That online poker sites would be vulnerable to cheating is a concern that millions of players share. That this particular online poker site has known about the suspect cheating and took steps to thwart an investigation is outrageous.

Concerns of suspicious activity at Ultimate Bet online poker have been posted on the High Stakes No Limit forum months ago. Ultimate Bet and its regulatory body Kahnawake Gaming Commission were in fact informed of the allegations, but did not work to solve them.

What were they waiting for?
Although millions of dollars had been obtained under suspicious circumstances, perhaps even with aid of someone on the inside, Ultimate Bet made its first public statement regarding the suspicions on 6 March, 2008. The story was floating, close to Ultimate Bet's ears no doubt, for three months prior to that date.

Only then did they acknowledge the activity in NioNio's account was "abnormal," merely addressing the issue, not admitting any wrongdoing or negligence.

What was expected of Ultimate Bet was to compensate the players who were cheated. In fact, no reimbursement offers have been made yet.

Bad track record
This scandal brings to mind the recent Absolute Poker fraud case. There too it was the players who noticed suspicious activity by a certain account - Potripper.

Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet are both owned by the same company - Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, and regulated by the First Nation Kahnawake. This explains why the poker community seems to feel secure in their game, in spite of the two recent fraud cases.

Better late than never?
In a statement just released, Tokwiro admitted some player accounts have enjoyed "an unfair advantage."

It went on to blame "unauthorized software code that allowed the perpetrators to obtain hole-card information during live play."

Tokwiro said it will begin refunding customers for any losses caused as a result of any foul play immediately.

And perhaps on a positive note, with a look ahead to the future, Ultimate Bet announced it has established a poker security team dedicated to fraud prevention at the site.

The final spin
In what seems as a damage control PR move, Ultimate Bet has signed two high profile poker pros - Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy. Another high profile poker player, Annie Duke, already serves as Ultimate Bet's Cardroom Consultant.

Lynch cashed five times at the 2007 World Series of Poker and made two final tables, winning over $163,000. Josephy won his WSOP bracelet in 2005.

It is fair to demand more than signing celebrity players before Ultimate Bet is absolved. Transparency and players' safety alone are the keys to any poker room's trust.