Poker: The year in review 2008

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While 2008 certainly won’t go down as the biggest year of the decade for poker – Chris Moneymaker winning the WSOP and Congress passing the UIGEA make for some pretty stiff competition – it’s still been an alternatively interesting, disappointing and inspiring year for those who play or follow poker. We’ve assembled a list of the events, stories and artifacts that we think do a decent job of defining where poker is at and where it’s likely to head.

Below you’ll find a summary of each item, along with several links (mostly to other pages) that will give you more context and information on each.

THE ABSOLUTE / UB SCANDAL

Guess what? Online poker is rigged after all! Or it was in a very specific case at a couple of sites – Absolute and Ultimate Bet. While the AP story was more of a 2007 event, the accusations against UB (and the subsequent proof and admission by UB that emerged) were largely a 2008 phenomenon, and resulted not only in millions of dollars paid back to affected players but also a feature story on 60 Minutes – along with a still ongoing string of lame ’superuser’ jokes. To top off the weirdness of it all, UB and Absolute completed a merger into one unified room – the CEREUS network – late in 2008.

Related media:
- The thread that started it all (in the case of UB) over at 2+2
- View the 60 Minutes story here.
- A nine part interview with UB head Paul Leggett

I CAN HAS MULTI ACCOUNTS?

It’s hard to pick just one story, so we’ll treat this as an aggregate: 2008 was definitely the year that the online poker community at large – and, perhaps more importantly, the rooms themselves – realized just how pervasive multi-accounting (in all of its various forms) really is. Cardrunners (and FT Red) pro Brian Townsend admitted to it. Mr Casino admitted to it. Several well-known online players were caught up in a wide net cast by PokerStars for allegedly helping JJ Prodigy return to online play under various accounts. Multiple final tables in major online events were adjusted due to to multi-accounters being caught after the fact by sites. Unfortunately, multi-accounters are kind of like cockroaches – if you see (and catch) one, there’s probably a dozen others you miss.

Related media:
- Discussion of the JJ Prodigy bannings on 2+2
- Townsend’s admission and apology on his blog
- Mr Casino’s admission and apology on Pocket Fives

TJ COOKIER

Photoshop threads certainly are nothing new, and they’ve been common on online poker forums for years now. However, two threads that seemed to transcend the trend showed up on 2+2 this year (and still refuse to die). We picked these two not only because they provide a nice break from the negative aspects of the year, but also because they sum up a lot of the zeitgeist of poker – the continued fascination with the cult of poker celebrity, the confrontational and complicated relationship between online and live poker culture and the central tension of poker itself: how can we all take a game so very seriously?

Related media:
- The TJ Cookier thread, where the face of TJ Cloutier and a cookie are combined to hilarious ends
- The ‘If They Never Played Poker’ thread, where every pro imaginable is placed via Photoshop in their likely profession should poker have not existed for them.

KENTUCKY SUES THE INTERNET

Seem bizarre? It was / is. In 2008, Kentucky attempted one of the most novel maneuvers to date for battling online gambling – it asked a court to basically confiscate the domain names of nearly 150 gambling-related sites (including heavy hitters such as Full Tilt Poker) based on the argument that the sites were operating illegally in Kentucky. The court agreed, and appeals were immediately filed by a grab bag of unlikely allies, resulting in a standoff still being resolved as we write this article. Even though the case is still up in the air, it has already had significant ramifications – several poker networks have opted out of Kentucky, and other states are no doubt watching closely to see if the Kentucky strategy is a viable option for limiting – or eliminating – access to online gambling in their jurisdictions. The ultimate decision (which is likely to be appealed all the way up the line) will also have serious implications for issues like jurisdiction and enforcement that will likely shape the online gambling industry for years to come.

Related media:
- Most recent appeal hearing information from lobbying group iMEGA
- Summary of the initial request by Kentucky and the first court decision.
- Discussion thread in the 2+2 legislation forum.

THE MAIN EVENT OF THE 2008 WSOP

This year’s WSOP ME was easily the most significant since Moneymaker won. Not only did Eastgate break Phil Hellmuth’s record as the youngest winner of the Main Event, but he did so at a final table that made history by being played over three months after the lineup was set. Reactions to the decision by Harrah’s / ESPN to delay the final table were mixed within the poker community, but it’s impossible to argue with the success of the decision in the mainstream sense – ratings for the broadcast of the WSOP were far and away the highest ESPN has seen in years. That said, come on ESPN – two hands of heads up play? Two hands? That’s like kissing your sister. Shoot, that’s like kissing your brother when he’s dressed up like your sister.

Related media:
- Interview with Eastgate after he won
- Watch the WSOP ME on PokerTube
- Wicked Chop’s WSOP coverage

Know of a link that should be included for a story above? Email us and we’ll see if we can add it.

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