About 10 days ago, UltimateBet released a statement updating its users and the online poker world about the latest news in its investigation into the cheating scandal that rocked the poker room during the early part of 2008. It issued a list of several new user names traced to the disturbance: Crackcorn55, WhakMe, GrabBag123, gravitation, Bgroup, H_Curtis, Twenty 1, WacoManiac, Broke_In_L_A, ShaqTack, BlueBerry101, HolyMucker, 55WasHere, Xnomas, dannyboy55, Indy05, and SlimPikins2. These were in addition to the original slate of names, which included the well-known account NioNio plus Sleepless, NoPaddles, and nvtease. In a thread on PocketFives, it has been alleged that the latter three names can be traced to former UB owner Russ Hamilton.
In the same statement, UB conceded that the cheating had been taking place long before the online poker room initially thought: January, 2005 to be exact. The cheaters exploited an auditing tool that, when utilized, allowed a person to see the hole cards of every single person seated at a table. In essence, therefore, a “super account” wasn’t used. Rather, a piece of software was run when the users were logged into any account. As such, there are a bevy of screen names associated with the scandal.

It has recently been revealed, in a post by PocketFiver Nat N 82 50 24 Arem that three accounts - Sleepless, NoPaddles, and nvtease – have an address that matches the home owned by Russ Hamilton, one of the former owners of UB. After the site was sold in 2006, Hamilton and several other accomplices are alleged to have exploited the hole in UB’s security system in order to attain an unfair advantage during play.

The address given on the three aforementioned accounts is 1725 Glenview Dr., Las Vegas, Nevada, 89134. Since most property ownership information is in the public domain, visiting the Clark County, Nevada Assessor’s website can allow you to search for the name matched to that property’s address. Sure enough, the ownership of 1725 Glenview Dr. belongs to none other than Hamilton. Here’s the information taken directly from the Assessor’s website:

Current Parcel Number: 138-19-810-002
Current Owner: HAMILTON RUSSELL & CAROLYN
Recorded Document Number: *20060523:03704
Recorded Date: 05/23/2006
Vesting: JOINT TENANCY
Tax District: 200
Estimated Size: SUBDIVIDED LOT

Arem was given the address by a whistleblower at UltimateBet. That person also gave Arem the following information linked to the accounts:

Name: Lauren B Makar
Address 1: 1725 Glenview Dr.
City: Las Vegas
State: NEVADA
Postal Code: 89134
Country UNITED STATES
Customer Phone: 702326xxxx
Customer Birthdate: 1967-xx-xx
Email Information: Address: atease@vegasinbox.com

So who is Russ Hamilton? First of all, he’s a World Series of Poker bracelet winner. He took down the 1994 Main Event for $1 million. His most recent cash was $145,875, which he pocketed for finishing 55th in the 2005 Main Event. He has a pair of World Poker Tour cashes as well. The latest came in the Season IV PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where Hamilton finished 41st and took home $13,500. The UB press release distributed at the end of May states that the perpetrators (who allegedly included Hamilton) targeted “the highest limit games on the site.” The Assessor’s office notes that the property changed hands on May 23, 2006 officially to Hamilton. It was formerly owned by Makar Travis.

Hamilton’s career hasn’t been confined to poker. He is the founder of Elimination Blackjack, which was played on the Ultimate Blackjack Tour. The Tour was endorsed by a host of well-known poker pros, including Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth Jr., Robert Williamson III, Johnny Chan, Freddy Deeb, Monica Reeves, and Layne Flack. “Hollywood” Dave Stann and gambling guru Anthony Curtis also participated. It aired on CBS in 2006.

UltimateBet is owned today by Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, who purchased the online poker room in 2006. Its public faces include Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke. Also on its roster are Star Players Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and James “P0KERPR033” Campbell.

Visit the thread on PocketFives for more information.