Notes

1eleven Legendary Online Slots That Are Still Popular Today.7 Lessons Learned from Ultimate Bet Poker 7 Years Later

Plenty of on-line slots have their reign among the prime games when they’re first released. But many of those identical slots see their popularity diminish after a few years or even a few months.
Only a small portion of slots have retained sufficient recognition over the years to become legendary. These storied video games proceed to be broadly played regardless of being launched years in the past.
Keep studying as I talk about 11 legendary web slots which have withstood the check of time and are nonetheless related today.
1 – Mega Moolah (Microgaming)
Mega Moolah (Microgaming) Slot
Mega Moolah was launched by Microgaming in 2006, which makes it considerably historical by means of on-line slots. Nevertheless, that is nonetheless the most-popular progressive jackpot slot by far. Mega Moolah has damaged its personal document for largest web slots jackpot time and time once more. The most-recent mark includes a $21,977,013 prize that was paid in October 2018.
This game provides four progressive jackpots, including the Mini, Minor, Major, and Mega payouts. The Mega jackpot is the one which keeps breaking records. You need to randomly set off the bonus round to play for the Mega jackpot and other progressive payouts. The bonus round sees you spin a prize wheel to earn anything from further credit to certainly one of 4 jackpots.
These progressive jackpots are largely what’s saved Mega Moolah so well-liked. But this sport additionally has a timeless theme that still appeals to gamers. Mega Moolah is an African-themed slot that features numerous Savannah wildlife animals, together with a lion, elephant, yak, gazelle, and zebra.
You’ll also see a monkey dressed as a witch physician. This symbol is important because it triggers free spins every time appearing three or extra times wherever on the reels. Thanks to its jackpots and timeless theme, Mega Moolah is still value playing every time you’re in the temper to try and win life-changing cash.
2 – Gonzo’s Quest (NetEnt)
Gonzo's Quest (NetEnt) Slot
Gonzo’s Quest took the gaming world by storm when it dropped in 2009. Players at the time had but to see such high-quality 3D graphics.
Gonzo’s Quest also grabbed gamblers’ attention with its “cascading reels” function. Cascading reels see symbols from winning payouts disappear, allowing icons from above to take their place. This presents the prospect to type more wins in a single round. Cascading reels are definitely nothing new these days. But the reality that Gonzo’s Quest has them helps it mix in with more-modern video games.
Its 3D graphics are additionally aggressive with nearly all of slots that are released at present. This is quite when contemplating that Gonzo’s Quest is a decade old! As for Gonzo, he’s a Spanish conquistador who’s exploring South America to seek out Eldorado, the lost city of gold. He’s also fairly entertaining and cheers in your wins off to the aspect of the display screen.
This recreation already has sufficient going for it to stay a basic for years to return. But NetEnt casinos have made it much more well-liked by tying free spin offers in with Gonzo’s Quest. Also observe that NetEnt has launched a 3D model of this game, which lets you go searching in a 360-degree view.
three – Cleopatra (IGT)
Cleopatra (IGT) Slot
Cleopatra is part of a sequence of land-based slot machines that IGT tailored for on-line play. It’s remained extremely well-liked ever since being formatted for internet casinos in 2006.
Cleopatra looks much older than its launch date, though, which makes me surprise why it’s so well-received right now. This game additionally doesn’t have a progressive jackpot or distinctive options, making its recognition much more of a thriller. But I have to provide credit the place it’s due, and Cleopatra continues to be closely performed nowadays. One attainable cause why is that it was one of the earliest video games to characteristic the Queen of the Nile.
Dozens of on-line slots have followed suit by rolling out Cleopatra themes. But IGT’s version is one of the originals, giving it a nostalgic feel. The graphics are additionally solid for an old land-based slot that was dropped at on-line casinos. Symbols just like the scarab, Eye of Ra, and horn are quite graphically enhanced for their age.
Free spins are the only feature that you can set off. You have to land three or extra Sphinx icons wherever on the reels to get free spins. Overall, Cleopatra definitely isn’t for everybody as a outcome of its restricted gameplay and options. However, it’s a good game if you would like a contact of nostalgia.
