Joe Sebok corroborates Wicked Chops Poker’s UB scandal account

Last week WickedChops Poker posted a two-part series on the Ultimate Bet Poker Super-User scandal. Throughout the in depth articles many mentions were made to “sources” but few were named, that is until UB spokesman and poker pro Joe Sebok outed himself on his PokerRoad blog as one of the sources who supplied information and helped in the investigation.

So, while many on the online poker forums brushed off the WCP investigation, citing what appeared to be jumping to conclusions, it turns out to be perhaps the most accurate portrayal of how the Super-User scandal unfolded on Ultimate Bet.

Sebok’s lengthy blog post was aimed to clear up any loose ends regarding the scandal, and also UB’s internal handling of the process, and he also implied that until [if] further information comes to light this is basically the end of the road, and he has no more answers to give.

Sebok started his blog entry with the following paragraph:

“Roughly one  year ago I signed with UB, and pledged to put in as much effort as was possible to do three things; 1) get the account names involved in the super-user scandal released, 2) get all the hand histories out to those who requested them during the cheating scandal, and 3) attempt to get out the physical names of the actual cheaters, and those who helped them cheat, released to the public…”

From here he went on to outline exactly what the investigation has found -that everything revolved around Russ Hamilton, and the other people’s roles in the cheating are mostly unclear-and the problems, and roadblocks, that have come up along the way. Going as far as admitting that point #3 is likely to never be fully uncovered, and further down making the case that the extent with which certain individuals were involved -or there precise role/knowledge– is unable to be proven.

So, after reading Sebok’s blog entry, I decided to go back and re-read the Wicked Chops; this time around giving more credence to the conclusions they have formed, and the involvement of the prime players in the affair. As far as I can tell this is the first time the actual method of the cheating was revealed -there were actually two ways Hamilton was cheating: By challenging big pros he could contact to heads-up play, and by creating numerous accounts to cheat the other big players on UB at the time.

The revelation of at least Sebok as a source also makes WCP’s conclusion of how and why the Super-User -known as God mode-was created much more credible, and flies against the commonly held belief that this tool was in place from the get-go.

Part 1 of the Wicked Chops Story

Part 2 of the Wicked Chops Story

Joe Sebok’s blog entry on Poker Road