Friday, January 23, 2009 - UB Marketing
Last week was huge for poker at Ultimate Bet. Not only the UBOC championship finished, but some major promotions like the Wild Card (NFL Super Bowl Tickets) giveaway took place and 2 UB players will soon be heading to the nice city of Tampa in Florida for the game of their lives.
Things have come back to normality regarding the tournament schedule and this week we’ll be hosting the $200k GTD after 2 weeks of absence. Not only the 200k is back, but be sure to check all the new satellites that have been launched for events such as the Sniper 40k, Sniper 80k and the all the $100k events we host throughout the week.
On another note, for all those huge tournament players and sit n go players remember Ultimate Bet recently launched brand new leaderboards which have been designed to reward every type of player. So it doesn’t matter if you like playing $1 9 seated sngs or $200 multi table tournaments if you finish in the money you will be scoring points and participating in some CEREUS money giveaways at the end of the week and major freerolls for top winners at the end of the month.
So, for the following weeks one of the biggest satellite we are running are the Pokernews Cup satellites. This major event will take place in Austria from March 21st-28th and it promises to be a 1 of a kind event. Not only some major poker personalities will attend and huge prizepools are expected, but attendants will have the opportunity to play poker in one of the most amazing sites in the world surrounded with beautiful mountains, nature and amazing views… My advice, check out the satellite schedule on your poker client and get your luggage ready because for as low as 660 points or $10 you can end up playing some exciting tournaments with the best players in the world at the Alps!!!
Tags: 200k guarenteed, Austria, Cereus, leaderboards, players rewards, Pokernews Cup, sniper 40k, sniper 80k, sniper tournaments, super bowl XLIII Ticket Giveaway, UBOC, wild card main event
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Thursday, January 22, 2009 - HollywoodDave
Well Merry fuckin Christmas all over again, my people! Today absolutely rocked….for those of you who watched my youtube videos back in November when Obama won the nomination, you know how excited I am for him to be president. And today was the cherry on the top…. I hosted a party at my pad here in Hollywood at 7 am to watch him be inaugurated prez!
Of course, no Hollywood Dave gathering that early would be complete without the requisite mimosas, irish coffee, BK breakfast sandwiches, and other assorted goodies. Needless to say, I was quite drunk by the time Barack ushered Bush onto the waiting helicopter and 8 years of bad memories flew far, far away! Sure, the whole thing coulda been watched hours later on Tivo, but history doesn’t wait & after all the blood sweat and tears that went into this amazing event today, I wanted to be there to watch it firsthand. Even if that meant cutting short my online poker play last nite!!
Speaking of which, I’ve been on fuckin FIRE lately… i told you guys about the 13k i won last month for taking down the UB 50k. Well, just last week i won another UB tourney, this time the $1 rebuy — i know, a sick challenge, but turning $4 into over a grand ain’t bad! Then this past week was UBOC (the UltimateBet Online Championship) and I murdered it — in 9 tournaments, I cashed 6 times, including a 16th place in HORSE, a 19th in the NLH $100 rebuy, and 2 25th place finishes. All in all +5k net, well worth the time and effort.
But that’s not even the craziest part. 2 weeks ago I made my annual pilgrimage to the Blackjack Ball — the once-a-year secret gathering of the world’s most notorious blackjack players in a clandestine, off-strip location — and vote in another member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame. This year it was Richard Munchkin, author and long-time team player who has travelled the world winning millions with some of the most profitable teams of the past few decades. I joked with Max Rubin, the host of the party, on the Rounders Radio show I brought him on to when I co-hosted last week with Annie Duke — “So Max, when am I gonna get inducted??” His response? Try a couple million more in blackjack first, kid, along with developing a couple groundbreaking new techniques along the way. And here i thought acting like a jagoff while taking down every blackjack tourney in my sites was enough!! lol
Now i’m back in LA and taking more meetings about my show, “Grifting Across America” that I’ve been shopping for a few months now. Hollywood shuts down for a month over the holidays but is back in full swing now. A few days ago I had a great creative development meeting with a company I met with right before the break last month, so I’m excited things are moving forward. More details when I have them!
