Black Friday and the aftermath: Online Poker Implications

[TightEnd]

Today's New York Times

Poker Web Site Cheated Users, U.S. Suit Says
By MATT RICHTEL


The millions of people who signed up for a Web site called Full Tilt Poker knew they were there to gamble. But it turns out they were taking on far more risk than they realized, even when they had no chips on the virtual table.

That is the essence of a civil complaint that federal prosecutors filed on Tuesday. It asserts that players around the world entrusted Full Tilt with $390 million in gambling money, and that the company promised to keep those funds in secure accounts. In reality, prosecutors found, the money wasn’t there; instead, much of it had been transferred to the owners and management of Full Tilt, some of whom were themselves among the most prominent and popular poker players in the world.

“Full Tilt was not a legitimate poker company but a global Ponzi scheme,” said Preet S. Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, whose office filed the complaint on Tuesday.

Barry Boss, a lawyer for Full Tilt, which had its headquarters in Ireland, was on a flight and unavailable to comment, a person at his office said.

Prosecutors said they first exposed the scheme this spring while investigating other problems at Full Tilt Poker and two other poker sites, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker, all of which were based outside the United States. In April, the government shut down access to the sites for American players, arguing that they were violating fraud and money-laundering laws.

Before that, American players had wagered hundreds of millions of dollars on the sites. From their home computers, players would put money into accounts with the virtual poker clubs and then bet against one another.

Full Tilt, like the others, told players that it kept their money — including their winnings — in accounts that they could tap into or close out at any time. And the company had a reputation for paying back players in a timely fashion.

When the sites were shut down, prosecutors worked out agreements with them to help them repay players what they were owed.

But reimbursements to Full Tilt players slowed or stopped altogether. The money available turned out to be insufficient, according to prosecutors, because the owners and board members of Full Tilt had themselves tapped those accounts for $440 million since April 2007.

The management’s luck, it would seem, ran out.

Among those profiting, the complaint claims, were some of the biggest names in poker: Howard Lederer, nicknamed the Professor, is said to have received payouts of $42 million. Chris Ferguson, nicknamed Jesus in the poker-playing community for his long hair, received at least $25 million and was “owed” $60 million more, prosecutors said. The two men could not be reached for comment.

Greg Brooks, an accomplished poker player who was once a regular player at Full Tilt, said the federal complaint was a painful eye-opener about what was happening behind the scenes at Full Tilt. In the past, he said, he regularly received sums in excess of $100,000 from Full Tilt, paid within a week of his request, suggesting that he could get access to his money whenever he wanted.

“My impression was that things were working well for years. I had no inkling, not even the slightest guess it wasn’t like that,” he said.

Mr. Brooks, who lives in New York, said he was owed a sum in the “low- to mid-six figures” by Full Tilt that he doubts that he will get back. (He said he was reimbursed a substantial but lesser amount by Poker Stars.) And he added that he was particularly upset with some of the fixtures in the poker community who, he said, paraded around as “brand ambassadors” for Full Tilt. Their behavior, he said, represented a major breach of trust and honor among players. “There’s an inherent level of trust and handshaking in the poker community that is unique to it,” he said.

In its complaint, which is meant to amend the original criminal complaint unsealed in April, the government asks that the members of Full Tilt management forfeit illicitly gained funds. Under federal rules, Full Tilt players could have the opportunity to petition for their money once the lawsuit is resolved.

Some advocates for legalizing online poker pointed to the complaint as another reason that the activity should be federally licensed and regulated.

“This is a system that has been forced into place by the failure of the U.S. to regulate online gambling,” said Lawrence Walters, a Florida lawyer who specializes in gambling and First Amendment law, arguing that players had to send money to risky overseas accounts. “The prohibitionists have gotten their way so far.”

He also quibbled with the government’s characterization of Full Tilt as a Ponzi scheme. He said that the government was using a “focus-group” tested term to get attention, when the allegations suggest that the management of Full Tilt may simply have been lying to players and possibly embezzling funds.

He also said he didn’t think that what prosecutors said happened at Full Tilt was happening in the rest of the industry.

“This is not endemic to the industry,” Mr. Walters said. “Sites live and die on their reputation. To the extent sites get a reputation for slow pay or no pay, that will quickly circulate.”

[TheChipPrince]

Anyone have cliffs?  Missed a lot of the recent news.

Dare I ask what anyone on here has lost?

Gutting stuff.

[MANTIS01]

Anyone have cliffs?  Missed a lot of the recent news.

Dare I ask what anyone on here has lost?

Gutting stuff.

Basically what happened was Lederer and his mates did an advert where they all walked through a casino looking moody with everyone staring and some electric guitar playing chikka chikka bow wow as they bowled along. Then they showed us how Jesus Ferguson could throw cards at some bananas while more funky music played. The appeal to join this cool gang with the long leather coats and the sick banana slicing tekkers was irrepressible for ordinary people like us. The publicity was all designed to convince us to put our money into Full Tilt and to be winners at poker and life just like them. However, this was actually a massive big grim because when we put our money onto Full Tilt they took it out and spent it on themselves or gave it to Phil Ivey to spunk up the wall. Now there is no money left and the cool gang will prob go to prison where the inmates will show Jesus and friends some new banana tricks. All concerned fail at poker and fail at life chikka chikka bow wow. Oh and is the owner of this forum still proudly sporting his Full Tilt patches on the live circuit? Prob time to stop doing that now imo.

[titaniumbean]

Mantis ftw!

[bobAlike]

Anyone have cliffs?  Missed a lot of the recent news.

Dare I ask what anyone on here has lost?

Gutting stuff.

