Wittels In the first part of the document, Kroft says But what really puts the victims angry is the fact that Absolute Poker made a deal with the cheater to protect his identity, in exchange for his confession on how he is taken. Yet, speaking of UltimateBet scandal with the investigator Frank Catania, the name of Russ Hamilton is indeed mentioned. In the final report did not clearly state that the two scandals were two separate cases and the issue would have gained credibility if it had highlighted the differences between the two cases and their wrongdoing.

He never mentioned the efforts of two sites to enhance their security, including resolution of the problem related to accounts super users. The report also fails to mention the recent transfer of Absolute Poker and UltimateBet on a new common server in the network online Cereus whose primary mission is to restore confidence in these two online poker rooms.

Notwithstanding how they handled the crisis, it was important to note that the two sites in question are plugged holes security and have established procedures for monitoring anti-cheating unprecedented in the online gaming industry . Do not mention these facts in the report for 60 Minutes omission is damaging to the credibility of his remarks and understanding throughout history by the general public.

The report concludes with a threatening tone through the words of Wittels whose complete interview has been widely published: But what really fear is that there may be other special accounts like these, on other sites and may otherwise be used with more discretion. And maybe cheating continues on other sites than Absolute Poker and UltimateBet.

Even knowing that history is necessarily staged to captivate viewers, it seems to me that this issue amputated facts that are integral parts of history will leave the viewer the impression that the lambda online poker industry is a dark and sinister, plagued by cheating continuously.

The series of reports published by the Washington Post, by contrast, went further in their factual analysis. Although there are sometimes the same terms as in the CBS report to describe the world of online poker, between Gaul much into detail with his first article entitled The players bet on honesty and security of online games , And takes care to separate the two cases. On several occasions, he quotes the official Tokwiro Enterprises instead of directly interviewing its representatives so that their position is clearer.

The second article in the series written by Gaul, titled Debate prohibition against regulation while punters using foreign sites, contains additional information relevant to understanding the context of the game online. Even if players bet millions of dollars online, confusion reigns about the legal status of online gambling, and companies that organize he writes in particular, summarizing the issue more effectively than trying to scare off phrases shocks.

Gaul trying to enter the heart of the debate on the status of online gambling in the U.S., and through interviews with John Pappas of the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) and several members of Congress each defending its interests, its Article addressing the political, economic and individual freedom at stake in the issues of legalization and regulation.

In addition to this second part long and detailed, Gaul added a supplement on the website of the Washington Post entitled Mohawk Connection which comes in more detail on the activities of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and its Tokwiro Grand Chief Joe Norton, and their place in the online poker industry. The information remains relatively confined to the outline, however, since Norton declined the proposal to interview and provided few financial details on its Internet poker sites.

Reporting in Gaul for the Washington Post says the scandals Absolute Poker and UltimateBet relying on a chronological narrative of facts, and explore the broader issues that make debate. While the 60 Minutes report CBS seemed to bring more confusion than anything else while reading the articles gives a much better description of the whole story.

The players we are and all the players in the poker community can distinguish between factual information and sensationalist journalism in the reporting of 60 Minutes, but among the millions of people who watched the show little ability, and their opinions could be influenced negatively by this story.