Cheating is present on most online poker rooms, whether it’s players trying to gain an advantage over the online poker rooms, or even the other players, or the poker rooms themselves trying to trick the players into investing way too much in the poker rooms. Whichever the case, the opposing side is always fighting back. Let’s look at two of the widest spread examples: first, there are players who try to cheat by using a wide variety of programs. From bots to other special programs, they will try to take a peek at other players’ cards, at the community cards, they will try to quickly evaluate their odds, and so on.  On the other side of the game, the smaller online poker rooms also try to cheat. One of the most believable and wide spread conspiracy theory is that online poker rooms will try to rig the cards in order for you to win when you first start to play, then suddenly lose. This way, you can think that you’re, in fact, a very good player, and you’re just going through a bad down swing, and by playing a lot you’ll bounce back. This theory caught on because, if online poker rooms actually do this, it’s a very subtle technique, and it’s designed to get the most out of players in small increments, so that they don’t suspect a thing. But, as many experienced online poker players will tell you, there is no such thing as cheating in large websites, they would have too much to lose.

So, what’s the truth? Well, yes, there are cases of cheating on both sides of the game. But this certainly isn’t the case for the bigger online poker rooms: they have gotten to where they are by practicing flawless security techniques. So, on the largest poker rooms there will always be a lot of people who are making sure that the players aren’t cheating (they will constantly improve their security programs, in order for all kinds of malicious programs to be banned), and that the players who are cheating get banned and never play there again. And, on the other hand, it’s in their best interest not to cheat themselves, because one scandal breaks out and they’re gone for good, no matter what they do to try and bounce back.

And speaking of scandals that broke out in the online poker world, let’s have a look at some of them.

The most famous (and infamous) online poker cheating scandal that broke out is, undoubtably, the Absolute Poker scandal. Back in 2007, one of the most well known online poker room was Absolute Poker, but its fame quickly turned to infamy when a scandal broke out that made worldwide headlines for months on end. To be more precise, it all began in in September of 2007. It started off small, with several forums and poker communities targeting Absolute Poker and claiming that there is a ‘superuser’ which can see everyone’s cards. At first, the website denied all accusations, but the accusations persisted, and one month later the Kahnawake Gaming Commission began an investigation, and sure enough, they found the culprit as being ‘POTRIPPER’. After careful investigation, they had found that all his actions were of a man who already knew what his opponents were holding. Immediately, Absolute Poker denied the accusations, but it was already too late – the website started to be blacklisted and its reputation stained for good. After some internal investigation, and what started as unofficial rumors, Absolute Poker finally admitted to the cheating, and said that it was the work of a dissatisfied former employee, which took advantage of a security flaw and used it to scam people. He managed to do so for a period of 40 days. As a final gesture to save what was left of their good name, Absolute Poker announced that it had strengthened its security, and that all of the funds scammed by the player were returned to the players (about $1.6 million). Although they are still making efforts to bounce back, Absolute Poker’s image was forever stained.

Ultimate Bet is one of the poker rooms that was involved in a similar incident. Back in 2008, they released a statement that they too were confronted with ‘superuser’ accounts, which wreaked havoc in the online poker room for months on end. From March of 2006 and all the way to December of 2007 (although they have later confirmed that the cheating dated back to the beginning of 2005) cheating was flourishing on Ultimate Bet. Again, former employees were blamed for it all, and Ultimate Bet claimed to have fixed the malfunctioning software. Later investigation by the same Gaming Commission revealed that the cheating was done by only one player, from May of 2004 to January of 2008. To this day, Ultimate Bet has yet to refund players. And this time, their image remained stained.

These are two of the most outstanding scandals in the online poker world, but they are not the only ones. However, scandals like these can forever stain the image of a poker room, so everyone tries to do their best to avoid them. To avoid being cheated stick to the bigger sites and stay away from new small sites. If what they offer sounds too good to be true, it proberly is. Some of the most reliable sites, in my oppinion, are sites like Party Poker and Pacific Poker. These sites have been around forever, and you wont go wrong with an account there. For US players, you should check out Carbon Poker.

