Black Friday and the aftermath: Online Poker Implications

[AlunB]

Fell out with the big man you think? All these attempts to link up various departures to black friday elsewhere seem tenuous at best to me...

[deepreacher]

“Players may have the following alternative options:

“1. Full Tilt has been requested to provide a specific player contact: this is awaited and will be incorporated here upon receipt.

“2. Any player who believes they are a victim of crime, as a result of their dealings with Full Tilt, should in the first instance contact their own local police in their country of residence and report the matter to them. These reports will then be coordinated centrally.

“3. It is understood that a number of civil actions have been initiated by players against Full Tilt, some as class actions representing multiple players by UK, US and Canadian lawyers. Details of the firms concerned can be found through internet search.”

http://www.pokernewsreport.com/full-tilt-poker-in-deeper-trouble-as-brits-advised-to-call-police-6944

Out of interest has anyone actually reported this to the police or initated a civil action?

[TightEnd]

From at least April of 2007, Chris Ferguson funnelled just under $60 million of his Full Tilt distribution payments into bank accounts held for him in the name of Pocket Kings Ltd,1 in addition to the roughly $25 million that the US Department of Justice reported that he received in their amended civil complaint. He successfully withdrew or spent about $45 million of this funnelled money, but about $14.3 million of it was used for Full Tilt’s post-Black Friday expenses, reportedly with his permission. In an attempt to recover this money, Ferguson and his lawyer, Ian Imrich, have threatened repeatedly to take steps that might impede the pending deal with the DOJ and Groupe Bernard Tapie.

read more at

http://www.subjectpoker.com/2012/01/chris-fergusons-secret-bank-accounts/

[TightEnd]

Laurent Tapie: Full Tilt acquisition "by the end of February"

Laurent Tapie, the son of Group Bernard Tapie's (GBT) eponymous owner, has totally denied rumours that Chris Ferguson was prepared to sabotage the Tapies' acquisition of Full Tilt Poker.

Shortly after rumours began to churn that Full Tilt Poker and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) had agreed to the terms of the forfeiture agreement to allow the GBT takeover, Tapie confirmed that: "the due diligence process is nearly complete... unless there are last-minute surprises, we hope to do the deal by the end of February."

It should be noted that this does not give us a time frame for the return of Full Tilt Poker, simply the acquisition of the company by GBT.

In an article on iGamingFrance, Tapie put recent rumours of Chris Ferguson's involvement with the deal to rest, responding to recent allegations that "Jesus" had been prepared to sabotage the potential deal:

"This is totally false," Tapie said. "Chris Ferguson has no problem with regard to the completion of the takeover agreement, which is imminent. Even if he wanted to... he would not be able to because [the agreement] has been validated."

Chris Ferguson had recently come under fire, back in the poker spotlight when Subject: Poker broke the news that he had funnelled around $60 million of his Full Tilt payments to bank accounts held for him.

However, according to Tapie, this is simply not the case.

There could be more good news for Ferguson also: according to his lawyer, Ian Imrich, Ferguson has been having "very positive dialogue" with the Department of Justice and expects to have his case settled in early 2012.

Todd Terry lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker dismissed

Further to this, the class action lawsuit brought against Full Tilt Poker by lawyer-turned-poker pro Todd Terry has been dismissed. The lawsuit, which named Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Ray Bitar, Phil Ivey and others, as well as nine companies associated with Full Tilt Poker, saw many claims dismissed today.

Judge Sand dismissed all claims against individuals other than Ray Bitar and Canadian Nelson Burtnick. He said that "it remains unclear whether the direct cause of Plaintiffs' injuries was the decision by the US Attorney's office to temporarily shut down and seize [Full Tilt Poker]'s assets... or was the subsequent decision by one or more of the Defendants."

from http://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/world-of-poker/Full-Tilt-Update:-Deal-By-End-of-Feb,-Players-Suit-Dismissed,-Ferguson-Settles-_56198/

[DaveShoelace]

As most poker players already know, Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) is a French investment group which is currently in the process of taking over Full Tilt Poker. The group already has a signed agreement with the US Department of Justice to purchase the assets of the company for $80 million, assuming several other conditions are met.

