Poker Blog

Cereus Poker Network security flaw

Pokertableratings.com demonstrates how easy it is to see opponents hole cards or even hijack users accounts. Apparently Cereus is not using SSL or a similar encryption algorithm. Members of the online community Twoplustwo.com are having a field day right now about UB Scandal 2.

SenatorKevin posts:
They were probably curious more than anything. I analyzed Full Tilt’s network traffic a few years ago for such a vulnerability and was pleased to see they had fully encrypted traffic which made me feel more comfortable playing there. I never looked at UB, cause I didn’t play there at the time.

phils08 posts
The problem is that the Cereus Poker network does not use SSL to encrypt their communications; they use a custom form of encryption which is XOR-based. This form of encryption is known to be extremely weak, and in fact their particular implementation makes it particularly simple to decrypt network data due to an easily discoverable key.

The requirement for this vulnerability to be exploited is network access. This means that if you are playing on an open wireless network, a cracked wireless network (something which is increasingly simple to do), or on a physical network which has been compromised – an attacker could dump the network traffic and exploit this vulnerability maliciously.

Surely the Cereus Network’s board is meeting right now on how to address this issue. Pokertableratings is again showings it’s value by instigating these matters. I will post as more information comes to light.

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Disclaimer: The following does not reflect the opinions of PokerBloggs.com.

Haley Hintze, former Editor-in-Chief of PokerNews.com, has been running a series of blogs related to the UltimateBet (now UB.com) cheating scandal. Saturday, she decided to shift her focus away from the UltimateBet scandal and provided her user with what she called evidence that Scott Tom, former head of Absolute Poker, was indeed the person responsible for the cheating scandal involving PotRipper.

She starts off the blog rehashing the whole Absolute Cheating scandal and stating that she has been among the many entities that Scott Tom has threatened with libel suits due to speaking out against him and AP. She has obtained what she considers evidence that proves that Scott Tom may indeed be the force behind the AP scandal and the other involved players may have been pawns in his game.

She starts by providing information from the anti-fraud software “ieSnare” that AP purchased from UltimateBet. She shows the information for account PotChopper that clearly points to Scott Tom as the owner.

Next, she explains how that the software assigns an ID to each new computer that logged onto AP. Tom’s primary computer was assigned “11451887.” Using this ID, the software can show where the account was logged on at. It showed that two unique machines logged onto the site from various location, but always the same two computers.

Next, she stated that his pc’s ID was linked to several of the known cheating accounts, including PotRipper, the account that brought the cheating scandal to the forefront. If you look at the image following, you will see that the device and NUID sets match those for logins from PotChopper.

Next, she produced an image of what she said was the “Graycat” account that was also involved in the cheating scandal. As you can see from the image, the ID and NUID again matches other accounts. She also provided the same information for the “Doubledrag” account.

Hintze then goes on to claim that Scott Tom was indeed behind the computer and using these accounts and not being “hacked” as he had claimed. She then produced evidence of several large deposits and a substantial withdrawal from Scott Tom’s account. Notice that he received a transfer for $70,000 from Double Drag and the account was immediately black listed. However, the account was then cleared within less than two hours and according to Hintze, this was based on directives from upper management which she stated was Scott Tom and others.

After winning a huge tourney on September 13th, 2007, Hintze indicated that Tom chip dumped a large portion of his “winnings” to other cheater accounts. After making the $70,000 withdrawal, she claims he then blacklisted the account. She states that the same was done to other accounts so that the majority of money was taken off the site.

Hintze then points out that the cheating accounts were flagged so that customer service would not close the account. She provided an image that shows the PotRipper account with the comment “Please do not close this account for any reason. Issues please consult with Brent, Adrian or Nolan.” Most of the pertinent information has been removed but she believes that the information was a “college buddy” he was using to launder money.

The allegations made by Hintze have not been proven by any other source as of the time of the writing of this article. Hintze did not reveal her sources. Should this prove to be true, it would raise a new set of questions and confirm the beliefs of many conspiracy theorists that, like Hintze, believed that Scott Tom was the head of the AP cheating scandal all along. Hintze says that she has more to publish on this matter at a future date so this isn’t the last that we will hear on this story.

- James Guill

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2008 was a history making year in the world of poker. Let’s take a look back.

