A software update for popular online poker room Absolute Poker recently caused confusion among customers when the security program AVG identified a component of it as a Trojan Horse. In response, Absolute Poker sent out an e-mail to concerned users explaining the situation. Poker News Daily sought explanation from Absolute Poker as well as feedback from a customer who experienced the abnormality.

Poker News Daily spoke with Jared Detwiler, who signed up for Absolute Poker in hopes of playing in a freeroll on the site. He told us that when he logged onto Absolute Poker, “My anti-virus asked if I wanted to allow the Trojan. I figured Absolute Poker was reliable and allowed it. After this, Absolute Poker was completely disabled and there was no way for me to log on.”

The e-mail sent to Poker News Daily from Absolute Poker stated, “With the implementation of the new banners on the AP application, the AVG antivirus recognized the interaction between those banners and the Microsoft Internet Explorer as a potential virus.” The e-mail noted that Absolute Poker developers have been in contact with AVG programmers in order to update the virus definitions and stop the error from occurring. When AVG starts, the program typically checks for updates automatically in order to ensure that users are protected. AVG offers both a free and a paid premium version.

In order to reinstall Absolute Poker properly, customers are instructed to go to “Start,” “Control Panel,” and “Add / Remove Programs.” Then, select Absolute Poker and uninstall the file. Once this is complete, open “My Computer,” access the C Drive, and then open “Program Files” to delete any straggling Absolute Poker files. Then, open Internet Explorer and click on “Tools” in the top menu bar. Delete all temporary internet files and cookies. Download Absolute Poker and run it.

Absolute Poker’s statement to Poker News Daily continued, “To perform a [virus] update, the customer just needs to right click over the AVG icon located at the bottom right of the Windows Taskbar and select Update.” AVG will then take a few minutes to download and install updated virus definitions. If this is performed manually, the software will oftentimes prompt a user before it updates the definition file. Players with additional questions are urged to e-mail Techsupport@AbsolutePoker.Com.

However, for many poker players, having to uninstall programs, delete cookies, and erase internet files can be a burdensome task, especially for users who are not particularly computer savvy. Detwiler explained that he had not yet contacted Absolute Poker “because I wanted to try them out with the freeroll and hopefully everything would work out. Basically, I just gave up and figured it was their loss.”

The issues with potential Trojan Horses seem to be isolated to AVG, as opposed to other anti-virus software programs like Norton and McAfee.

Absolute Poker is owned by Tokwiro, the same company that has ownership interest in online poker room Ultimate Bet. Its flagship tournament is a $150,000 guaranteed prize pool event that runs every Saturday at 16:30 ET. The tournament comes with a $530 price tag and regularly sees an overlay, which means that the $150,000 guarantee exceeds the actual prize pool. Last week, the tournament attracted 280 entrants and was won by Jon apestyles Van Fleet, who cashed for $37,500. Heads-up, Van Fleet defeated World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup IV winner Mike “SirWatts” Watson, who finished second for $24,000. The top 36 spots paid out.

Just when you thought that the Absolute Poker scandal was yesterday’s news, rumors surfaced on Wednesday that Phil Tom, father of Absolute Poker founder Scott Tom, was indicted in conjunction with the scandal. Various online poker news sites have reported that sealed documents have been filed in the United States and are aimed squarely at Phil Tom, one of the original Absolute Poker investors. The same news sites have also stated that Absolute Poker management and its founders are unable to travel freely to and from the United States for fear of prosecution from the Federal Government. However, Poker News Daily spoke directly to Phil Tom, who vehemently denied the rumors.

The Absolute Poker scandal came to light late last year when Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson questioned moves made by Absolute Poker member POTRIPPER. Hands that raised the red flag included POTRIPPER calling Johnson with ten-high against his nine-high. Absolute Poker staff sent Johnson a wealth of data in an e-mail after the tournament ended, including the IP addresses, hole cards, and information on players and observers who entered and exited the table throughout the course of the $1,000 tournament.

After IP data was analyzed, it was determined that one of the accounts that observed POTRIPPER’s during the course of that specific tournament belonged to none other than Scott Tom, at the time a high-ranking Absolute Poker executive. The account had an e-mail address belonging to Tom as well.