4 – Blood Suckers (NetEnt)
Blood Suckers (NetEnt) Slot
Blood Suckers is amongst the “newer” games on this list, having been launched in 2013. But it’s still thought-about fairly basic by online gaming standards. This NetEnt slot experienced a reputation explosion when it was first launched. Many gamers found Blood Sucker’s graphic nature to be distinctive when considering that the majority slots lean in the course of the playful aspect — even these with a horror theme.
Blood Suckers features gory animations of a vampire biting a young woman’s neck, and the hero (you) stabbing the vampire with a stake. Speaking of which, Blood Suckers has an entertaining bonus round the place the objective is to tear open coffins and kill vampires. You wish to stab as many of those sleeping creatures as attainable before opening an empty coffin.
This 5-reel, 25-playline sport has plenty of attraction around Halloween time. You’ll hear chilling wind, spooky piano music, and screams whereas enjoying. Of course, you don’t have to wait till Halloween to get began with Blood Suckers. It has loads of replay potential year round.
5 – Thunderstruck II (Microgaming)
Thunderstruck II (Microgaming) Slot
One of Microgaming’s biggest early hits is Thunderstruck, a Norse mythology themed sport that launched in 2004. They capitalized on this success by releasing Thunderstruck II in 2010. The sequel rapidly gained a following due to its upgraded graphics, 243 methods to win, and multiple bonus options.
The graphics do a superb job of bringing famed Norse gods to life. This recreation additionally offers stellar animations each time distinguished symbols kind a win. 243 methods to win is a format that permits you to create payouts with symbols in adjoining reels, somewhat than in paylines. This was a revolutionary idea when Thunderstruck II dropped at the turn of the decade.
The bonus options revolve round each of the gods, including Valkyrie, Loki, Thor, and Odin. Each differs in phrases of what quantity of free spins and different special options they provide. Thunderstruck II may be aged when compared to the rapidly shifting on-line slots trade. But this game remains competitive with different well-liked slots due to its strong graphics and varying bonuses.
6 – Millionaire Genie (SkillOnNet)
Millionaire Genie (SkillOnNet) Slot
Millionaire Genie hit gaming sites in 2011 and continues to be successful at present. This game’s 3D graphics made it stand out within the early days of its release.
Millionaire Genie offers extremely subtle cartoon graphics that make it feel like a rendition of Aladdin. The 3D genie stands off to the left side of the reels and encourages you after every win. You’ll additionally see a number of well-designed symbols, together with a magic lamp, bag of gold, emerald w/ snake, key, book, and princess. The princess icon is especially necessary, as a result of she triggers the Genie’s Palace Bonus recreation.
The bonus brings forth three beautiful princesses. You select two of them to reveal a multiplier and guaranteed cash prize. Millionaire Genie really lives up to its identify by providing a big progressive jackpot. This payout is typically value over $1 million, thus providing much more incentive to attempt Millionaire Genie.
7 – Major Millions (Microgaming)
Major Millions (Microgaming) Slot
Major Millions is the oldest game discussed right here, having launched in 2000. It was the primary huge hit produced by Microgaming, which has since gone on to create extra online slots than another developer. The unique Major Millions was a 3-reel basic slot. But Microgaming has since modernized this recreation with a 5-reel, 15-payline version.
Major Millions’ jackpot is the primary cause why it stays on players’ radar. This progressive prize usually ranges between $250,000 and $500,000, making it one of many industry’s greater payouts. You set off the jackpot by getting five Major Millions icons on the 15th payline. Many players additionally respect this game’s simplicity. Even the modernized model provides simple gameplay for anybody who’s nicely versed in 5-reel slots.
The theme is a lighthearted tackle a adorned army major. Symbols include a tank, place, binoculars, warfare medals, war supplies, categorized data, and a scatter icon. Major Millions is a primary 5-reel game at heart and won’t wow you with its graphics or options. But it’s still a fun recreation that provides a large progressive jackpot.
8 – Mega Fortune (NetEnt)
Mega Fortune (NetEnt) Slot
Mega Fortune is a 5-reel, 25-payline slot that takes you on a high-roller expertise that features yachts and luxurious cars. You’ll truly become a high curler if you’re capable of win the multimillion-dollar jackpot.
