PokerWorks

Whether there was a scandal brewing at Pitbull Poker is not yet clear, but the scandalous way that the online poker site shut down its services in Costa Rica doesn’t bode well for the rest of the story.

The rumors were swirling over the past few months on popular poker forums that superuser accounts were being used to cheat players on Pitbull Poker. One forum poster in particular took the time to examine hand histories and site activity and made allegations of superusers, chips disappearing from stacks, and software glitches. Ultimately, the site’s network manager Dave Brenes responded and denied any wrongdoing. Accusations nevertheless continued to fly in the face of Pitbull that there were three identified superuser accounts, though absolute proof was difficult to come by.

Then came the night of September 29, 2009 and activities that began at the home office of Pitbull in Costa Rica. First, players began to notice that the online poker site was inaccessible. Players attempting to log in were greeted with error messages, and even at times that they could log in, they could not access the games or accounts where funds were located. Reports then surfaced that the company’s night shift employees were told to take the night of the 29th off for building maintenance, but they became suspicious and went to the building to find that the owners were loading all of the office equipment into a moving truck.

The employees then went to the Costa Rican police to report the activity, at which point some arrests were made, namely owner Kevin Baronowski and a business partner. Other reports state that the men were simply questioned but instructed not to leave the country. Brenes reported to the forums that he was not on site but confirmed that his computer was one of the first to be taken from the office before the police arrived.

Details since the incident have been difficult to obtain, but Pitbull Poker has not been available for play or for cash withdrawal activity since the 29th.