Absolute Poker – Historical Review & Scandal

🃏 Absolute Poker – Historical Review

Absolute Poker was once a popular online poker room that became infamous for one of the worst cheating scandals in online poker history. Founded in 2003 in Costa Rica, Absolute Poker grew rapidly during the poker boom before being exposed for allowing insiders to use “God mode” — the ability to see all players’ hole cards in real-time. This scandal, combined with Black Friday in 2011, led to its complete shutdown and became a cautionary tale about the dangers of unregulated online poker.

📖 History & Rise

Absolute Poker launched in 2003 and benefited from the online poker boom following Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP win. The site gained popularity with aggressive marketing and tournament offerings. In 2007, Absolute Poker merged with UltimateBet to form the Cereus Network, combining their player pools. The site peaked with respectable traffic numbers and a loyal player base, particularly from North American markets.

⚡ What Made It Special

Before the scandal, Absolute Poker was known for its tournament schedule and the UBOC (Ultimate Bet Online Championship) series that ran across the Cereus Network. The site offered a reasonable software client for its era and competitive bonus offerings. The player pool was generally considered soft, attracting recreational players from the poker boom era.

💥 The Downfall

In September 2007, poker forum members on 2+2 discovered suspicious play patterns in a tournament where a player named “Potripper” made statistically impossible decisions — calling and folding perfectly against every opponent. Investigation revealed that an insider (later identified as someone connected to the founding team) had access to a “superuser” account that could see all hole cards at the table. The scandal was eventually confirmed, and Absolute Poker was forced to refund affected players. The Cereus Network continued operating with a damaged reputation until Black Friday on April 15, 2011, when the US DOJ seized the domain. Players lost millions in unrecovered funds.

🏛️ Legacy & Impact

The Absolute Poker scandal fundamentally changed how the poker community views operator transparency and regulation. It demonstrated why independent regulatory oversight is crucial and why offshore, unregulated poker sites carry inherent risks. The “superuser” scandal remains one of the most cited examples in arguments for proper gambling regulation. Many players who lost funds on Absolute Poker never recovered their money, reinforcing the importance of playing on properly licensed and regulated platforms.