60 MINUTES STORY – Did I make the right decision?
Thursday, November 27, 2008 - COO
Roughly eight months ago our company was contacted by 60 Minutes. They were working together with the Washington Post to develop a story about online poker.
The show’s producers asked us a lot of questions off camera, and initially we provided them with a lot of information and tried to answer most of their questions. We soon learned that the story was to be only about our company and the cheating scandal that occurred on our site.
We continued to cooperate with them in hopes of getting the truth out about what really happened. We provided the Washington Post with on-the-record responses to over 150 questions. I personally gave an off-the-record interview with Gil Gaul from the Washington Post and met with Ira Rosen, a producer from 60 Minutes. I had numerous calls with them over those eight months and tried to answer their questions the best I could. Over the many months they were developing their story, I struggled with the decision as to whether to grant them with an on-camera interview. At first, I was very hesitant to grant the interview because this was by far the highest profile media I have ever dealt with in my life. But after talking at length with the two gentlemen, it became very obvious to me that they had no interest in telling a fair story. They were only interested in getting me on camera to try and make me and my company look bad. Basically, it came down to them wanting to produce a sexy story about the “dark underbelly” of online poker and embellish it with details of the cheating scandal. Knowing this, I decided not to grant the on-camera interview and instead just provide them with a written statement.
According to the CBS News website, the show that they have been developing for 8 months (man, our investigation didn’t take that long), will finally air this Sunday, November 30th.
Since taking over as COO at the beginning of this year, I have given many interviews and worked with the media, specifically about the cheating scandal. I have done interviews with www.twoplustwo.com, www.pocketfives.com, Cigar Aficionado, numerous poker blogs, many poker news sites, and dealt with a variety of high profile investigative journalists.
Every interviewer I worked with treated me fairly, asked tough questions, and gave our company a fair shake based on facts and not just people’s opinions. After dealing with 60 Minutes and the WP for many months, everything inside me was screaming they were going to try and crucify us. Although they assured me during certain times that I would be completely off the record, it later turned out that I wasn’t. They were very friendly towards me until I said I wasn’t sure I would agree to an on-camera interview. Just after the words left my mouth, they immediately became very hostile. They said that unless I granted the interview, they would do their best to make me and my company look horrible. At that moment, I realized that their goal was just that to begin with. There was little I could do to improve the spin they were going to take. I firmly decided to not grant an interview and was comfortable with my decision.
After viewing the two video clips on their website yesterday www.cbsnews.com/video/60minutes my worst fears seem to be coming true. By the looks of the first video, it seems that they will paint online poker as an illegal industry with no oversight. Then they will go on and make blatantly incorrect statements about our company and the incidents of cheating. The player whom they interviewed explained the cheating well, but everything else seemed either inaccurate or inflammatory. In the second video, which is an interview with Kroft, it seems that he is reading cards and hardly knows the details of what happened. Unfortunately, I think the story will not be fair to our company and will not add anything to what everyone already knows in the poker industry.
What would you guys have done if you were in my position? Would you have granted the interview or not? I am very interested to hear your thoughts.
Anyways, let me know what you think…If we had agreed to go on camera, here are some points that I would have wanted to get across:
• Our business is not illegal. Joseph Norton has the aboriginal right to operate a gaming business, as a Mohawk of Kahnawake, and he provides online poker services to players from around the world.
• AbsolutePoker’s and UltimateBet’s cheating scandals were awful and we will never forget them. But we have put a tremendous amount of effort into refunding all affected players, being transparent, and ensuring this can never happen again.
• Our company never benefited from cheating. In fact, it was damaged severely by the scandals as players lost trust in us, while the media condemned us.
• However horrible this incident was, I believe that we are a better company because of it.
• In the AbsolutePoker scandal, false statements were released by the company, but once upper management discovered what happened we immediately took decisive and corrective action to ensure the problems were addressed completely.
• In the UltimateBet scandal, we inherited the cheating from the previous ownership. We fought for the better part of a year to investigate and understand everything that happened. We won a settlement from the previous owners in court and quickly completed all of the outstanding refunds, although the total damage to us was far in excess to the amount we settled for.
• Our company has been transformed in 2008. Security, transparency and compliance with the strictest regulations and standards are our priority. I believe that we are now the most open, approachable and personable poker business on the net.
Regardless of how the 60 Minutes producers choose to skew their show, I know that we have acted with diligence and transparency in addressing these crises, and we will continue to do so. We have told the story of how the cheating occurred in an open and honest way.
You can view an interview with me on youtube or on our corporate website www.tokwiro.com.
I also know that for me, Monday morning means I’ll breathe a little easier. At least then we’ll know exactly what punches the 60 Minutes program has thrown at us, and in the bright light of day, I believe we’ll be well equipped to counter the attack.
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Tags: 60 minutes, cheating, COO, Corporate, scandal
November 27th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Happy Thanksgiving,
I just wanted to comment on your post. After reading about the upcoming 60 minutes report and the WP trying slander this site it irritated me and prompted me to post a reply.
How many companies under new management have employees or insiders that some how extort or cheat without the company knowing anything about it. This happens more often that we think. To blame UB for the incident is quite unfair. From your comment your company has taken measures to compensate the affect parties and to take preventative measures against future incidents.