GBT has recently been conducting due diligence in order to gain a complete awareness about the financial situation and inner workings of Full Tilt. Behn Dayanim, an attorney representing GBT, told PokerStrategy.com that the due diligence stage of the takeover is currently "nearing completion, but not yet done."

During this process, GBT discovered that the financial situation of the companies comprising Full Tilt is substantially worse than they had hoped. One of several financial issues negatively impacting the situation is that many well-known poker players still owe the company substantial amounts of money. Most of these players have expressed a lack of willingness to address this.

"It could put the deal in serious jeopardy."

Due to the fact that the Full Tilt companies are in worse financial condition than had been anticipated, the collection of these debts has assumed increased importance.

Behn Dayanim explained the situation to PokerStrategy.com:

"GBT doesn't want to acquire assets which will need to be litigated over later. In total, the sum owed to the company is between $10 and $20 million. Several of the players who owe money and have not yet expressed a willingness to pay their debts include Phil Ivey, Layne Flack, David Benyamine, and Erik Lindgren. Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, and others owe a smaller but still significant amount.

If the money doesn't come in, it creates a serious obstacle to completion of the deal. This isn't the only issue with the takeover, and the deal won't end on any one issue - but this is a substantial item."

Some pros have argued in the past that they don't want to pay GBT and that they would only consider paying their debts if the money goes directly to players. Today, this argument can reasonably be viewed as disingenuous taking into account that the completion of this deal would lead to a substantial infusion of cash to players from GBT.

http://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/world-of-poker/Exclusive:-Groupe-Bernard-Tapie-Unable-to-Collect-Owed-Funds-from-Several-Pros_56256/

No idea why Barry G is named in the line up there

[wallysnooper]

No idea why Barry G is named in the line up there

I found that werid too, esp since i think he was sponsored by stars at the time.

Barrys made a statement on 2 + 2 with regards to him borrowing of FTP. Don't think any other pro's mentioned have made a public statement as of yet.



'I have been inundated with calls from all the poker media sites regarding this, so it's easier for me to respond in one place. Obviously, 2+2 has become the main place where people discuss online poker so I'm posting here. It would be nice if everyone who owes money discusses it openly so there is a better chance that they will make good on their debts and the money will end up in the pockets of players with balances on FTP.

My statement to the press and the poker community:

I borrowed $400,000 to play on Full Tilt a few years ago, before PokerStars had high stakes games. I didn’t pay it back, hoping that some people who owed me and had money on Full Tilt would pay me there so I could use that against the debt. (I'm only owed about $150,000 now). I have assumed when this case is resolved, the DOJ will allow methods for dealing with debt to FTP.

Tapie Group contacted me last week and asked if I would pay them directly. Their attorney offered me the opportunity to pay in installments so I could have a chance to use money owed to me. He even offered me the opportunity to discount my debt if the US players don’t get paid in full. I told him that I have never paid less than I owe on any debt and I would rather wait until the DOJ establishes a fund for the US players. I don't believe my debt has any impact on the sale to the Tapie group as they have alleged. I was concerned about taking money due to US players and giving it to the Tapie Group because it is understood that the Tapie Group won't be the one paying the US players. On the other hand, I realize that the total debt counting other players is substantial, especially because I would include in that tally any money taken from FTP once it had become insolvent.

Here is an excerpt from the letter I sent to their attorney:

“The consensus in the poker community is that all money owed to Full Tilt or taken by investors after the company became insolvent should be used to pay back player’s funds. If I were to make a deal with you it would look like I had turned my back on the best interests of the American players.

Even though the terms are easier for me if I deal with you and it will fulfill my legal obligation, I have to see how things work out with the DOJ and try to make good on my moral obligation to the US players. I assume at some time in the future the DOJ will establish a pool of funds from Full Tilt’s assets that will be used to pay off some percentage of the player balances that are owed.” '

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=31308037&postcount=1

[ACE2M]

some of the money they owe must be owed to other players by full tit?