Released in 2009, Mega Fortune was as quickly as a severe rival to Mega Moolah when it comes to jackpot dimension. Its “Mega” prize has paid as much as €17.eight million. The Mega jackpot not reaches these heights. But you can nonetheless look ahead to attempting to win hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The jackpot is on the market in the bonus spherical, which is triggered by touchdown three or extra wheel icons. This takes you to a second display, the place you spin a concentric wheel to win a credit score prize or jackpot. You must work your way into the innermost layer of the wheel to have a shot on the Mega payout.
Besides offering a large jackpot, this slot sells its luxurious theme with extravagant symbols. These icons embody a limo, champagne, money clip, sports activities car, cash, and diamonds. You’ll also hear a disco-style soundtrack that’s reminiscent of the outdated Robin Leech-hosted show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Given that many players dream of getting wealthy by way of slots, Mega Fortune’s theme has held up nicely over time.
9 – Shopping Spree II (RTG)
Shopping Spree II (RTG) Slot
Realtime Gaming (RTG) discovered great success with Shopping Spree slot. This inspired them to launched Shopping Spree II, which has become much more well-liked. This 5-reel, 9-payline slot lives up to its name by taking you to a luxury purchasing district. The background does a perfect job of portraying the theme by featuring mannequins decked out in the most interesting dresses and purses.
Shopping Spree II’s symbols also assist the theme. You’ll line up payouts with a Sale signal, diamond ring, shopper, high heels, necklace, purse, shopping baggage, and loyalty card. The dream is to land four diamond rings and a 20x Sale sign in one payline. Doing so will award the progressive jackpot, which is usually price hundreds of 1000's of dollars.
In addition to serving to set off the jackpot, the Sale wild symbol additionally acts as a multiplier. It can improve payouts by 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, or 20x. Shopping Spree II stays playable due to its fascinating options, together with multipliers, a big progressive jackpot, and free spins. The shopping theme can additionally be timeless sufficient to maintain this game relevant.
10 – Gladiator (Playtech)
Gladiator (Playtech) Slot
In 2000, the Ridley Scott-directed movie Gladiator grew to become a field workplace hit. Starring Russel Crowe, the movie revolves around General Maximus’ quest to avenge his murdered household – all whereas trying to stay alive in Rome’s gladiator pits. Playtech does a good job of capturing the movie’s serious-and-deadly tone by way of Gladiator slots. The somber music actually matches the essence of a movie where nobody is truly a winner.
Gladiator consists of real-life depictions of each character, together with Maximus (Crowe), Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), Senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi), gladiator Juba (Dimon Housou), and trainer Proximo (Oliver Reed). This game also provides a bonus spherical, which is triggered by landing three or extra Coliseum scatter symbols.
The bonus begins with you picking stones from the Coliseum wall to disclose your variety of free spins and multiplier size. You then play the free spins with prizes you earn by way of the bonus’ first stage. Gladiator slots is ideal for anybody who appreciates the film. It will gain even more publicity now that Ridley Scott is contemplating a sequel to his famous film 20 years later.
eleven – Hall of Gods (NetEnt)
Hall of Gods (NetEnt) Slot
Thor and different Norse gods are often a winning method for a successful slot. Such is the case with Hall of Gods, which remains a basic. This 5-reel, 20-payline sport revolves across the Norse gods Odin, Thor, Loki, and Freya. Each of those icons supply nice payouts when they kind winning combinations.
A symbol with two ravens sitting on a headstone triggers free spins. You’ll obtain anyplace from 10 (3 symbols) to 20 free spins (5 symbols), depending upon what quantity of icons you set off the bonus with. Thor’s Hammer unlocks a bonus game, which is the true deal with to this slot. You smash mirrors with Thor’s Hammer to match up prizes, which embrace credit and jackpots.
The progressive jackpots embrace Mini, Midi, and Mega prizes. The Mega payout is generally price hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hall of Gods is yet one more NetEnt game that continues to get lots of play. This is unlikely to change anytime soon when considering its massive jackpot, in style theme, and fun bonus spherical.
New slots are continuously being launched to the gaming world each month. This is exciting from the attitude that you just get to try new themes and features. But generally it’s just good to play the classics. The eleven slots discussed right here undoubtedly fall into the classics category, because they’ve remained well-liked for years.
Most of these games have one thing in widespread – big jackpots. This is very true of Mega Moolah, Mega Fortune, and Hall of Gods, which can all make you a multimillionaire. Other slots like Blood Suckers and Gonzo’s Quest stay relevant because of their features and theme. Gonzo’s Quest is very notable, as a result of it helped change the web slots panorama with its cascading reels and 3D graphics.
