New Secure Software for Online Poker Rooms
May 18, 2010
Posted by admin in : General , 3comments
Yesterday in a press release, Tokwiro Enterprises announced their new version of the Cereus software for Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet that uses the Open SSL encryption to secure all Client-Server communication. PokerTableRating, which brought the security issue to the attention of Tokwiro a few days ago, has also confirmed the SSL is operating as it should.
The previous issue which involved the online poker network, operated by Cereus and owned by Tokwiro Enterprises, using XOR encryption and not the standard SSL protocol for network transmissions. When we first wrote about the story (here) COO Paul Leggett blogged that “we plan to have this issue resolved within a matter of hours”, of course it took a little longer than that but we must give a nod to the Tokwiro Enterprises for the much improved handling of this breach over the last one.
COO Paul Leggett added,
“Our priority is our players, and providing them with a secure online poker environment. The implementation of the Open SSL standard achieves this for our players, and we will continue to conduct rigorous verification tests and submit to third party audits to ensure our entire operation is secure. We are communicating openly with PTR, our players, and the rest of the poker community to prove ourselves as a company that is safe to play at, and that we are serious about security.”
22 Congressman Sign PPA Petition
May 17, 2010
Posted by admin in : General , 3comments
To a lot of online poker players, dark clouds are on the horizon as June 1st, the day the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act regulations go into effect, is fast approaching. The Poker Players Alliance is still fighting though and has petitioned the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board to clarify the definition of illegal gambling so that it does not include peer to peer games based on skill like poker.
The petition looks to address two issues in the Act that was passed almost 4 years ago and is finally coming up for enforcement. One request asks that there be an amendment to the regulation that would state that the “bet or wager” term currently being used would not include “certain peer-to-peer games where the outcome is determined predominantly by the skill of the players, such as poker, chess, bridge, mah-jong, and backgammon.”
It also asked for clarification concerning pari-mutuel animal racing that is not affected at all by the passing of the UIGEA and is still lawful under the Interstate Horseracing Act that was passed in 1978. The petition is being sent to Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke but before it landed on their desk, 22 members of Congress also signed the petition.
John Pappas(PPA Executive Director) said, “The PPA is grateful for the support of the 22 members of Congress who wrote Secretary Geithner and Chairman Bernanke in support of our petition to exempt peer-to-peer gaming from the UIGEA regulations. We are still strongly supporting legislative efforts to license and regulate online poker and provide the consumer protections that the UIGEA will not, and are hopeful of the passage of bills like (Barney) Frank’s HR 2267, but believe our petition is the best bet to address the short-term issues facing online poker.”
Here is a list of Congressman who signed the petition: Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), Tom Perriello (D-Va.), Jim Moran (D-Va.), Ciro Rodriguez (D-Tex.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Phil Hare (D-Ill.), John Larson (D-Conn.), John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), Ron Klein (D-Fla.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.).
New Security Concerns with Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet
May 9, 2010
Posted by Staff Writer in : General , 4comments
Just about the time that one of the biggest news stories that hit online poker concerning Absolute Poker and a few months later Ultimate Bet had about died down and concerns may have been laid to rest about software issues and cheating, there are new concerns that broke this week concerning security at these two sites.
After the first scandal broke Tokwiro Enterprises, owners of this Cereus online poker network spent millions cleaning up for licensing jurisdiction fines and player compensation. Add another couple years trying to rebuild a reputation that took a heavy hit and getting players back and you can see why this most have come as a shock to owners to possible have to do this all over again.
This time, like last, the issue was found by the online community, the portal Poker Table Ratings. Like last time the portal sent a warning to players and contacted Tokiro. It seems Cereus was using XOR encryption and not the standard SSL protocol for network transmissions.
Unlike last time however, Tokwire responded almost immediately. COO Paul Leggett blogged:
“One hour ago, I learned about an article posted today on Poker Table Ratings (PTR) regarding an issue with the local encryption that we use on the Cereus Poker Network.