When they borrowed money they didn't take it off the site, they lost it to other players, will the new owners go through and trace the passage of all that money and figure out how much never left the site. I doubt it.

[outragous76]

Incredible news that Barry G had a credit line to full tilt!

The more stories that come out about FTP the more amazed I get!

[TightEnd]

After two weeks of silence following its swift exit from the U.S. market, Everleaf Gaming has released an official statement confirming that player funds have been seized by U.S. authorities.

According to a seizure order from the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington, investigators were tracking the transactions of one of Everleaf's payment processors, Causash Establishment. Last October, a warrant was issued ordering Bank of New York Mellon to seize all incoming and outgoing wire transfers on behalf of Causash Establishment for 14 days.

On Feb. 9, players residing in the U.S. were prohibited from using any of Everleaf's 100-plus skins after the company received a cease and desist order from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Everleaf Gaming was silent regarding the stoppage, but the company issued the following press release on Thursday:

    As has been reported, certain funds maintained by one of our payment processors to be distributed to U.S. customers were seized by U.S. authorities. To our knowledge, the U.S. authorities seized these funds and blocked the transactions based on purported violations of certain U.S. laws, including operating an illegal money transmitting business, the Wire Act, and money laundering. Evidence relative to the subject can be reviewed from the attached papers.

    Please be advised that this seizure occurred in the United States and only affects U.S. players.

    In view of the above, Everleaf will no longer accept U.S. players. Nonetheless, Everleaf reiterates and wants to reassure all the effected players that all the funds will be refunded in full and the effected parties will be contacted in a short while accordingly.

    For the other markets we operate in and with regards to all our other players we want to reassure you that nothing has changed and thank you for the continued business with our Company.

    We sincerely apologize for the lack of communication to date, but as a Company we were still trying to find our feet and assessing the situation at hand and how to best protect the interest of all the effected parties.

Everleaf Gaming did not state how much is owed to U.S. players or how the money would be refunded, but the company says that all player funds are covered and in line with the conditions of the company's Maltese gaming license.


 http://www.pokernews.com/news/2012/02/everleaf-gaming-first-statement-since-exiting-us-market-12097.htm

[TightEnd]

Over the last several months, Groupe Bernard Tapie has taken steps towards the completion of a takeover of Full Tilt Poker. The group has a signed agreement in place with the United States Department of Justice to purchase Full Tilt's assets for the sum of $80 million given certain conditions are met.

Earlier this month, PokerStrategy.com reported that the Tapie group had discovered a few significant issues which slowed down the progress of the deal. The Full Tilt companies were in even worse financial condition than the group had anticipated, and several well-known poker players still owed Full Tilt millions of dollars in debt.

"Positive progress has been made"
Despite the issues which slowed down the deal, significant progress has been made throughout February. The parties involved have chosen to extend the deal's execution deadline by several weeks.

Behnam Dayanim, an attorney representing Groupe Bernard Tapie, spoke to PokerStrategy.com:

"We are very close to executing a deal and anticipate it happening over the next several weeks.

There was an expectation among the parties involved that we would conclude our discussions one way or the other by the end of February. Positive progress has been made in recent talks, and each of the parties feels reasonably confident that we'll be able to reach a successful conclusion. As such, everyone has agreed to let the process continue for a bit longer."

On the topic of outstanding debts that the group has been attempting to collect from several high-profile professional poker players, Dayanim had this to say:

"We've been talking to certain players and are hoping that we may be able to resolve the issues with some of them. Others have continued to remain recalcitrant, but we're hopeful that we will be able to achieve sufficient critical mass on all of the outstanding issues that will be able to make the deal work."

http://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/world-of-poker/Tapie-Lawyer:-Positive-progress-has-been-made.-_57107/

[TightEnd]

http://calvinayre.com/2012/02/28/business/breaking-news-bodog-com-seized-by-homeland-security/?sf3316060=1

We have learned that Bodog.com, the original domain of the world’s most popular gaming brand Bodog, was seized by the Department of Homeland Security pursuant to a sealed warrant.

