If it looks like a dog, barks like a dog and even has the same registration tag, then perhaps you’d best not throw it a bone!

News this week of poker scandal-specialists, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet a.k.a. Tokwiro Enterprises, “joining” to form the Cereus Poker Network was fairly predictable.

Applying a thick coat of “rebranding” to dodge a bullet is consistent with behaviours to date from this online gambling outfit. The head of Tokwiro Enterprises, a former Grand Chief of the Mohawk nation who was apparently instrumental in establishing the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, thought no further action was coming his way… and so a little rebranding would “do the trick”…. but watch this space!

Some background: In late May an independent investigation identified 18 super-user accounts involved in poker fraud at the Tokwiro Enterprises poker sites. Since then, however, posts on many poker forums allege that the cheating was in fact more widespread than reported. This apparently led to Ultimate Bet issuing a statement confirming “additional suspect accounts” and a longer timeline of cheating. A link has been claimed between the cheating incidents and Russ Hamilton, a former owner of Ultimate Bet.

Here’s an extract of what online gambling authority GamblingIntelligenceGroup.com had to say today (below) – you decide whether you’ll play online at the new Cereus Poker Network – we won’t be!

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Good luck at the tables, and don’t feed that (poker) dog!
Kishan Neilsen

“Mired in controversy and declining player liquidity, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet have joined to form the Cereus Poker Network. The two brands, owned by Tokwiro Enterprises Inc, expect to become the third largest poker network by pooling their customers and hope to compete with the likes of the rapidly rising iPoker Network, as well as PokerStars and Full Tilt.

Paul Leggett, Chief Operations Officer of Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, said the Cereus Poker Network was the culmination of more than twelve months of innovation and development. He said the two sites will pool their customers in the new network, however there are no plans at present to merge and they will continue to operate under their individual brands. “Cereus not only delivers the best online poker experience; it enables our company to improve our operations and deliver significantly better value and service to our customers” said Leggett.

“Our company’s goal is to provide poker players with the ultimate online experience. The launch of Cereus is a major step for us in achieving our goal and we look forward to making many more exciting announcements very soon”.

While the likes of PokerStars and Full Tilt who also continue to accept US players have seen rapid growth, Absolute Poker and Ultimate have seen their customer bases dwindle as a result of insider cheating scandals and their inability to advertise in the key UK market. With criticism mounting this week on Ultimate Bet and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) for their handling of the cheating scandal, and the KGC’s promise of further action to come, a further loss of player confidence is to be expected. By pooling both sites’ players onto one poker network, Tokwiro has gone some way in limiting the affect of a potential further decline in users, and GIG analysts predict that ultimately it will be the Cereus brand that survives.”