Bettor wins $1.3 million; Net casino won't pay

[monkeymagic]

Found this interesting article whilst trying to find out more information on Real Time Gaming's Carribean 21.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4449401/

"...an American bettor and a Costa Rica-based Internet casino are engaged in a running battle over $1.3 million that the player says he won fair and square and the house claims was amassed using a banned “robot” software program.

The big-money feud pits the gambler known as “Pirateofc21” against Hamptoncasino.com and, by proxy, Realtime Gaming of Atlanta, the software company that developed and licensed the “Caribbean 21” game that yielded the disputed windfall. "

An interesting read.

[DoubleBluff]

This was resolved in the end, with help from casinomeister, who basically rubbished the casino's claims (that he used a robot). RTG even did a thorough analysis of every little bit of code comprising the game as a result of the win, and finally reported that it could not possibly have been hacked. Eventually the casino gave in to the pressure and made some sort of settlement. They never said how much they paid him, but I think they probably just paid him the whole amount.

This will be remembered as one of the great stories of internet gambling history. Who knows what really happened? There are some hilarious, genuine audio recordings of phone calls between the winner and the boss of Hampton's Casino during their dispute. Just found them actually, here you go - well worth a listen:

Phone Call 1:
[stream:f75a52eb2b]http://www.faircasinos.com/phonecall1.wav[/stream:f75a52eb2b]

Phone Call 2:
[stream:f75a52eb2b]http://www.faircasinos.com/phonecall2.wav[/stream:f75a52eb2b]

[monkeymagic]

"There are 2 things I don't break for nobody - My balls and my Word."



What a prat!

Also the bit where he threatens him on the second phone call... Scary 8O

[FreeZey]

I wrote a poker bot as part of my dissertation Wasn’t very good though :/

I’m not surprised by the casinos reaction. If they can intimidate him in to only taking $75K they’ve save a fortune.

[ceo]

I'm listening to this as I post this message.
Not being too involved or updated with online gambling, I always wondered, how much do the biggest winners get. I mean I'm into the affiliate industry & do not promote gambling (too competitive now : ) but know that affiliates make big money...... Hear of that at times.

Interesting how some Casino can just stand up & say it was cheated with bots for such a large win....

Ok, let me continue and listen to the rest now....

[Holdem]

Those are some pretty funny phone calls. It is also scary to think someone is cheating while you are playing and betting your hard earned money.

[fisher]

interesting article. And I am just wondering....

how do they know you are using software to count if you have 2 computers infront of you , one for playing poker, one for running the software?

[FreeZey]

They might be able to tell using auditing software that monitors players. This might count cards and generate an optimum play prediction, if the prediction matches the players actions almost exactly it suggests they might also be counting cards.
The longer the player plays the more data is collected and the less chance there is for error.

So that’s how they might detect a suspect.

Can they prove it? No. Card counting is a tough one. In fact I wouldn’t even call it cheating (if done without mechanical aids). I mean, it just a mental process, a straighy, if it swings the odds into the players favour then tough the game is flawed, maybe casinos shouldn’t offer to play it for money.

NB: I also suspect this happens a lot. The only reason the casino objected this time was because of the amount.

[scorpio]

I dont think anyone would use their hard earned money on bets like that... its always the extra money I have that i play with.. I don't think the guy can do much about the company not paying him, can he..?

[FreeZey]

I don't think the guy can do much about the company not paying him, can he..?

For that much money it’s got to be worth pursuing through legal channels no question.

If he goes to a lawyer and explains the case they’d probably take it on a no win no fee basis. His position is extremely strong and the only thing I can see catching him out would be some loop hole in the sites Terms and Conditions.