Former UB Poker players file RICO Lawsuit

January 16th, 2012 by Hayley Mather

Former UB Poker players file RICO Lawsuit

Eight of the biggest high-stakes online Poker Pros from the mid 2000s have just filed a RICO lawsuit against Excapsa Software (the parent company of Ultimate Bet Poker) in the US District Court of Central California, claiming that during the Super-User scandal that took place from 2003-2008 the site stole roughly $20 million from players, and high ranking members of management were complicit in the crime.

Led by Daniel Ashman, the group of eight players also includes well known Ultimate Bet poker players like Brad YukonBrad Booth, Dustin NeverWin Woolf, and Tom Koral. Booth and Dave Lizmi are seeking the largest damages at $500k each. In addition to their claims that the site cheated the eight named players out of more than $2 million, the complaint states that the company also violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) which could see the plaintiffs receive up to 3x the amount in damages they are seeking.

Here is the summary of the complaint filed:

Since at least June 2003 and until at least January 2008 Excapsa/UltimateBet did conspire to and did direct, effect, and permit the theft of over $2 million held in plaintiffs online poker accounts at Ultimatebet.com. Specifically, by creating and making use of an intentional a security flaw in the Ultimatebet.com software, and with the assistance of owners, agents, and employees of Excapsa and its various subsidiaries that operated UltimateBet, defendants either allowed others to or did directly view plaintiffs hole cards during high-stakes poker matches run at Ultimatebet.com.

With the assistance of owners, operators, officers, employees, and/or agents of Excapsa and its subsidiaries, the cheaters were further able to change their online identities to avoid detection and to improperly funnel their illicit proceeds through various UltimateBet accounts in a manner that would have been impossible without insider assistance. Through these activities, defendants stole or caused to be stolen at least 20 million dollars from plaintiffs and other high-stakes poker players at games run by UltimateBet.

At this time, plaintiffs suspect but do not know the identities of Does 1-10. Evidence, some of which is discussed below, has arisen that some of the founders and management of UltimateBet and Excapsa, including Greg Pierson, Jon Karl, Jack Bates, Russ Hamilton, and others who formerly operated (and may continue to be involved in the operation of) UltimateBet were likely aware of or involved the conspiracy to cheat players. However, because the identities and activities of UltimateBet and those who have profited from its operations has been intentionally shielded though numerous agents, subsidiaries, and foreign corporations, it will be necessary to conduct significant discovery before a complete list of defendants can be identified. After such discovery, plaintiffs will seek to amend the complaint to add additional defendants.

In the Ultimatebet.com online poker cheating scandal plaintiffs and other high-stakes online poker players were cheated out of millions of dollars in crooked online poker games where their opponents (employees, agents, owners, and/or officers of Excapsa/UltimateBet) had illicit access to players hole cards. Plaintiffs unknowingly played games of high-stakes poker with their cards essentially face-up. The facts underlying the case have already been the subject of intense public interest and media scrutiny, including a feature story on 60 Minutes, an investigative series by the Washington Post, a feature article by MSNBC, and hundreds of articles and news reports across the Internet.

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