Other than that, I gotta say — I’ve absolutely been killing the Omaha Hi-Lo cash games on UB lately! Now that Cereus launched, its easier to find 15 30 and 30 60 games, with the occasional 50 100 or 100 200 heads-up table….which i love. After Annie transformed my NLH tournament game a few years ago, we’ve been working a lot on my mixed game skills, which online cash game play tests more than any other medium. After some great live results last year, my online game finally caught up as the last cog in the wheel a few months ago and I am actually starting to look at it as my primary source of income now. Sure, tourney wins — and the occasional Hollywood gig — pay more, but for consistency’s sake, give me a solid 15 30 or 30 60 shorthanded O8 game any day!
Oh and before I forget — Annie, Phil and I are rockin’ on this season of the Best Damn Poker Show on FSN Mondy nites @ 11 pm — so make sure you check it out! Since I’m the host this time around, I toned down some of the crazy bad boy antics I love so much, but some pretty hairy situations still manage to pop up without my help. Rock on & holla at ya soon!
-hd
Tags: Annie Duke, Best Damn Poker Show, blackjack ball, blackjack hall of fame, Cereus, election, h.o.r.s.e. tournaments, Hollywood Dave, no limit holdem, Obama, omaha hi-lo, online poker play, Phil Hellmuth, UB 50K, ub tournaments, UBOC
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009 - ProductMan
Yes, it’s that time of year again. The calendar clearly reads January, but I know it’s going to take me at least a month before I can successfully write a check that acknowledges that it is actually 2009.
I’m not afraid of change or the future for that matter, but I’ve grown fond of (or at least accustomed to) 2008 and all her glory. Since it is too early for nostalgia, I guess I’ll get back to the equivalent of business. Yes, these are the days where I get to kick my Christmas tree to the curb and unravel that intricate web of holiday lights. Attention shopkeepers: I’m about to return a lot of unwanted gifts this week. Also, I need some new pants to accommodate my new waistline courtesy of that once-coveted festive cheer, or maybe just some time and a gym membership.
Those New Year’s Eve champagne stains I neglected to clean up are probably going to be a permanent fixture on my carpets, but at least they’ll remind me of the brilliant year that was, especially at UltimateBet. We rolled out exciting changes last year and we’re glad you could be a part of them. Here are a few highlights:
• Tour Of Duty Challenge: More than a few good men joined the UB army and fought hard during vigorous tours that transformed our poker tables into the ultimate battlefield. With chips in your arsenal you struggled for honor, victory, and the glory of a piece of $260,000.
• RAI$E: We reinvented the wheel with the ultimate poker rewards program that grows with you. The more you play, the more you earn. With free cash, tourneys, auctions, and shopping, and countless exclusive benefits, other poker rooms are going to need a ladder to even think about competing.
• Ultimate Leaderboards: Our new leaderboard makes it easier to get the recognition you deserve. With the best and most straightforward system in the biz you can compete and follow your favorites. Cash in just by hitting the tables!
• CEREUS: Things instantly got serious when we joined the CEREUS poker network. With more players, bigger tournaments, heftier jackpots, new software, and loads of new features, the action is better than ever.
Thanks for helping make our poker room a massive success. The best is yet to come in 2009!
Happy New Year!
Tags: 2009, Cereus, new years, Rai$e Loyalty Club, Rai$e VIP Team, raise, tour of duty challenge, ub army, Ultimate Leaderboards
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Saturday, January 3, 2009 - Cardroom
Well it’s been quite a year to say the least. Everything from the awesome player turnout at the UB Army barracks at the Palms in Vegas during the WSOP to Matt Brady taking down one Million at the Aruba Classic to the launch of CEREUS, it’s all been quite a roller coaster and we look forward to 2009 with great anticipation and some new and exciting tables, tournaments and promos. This year we’re running the Ultimate Bet Online Championship in January and this time around it’s MASSIVE. Check it out here http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-tournaments/events/uboc. KICKOFF the new year with some Wild Card action this month! You can win yourself a pair of tickets to the greatest sporting event on the planet!! Full details can be found here http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-promotion/wild-cards. Add a big win to your list of resolutions and make sure to check back weekly for the latest news and promos!
