Online Poker sites UltimateBet and Absolute Poker have fused their user bases to create the third largest online poker network in the world. CEREUS, the merged network created by both companies, is the result of over twelve months of development and research by the online poker rooms executives, which are expecting to launch the network in August 2008,

“I’m confident that Absolute Poker and UltimateBet customers will be thrilled by the new platform and we look forward to welcoming many new players from around the world.” said Chief Operating Officer Paul Leggett in a press release last Thursday.

The creation of CEREUS means that in the next few weeks, UB and AbsolutePoker will count with a significantly larger player field combined under the same network. Currently, UltimateBet is in the 8^th position according to its player volume and traffic, AbsolutePoker.com is behind it in 11^th place, but combined, CEREUS will automatically become the third largest online poker network nowadays.

Both poker rooms have been implicated in a controversial cheating scandal in recent months which involves UltimateBet.com former owners, who took advantage of a back door in the software to view the players’ cards. After several months investigation the issue, Ultimate Bet and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission revealed that several user accounts, including NioNio, were having and unusual high return. Since then, UB and the KGC have refunded money to the affected players and fixed the software imperfection.

The online poker industry’s main lobbying group, the Poker Players Alliance, has itself recently gotten involved in the scandal, issuing a statement this week targeting UB and Absolute Poker’s oversight body: “We urge these companies and their regulating authority, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, to provide a full and transparent accounting of these breaches of the public trust to help lift the black cloud that has been placed over the industry.” The statement, which was authored by PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato, also lashed out at lawmakers in Washington, D.C.: “The attempt to enforce an outright prohibition of online poker is deeply flawed and unworkable, not to mention it invades upon the personal freedoms of law-abiding adults who wish to engage in a game of skill.”