Cleopatra is one recreation that I can’t perceive the long-term buzz behind. My guess is that its nostalgic feeling and authentic theme (at the time) have made it a legend. In summary, you probably can see that on-line slots turn into legendary for numerous causes. Whether you enjoy chasing huge jackpots or reliving industry altering games, you must try a few of the slots discussed right here.Ultimate Bet is arguably the most-scandalous on-line poker website in history. They comprised everybody’s worst fears about gambling sites, from dishonest to stealing customers’ cash. Ultimate Bet (a.k.a. “UB”) went offline in December 2011 – seven years from this very month. Despite being gone for seven years, UB Poker nonetheless serves as a painful reminder of on-line gaming’s ugly aspect.
Luckily, most internet gambling websites are reputable operations that worth their prospects and repeat business. But it’s nonetheless good to recollect the teachings that Ultimate Bet taught about vetting gaming sites so that you don’t get burned. I’m going to look at the 7 greatest lessons you'll be able to learn from the failed UB Poker and apply to future gaming websites you select.
1 – Steer Clear of Gaming Sites with Murky Ownership
Ownership construction is considered one of the most-underrated aspects of choosing a playing web site. It’s good to know precisely who’s in cost together with any essential officers. Simply understanding the ownership and/or management hierarchy doesn’t guarantee that you’re coping with a reputable site. But it no much less than improve the probabilities.
Only shady playing operations try to maintain their house owners hidden from the common public. This lessens the chances that they’ll cope with backlash from prospects and potential legal consequences. A big problem with Ultimate Bet is that it was hard to differentiate exactly who owned and ran the positioning. It was only in later years that the poker neighborhood began peeling again the layers to determine who was behind UB.
Ultimate Bet was initially owned by a public firm (discussed later). But this changed when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was signed in 2006. The UIGEA prevents American financial institutions from accepting transactions involving unlawful web playing business. Ultimate Bet’s parent company, Excapsa, didn’t feel that they might survive without the US market.
Excapsa was delisted and offered to Blast-Off Ltd. The Malta-based Blast-Off was a subsidiary of Tokwiro Enterprises. This is only one of several examples involving Ultimate Bet’s muddled ownership through the years. The site’s roots may be traced to Greg Pierson and John Karl, who founded ieLogic within the Nineties. The Portland, Oregon natives originally planned to use their software to assist massive-multiplayer-online video games.
However, things modified when Pierson met 1994 WSOP champ Russ Hamilton during a poker journey to Las Vegas. Hamilton convinced him that ieLogic would be extra successful by jumping into the budding on-line poker industry. Pierson, Karl, and Hamilton turned early owners of Excapsa Software. Pierson later rebranded ieLogic to Iovation, which served as Ultimate Bet’s fraud prevention service and software supplier.
UB came extra into the public mild when Excapsa was listed on the London Stock Exchange. This was a constructive development for the company, on circumstance that many people have been still leery of online gambling in the early 2000s. But the company’s legitimacy took a success when it delisted and went personal. Grand Chief Joe Norton of the Mohawk of Kahnawake (Montreal) was revealed to be the buyer a 12 months later. Norton’s Tokwiro additionally owned Absolute Poker (another scandal-ridden operation) earlier than purchasing UB. He merged each websites to type the CEREUS network in 2008.
Norton remained largely hidden inside the firm till he was pressured to make a public statement in 2007. He’d been coping with a cheating scandal at Absolute Poker and eventually launched his identity whereas addressing customers. The ownership twists didn’t end here, although, as a outcome of Tokwiro was sold to Blanca Games in August 2010. Blanca wasn’t a unique group, however somewhat a shell company used to guard Tokwiro’s owners from potential lawsuits and authorized points.
Yet another revelation was that Blanca/Tokwiro was making an attempt to hide its major shareholders by way of a company referred to as Madeira Fjord. The Norwegian-listed business held $250 million of Tokwiro’s debt. In return, they acquired a 12% annual dividend until 2009, when the funds suddenly halted.
All in all, there have been too many shady and covert aspects surrounding Ultimate Bet’s possession. The many attempts to cover the actual homeowners positively raised red flags. This is why it’s best to take care of upfront gaming corporations whenever potential. If you can’t determine who their owner(s) is after a five-minute Google search, then you’re most likely not coping with a good operator.