Poker News Daily asked Phil Tom if there was any truth to the rumors of a sealed indictment bearing his name. His response: “No. I don’t know what I’d be indicted for! How do they know what’s in the supposed indictment? It’s sealed!” Phil sounded extremely upset about the published lies and said that he will pursue legal action against the website that published the unfounded falsehoods. Phil Tom is a portfolio manager by trade and the negative publicity isn’t warranted or welcome: “I’ve already had three phone calls today from people I know wanting to know if I’m okay. This rumor is getting out to people and I’m a portfolio manager. This isn’t good for business.”

If the rumor indeed turns out to be false, then why would major poker news sites report it? Phil had the same question: “There’s always a motive and I can’t imagine what it is. I can’t imagine them not expecting to hear from my legal advisors regarding their attempts to damage my reputation.” To the question of whether Absolute Poker investors and management are able to travel freely in and out of the USA, Phil noted that he returned from Asia on Friday night. “If the government wanted to indict someone, they would just do it.”

Absolute Poker’s oversight body, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), wrapped up its investigation in January. The final report identified that the accounts which were able to see other players’ hole cards included: Graycat, Payup, Steamroller, POTRIPPER, XXCashMoneyXX, SuperCardM55, DoubleDrag, ronfaldoXXB and romnaldo. The rates of return for these accounts were astronomically high in comparison to the average member on Absolute Poker. It later was speculated that A.J. Green, a friend of Scott Tom, was actually the man responsible.

The KGC report stated, “There is no evidence that the impugned activities benefited, or were intended to benefit, AP as a corporate entity.” Players’ money was also refunded to a level that satiated the demands of the KGC: “The Commission is satisfied that affected players have been appropriately reimbursed.” Absolute Poker was fined $500,000 as well as “all costs associated with the Commission’s investigation into this matter.”

Despite being in the middle of a firestorm of controversy surrounding her ongoing battle with Poker News, Tiffany Michelle found time to sign with Ultimate Bet in a move that was officially announced on Tuesday. The 24 year-old will become the newest member of the site’s Star Player team, which currently includes Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and James “POKERPRO33” Campbell. She’ll be playing at UB under the name “Tiffany M.” Michelle signed a sponsorship agreement with Ultimate Bet during the Main Event of the 2008 World Series of Poker. UB’s endorsement came as Poker News, which is owned by poker pro Tony G, bought her into the $10,000 event, leading to a swarm of debate as to whether her actions were justified.

Poker pro Annie Duke, who along with Phil Hellmuth are the main faces behind Ultimate Bet, commented in a press release distributed on Tuesday, “From Hollywood to Vegas, Tiffany Michelle is a rising star in so many extraordinary ways. We’re thrilled to be able to bring such a talented force on board.” In the Main Event, she was the last woman standing, finishing 17th out of more than 6,800 entrants and banking a colossal $334,534.

She had previously served as a reporter for Poker News, which led to Tony G and Jeffrey Lisandro buying her into the Main Event. When the pair saw her donning UB gear and virtually hiding her Poker News patch on Day 5 of play, a war of words erupted on the major online forms. She told PokerNewsDaily in an interview that she interpreted the backing as coming from Tony G and Lisandro, not from Poker News. Each backer received one-third of Michelle’s winnings, or over $100,000. No legal action is expected in the matter.

The singer, actress, and songwriter has a laundry list of credits to her name. She appeared in Will Ferrell’s hit movie “Semi-Pro” and starred in the 2005 movie “Carrie’s Choice.” She has appeared on the NBC hospital drama “ER” as well as FX’s plastic surgery show “Nip/Tuck.” Michelle was also a contestant on the World Series of Blackjack during the first episode of the show’s fourth season. In 2006, she worked with Bluff Radio as part of its broadcast of the entire WSOP, which was heard throughout the United States on Sirius Satellite Radio. Most recently, she worked as a reporter for Poker News.

She becomes the third member of UB’s star player team, which also includes Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and James “POKERPRO33” Campbell. Josephy is one of the legends in online poker. He’s also a WSOP bracelet holder by virtue of winning a $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud tournament during the 2005 World Series. His list of accomplishments is long, but he recently took down the $100 rebuy on PokerStars twice during a span of 10 days in June. It boasts one of the toughest tournament fields in online poker and requires a healthy bankroll in order to play.

