I had to go out for a bit, so I had to break my post up into two parts. That's okay, because it would have been really long and people would have been less likely to read it.
Anyway, here is my reaction to Sebok's blog:
There's so much to say in response to this ridiculous essay of his, I don't know where to begin.
I suppose the best place to start would be his list of goals (and subsequent accomplishments).
Completion by omission?Joe Sebok's
Goal #1 was to "get the account names involved in the super-user scandal released." He claims to have "accomplished that fairly quickly." Not so fast.
We don't necessarily have all the names of the superuser accounts on UB. We just have what UB
claims to be the entire list of superusers on UB. Why should we believe them at this point? They already tried to present us in the past with shorter lists of names, claiming that they were complete. Only when sharp statistical analysts from 2+2 brought up other superuser accounts missing from the list did they suddenly unearth more superuser names. How could they have possibly missed all of the names in the first place, given all the tools they had to identify them on the back end?
When we had investigative reporter Hayley Hintze on our radio show, she told us that "the UB hand histories aren't likely to reveal anything. It's what's not in the hand histories that will be revealing." I assume that Hayley meant that UB wasn't providing any hand histories that would show anything contradicting their current list of superusers or refund calculations. That is, there's a good chance that our "complete hand histories" aren't so complete after all, and in fact omit hands where the yet-to-be-discovered superusers are participating.
Of course, this is just a theory. However, we cannot assume UB's list of superusers is correct
until a truly independent third party examines the data and verifies it. Obviously we cannot take UB's word for anything at this point.
Therefore, while Joe perhaps facilitated the release of additional superuser names, we do not know if that list is complete. His goal #1 has NOT been accomplished yet.
Now let's move onto Sebok's next goal...
The dog ate my hand historiesSebok's
Goal #2 was to "get all the hand histories out to those who requested them during the cheating scandal." He proudly trumpets the fact that "I believe that we have gotten out upwards of 90% of old hand histories back to people who have requested them."
Say what?
Getting 90% of requested UB hand histories would be impressive in the time span of, say, 2 weeks. It's been over 2 1/2
years since people started requesting their hand histories, and a full year since Joe appointed himself as liaison for the process. So how is there any excuse for anything but 100% of all requested hand histories being furnished?
You've all heard the story of the kid who didn't do his homework telling the teacher that "the dog ate it." It seems that the same homework-hungry canine has made it over to Costa Rica, and has been eating the backup tapes of UB hand histories.
The weak excuse we're actually getting from Joe about the situation is as follows:
You're right, Joe. It does create a picture that suggests UB may be hiding something.
Look, while "data issues" due to "migrating servers" might fool the computer illiterate folks, it comes off as complete hogwash to anyone with an IT background. The hand history data either exists, or it doesn't. If it didn't exist at all, the hand histories would have been completely unavailable, much like the "lost" hand histories of Mark Seif's heads-up match on AP versus reggiman. There's no way that 90% of the hand history data was stored in one place, while the other 10% was stored in another. And if that was the case, it would be grouped by date, meaning that all users would still get hand histories -- just certain periods of time would be missing. There is no logical explanation as to why certain people's hand histories should be missing by this point.
Furthermore, what exactly is the holdup? How could it be taking 2 1/2 years (or even a year) to go through every backup and search for hand histories? This is not a time consuming process at all, and could easily be completed within days, rather than years.
I can only surmise one reason as to why these hand histories are taking so long.
UB needs to carefully examine each one to make sure they don't contain anything that will unearth yet-to-be-discovered superusers and/or unpaid refunds.
Perhaps the missing 10% of requested hand histories contain too much contradictory data, and UB is afraid to release them. For example, if John Smith played 60% of his hands against not-yet-revealed superusers, UB has a big problem on their hands. If they omit 60% of John's hands, he might notice large gaps of time missing and raise an issue. If they don't omit those 60% of hands, new superusers will be discovered, and millions of dollars of additional refunds will be due.
Basically, UB has refunded everything they're going to give. They have to be very careful at this point to avoid being on the hook for more, which is probably why the hand histories are being provided so slowly.