The media should collect relevant and accurate information and make an unbiased report on facts. We all know that today’s media is anything but a factual account of circumstances. They want shock value, blame, greed, and hate to fuel the fire of the viewing public who has become so tolerant of fabricated reports that they will believe anything that strikes a nerve.
My thought on the choice of you not giving a live interview is that when you believe in something you should always stand up and state you point. Don’t cross your fingers hoping that they don’t crucify you. They are not in this business for the truth, only for the ratings. In my opinion a number of people believe everything they hear on TV. But most American’s are able to think on their own. If a story is compelling to me, I search out other sources to make sure all the “facts” are matching up. We are smart people and know when we are being lied to.
I applaud you for posting your statement on UB. It makes me more willing to seek the truth rather than be brainwashed by modern media.
Where did all the good reporters go? Are they trapped in some dungeon being forced to watch CNN and network news until they finally die of BS poisoning?
I urge you to report how many people are happy with UB and trust the honesty of the site. Let’s try positive feedback and try to steer this country away from the gloom that commercial media has plagued us with for many years.
~Amy
November 27th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Hey Amy,
Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
We had well over 30,000 players online at one time yesterday and I think that says a lot about how many people are happy with UB. Not to mention the huge amount of support we received from some of the biggest names in poker when we settled with the previous owners and immediately refunded everyone.
I am generally a pretty positive person and the clips I saw from 60min got me a little down and I want to thank you for lifting me back up.
I really appreciate your words and opinion. I have taken them to heart!
Cheers,
Paul
November 27th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
[...] out about the story is that no one from UB agreed to appear on camera. Paul Leggett, the COO of UB, wrote about this today in a post at the new UB blog. Titled “Did I Make the Right Decision?”, Paul talks [...]
December 5th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I believe that while you’re arguments are correct: 60 minutes was focused on your security failure abjectly, and to an extent unfairly (utilizing non-experts, ignoring your repayments) you should have addressed why you did not prosecute the individual responsible when it seems everyone knows who he is. 20 million dollars is a significant amount – and for the most part I do not understand your agreement with him. Why exactly would you allow such a thing?
The key issue in 60 minutes, really if you listened, was should the US keep its stance against online gaming, irregardless of the illegality of this stance (re: WTO agreement). You allowed millions of people to see only the worst of this industry. That will affect you in the years to come. So to answer your question: yes you should have gone on. just to keep them honest. That is, if you are as honest as you say you are.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I have been waiting a week on UB management to complete investigation on why they did not pay me for a bad beat jackpot on Thanksgiving Day. Interestingly enough, they have totally ignored request from me for an update on where the investigation is at. We shall see how honest this site is.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Hi TrentKristy,
We have posted a response to your inquiries surrounding the bad beat jackpot here: http://blog.ultimatebet.com/2008/11/the-bad-beat-jackpot-is-cereus/#comment-165
December 6th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
The 60 minutes segment has made this crystal clear now. Now I know why the U.S. is trying to prevent us from using these off-shore gambling sites. Point made!
December 26th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Paul Leggett ‘They said unless I granted the interview, they would do thier best to make me and my company look horrible.’
I know the feeling PL, I KNOW THE FEELING…and it is a helpless sick feeling. Shoulda walked baby!
January 6th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
You absolutely made the right decision to not take an on camera interview. In many other episodes like this one – where they are trying to “expose” something, they often try to get an interview from the accused — and then they lambaste them making them look bad. Nothing good could have come from it.
Incidently, I was one of those that was cheated and I did receive a refund from the company in Nov. 2008. I never expected to get any money back. Because UB showed professionalism and integrity in resolving this issue and making it right by those of us who were wronged, I have returned to playing UB exclusively (I even took 19th in the race to riches contest I played so much over Christmas break).
Kudos to Paul and the UB exec.’s for turning this around and getting the company’s reputation back.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I think you should have done the interview. I know if it was my company I would have stood up and explained what happened to 60 minutes. You could have easily played the victim to them, which I sure you are in this case. Hiding just makes you look guilty IMHO.
Good luck in the future with your company
May 13th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Probably should have done the interview for no other reason than to not appear you have something to hide. The concerns are not so much the cheating but what is being done about it. There is still no word on how “fat man” Russ and the others (and there were others)will be held accountable. Paying money back is a good thing but falls short of the Ultimate perception that if you cheat you go to jail. Nevada prisons are full of cheaters and I see no reason for the online Gambling business to be any different in the handling of fraudulant players. Full Tilt blew it with townsend and other sites sweep this kind of crap under the rug all the time.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
With fame and fortune on the line, humans are prone to lying/cheating/stealing. Nothing will ever change, no matter how high you build your walls, there will be bigger ladders built. Money and Fame is greater than any security system you will ever implement.
Look at baseball and the Olympics, how many athletes risk it all for fame and fortune, no matter what you say or do, the past will always stain you. Even with drugs tests/3rd party software testing, there is still cheaters, some get caught and some go into the hall of fame…who is to say these internet phenoms are not connected to insiders? If you guys are legit, good for you, if not hope whoever is cheating burns in hell.