2 – Be Leery of Sites that Circumvent Federal Laws
Some poker sites, including publicly owned 888 and Party Poker, saw the UIGEA as a death knell for their US-facing operations and quickly vacated. These businesses had a robust enough European following to where they could nonetheless stay afloat. Privately run corporations like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker felt that they may proceed working in America. The UIGEA didn’t declare online gambling unlawful, and PokerStars/Full Tilt didn’t have shareholders to appease. Excapsa was someplace in between. They had been a public firm that needed to leave the US market. However, doing so would’ve bankrupted them considering their reliance on US players.
It’s at this level when Pierson met with Absolute Poker’s Scott Tom in late 2006. Tom launched Absolute in 2002 with funding from his father, Phil, and assist from his University of Montana fraternity brothers. Absolute Poker was a non-public company and not as huge as UB. But the two sides have been still able to work out a merger deal, whereby they’d additionally sell a big portion to Norton.
Excapsa removed themselves from the London Stock Exchange in order that Norton may purchase them. Pierson, Hamilton, and different Excapsa owners profited off their $130 million sale to Tokwiro. UB Poker and Absolute initially operated separately. But Norton mixed them in 2008 to kind the CEREUS community.
Tom and his step brother, Brent Beckley, headed payment processing for the CEREUS network. They labored with crooked payment processors to circumvent the UIGEA and accept deposits from American gamers. Their work continued till April 15, 2011, when attorneys from the Southern District of New York indicted Tom and Beckley. They had been amongst 11 people who had been indicted by way of the events of “Black Friday.”
Going back to 2006, it’s obvious that Pierson and Tom would do whatever it took to maintain their cash train rolling. The end end result was promoting a big portion of their companies to Norton. Tom and his step brother stayed on to assist circumvent the UIGEA and hold serving American prospects. However, they used dodgy methods to make it occur.
This leaves us with yet another lesson from UB/Absolute in that you simply don’t want to deal with websites that’ll evade the law just to earn cash. This has become much less of a problem at present, particularly since gaming websites can now use Bitcoin to get around the UIGEA. But you should nonetheless make it a degree to avoid gaming corporations which are rumored to be breaking legal guidelines in any way.
three – Public Companies Can’t Always Be Trusted
A company’s main objective when going public is to raise more capital and expand. But legitimacy is a pleasant byproduct of being listed on a inventory trade. Earlier I discussed how Excapsa benefited from being on the London Stock Exchange. This itemizing offered extra confidence to customers at a time when online poker was fairly new. Of course, we now have sufficient Enron and Lehman Brothers’ episodes to level out that public companies aren’t all the time respected. Excapsa wasn’t far off from the corruption that these companies displayed.
Pierson was able to pull off the London itemizing. He employed CryptoLogic CFO Jim Ryan to head Excapsa and prepare the corporate for its IPO. As CEO, Ryan guided the corporate from January 2005 to November 2006. Ultimate Bet posted excellent numbers during this time, which coincided with the peak of the poker boom.
Excapsa Software went public in February 2006, helping Pierson, Hamilton, and other early traders get rich. But regardless of having a public listing, professional CEO, and good progress, the corporate was still closely reliant on their American customers. The UIGEA popped Excapsa’s bubble and despatched the corporate scrambling for a solution. They took the straightforward route by promoting off to a private company that was willing to nonetheless serve Americans.
four – Never Fully Trust a Site with out Premier Licensing
Ultimate Bet launched on March 1, 2001 beneath licensing from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC). The license was issued to a shell firm known as eWorld Holdings (yet one other bizarre ownership quirk), quite than the software provider and mother or father company Excapsa. The KGC would rapidly become one of many most-popular jurisdictions for US-facing gaming websites that needed legitimacy.
Online gaming was still very a lot a wild-west affair within the early 2000s. Therefore, a KGC license appeared pretty much as good as any. Of course, we now know that the KGC isn’t truly a premier licensing jurisdiction. It carries nowhere near the clout of authorities like the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) or Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) at present.
The KGC was exposed during the UB Poker dishonest scandal. This incident arose when high stakes players misplaced at an accelerated price to particular accounts like “NioNio” and “Nopaddles.” Losing players became suspicious that someone had a “superuser” (a.ok.a. god mode) account that allowed them to see everybody’s gap cards.
