In a letter from XMT Liquidations to the shareholders of what was formerly known as Excapsa Software, the acquisition of the CEREUS Poker Network by Blanca Games has “violated and/or triggered the application of certain rights under the agreements between Excapsa and Blast Off and its related entities.”
The letter, which found its way to the TwoPlusTwo forums late Monday night, begins by discussing a promissory note owed by Blast Off. What is Blast Off, you ask? Tokwiro COO Paul Leggett commented in a blog one month ago, “The UltimateBet business and assets were transferred to Tokwiro through a company called Blast Off… Basically the Excapsa Group transferred all of the assets to Blast Off and then sold Blast Off to Tokwiro.” Blast Off submitted four $75,000 payments.
Four days after an agreement was reached to resume promissory note payments, Blast Off’s lawyers submitted a letter “alleging that players may have been exploited by an unfair and unlawful advantage in online poker games in 2004 and 2005.” Blast Off continued to make weekly payments despite the news contained in the letter, which was dated August 10th.
Excapsa sold its assets to Tokwiro around the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the United States. Former World Series of Poker Main Event champ Russ Hamilton masterminded the cheating in question according to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and Tokwiro officials shelled out over $20 million to affected players.
Then, the plot thickened. Two weeks after Blast Off’s lawyers notified liquidators about the cheating, liquidators learned that Blast Off’s “other major creditor had elected to exercise its rights in respect of the collateral it held as security for Blast Off’s debt.” Blast Off’s “other major creditor” could refer to the former owners of Absolute Poker, with the collateral being the rights to the AbsolutePoker.com domain. Excapsa’s interest primarily lies with Ultimate Bet and the URL UltimateBet.com.
Potentially referring to the UltimateBet.com domain, “Blast Off intended to wind-up [end] any and all operations related to assets over which Excapsa has been granted a security interest.” The rumored dollar value of the sale back in 2006 was $100 million, although that figure is not addressed in the letter.
News of the acquisition of the CEREUS Poker Network by Blanca Games meant violations of the agreement between Excapsa and Blast Off. As part of the Blanca Games transition, only AbsolutePoker.com and UB.com were involved. The old UltimateBet.com URL, which may be the collateral held by Excapsa, was not acquired. Instead, UltimateBet.com now forwards to DepositBonus.com. The letter explains, “All of Excapsa’s rights under the promissory notes and related security, including enforcement procedures, have been reserved.”
A copy of the press release announcing the acquisition of the CEREUS Poker Network by Blanca Games on August 26th was included. A follow-up press release from Tokwiro providing further details on the ownership change never materialized.
In terms of what the letter signifies, posters on TwoPlusTwo began putting their detective skills to the test in earnest. One member wrote, “Looks like Blast Off’s (AP/UB) lawyers are going to try to get the $100 Mill note reduced or canceled due to players cheated in 2004 and 2005. If Blanca is another shell [company], then there won’t be any proceeds from the sale to offset the $100 Mill note either.”
Whether Blast Off is attempting to default on its note by transferring the UltimateBet.com domain back to its former owners, Excapsa, remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the main faces of UB.com have touted the acquisition by Blanca Games as an opportunity to separate from the site’s stormy past. Joe Sebok told Poker News Daily in a late August interview, “I couldn’t be more excited about it. It’s a further break from the past and fewer connections to the former owners of Ultimate Bet, not to mention my own excitement about bringing Blanca into the fold and beginning something new.”
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest. Read the entire letter by clicking here.