The Card Room
Tags: aruba classic, Cardroom, Cereus, new year, UBOC, ultimate bet online championship, WSOP
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Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - COO
Hi Everyone,
Here is a quick update on the recent software issues.
Please note that all players were refunded for these problems and the software has been fixed.
Tournament #2120428
A player IYKISA was playing a tournament on December 20th, 2008.
IYKISA’s chip count was reset twice during this tournament because of a software malfunction involving satellites.
First his chip count was reset from 2970 to 3000 when he won the first satellite (TID 2120487), gaining 30 tournament chips.
When he won the second satellite (TID 2120480) his chips were reset from 3720 to 3000, losing 720 tournament chips.
Both “resets” account for 690 tourney chips disappearing from the tables, meaning the winner standing up with 269,310 instead of the expected 270,000.
Ring Game’s #1162170993 and #1136089263
I also wanted to share the additional information I have regarding the malfunction with a hand involving Phil Hellmuth’s (#1162170993) on December 20th and another incorrect payout on December 2nd in Hand #1136089263.
I am still reviewing these investigations with our software department but it appears that the malfunction with hand #1162170993 occurred because of new software code released on December 10, 2008. In this software release, new functionality was added to our platform that removed players from heads up tables if they were inactive at the table for a lengthy amount of time. We believe that a problem with this new functionality was the cause of the malfunction.
Currently, my understanding of the incorrect payout involving hand #1136089263, is that the root cause of this issue related to the transferring of players from one of our game servers to another. At the time of this hand our software department transferred players to another game server while fixing a load issue, shortly after we launched the CEREUS platform.
We take these software issues extremely seriously and I will post more details about them soon.
Paul Leggett
Tags: Cereus, software
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - COO
On Saturday, December 20, 2008 we were alerted to a problem with a hand involving PHILHELLMUTH and DOUBLEBALLER.
We realize that this issue is of great concern to UB’ers and the poker community. Since we learned of the problem we have worked tirelessly investigating and fixing the software issue that was responsible for the incorrect payout. We have now released an official statement, which you can read it on our corporate site tokwiro.com.
I became aware of the problem on Saturday evening, shortly before I made my original post on this blog. I must admit that the information on twoplustwo was very helpful to me in getting up to speed right away.
I know many of you wanted information immediately after the incident happened. I did make a post on the UB blog to let everyone know we were aware of the problem and the seriousness of it. At the time I did not comment further because I wanted to make sure that we had all the facts before we made any public statements. I would hate to say something that is inaccurate or even false because I rushed it out before understanding the problem completely.
The problem is truly and honestly just a software malfunction. I do realize this issue caused a great deal of concern because Phil Hellmuth, a spokesperson for the site, benefited from the malfunction and that is quite the coincidence. For this reason we are providing the public with as much information as possible and hope that by doing so, and answering as many of your questions as possible, you will be reassured that our site is a safe place to play.
The Issue:
As we explained in our press release, the incorrect payout was caused by a software malfunction. The software malfunction occurred when the winning player was disconnected from the hand at the precise millisecond the software was determining whom to award the prize. This in conjunction with the “player’s state” data being cleared from memory caused this extremely improbable incident to occur.
Originally we were unable to reproduce the error in our test environment, until we programatically forced a disconnect to happen at the precise millisecond the hand was being awarded.
We have never had an issue like this reported previously and we have reviewed all of our database and application logs for December and November and have been unable to find any historical occurrences. We are continuing to go back further into the historical data to ensure no hands from the past need to be corrected. Analyzing this data takes time but we will continue to go back further and further into our history to ensure no one else was affected.