In college football, North Carolina football has had most of the attention this offseason. The NCAA is probing the school because a couple kids hit a party in Miami and it appears they didnt pay their own way. While I only expect a hand slap and not major sanctions, its been a distraction since mid-July.
They say offense wins games and defense wins championships. Carolina returns a bunch of seniors – 7 on both defense and offense. And they come into the season ranked #18 in both the AP and USA Today polls. In my opinion, they have a decent team that may end up towards the top of the ACC, as predicted. But they are unlikely to beat out Miami or Virginia Tech which are the favorites heading into the season. College Football Futures show Carolina at +500 to winthe ACC and +6000 for a National Championship. While 6 returning starters on defense were all conference selections last year, only the kicker, Casey Barth, made that honor on offense.
The defense is solid – and has to carry the team. I’m not a fan of TJ Yates, QB. I expect him to be replaced by week 4 in favor of Paulus. He has an NFL quality WR in Greg Little, but an inconsistent running game to stretch the defense. In football, without a top quarterback, you are unlikely to go far.
We’ll see how good the Tarheels are. On Sept 4, their opening game is against #21 LSU in a neutral site game (Atlanta, GA). Then they open their ACC schedule against #16 Georgia Tech in a home game. The schedule gets easier until Nov 6 and 14 when they have to play Forida State and Virginia Tech back-to-back.

My prediction: 8-4. Disappointing for the team, but good enough for the Champs Sports bowl – the 3rd tier bowl (behind Orange and Chick-Fil-A – the Gator bowl is no long an ACC/Big East destination)

about MaTT:
MaTT has been in the sports wagering biz for 10+ years as an affiliate offering a sports betting blog and tips to people around the world. Living in North Carolina, he is happy to contribute to the Carolina Gambler on a regular basis.

   Now I realize that the Brewers post season hopes are fading faster than Obamas popularity, But in our fantasy world, we need to focus on numbers, and with Braun and Hart returning to healthy status, it is a opportune time to compare the stats.

   Starting with Corey Hart. With 23 beer slides (1 behind his career best) 78 driven, and a slugging pctage of 538, it is completely in the realm that Corey can have himself a 30/100 season. Not bad for a slugger drafted 321st overall ten years ago. While his 288 avg looks weak against others inyour fantasy line ups, it is 10 points higher than his career number, and at times we need to sacrifice one column for another. With your average column being a percentage, and the power columns are hard numbers, it is easier to recover on average, than losing a point in your HR ledger.

   On to Ryan Braun. In his 3rd professional season Ryan came out with a monster start. Hitting .355 in April with 20 RBI, and slugging a robust 581. However, the numbers tailed of considerably for the all star outfielder, currently batting 290 with 16 touchemalls, and rather impressive 68 driven, it is my beleif that Brauns end of year numbers will drastically improve, given the nagging injuries have healed. He will most likely not be the 30/100 guy, but 25/75 is certainly attainable. Hang on to Braun, just remeber to sit him against the southpaws (.254, 2 HR, 16 ribs).

   Yours truly has been on the cyber rollercoaster as of late, climbing back to 3rd at Yahoo roto, dropping to 3rd in ESPN roto, and battling a tie for first in ESPN h2h with a record of 101-74-5. Hope you all had monster scores and are in position to take down that all elusive fantasy baseball championship belt!!!

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Because they are against sports betting they have spent millions of dollars lobbying against Rep. Barney Frank (D Ma) and his attempts at getting the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (H.R.2267) passed into law. This bill will regulate and tax online gambling, and give the American player back their freedoms to fund an online poker game or to gamble. With a lot of effort, and some changes, the H.R. 2267 was approved by the House Financial Services Committee on July 28th, 2010. During that hearing there was an amendment added that will prohibit companies licensed under the legislation from offering sports betting, except for horse racing.

It is that amendment to the bill which has finally gotten the NFL to stop opposing the online gambling bill and off of Rep. Frank’s back. I have not bought a thing endorsed by the NFL since they have openly came out against online gambling. And now that they have stopped I still don’t know as I will. It’s just very hard for me to show much support for something that fought against the freedoms of adults for so long…….