If UB had nothing to hide, they could almost instantly process and e-mail all hand history data to all affected users. It should never take months or years. It shouldn't even take weeks. They could do this in a matter of days. In fact, a fairly simple automated program could be written to do just that. UB likely is not doing this because they are still covering things up.
In any case, no matter what UB CEO Paul Leggett writes in his blog, there is nothing he could say to legitimately explain why certain people haven't received their hand histories yet. Providing someone hand histories 2 1/2 years after they ask for them is like the police first examining a crime scene 2 1/2 years after it first occurred. Too much time has passed. The evidence is likely tainted. The fact that UB still hasn't provided all hand histories is extremely disturbing.
I like Joe's excuse of, "However, I live and work in LA, not Costa Rica, so in all honesty I can only do so much to move things along there."
Yes, Joe, there is something you can do. You can threaten to quit your endorsement of UB if they don't provide the hand histories as promised. This "I'm in LA, not Costa Rica" excuse is preposterous.
I think I'd rather hear that the dog ate the backups.
Onto Joe's next crowning achievement...
Will the real superusers please stand up... please stand up...Joe Sebok's
Goal #3 was to "attempt to get out the physical names of the actual cheaters, and those who helped them cheat, released to the public."
This was perhaps the most important goal. If we can't convict these scumbags in a court of law, at least let the world know who they are and exactly what they did.
Russ Hamilton hasn't gotten what he deserved, but at least everyone knows that he cheated people out of tens of millions of dollars, and his name is mud wherever he goes. He also must fear for his safety to some degree. If he can't be in prison, at least he's suffering somewhat.
Unfortunately, at least 32 other people -- perhaps even more -- have basically gotten off scot-free.
Joe goes on to tell a tale of cooperation with forum user "Mookman" and the Wicked Chops Poker site, and how everyone banded together to release the names of the other guilty parties.
But it isn't that simple, and the picture Joe paints is quite inaccurate.
Wicked Chops and Mookman indeed did a fantastic job with exposing many guilty parties and turning a lot of confusing data into a reasonable theory of events. Now people like Travis and Rebecca Makar have also been definitively tied to the cheating, and the public scorn (and whatever else) can begin.
But how much was Joe's part in all of this? How much was UB's?
While the sources are not named in the Wicked Chops article, it seems that most of the information was obtained through disgruntled former UB employees and other moles within (or with close ties to) the organization. The Wicked Chops piece is not a cooperative venture between reporters and the current "honest" management of UB. Instead, it seems to be the product of a lot of underground investigative work.
So what exactly did Joe do here? How has UB helped with the process? Even Joe himself seems to admit that the "sources of intelligence" were Mookman and Wicked Chops.
Are you kidding me?!
Joe, records within the UB office can shed more light on this matter than Mookman or Wicked Chops ever could. Those guys are outsiders putting countless hours into cracking a bit of a view into the inside. You work for the guys on the inside -- people like Paul Leggett -- who could open up everything and give us full transparency once and for all. Why hasn't this happened?
Do you understand how ridiculous this sounds? You're telling us that you facilitated exposing Hamilton's accomplices not by going to the direct source where you work, but rather by asking outsiders with just a few pieces of the whole puzzle.
Unbelievable.
Again, why not simply demand to Paul Leggett that they release every bit of possible data related to the superuser accounts? I'm not talking about the fake names and addresses, but rather a complete list of transfers in and out, cashout data, and the name of UB employees who facilitated them.
Oh, I know why you don't demand that. Because UB would absolutely never agree to such a thing, and then you'd be forced to either quit UB (and give up all that money) or look like you didn't keep your promise to the poker community regarding quitting if such a thing happened.
Also, please spare us the claim of "legal reasons" regarding releasing information on these cheaters. UB could easily release a list of facts (names associated with the accounts, transfers in and out, recipients of cashouts, etc.) without drawing any conclusions or slandering anyone. The court of public opinion could be left to decide what really happened, and what each person's role really was. It would be pretty easy to deconstruct if we had all the data.
