In March, PocketFives, along with many other news outlets, reported about a commentary piece that ran in the Press of Atlantic City. The article was supposedly written by Poker Hall of Famer Dewey Tomko (pictured) and “poker pro” Bill Byers and espoused fears that online poker is particularly vulnerable to money laundering and teams of cheaters that prey on novice players undetected.

Referencing Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling and a letter from the FBI to Congress, the op-ed piece said, “Criminals can use technology that poker websites cannot detect to hide both the identity and location of a poker player, enabling the corruption of virtual poker tables. Background information related to the FBI concerns suggests that the technology enables multi-player collusion.”

It added, “If three or more players at the same poker table can use hacker technology to effectively share card values in ways hidden from the poker website, a terribly damaging scandal becomes a very real possibility.”

On Monday, longtime World Series of Poker Media Director and poker chronicler Nolan Dalla wrote on his blog that the Tomko/Byers piece was a hoax. Why he knows this is simple: he is friends with Tomko and asked him about it.

On Sunday, he gave his friend a call and told him about the piece. Tomko’s response: “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You know me. I don’t write columns to newspapers. I’ve got other things that keep me plenty busy.”

“I have no association whatsoever to anything to do with that,” Tomko said when Dalla asked him about his associations with anyone or anything online poker-related. “I don’t play online poker.I’ve never played online poker before. Not even once. I don’t know anything about it. Why would I say something on something I know nothing about? I don’t do that.”

Tomko endorsed Doyle’s Room way back when, but that was as a favor to his good friend Doyle Brunson and he never actually played on the site. He also said that while he does know Bill Byers, he hasn’t talked to him in a decade. He never gave anyone permission to tack his name onto the Press of Atlantic City article and, in fact, knew nothing about the piece until Dalla brought it to his attention. This is all according to Dalla.

I’m totally in favor of online poker,” he told Dalla. “I haven’t played it. But I know it’s good for poker. I can’t really comment at all about security because I’m not qualified in that area. How could I be? How can they say that about me? I would never write such a thing about online poker. I would never do anything to hurt the game. You know that.”

So who is behind the piece? Several names have been floated, but we’ll keep you posted as more news develops.

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