The bill, known as H.R. 2267 or the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act had 7 Republicans voting for and 18 voting against the bill while 34 Democrats voted for the bill and 4 voted against it. Republican Ron Paul, who so many feel support their freedom to gamble online voted present. That vote leaves many to wonder why he done so when he had showed support in the past. My thoughts are that perhaps he only showed support in the past when he thought he had something to gain by having the online players support when running for office…..

There is still much to be done before H.R. 2267 can become law. So for those that believe in our freedoms, you need to continue letting House and Senate members know that we want online poker and gambling regulated and legalized. The full House needs to vote on it between Sept. 7 and Oct. 8. For a full vote to happen Democrats in the House, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), needs to schedule it.

If the House passes the bill, then it can be taken up by the Senate. And if passed there it could be signed by President Obama. If it reaches his desk I feel that it will become law. The man likes a game of poker himself so I don’t think he would have a problem doing so. The largest concern I and many other online gaming sources have is that it all needs to happen this year.  If it doesn’t happen before the end of this year’s legislative session, the process will have to start all over again next year.

Rep. Barney Frank talks on MSNBC about Recent Committee Passage of HR2267

For the Carolina Panthers, Claussen has finally been signed. He got a 4 year deal worth up to 6.3 million dollars. But he is not at the top of the depth chart. Look for Matt Moore to get the opening day start and probably keep in control of the team for at least the first half. Moore was hot the end of last year – but that was helped in large part to playing meaningless games. Carolina was already out of the hunt and playing teams with little left to play for.

Many Carolina faithful are happy to see Delhomme gone. I know myself and others in the blogosphere said that before last season. We are happy for his accomplishments and his super bowl year – but it was time to move on.

Carolina also lost veterans Nail Diggs, Julius Peppers, and Muhsin Muhammed. These are major losses on both sides of the ball. Carolina projects to have one of the youngest opening day rosters. Translation: They lack experience and potential franchise players. They were 8-8 last year – and decided to go the rebuilding route. This may be generous, but I’m predicting them at 6-10.

about MaTTeD:
MaTTeD has been in the sports wagering biz for 10 years as an affiliate offering free picks and tips to people around the world. Living in North Carolina, he is happy to contribute to the Carolina Gambler on a regular basis.

   Starting with the youngster Pagan (is 29 a youngster?), now fighting for his line up spot since the return of Carlos Beltran (OF, NYMETS), from the DL. Early indications are that Angel may take over the slot previously held by the rather unproductive, overly unimpressive Jeff Francoeur (OF,NYMETS). As a fan of the mediocre Mets, I hope this trend continues. I refer to Pagan as nearly a rookie to reflect the fact that in his 4th year, he has never played more than 88 games in a season, matching his 2010 total. a 1999 4th round pick by the Mets, Pagan has been a pleasant suprise this season. currently sporting a .311 average (40 points higher over his last 10 games), 8 taters, 44 driven, and 20 swipes. Keep in mind your HR totals will never flourish at the cavern known as  Citi Field, (8 HR at Citi is equal to 24 at Yankee Stadium). However, Citi is conducive to Pagan and his above average speed. It is my opinion that having Pagan as a back up with his switch hitting capabilities, will give fantasy managers some flexibility for the day off juggling acts we inevitably run into.

   On to Tori Hunter, the Angels Center Fielder in his 13th season, has thus far posted a .293 avg, 15 long balls, a rather impressive 63 ribs. and a rather unimpressive 8 steals. Obviously hunter will improve your power columns, but the speed columns you will need to look elsewhere. I guess at 35 years old, the wheels start to rust a bit!! One interesting improvement for Hunter this season is his BB/K ratio. In ’09, Tori took only47 free passes, while caught window shopping 92 times. so far in ’10 this number has improved to 44BB to only 58K. This improvement shows with age comes patience and wisdom. (That’s what I tell my kids anyway!!). If your team is struggling in the power columns, it may be a wise choice to pursuit hunter if you can get him on a bargain (maybe you can trade Francoeur for him!!)

   Hope we all had productive weeks,I took a rollercoaster ride in Yahoo roto climbing to first, the settling in a mediocre 3rd place. I was able to take the lead in ESPN roto, while taking down a 7 2 1 victory head to head ESPN. Check your roster DLs, some players are due to return to action soon, be prepared to reinsert them where needed. Until next week, wishing you monster scoring, and most of all, have fun!!

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