So as it turns out, the current operators of Ultimate Bet were not aware of the cheating scandals when they bought the site. It seems the former owners heard of the incident and decided to sell. This is yet another reason they should legalize online poker. There needs to be regulation, and I’m pretty sure if there were in the U.S., it wouldn’t have happened in the first place, but if it had, it would have been brought to light much sooner, and Tokwiro wouldn’t have to sue to be able to play all the players back that were cheated.
So the real issue was that the guys who originally owned it, developed a software that allowed its employees to view hole cards while a tournament was in play. AND! They allowed their employees to play in money tournaments, knowing full well they had this info at hand. That’s pretty shady. It seems to me that if there were more regulation in the industry, that wouldn’t have been allowed at all.. Not only would they not be able to view the cards during play, but I’m sure it would have not been okay with government officials to play where they worked.
That’s kind of standard business practice anyway, I would think. Anyway, they’ll be getting a pretty hefty settlement so the players that haven’t been compensated yet, will be, and I would think at this point that they shouldn’t have to continue paying for the site, as they were set up on a monthly payment plan, or at least that’s my understanding.
So, that lets Ultimate Bet off of the hook, as this was the site with the employees. As far as Absolute Poker goes, I am almost positive that it was not an employee, but some guy who had some sort of software that allowed him the same information.