The second, related issue:
During the weekend we released an update to our game servers which included new business logic to prevent the first incident from ever happening again. The new update unfortunately created a new logic issue resulting in 36 hands with incorrect payouts. The 36 hands affected were lower limit razz, stud, and hold’em hands. Upon learning of this problem, we were able to addressed it quickly and the affected players were refunded immediately. We are extremely confident that everything has been corrected and order has been restored but we’re continuing to monitor the system and are performing extensive tests to ensure there are no incorrect payout or disconnect issues in the future.
An unrelated issue:
Another player made a comment on our blog (Mark) and emailed our support team about a tourney (2120428) where 700 chips were mysteriously deducted from his stack mid tourney. What happened was his chip stack was reset to his starting chip amount (3000 chips). This happened because he won a satellite into the very tourney he was already playing in . This uncovered the unrelated problem, where the system reset his chip stack to the starting amount. This software issue was addressed immediately and Mark’s account was refunded.
Our company takes a lot of pride in our work and i think it’s safe to say we are embarrassed by these issues. We have an amazing software development team who have accomplished so much this year. I assure you they take this very seriously and I’m confident they have dealt with these issues professionally and I do not expect anymore problems to occur.
Our company is committed to being the most transparent site on the net and to providing our players with a personal touch that other sites do not. I speak to many players myself, I grant a lot of interviews, we offer phone support and our security team speaks with players on a daily basis. We hope that you start to notice the improvements we are continually making to improve our service and transparency.
I will try to blog and respond to your comments/questions the best I can over the holidays.
Happy holidays everyone!
Cheers,
Paul Leggett
Tags: 2+2, Cereus, Phil Hellmuth, Two Plus Two
Comments (27)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - Customer Service
A quick fix!
It may happen that the game application does not take you directly to your registered game -this usually occurs when the computer’s resources are kind of overloaded-. In this case, we recommend you to log out and log back in from UltimateBet. If you are not taken to your table, you can do the following:
- Open UltimateBuddy (green button located at the left part of the screen).
- Click on “Buddies” at UltimateBuddy’s left top section.
- Select “Add Buddy” and input your username in the text box. Hit “Ok” button.
- Under the “Online” section of your contacts, double click on your nickname and, finally, select the table you haven’t been taken to.
As well, if you have any sort of question, do not hesitate to address Support@UltimateBet.Com.
*Reissue Checks
For all check payments that are reissued for any reason (like undeliverable address or recipient no longer at this address) the reissued check payment will be sent in the exact same method the first one was sent. ( we will no longer courier replacements for undelivered USPS checks.)
*e-Check deposits
e-checks deposits are really instant! Just click the Instant eChecks button in the cashier and enter your personal bank account details. At the click of a button, the requested amount is transferred from your bank account to your Absolute account.
The transferred money will be immediately available for use at our tables. Only one transaction is allowed every two business days and once processed, cannot be canceled.
*Checks
When requesting a payout by check, to avoid any delivery issues, remember to include the complete address, for example, street number, apartment number, and unit. This way, the withdrawal process will be faster and the funds will be received sooner. In order to update the address information, it can be easily done from the main poker lobby in “My Account” and “Update Profile”.
Keep in mind that after a check has been processed, it may take within 3 to 5 business days (holidays and weekends not included) for express courier, and 3-15 business days for regular mail.
*UB Players say
We got a great compliment for one of our agents, EMILIANO. He kindly helped one of our UB players, who has difficulty using a computer due to some physical ailments. Emiliano was very patient, cleared all of his doubts, and helped him deposit. In the customer’s own words “He deserves a rai$e and to be recognized for his great quality of customer service! ” Nice work!!
*Refer a Friend
Since UltimateBet was migrated to CEREUS, the Refer a Friend promotion conditions changed. From now on, customers will have to make a minimum deposit of $50 and play 200 raked hands.
*Phrase of the Week
“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do”. By Bob Dylan.