We received information of the seizure via a leaked VeriSign notice sent to the international registrar managing the domain.

This seizure of Bodog.com is a bit odd as the domain name hasn’t been operational for quite some time and isn’t in use for any active commerce anywhere in the world. Other Bodog Brand properties won’t be affected by the seizure of this inactive domain.

The seizure could be some sort of revenge action against the Bodog Brand as a punishment for its past licensing of the domain name to a company with US facing business.

I asked our publisher and Bodog Brand founder Calvin Ayre about the seizure, “Not sure what to say. BodogBrand.com is a brand-licensing organisation based outside the US. The brand left the market last year and the domain in question has been dormant globally for longer than that. We are only currently doing brand licensing deals outside the US so this domain had no place in any of our current plans.”

This seizure of the Bodog.com domain name highlights how dangerous it is to have a .com or .net domain in any industry, anywhere in the world as the current US climate leaves international companies with no due process to protect their trademarked domains.

This isn’t the first time the Bodog.com domain name was stolen from the Bodog Brand. Back in 2007, patent troll Scott Lewis and his group First Technology were successful, albeit temporarily, in stealing the domain. The move by patent troll Scott Lewis essentially destroyed the marketing value of the Bodog.com name, leaving little total value to the seized domain in the overall Bodog Brand licensing globally.

Sportsbook.com, BetOnline.com and Merge Gaming Network (rumoured to be owned by Sportsbook.com) all use a .com for their online business. Other sites such as BetUS.com and LockPoker.com use a redirect to send their traffic to a more friendly country coded domain such as BetUS.com.pa but as we’ve just seen, the US Government will seize inactive domains in an effort to intimidate internationally licensed companies.

We have not received word on the other gambling companies still actively using .coms but we can assume Bodog.com won’t be the last domain taken in the US Government’s razing of the competition as it clears way for the large Nevada casino corporations to dominate under a proposed federal poker regulatory scheme.

[tikay]

Good grief - "patent trolls"!

[DaveShoelace]

I wish someone would seize calvinayre.com so I wouldn't have to read all their drivel.

[DaveShoelace]

Feds Indict Former Online Gambling Billionaire Calvin Ayre

Federal prosecutors in Baltimore on Tuesday unsealed an indictment against Calvin Ayre, the former Canadian billionaire who founded Bodog, one of the world’s biggest online gambling firms. He is accused of operating an illegal gambling business and conspiring to commit money laundering.

For years Ayre taunted and dodged U.S. law enforcement, specializing in offering online sports betting and casino games to U.S. gamblers. He was the subject of a 2006 Forbes cover story titled Catch Me If You Can in which he said “we run a business that can’t actually be described as gambling in each country we operate in. But when you add it together, it’s Internet gambling.”

The son of grain and pig farmers in Saskatchewan, Ayre set up his company in Costa Rica and handled billions of dollars in online wagers. Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. Attorney in Baltimore, indicted Ayre and three other men, James Philip, David Ferguson and Derrick Maloney. The company, Bodog Entertainment Group, is also under indictment and its domain name has been seized by federal prosecutors.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2012/02/28/feds-indict-former-online-gambling-billionaire-calvin-ayre/

[TRIP5]

http://calvinayre.com/2012/02/28/business/breaking-news-bodog-com-seized-by-homeland-security/?sf3316060=1

This seizure of the Bodog.com domain name highlights how dangerous it is to have a .com or .net domain in any industry, anywhere in the world as the current US climate leaves international companies with no due process to protect their trademarked domains.

Clarifiaction for Skypoker.com players if possible?

If indeed your summation of the above information is correct, and as, indeed, skypoker is indeed governed by a .com domain then is there any chance that ALL poker .com domains can be siezed under US law? If so, is it likely that Skypoker will be taking steps top move to a .co.uk domain any time soon?

I ask this here because to ask next door would induce scare-mongering and ill informed judegements rather than a factual discussion!

xx