Get the Hell Off of Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet Already

Foucault (a.k.a., Andrew Brokos) is a blogger and high-stakes professional whom I’ve come to respect a great deal over the past several months. Some may recall I included his blog, “From the Desk of the Poker Philosopher,” in a very short list of must-read blogs a few months back. He’s a thoughtful commentator on all things poker, a smart reviewer of poker books, and an overall interesting dude.

Foucault says we shouldn’t play on UltimateBet or Absolute Poker. And I think he’s dead on correct in his assertion.

Now, you’ve heard me say the same thing several times here in the past. I know some of you have agreed with my arguments on the subject. Others may have found those posts mildly interesting, but in the end perhaps dismissed the arguments after having considered the source -- a low limit player who has never come close to the tables where actual cheating took place on either AP or UB.

All of which is fine by me. After all, these are “existential musings of . . . an online poker player of (primarily) micro and low limits.” Pretty much a lock I ain’t ever gonna pretend to be anything different.

But listen up. Foucault plays the big games. He’s taken down the Sunday $200K guarantee on UltimateBet, fer Chrissake. UB has been a cash cow for the man, and now he’s saying we should all play online poker elsewhere. Go read his post for more details.

I realize online poker is currently an unregulated “wild West.” But damn. At least as things stand at present, we don’t have to sit around and allow sites to permit rampant cheating -- for friggin’ MILLIONS! -- for nearly two years, then come out with ambiguous statements regarding what happened and the measures they’re purportedly taking to prevent its occurring again.

C’mon. Wake up. There are a ton of other sites we Americans can still play. And everyone else, too. Get the hell off of Absolute Poker and UltimateBet already.