Tao of Poker

Absolute Tao Update

Just in case you haven't been around the last few days, here's a recap:

Thursday 10:30am EST... While on a bender in Amsterdam, the Tao of Poker goes mysteriously missing from the blogosphere. Emails start trickling in, "Where's the Tao?" Rumors start swirling that I sold the site or quit blogging.

Friday 6:30am... Tao of Poker redirects to an Absolute affiliate site. Old rumors stop. New rumor hits the intertubes... The Tao has been hacked. Readers and bloggers revolt. I leave Holland and return to America with spacecakes and Che Guevera t-shirt to quell the revolution.

Friday 11:00am... Wicked Chops Poker posts What Happened to the Tao of Poker?

Friday 3:30pm... Wicked Chops Poker posts Tao of Poker Now AbsolutePoker.com.

Friday 4:05pm... Plane touches down at Newark Airport. I turn on my cell for the first time in over a week. I have 18 new text messages and 20 new voicemails. 90% of them are from frantic and concerned friends about the Tao going down.

Friday 7:00pm... After contacting Blogger, they quickly restore my site to the old settings. Readers breathe a collective sigh of relief as they can continue to be entertained by the Tao of Poker from their dens and cubicles.

Saturday 12:20am... From an undisclosed location in the Nevada desert, the Poker Prof starts tracking the hacker. No response from Absolute Poker.

Sunday 4:20pm... Absolute Poker still has yet to respond to what has become known as "the email." The Jets upset the Pats in Foxboro and The Rooster goes apeshit. Tom Brady cites his poor performance over his lack of sleep and increased anxiety and concern over the Tao of Poker going down.

Sunday 11:53pm... I get a phone call from a Wyoming cellphone claiming to be VP Dick Cheney. He repeatedly says in muffled tones, "What's the frequency Kenneth?"

Monday 12:08am... Grubby responds with a text message stating, "Save the cheerleader."

Monday 7:15am... After being ignored for over two days from Absolute, I posted "the email" on my blog and incited a revolution among poker bloggers and readers. Friends start emptying their Absolute accounts and sending nasty emails to the affiliate manager.

Monday 11:15am... After a four hour barrage of nasty emails, Pete from Absolute was the first person to finally email me. He said:

"I can assure you if this has happened by an affiliate of Absolute Poker, it will be dealt with immediately. Absolute Poker does not condone nor will we do business with anyone who conducts business in this manner."

Monday 12:31pm... I had the first of several conversations with Pete. He apologized for the two day delay in having someone contact me and expressed his concern about the poor customer service his company put out. He assured me that Absolute will cooperate in the investigation. I told him they should have started it on Friday and he agreed.

Monday 12:45pm... I ask my troops to cease fire and hold off on sending nasty emails to Absolute. The suits finally contacted me after this morning's blitz of all of you withdrawing funds from their site and the slew of emails. Thanks to everyone for their help. I'm confident that your loyal support is what finally got Absolute on the ball.

Monday 3:00pm... After an investigation (that should have taken place on Friday), Absolute tracked down the culprit and the matter is being handled internally. I have no more beef with Absolute and as soon as Pete took control, the matter was handled professionally.

Monday 3:50pm.. Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their help and support including Blogger, Absolute Poker, the Poker Prof, and everyone else. I removed the previous post regarding the Absolute Poker boycott after they stepped up and started taking the matter more seriously. I didn't make any headway until the bloggers and readers rallied together and joined forces to bring dire attention to this matter, which demonstrated the power that our little niche group can have. If this happens again in the future, the online sites will be quicker to respond. Hopefully, the outcry of support will be enough of a deterrent from future attacks on any of our sites and blogs. Thanks again to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to step up and help out. Oh, and make sure you change your passwords after you use a public or any other computer.