For those of you not familiar with the issue, PTR was able to crack our local encryption method.
I wanted to blog to make sure our players and the poker community know how seriously we take this issue.I would like to start by reminding everyone that someone would have to have the technical capabilities to crack the encryption method we currently use and they would also have to hack into your local network in order to gain access to sensitive [player gaming] data. We are currently working on implementing a new encryption method and we expect to have it live in a matter of hours.”
Leggett publically thanked Poker Table Ratings and went on to say how embarrassing it was that this flaw was not caught by IT staff as well as the countless audits that have been done throughout the last two years.
Also in a move that was not followed up on last time these poker sites got into trouble, Legget said
“We will continue to update you on this issue but we will not rest until it is fixed and as I stated earlier, we plan to have this issue resolved within a matter of hours.”
Only time will tell.
Big Money Swing for Patrik Antonius of Full Tilt Poker
May 5, 2010
Posted by Staff Writer in : General , 2comments
Let’s just do the math and see where it leads us. If you were to manage to save $50,000 a year (not counting interest) and never touched it, it would take 72 years to do what Patrik Antonius did in merely 3 months. Antonius however did it in reverse.
From January 1 to March 15 of 2010, the poker tables at Full Tilt were not kind to Patrik to say the least. He dropped a whopping $3.6 million! This is the largest to date drop by any online poker player. (Brain Townsend tops that list at $2.14 million)
As the saying goes, “That’s poker” and Antonius is no slouch when it comes to the tables. In his career he has had 11 WSOP cash finishes, 7 WPT cash finishes and 1 EPT title so far. 2009 was a great year as well allowing for a little cushion with a profit of close to $9 million dollars playing at Full Tilt Poker.
Before we start to worry about his financial future however, there is a flip side to this story. From March 15 to the beginning of May, the poker tables have turned again and Patrik Antonius was there to take advantage. In just 6 weeks Antonius turned his deficit into a $500,000 profit by winning nearly $4.1 million dollars.
That is an epic poker bankroll swing!
New Bodog Poker Female Poker Pro: Amanda Musumeci
May 4, 2010
Posted by Staff Writer in : General , 4comments
Bodog Poker was looking for a new female poker pro. This time however, they didn’t send out scouts to the hottest poker places on earth, they looked to their followers and friends on Twitter and Facebook. Needless to say, this worked well. Bodog said they were inundated with applications and due to the high quality of most of the applicants, ended up having to make a very tough decision. They finally did make that decision and announced the newest female poker pro and new Bodog Team member, Amanda Musumeci.
Better known to Bodog poker players as “Manderbutt”, she has been a regular at the multi table tournament’s for quite a few years. This Pennsylvania native as racked up an incredible little bankroll as well amasing over $175,000 in MTT winnings alone on Bodog. A graduate of Kutztowen University, Musumeci was sent by a friend to the Aussie Millions, there she met Anna Wroblewski who eventually brought her to Vegas. Amanda never looked back and has been playing professionally ever since.
Another friend and Bodog regular pointed out the Bodog Facebook page in which they announced they were looking for a new female poker pro. She jumped at the opportunity and now it has all paid off huge.
According to new Bodog Pro, Amanda Musumeci, “When you respond to an opportunity like this, no matter how confident you are in yourself and your abilities, there’s always a little nagging doubt in the back of your mind. So when Bodog showed a genuine interest in me, I was ecstatic. I’ve spent most of my online poker career playing at Bodog.com, and getting the chance to play as a pro for my favorite room was the opportunity of a lifetime. It also really showed me that, unlike a lot of other rooms, Bodog supports and invests in their players. I couldn’t ask for a better home and look forward to kicking some butt in Bodog’s name.”
Way to go Amanda Musumeci!
If you want to try your luck against the latest Bodog poker pro, check at the MTT tables and look for “ManderButt”, I’m sure she be willing to let you play.