These suspicions have been primarily based on logic, given that a superuser scandal occurred at Absolute Poker just months earlier than in September 2007. Absolute refunded $1.6 million to affected gamers after discovering that a high-ranking consultant cheated players via the superuser handle “POTRIPPER.” The KGC levied a lightweight $500,000 fine towards Absolute with no different punishment included. This was the first major signal that the KGC wasn’t the hardest decide on licensees. It additionally didn’t look good when former KGC founder Joe Norton revealed himself as Absolute’s proprietor.
Back to the brewing UB scandal, gamers vigorously complained to the purpose where Ultimate Bet conducted a half-hearted investigation. Their results concluded that superuser dishonest had occurred from March 2006 to April 2007. March 2006 can be the purpose at which Excapsa carried out a database update, which excluded outcomes earlier than this level. Tokwiro, in the meantime, was coping with the scandal’s fallout as the present owner.
They provided affected events a refund price a collective $6.1 million. It later turned out that even this cash was stolen from customer funds. The victims weren’t satisfied with the refund and continued wanting into the matter. An Ultimate Bet whistleblower emailed one of the victims screenshots and different info on the superuser accounts. The info outed Russ Hamilton as the primary superuser.
The KGC dug into the matter and discovered that Hamilton (and probably different UB employees) received an estimated $22.1 million via god mode. They also uncovered that the cheating dated back to May 2004, when Excapsa still owned the site. Tokwiro (via Blast-Off) sued Excapsa for $75 million over the dishonest scandal and financial damages. Excapsa agreed on a $15 million settlement, which was put in the direction of more player refunds.
To the KGC’s testament, they did a far better job of investigating than Ultimate Bet. The licensing jurisdiction even employed former New Jersey gaming official Frank Catania to research. On the other hand, the KGC solely issued a $1.5 million fine to Ultimate Bet. They also allowed the poker website to persevering with working with no license suspension.
This doesn’t show that the KGC is the world’s worst on-line gaming jurisdiction. However, they’ve never shown the identical enamel as, say, the UKGC does at present. The UKGC will nice sites hundreds of thousands of dollars just for predatory advertising. I can solely think about what they’d do to a web-based poker community that had insiders cheating gamers. This goes to indicate that you take your threat when dealing with gaming sites that don’t have premier licensing.
5 – Never Listen to Paid Gaming Shills
Ultimate Bet gained a lot of its early recognition due to Hamilton’s reference to famous professionals. Hamilton labored these relationships to convey in star sponsored gamers like Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Freddy Deeb, and Antonio Esfandiari. Hellmuth and Duke have been the cream of the crop and were featured in most of the site’s commercials. They in turn shilled the site as much as attainable and stuck by UB after its cheating scandal. It was later revealed that they didn’t know an incredible quantity concerning the day-to-day operations. But Hellmuth did have a big stake in each Iovation and Ultimate Bet (even after the sale to Tokwiro).
Poker documentary maker “ElevenGrover” shared what he knew about Hellmuth’s ownership through a TwoPlusTwo publish. Here are excerpts:
“The question arises then as to what Phil may have accomplished in 2008. Beginning in May [after superuser scandal], he wielded a ton of energy.
“[…] Phil could have said “OK, water beneath the bridge. But now, I’m not voting for any settlement the place gamers don’t get at least a hundred cents on the greenback with a full accounting.
“[…] I imagine Phil struggled with this, however we all know what side he got here down on and Pierson holding iovation possession over his head prolly played a minimum of some position. Bottom line, he was a horrible steward of the game who flinched when the sport needed him most.”
In November 2009, Ultimate Bet rebranded to UB.com. They also began signing new pros to Team UB. Prahlad Friedman and Joe Sebok had been the most-important new additions. Each was essential to the site’s advertising efforts to lure prospects again. Sebok was forged as a standup guy who wanted to alter things on the scandal-ridden UB. Friedman praised the “new management” for settling with him as the biggest superuser sufferer (he was repaid $1m on a stolen $3m). This was all a mirage, although, as a end result of Tokwiro was nonetheless behind UB. The company merely lied to Sebok and Friedman to make use of their images.