Campbell has chopped the PokerStars Sunday Million, cashing for nearly $200,000 in one of the top moments of any player’s tournament career. Ten days ago, he won the $1K Monday on rival site Full Tilt Poker for $67,000. Campbell just wed his high school sweetheart and lives on the East Coast.

Congratulations to Tiffany Michelle for signing with Ultimate Bet, which recently merged with Absolute Poker to form CEREUS, the third largest online poker network available to players today. Ultimate Bet alone has over two million registered players.

Each week, several of the largest online poker rooms offer gigantic prize pools as part of their Sunday tournament offering. With the news this week that it would bump up the prize pools of the Sunday Million and Warm-Up starting next week, PokerStars saw a nice bump in traffic for its five major tournaments that kicked off Sunday afternoon. Combined, they offered more than $2 million in guaranteed payouts and more than 15,000 total entrants. In this week’s online tournament roundup, we’ll focus on the online poker action from the largest room in the world, PokerStars.

The Sunday Million was held for the last time with a $1 million guarantee. Starting on August 3rd, the payday will increase to at least $1.5 million every Sunday. The $215 buy-in tournament attracted 8,370 entrants, creating a total prize pool of $1.7 million, which easily covered its guarantee (as is the case every week). Taking home the largest sum from a tournament this weekend was avkid86, who pocketed over $202,000 for winning the Sunday Million. Second place went to strahh25, who cashed for a brisk $136,431. The top five finishers cashed for more than $50,000 and the top 1,260 spots paid out.

The Sunday Warm-Up was held for the last time with a $500,000 guarantee. Next week, $750,000 will be on the line in this $215 buy-in tournament. It’s the same size prize pool as the largest tournament offered on Full Tilt Poker and is nearly four times larger than the weekly guarantee on Ultimate Bet. There were a healthy 4,050 entrants this week. Best among them was richlizard, who emerged victorious from the enormous field and won $144,919 in the process. ShowM4n also cashed for six-figures, taking home $101,106 for second place. The top 630 spots paid out and the top eight took home at least $10,000.

The Sunday Second Chance is a $200,000 guarantee tournament held each week. It remains to be seen if the guarantee will be bumped up, but regardless, it’s an extremely popular tournament. This week, 1,640 poker hopefuls turned out. Each coughed up the $215 buy-in, creating a total prize pool of $328,000. In the end, junior4718 pocketed $55,760 for first place, outpacing AlBrvs4Life heads up. The runner up took home a $41,984 consolation prize. The top 252 finishers cashed and the top six turned their $215 buy-in into at least $10,000.

The $250K Guaranteed Monthly tournament runs, as the name suggests, once per month. It has a colossal $530 buy-in and completely blew away its guarantee. In fact, 1,174 entrants this month meant that the prize pool was nearly $600,000. The large turnout was good news for Benba; the winner walked away with over $100,000. Some of the top names in online poker made the final table of this tournament, including Ozone23, Stammdogg, Dyzalot, and SNo0oWMAN.

Finally, the $150K Guaranteed is a weekly $215 rebuy tournament. It takes a healthy bankroll to afford and, consequently, only the elite players in the online poker world will enter. Although the top finisher this week was poker_lord76, the poker world was buzzing as JohnnyBax, who is one of the legendary names in online poker (and a World Series of Poker bracelet holder), finished second. The top 45 players finished in the money. Other names you might recognize at the final table were SNo0oWMAN (who also made the final table of the $250K), agriffrod, and s00tedj0kers. All three were among six players who cashed for at least $10,000.

So if you’re looking for a challenge, head to PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room. Next week, the prizes will go up, but the buy-ins stay the same.

Some people can’t get enough action in Sunday tournaments online. You’ll find many of the same names playing in several of the major tournaments on the weekends for that exact reason. One online poker room recently set the bar for guaranteed tournaments just a little bit higher. Over the weekend, it was revealed that the two largest tournaments offered on PokerStars every week would see their guarantees increase dramatically starting on August 3^rd. The Sunday Million, which currently sports a $1 million guarantee, will now offer at least a $1.5 million prize pool. The Sunday Warm-Up, which currently boasts a $500,000 prize pool, will now have a $750,000 guarantee. In both cases, the largest online poker site in the world just increased its two largest guarantees by 50%.