Tags: Cereus, change address, checks, e-check deposits, moving, UltimateBuddy
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Thursday, December 18, 2008 - COO
So, lately a LOT of people in the media have been asking me about CEREUS and my reaction to the 60 minutes segment. Instead of posting a long blog about it, I thought it would be easier to just provide a link to the podcast interview I did with the PocketFives poker forum this week.
You can listen to the podcast here.
Enjoy!
Paul
Tags: 60 minutes, Cereus, COO
Comments (1)
Thursday, December 4, 2008 - ProductMan
During my senior year of high school, I enrolled in a popular computer science class. Our teacher was particularly lazy and he pretty much outsourced his lesson plans to his students, which meant everyone had to give a couple of presentations to the class each month. Most of these presentations were pretty boring, but I can still remember a certain seminar about computer security delivered by a major slacker.
Instead of discussing usual nerdy security topics like firewalls, data encryption, anti-virus protection, cryptography, authentication techniques, hacking, and access control, this scholar unintentionally put his own spin on the topic. He suggested that the best way to protect your data was to get a guard dog to hang out in your computer room or office and maul any would-be thieves. He also extolled the virtues of setting up electric fences, laser alarms, deadbolts, and using pepper spray to protect your data, in case you are allergic to pit bulls!
I’m not sure how the guy spoke for thirty minutes with a straight face, but the truth is you don’t want to slack when it comes to security. With the launch of CEREUS, we’re ramping up poker security even further.
We’ve engineered our new state of the art security center to protect our players and ourselves. Our new cutting edge system is fully automated and will detect and eliminate bots, collusion, chip dumping, and other kinds of fraud. Scammers will quickly discover that trying to foil our online poker software is fruitless.
We take pride in providing a fair and honest poker room, but we’re not afraid to ask for help. Give us a shout if you ever see anything suspicious and remember that we always welcome your thoughts, concerns, and feedback about security topics (and pretty much anything else). By the way, all it takes is a few juicy steaks to fend off a pit bull.
Tags: Cereus, Product Team
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - Aciator
As you may have heard we have launched the new Cereus Poker Network last week and migrated the Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker platforms onto one robust and superior performing system. After months of software development and security enhancements, we are ready to provide our customers the best poker playing experience in the world.
What doe this mean on the Payments and Cashier side of things? The same values that Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet are famous for remain unchanged:
• Lightning fast payment processing. If you’ve won it and you want it, it’s already on its way.
• 24/7 dedicated customer support from a professional team that understands the game.
• Fun, excitement, special offers, rewarding bonuses, competitions, and real value for every dollar you turn over at the tables.
In fact, with our Operations team working together more efficiently, you can expect even more deposit options, quicker customer service, and faster payouts.
In the Ultimate Bet Cashier you will find many improvements to enhance your money management experience:
Larger format allows for better organization of features and more deposit options.
Quickly identify how much money you have available and in play at the table.
Enhanced security ensures your transaction and identity are safe and protected.
Better organization of your Account Info, new methods to update your profile and address details, improved Account History.
Quick access to your RAI$E Status and benefits chart.
With RAI$E you’ll earn rewards that go above and beyond what other online poker rooms have to offer. You’ll gain access to not just exclusive merchandise, auctions, and tournaments, but how about to playing live poker with one of the pros? Or a trip to the Aruba Classic?
RAI$E runs on a monthly status point system with five achievement levels and members are automatically enrolled upon opening an account with UltimateBet. UltimateBet also offers poker deposit bonuses of up to $1,100 for your initial deposit! Points are earned by playing in tournaments, cash games, Sit-n-Go’s, or at UltimateBet’s blackjack tables and are redeemed for different prizes based on the level for which you have qualified. Each level also has a UltimatePoints multiplier, which is multiplied by your Status Points to give you your total UltimatePoints, allowing you to earn points for redemption faster.
Informative online help to assist you with your Cashier needs.
And as always, instant Live Help at the click of a button.
We think you’ll find your Ultimate Bet Cashier to be a much more enjoyable experience. As always, we appreciate your feedback on anything related to Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, Cereus, or how we can improve your Payment Processing experience.
Tags: Cereus, Payments, payouts
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