Everything blew up in April 2011, when Black Friday exposed CEREUS’ financial institution fraud and cash laundering. UB and Absolute Poker would each see their participant bases reach zero before the end of the year. Not surprisingly, the network couldn’t afford to reimburse participant deposits. CEREUS went offline in December 2011 while owing some $50 million to former clients.
Tokwiro had been dipping into customer funds for years, including a part of what they used to pay back gamers affected by dishonest scandals. Team UB members noticed their reputations tarnished. Sebok expressed deep regret for representing the positioning, while Friedman dropped off the map for a few years.
Many accused Sebok, Friedman, Hellmuth, Duke, and other Team UB members of looking out for his or her wallets, rather than customers. They had been additionally criticized for turning a blind eye to UB’s past history. It’s difficult to guess what each sponsored participant did and didn’t know. But it’s doubtless that every Team UB member went towards their better judgement in supporting the site.
6 – Don’t Buy Rebranding Moves from Bad Actors
Ultimate Bet’s rebrand to UB.com was an obvious attempt to separate themselves from the company’s shady past. They lost loads of clients after the superuser scandal in 2008. Tokwiro’s hope was that rebranding, offering generous rakeback offers, and sponsoring well-liked professionals would flip things round.
All of this labored to some extent. Merging Absolute’s and UB’s player bases in 2008 helped create extra liquidity. But the community was nonetheless bleeding money as a end result of god-mode scandal. They’d stopped paying 12% annual dividends to Madeira Fjord in 2009, which indicated their poor financial well being. The poker site canceled their annual Aruba stay tournament event in 2010. This was an unpopular move that caused extra gamers to leave the location. Hellmuth and Duke – each long-time Team UB members – severed ties with the company in late 2010.
By early 2011, CEREUS had already seen a big site visitors lower. Black Friday was the ultimate nail in the coffin. Lesson discovered: don’t belief a shady playing site just because they’ve rebranded. It’s probably the same folks working the corporate and making an attempt desperately to recruit extra future victims.
7 – Never Ignore the Warning Signs Before Depositing
Following Black Friday, the poker group shamed those who deposited on and misplaced their money at UB. The cheating incident and shell company possession made it appear apparent that UB was sketchy.
But the location nonetheless had some qualities that attracted gamers before their shutdown. These elements included:
30% rakeback deal (or extra for greater VIPs).
Soft participant base (most serious players stayed away).
Rebranding & new administration ploy.
Sponsored professionals shilling the positioning.
Third-biggest player base on the planet.
These elements satisfied gamers to deposit onto UB despite the warning signs. But anyone who stayed too lengthy ultimately had trouble making withdrawals.
Black Friday ultimately made it unimaginable to money out, because CEREUS might no longer maintain their ruse going. It was clear that the corporate was on the level of no return. Those who appeared previous the shills and rakeback deals noticed this second coming lengthy before April 15, 2011. Players who ignored the warning signs, nevertheless, lost their cash in consequence.
UB Poker’s existence got here to a detailed at the beginning of December 2011, when gamers reported the positioning being offline. Many prospects had already given up hope on their withdrawal requests by then. This seemed like a becoming finish for such a crooked poker operation. But a couple of attention-grabbing developments have come about in more-recent years.
First, tapes released by Travis Maker shined new mild on the UB dishonest scandal. Maker, Hamilton’s former righthand man, launched the tapes to guard his popularity from being smeared. The personal recordings feature Pierson, Hamilton, and their legal professionals discussing how to cope with the scandal.
Their dialog reveals that superuser accounts had been initially created for testing purposes. However, Hamilton used the accounts to bilk gamers out of what he estimates to be between “$16 and $18 million.” He mentions how he has no plans to pay any of the money back. Hamilton believes that he was owed the stolen funds due to non-reimbursed investments he’d made into Excapsa.
Pierson is heard devising a cover-up story together with how they might get away with only refunding gamers “$5 million.” The second improvement included the US Department of Justice issuing surprise refunds to former clients in 2017.
The DoJ refunded former CEREUS gamers over $38 million. This quantity is round $0.seventy five on the dollar from what former CEREUS gamers lost. These refunds present a somewhat joyful ending to those who had been robbed. Nevertheless, it’s still essential to keep the teachings of Ultimate Bet in thoughts. After all, there’s normally no large refund ready in the wings after a gaming website rips all people off..
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