PokerStars was the very first site to offer a seven-figure guaranteed prize pool for a tournament. It has been the standard by which all other online poker rooms are measured. On July 13^th as part of its July “2X” promotion, the guarantee of the Sunday Million was bumped up to $2 million, which sent a flurry of activity to PokerStars. In fact, nearly 15,000 players showed up for the Sunday Million that week, each paying $215 to enter and making the prize pool just less than $3 million, well above the guarantee. PokerStars has proven to itself and the online poker community that it can consistently cover its guarantees. I can’t recall a time in recent months that PokerStars has ever had to pay an overlay, due in part to catering to U.S. customers.

The Sunday Million starts at 4:30pm ET. The buy-in is $200+$15 and the online poker site offers a variety of satellites starting at $3 if that is completely out of your budget. First place is always at least six-figures and regularly approaches $200,000 depending on the number of people who enter.

The Sunday Warm-Up starts at 12:45pm ET, four hours before the Sunday Million begins. Just like the Million, it’s a $200+$15 buy-in tournament that attracts throngs of hungry poker players every single week. Starting on August 3^rd, the guarantee of the Sunday Warm-Up increases from $500,000 to $750,000, meaning a gigantic payday will be in store for several contestants. Satellites to the Sunday Warm-Up start at $3 and run constantly.

Both tournaments attract the cream of the crop in the online poker world. In addition, a variety of novices also enter. After all, where else can you find a tournament that allows you to turn $200 into a house in just a few hours? The PokerStars Second Chance, which is a $200,000 Guarantee tournament with a $200+$15 buy-in, also occurs each Sunday. However, no official word has been given on the future of its guarantee. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Other high-stakes weekend tournaments available to players worldwide include a $150K Guaranteed event on Absolute Poker every Saturday and a $200K Guaranteed on Ultimate Bet every Sunday. Given the recent merger of UB and AP into CEREUS, it’s conceivable that these two tournaments may cease to exist. Instead, a high-stakes guaranteed tournament may take their place. If you’re looking for more poker, visit Full Tilt Poker for its $750K Guaranteed and $250K Sunday Brawl. Finally, take advantage of the weekly overlay at Bodog, where the $100K regularly falls woefully short of its guarantee.

The guarantees of the Sunday Million and Sunday Warm-Up will increase starting August 3^rd. Both are expected to remain at the increased levels permanently. Visit PokerStars for more details.

Major news hit the wires in the online poker world on Thursday, as the management of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker announced the launch of CEREUS, a poker platform that will combine the users and features from both sites. The combined player base will make CEREUS the third largest poker network available to online poker players. A press release that will be distributed on Thursday notes that each site will retain its own “unique assets,” but new tournaments, features, and promotions will be an integral part, as it combines the customer base from each online poker room. The change is expected to take place during the first week of August.

Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet are owned by the same parent company. However, until today, both online poker rooms have not collaborated on promotions or tournaments. CEREUS marks an end to this division once and for all after over a year of development. AP and UB Chief Operations Officer Paul Leggett commented, “This is a huge landmark for our company and online poker. I’m confident that Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet customers will be thrilled by the new platform and we look forward to welcoming many new players from around the world.”

As it currently stands, Absolute Poker holds a $150K Guaranteed tournament every Saturday. Ultimate Bet hosts a $200K Guaranteed tournament every Sunday. Both tournaments have sported large overlays in recent months. What the tournament structure will be under CEREUS is to be determined. In fact, it is not yet known what changes will be noticeable from a consumer’s perspective. Leggert comments, “Our Company’s goal is to provide poker players with the ultimate online experience. The launch of CEREUS is a major step for us in achieving our goal and we look forward to making many more exciting announcements very soon.”

UB personality Annie Duke has recently completely revamped the tournament schedule and structure at Ultimate Bet, which has increased the popularity of the online poker site despite the recent cheating scandal involving its former owners. Ultimate Bet is gearing up for its annual Aruba Poker Classic in September and recently held a 50-Seat Main Event Guarantee for its marquee tournament. The Aruba Poker Classic was initially a stop on the World Poker Tour. New additions to the site in recent months include Sniper tournaments (which are essentially bounty tournaments with a twist) and the UB Army, which front man Phil Hellmuth promoted in style during the 2008 World Series of Poker.

