Poker World Awaits '60 Minutes' Look at Online Gambling Scandals

October 22 2008, John Caldwell

Rumors have begun circulating that the much anticipated "60 Minutes" piece offering a look at the Absolute Poker and UltimateBet online cheating scandals will not air this Sunday, as widely reported. Instead, this highly anticipated segment has been rumored to have been bumped to November 9th. The airing of this segment will literally occur, if the new word being spread is correct, right in the middle of the resumption of the World Series of Poker final table as the field is trimmed down from nine players to two. However, industry watchers are also wondering -- given that it's the first Sunday after the Presidential election -- if the Nov. 9 air date will stay solid.

While the episode segment is of widespread interest to the poker world, its importance to a mainstream audience may be rather less, explaining its possible shuffling down in the "60 Minutes" pecking order. Among those industry notables reported to have been interviewed for the piece are Mike Sexton, Greg Raymer, Linda Johnson, Gary Wise, and online poker-forum participants Serge Ravitch, Michael Josem and Todd Witteles, who were involved in varying degrees in bringing forth certain aspects of what began as a player investigation into unusual circumstances. It is, of course, unknown as to which if any of the above (or any other) poker notables will appear in the segment when it airs in its final form.

In addition, other rumors of a lengthy feature article on the same topic, to appear in a major American newspaper, appear to be true. Our sources tell us that the Washington Post will publish a detailed piece on online poker, possibly accompanied by a call for regulation, on that same November 9th date.

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