So after giving us his list of "accomplishments", Joe sheepishly admits that he fell a bit short, but supposedly did all he could...
Let's raise up our glasses against evil forces! Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses!Joe Sebok wants you to know that he wishes that more could have been done, but that we have to accept our limitations:
As much as possible?!
As much as possible?!
How is it "as much as possible" when a lot of people STILL don't have their hand histories, 2 1/2 years after requesting them?
How is it "as much as possible" if UB still isn't being transparent about anything? Why haven't they invited an unaffiliated third party to visit their servers in Costa Rica with full access to all data (and hand histories) from the cheating time period?
How is it "as much as possible" if UB has made zero effort to report the guilty to any form of law enforcement?
How is it "as much as possible" if shady actions and excuses still persist to this day?
How is it "as much as possible"
if absolutely zero compensation has been given to the victims of this scandal, other than supposedly refunding what was stolen?And that last part is what really pisses me off.
When you steal from someone, simply returning what you stole (only once caught) doesn't make the situation right. That's only the first half of it.
The second half involves compensating the victim for what you put them through, or for other damages they suffered as a result of your actions.
UB has not done this. They don't plan to do it. They don't feel that the victims deserve such a thing.
This was no small matter!
Bankrolls were demolished. Confidence in play styles were shattered. Emotional breakdowns and depression occurred. I would even go as far to believe that marriages were ruined and relationships with family and friends were strained.
If someone had their entire poker bankroll of 100k stolen by UB in 2005, think of how much that probably ended up costing them by the lack of ability to play in great games after that.
Imagine the depression and perhaps even suicidal feelings people suffered when they watched large sums of money disappear from their net worth, despite the fact that they were playing a style that had served them so well in the past.
Imagine how many days, months, and years were ruined by the greedy and shameful actions of Russ Hamilton and friends.
Remember -- these people thought they were losing in honest games. They didn't know they were being cheated. They had to live with the guilt and feelings of failure from what they thought was underestimating seemingly easy opponents. Many had to watch the high limit games pass them by in subsequent years, blaming themselves for squandering their bankroll that could have allowed them to participate and get a piece of the pie.
Instead, they were drawing dead. They trusted UB, and UB brazenly stole from them.
You hear all the time about the big winners in poker, but how often do you hear about the losers?
People who lose in poker tend to just fade away into oblivion. You don't even think about them until you occasionally stop to recall, "Oh yeah.. what ever happened to so-and-so?"
There were a lot of those so-and-so ruined by UB. Simply giving them back 120k in 2008, years after you initially stole the money, is nowhere near enough. Many of them began a tilt-infused shame spiral that had its genesis in the days of playing against UB superusers.
What about those people, Joe?
When is UB going to compensate its victims?
Until that happens, and until they truly become transparent with what went down, please stop with the "it's time to move forward" garbage. It isn't time to move forward. They haven't cleaned up the mess they made behind us yet.
Joe Sebok was in a tough spot last year. He found that a UB sponsorship was far more lucrative than what was being offered by other sites, and there's a good chance he needed the money. At the same time, he knew his otherwise good reputation was on the line, and to a lesser degree, so was his step-father's.
Aside from turning down the big money, which is a tough thing to do when you need it and it's being waved in front of your face, Joe Sebok did the only thing he could do. He spun the situation as one that he could use to help benefit all of UB's victims. It seemed like a good plan, but it was one that was likely destined to fail.
In reality, Joe Sebok has accomplished very little on behalf of those cheated by UB. Even worse, he is essentially throwing up his hands and giving up, letting us know that he "did all he could."
That's not true, Joe.
There's one more thing you can do:
Tell UB to become fully transparent and to compensate its victims. If they refuse, walk away and let everyone know publicly why you're leaving.
We all know the chances of that happening.
It's the same chance that the dog really ate that kid's homework.
I NEVER THOUGHT THAT MY BIGGEST REGRET IN LIFE WOULD BE THE ONE TIME I EVER SAID NO TO ANAL-limitlesmom