January 2008

2008 kicked off with Alexander Kostritsyn winning the Main Event of Aussie Millions after surviving a grueling heads up duel with Erik Seidel. Kostritsyn took home the title and $1.65 Million AUD.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission released their findings regarding the Absolute Poker cheating scandal. Absolute Poker received a $500,000 fine and refunded around $1.6 Million to players.

February 2008

The Women’s Poker Hall of Fame was instituted at Binion’s in Las Vegas. Marsha Waggoner, Linda Johnson, Susie Isaacs, and Barbara Enright were enshrined in the inaugural class.

March 2008

Chris Ferguson won the NBC National Heads-Up Championship after besting 63 other players, including Andy Bloch in the final.

April 2008

The Poker Players Alliance reached 1 Million members. The purpose of the organization is to lobby politicians in Washington, D.C. to try and forward the interests of poker.

Rep. Barney Frank and Senator Ron Paul introduced a bill to try and block the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act from being implemented. The bill was eventually voted down in committee, but the fight continues.

May 2008

The World Series of Poker announced that the final table of the Main Event would be delayed 117 days. The move was to increase exposure for the event. The final table was scheduled for November 9th.

Allen Cunningham won the WSOP Circuit Event stop in Las Vegas Nevada. He took down the gold championship ring and $499,162

Tokwiro Enterprises released a statement in late May acknowledging cheating that had occurred at the website. The incidents spanned four years and involved 88 different accounts. The incidents were discovered by users who determined that the win rates by certain accounts were unnaturally high. The amounts won by the accounts exceeded $16 Million.

June 2008

The World Series of Poker was the only tournament of consequence during June. Many stories topped the headlines at the series. Perhaps the most reported and criticized was Scotty Nguyen’s win in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event. His actions at the final table were criticized by many but in the end, nobody could deny his ability at the table. Scotty received the first ever Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, the bracelet, and $1.243 Million in prize money.

John Phan was the only multi-bracelet winner of the 2008 World Series of Poker. He first took Event #29, the $3,000 No-Limit Event. This event was memorable for three hands being played “all-in blind” between Phan and Johnny Neckar. Phan would then win his 2nd bracelet in Event #40, the $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw event.

The 2008 World Series of Poker was known as the “Year of the Pro” as several pro’s won a bracelet. Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Max Pescatori, Layne Flack, David Benyamine, Dario Minieri, and Vanessa Selbst all won bracelets.

July 2008

The Main Event of the World Series of Poker took center stage as 6,844 players took their shot at the top prize. While Tiffany Michelle garnered a lot of headlines both for her deep run and the controversy around her dealings with PokerNews, she fell just short of true poker immortality. The “November Nine” was finally reached with Ivan Demidov, Scott Montgomery, Peter Eastgate, Ylon Schwartz, Dennis Phillips, Darus Suharto, David Rheem, Craig Marquis and Kelly Kim all hoping to get their shot in November at poker immortality.

August 2008

Chan Poker shut down operations in August, a casualty of the UIGEA and a shaky economy. The World Poker Tour also announced that they would be restructuring their business and nearly became delisted on NASDAQ before the market suspended delistings due to the economic climate of the country.

September 2008

Kentucky Govenor Steven Beshear had a seizure order drawn up for 141 online poker domain names in a move to have the sites removed. Sites such as DoylesRoom.com and many others were being threatened with domain name seizure. Many sites enacted measures to block TN residents from accessing the sites. A stay was granted to the order and an appeal is expected to be ruled upon sometime in early 2009.

October 2008

John Juanda took the Main Event of the World Series of Poker Europe. A final table that boasted Daniel Negranu, November Nine participant Ivan Demidov, and Scott Fischman, came down to a heads up match that lasted 242 hands. After 22 hours of play at the final table, Juanda walked away with the bracelet and £868,800.

November 2008

The final table of the WSOP Main Event kicked off on November 9th and was played down to a final two of Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov. They returned on the10th and put on a heads-up match for the ages. In the end, Peter Eastgate came out on top and became the first true professional to win the WSOP Main Event since 2001. He took home $9,152,416 for first and became the youngest WSOP bracelet winner in history.

December 2008

PartyGaming co-founder Anurag Dikshit cut a deal with the U.S. Dept of Justice where he forfeited $300 Million for violating the 1961 Wire Act. The move drew heavy criticism for Dikshit (Ya that’s his name), including chastising from Doyle Brunson who said that Dikshit fits his name.

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