Absolute Poker is in the midst of one of the most unique promotions ever held, giving away $5,000 diamonds to players who earn the most FAME points between now and the end of August. The first five players to reach 10,000 FAME points will each take home a $2,000 diamond. Moreover, diamond straight flushes are worth a $1,000 jewel. I can’t recall seeing another promotion quite like that one. Absolute Poker has also increased the number of satellites to its $150K Guarantee, the largest tournament it offers every week.

PokerNewsDaily.com will have full details on what you can expect with the implementation of CEREUS as we learn them.

The Quick Summary

Absolute Poker is one of the big names in online poker: established in 2001, it has remained one of the largest poker rooms, and it weathered the UIGEA storm by still allowing US players to deposit and play.
Absolute Poker’s software is top-notch, with options for different OS. Represented by the beautiful Serinda Swan and the lethal Liv Boeree, and endorsed by poker celebrities such as Annie Duke and Mark Seif, Absolute Poker balances attractiveness with poker power for an exciting poker experience.

Popularity: 7 of 10 - Good

The player traffic of Absolute Poker is substantial, with up to 20,000 players at peak times. Their ring games and tournaments are usually busy, which makes it easy to find games in almost any variant, level and betting structure. If you are looking for action this is a great site - their SNGs can be filled in less than 20 seconds!

Security: 8 of 10 - Excellent

At the time of writing, Absolute Poker is set to launch a significantly improved Security Center which will combine state-of-the-art technology and the input form the industry’s topmost experts to ensure the highest levels of security. Absolute currently uses a combination of DES and their own custom algorithm for encryption, along with 256 bit encryption to protect transferred data.

Player Competition: 7 of 10 - Excellent

In spite of being a large site, there is a high percentage of tight players in Absolute Poker – grinders who put in the hours to cash on Absolute’s attractive and frequent bonuses. But there are still plenty of fish in the sea, and at Absolute Poker they tend to concentrate on the tournaments rather than the cash games.
Absolute Poker offers a varied mix of play money and real money Tournaments, including regular tournaments, satellites, qualifiers, and the very popular guaranteed tournaments.

Site Software: 9 of 10 – Excellent

Absolute Poker’s software had a terrible reputation, but it has been improved through many an update and itis now functional and attractive. There is also a no-download java option which is ideal for users of other operative systems, such as Mac and Ubuntu, as well as for players on the road who do not want to download the software in a strange computer.

Table design is attractive, with several view options for tables and many skins to choose from, as well as large avatars that may be shown or omitted as desired. Multitabling is supported.
The software runs fast and is very user friendly, with an easy-to-navigate lobby and quick access to hand histories. An attractive new feature is “Absolute Buddy,” a contact list that allows players to find out if their friends are online and to quickly join them in any table.

Customer Support: 7 of 10 – Good

Customer support at Absolute Poker is only handled via e-mail, which can be a let down for players with pressing issues. If your question is not addressed in the FAQ, e-mail assistance is offered 24/7 with a response time of 24 hrs or less.

Company Ethics: 8 of 10 – Excellent

Absolute Poker strongly values building and maintaining goodwill with its players and they are committed to providing a safe and secure environment. This is why they are working on the upcoming Security Center, which will set the highest security standards in the industry. They also have developed a “Responsible Gaming Policy.”

Site Promotions: 9 of 10 - Good

Absolute’s $500 sign-up bonus is easy to clear, and they often offer re-load bonuses (sometimes up to 6 times a month). Their VIP and loyalty program are among the best of the industry: you can earn Absolute Rewards Points by playing for real money and use those points towards freerolls, VIP rewards or as cash in the Rewards store.

Absolute Poker also has a referral program, which rewards both the referring player and the new sign-up with up to $75.

Overall Review: 7.86 of 10 – Excellent

Absolute Poker has an excellent game selection, a reliable software package and good tournaments, and their loyalty and VIP programs are among the best around. Minor setbacks are the fact that support is only available via e-mail and that play can be very tight in cash games.

Final Result: We give Absolute Poker a final overall score of 7.86 out of 10.