by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor
February 11, 2009
Raw Vegas was able to score an exclusive “interview” with Russ Hamilton recently, the man found by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission to be the “main person responsible for benefiting from the multiple cheating incidents,” in the Ultimate Bet scandal. The online poker industry had endured a devastating blow to its integrity when the Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker scandals came to light and so many players were disappointed to hear that Hamilton had declined to comment about his involvement.
Filmed by Dave Farra at the Las Vegas Country Club, Hamilton was asked, “Are you associated in any way with the UltimateBet.net superuser cheating scandal?” Not only did Hamilton not respond, but he left for his car with Layne Flack following behind.
“Would you like to take this opportunity to apologize to the online poker community,” Farra continued. Hamilton again refused to respond, turning away from the Raw Vegas interviewer. Farra did not let up. “When ’60 Minutes’ requested an interview, you declined. Would there be guilt associated with that?”
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission told the public, when Hamilton was announced as the superuser mastermind, that the reason for the organization’s not taking criminal action against the online poker pro was that he could provide them as well as Ultimate Bet management with vital information in ensuring that a similar situation not arise. Hamilton has since been contacted by a number of media outlets, but has declined to give his side of the story.
Farra continued to press Hamilton for information, following the poker pro to his car. “Do you have any remorse at all?” he asked. “After so many years in the poker community, don’t you feel you owe an answer to the fans and fellow players out there?”
Hamilton, although looking increasingly more frustrated, did not utter a word. He packed his golf clubs into the trunk of the car, and drove away. In May of 2004, ten years after his World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet was won, Hamilton had arranged a multi-million dollar forgery on Ultimate Bet’s online poker room. Using his ability to view others players’ hole cards, Hamilton was able to swindle users out of millions in ill-gotten gains.
This all came to light when Frank Catania was appointed as the head of the Tokwiro Enterprise’s investigation into what happened. A former WSOP champion, Hamilton’s total tournament winnings exceed $1,500,000 in his lifetime. He touts himself as being an expert in poker, blackjack and baccarat. He had served as a consultant with Ultimate Bet for some years, recruiting a number of online poker pros such as Phil Hellmuth. Hamilton is also responsible for the Ultimate Blackjack Tour.
Hamilton was found guilty as having been the “main person responsible for, and benefiting from, multiple cheating incidents” in September of last year. The entire video is nearly four minutes long, and can be viewed on the Raw Vegas website (http://www.rawvegas.tv/watch/russ-hamilton-ultimatebet-super-user-cheating-scandal-exclusive-video/6311ce26f3bba06d953f0613af9438).
Joe Navarro had later commented on the Russ Hamilton interview, saying, “I think in any circumstance, if you’ve got nothing to hide and someone walks up to you with a microphone, you at least want to look at the person and ask them what was going on,” he said. “You get the sense that the microphone presented a threat to him.. All he had to do was answer your questions.”
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