Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet have been combined to form a single poker network by Tokwiro Enterprises, which owns both sites. The new network is known as CEREUS and has been under development for more than a year. Both Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet will retain some individuality, such as the skins used by the site, including the Ultimate Bet Mac skin. However, for the most part they will function as one entity, the CEREUS Network.
Both Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet have been trying to recover from cheating scandals that occurred one each site, scandals that were featured in a recent 60 Minutes segment.
Security is a major focus of the CEREUS network and is talked about in their FAQ, which states “The combination of a new technology platform and a new 24/7 security center brings players a watertight gaming experience. The number one priority for the development of the CEREUS poker network was to deliver state-of-the-art security. CEREUS boasts the new Security Center application that immediately detects abnormal winning statistics in real time. It is a major security achievement and gives the Absolute Poker poker room additional layers of security, allowing us to ensure fair play for everyone at the tables.”
The CEREUS network has made promises of more players, more action, bigger bad beat jackpots, new features, stability & security, and rewards.
The cheating scandals still loom like a shadow over Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, so it will be interesting to see whether CEREUS can help the two sites recover from the beating they have taken, both to their images and their finances.