Basically what happened was Lederer and his mates did an advert where they all walked through a casino looking moody with everyone staring and some electric guitar playing chikka chikka bow wow as they bowled along. Then they showed us how Jesus Ferguson could throw cards at some bananas while more funky music played. The appeal to join this cool gang with the long leather coats and the sick banana slicing tekkers was irrepressible for ordinary people like us. The publicity was all designed to convince us to put our money into Full Tilt and to be winners at poker and life just like them. However, this was actually a massive big grim because when we put our money onto Full Tilt they took it out and spent it on themselves or gave it to Phil Ivey to spunk up the wall. Now there is no money left and the cool gang will prob go to prison where the inmates will show Jesus and friends some new banana tricks. All concerned fail at poker and fail at life chikka chikka bow wow. Oh and is the owner of this forum still proudly sporting his Full Tilt patches on the live circuit? Prob time to stop doing that now imo.

 

[ManuelsMum]

“This is a system that has been forced into place by the failure of the U.S. to regulate online gambling,” said Lawrence Walters, a Florida lawyer who specializes in gambling and First Amendment law, arguing that players had to send money to risky overseas accounts. “The prohibitionists have gotten their way so far.”

He also quibbled with the government’s characterization of Full Tilt as a Ponzi scheme. He said that the government was using a “focus-group” tested term to get attention, when the allegations suggest that the management of Full Tilt may simply have been lying to players and possibly embezzling funds.

He also said he didn’t think that what prosecutors said happened at Full Tilt was happening in the rest of the industry.

“This is not endemic to the industry,” Mr. Walters said. “Sites live and die on their reputation. To the extent sites get a reputation for slow pay or no pay, that will quickly circulate.”

Can you become a lawyer in the USA by buying a certificate at Walmart? Cos this guy sounds like a bit of an idiot.

Also, if you're short of funds cos:
-you've been passing loads of dosh to Lederer et al
-you're giving some players chips even though you didn't get cash from their credit cards at the deposit stage

And then when these players want to cashout you just use the money from more recent deposits....

that's pretty close to a Ponzi scheme.

[George2Loose]

Wow Mantis calling out flushy. Epic

[Jon MW]

“This is a system that has been forced into place by the failure of the U.S. to regulate online gambling,” said Lawrence Walters, a Florida lawyer who specializes in gambling and First Amendment law, arguing that players had to send money to risky overseas accounts. “The prohibitionists have gotten their way so far.”

He also quibbled with the government’s characterization of Full Tilt as a Ponzi scheme. He said that the government was using a “focus-group” tested term to get attention, when the allegations suggest that the management of Full Tilt may simply have been lying to players and possibly embezzling funds.

He also said he didn’t think that what prosecutors said happened at Full Tilt was happening in the rest of the industry.

“This is not endemic to the industry,” Mr. Walters said. “Sites live and die on their reputation. To the extent sites get a reputation for slow pay or no pay, that will quickly circulate.”

Can you become a lawyer in the USA by buying a certificate at Walmart? Cos this guy sounds like a bit of an idiot.

Also, if you're short of funds cos:
-you've been passing loads of dosh to Lederer et al
-you're giving some players chips even though you didn't get cash from their credit cards at the deposit stage

And then when these players want to cashout you just use the money from more recent deposits....

that's pretty close to a Ponzi scheme.

They had company money they kept for their own personal use - sounds more like embezzling to me

[smashedagain]

Anyone have cliffs?  Missed a lot of the recent news.

Dare I ask what anyone on here has lost?

Gutting stuff.

Basically what happened was Lederer and his mates did an advert where they all walked through a casino looking moody with everyone staring and some electric guitar playing chikka chikka bow wow as they bowled along. Then they showed us how Jesus Ferguson could throw cards at some bananas while more funky music played. The appeal to join this cool gang with the long leather coats and the sick banana slicing tekkers was irrepressible for ordinary people like us. The publicity was all designed to convince us to put our money into Full Tilt and to be winners at poker and life just like them. However, this was actually a massive big grim because when we put our money onto Full Tilt they took it out and spent it on themselves or gave it to Phil Ivey to spunk up the wall. Now there is no money left and the cool gang will prob go to prison where the inmates will show Jesus and friends some new banana tricks. All concerned fail at poker and fail at life chikka chikka bow wow. Oh and is the owner of this forum still proudly sporting his Full Tilt patches on the live circuit? Prob time to stop doing that now imo.

lol....i reckon you are the only person that could ever come close to rivaling the diary of eso kral. please start a diary.
disclaimer...i love flushy and despite what some people thinkabout this whole situation is not all his fault, just some of it.

[TightEnd]

The iGaming Post has been told by sources close to the hearing in London held by the AGCC & Full Tilt Poker representatives, that the decision by The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) is to permanently revoke the License held by Full Tilt Poker.

This is still unconfirmed by either the AGCC & Full Tilt Poker , as neither were available for comment when the Post received this information.

We understand that the AGCC are still discussing other subjects in the Plaza Suite at the Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel, concerning license fees owed by Full Tilt Poker to the AGCC and how to proceed recovering them.

Also let us stress still unconfirmed but we have been told that Full Tilt Poker announced that should the license be revoked then the company would certainly fall into liquidation as no investors have been found to help the desperately struggling company.

[TightEnd]

Posted by Rafe Furst in Uncategorized on September 21st, 2011 | 3 Comments

By now you’ve no doubt heard about the allegations against me in a Federal civil suit regarding Full Tilt Poker.  Because of the seriousness of the allegations I’m not able to comment at all about the pending case, much as I would like to.  From a moral, personal and interpersonal perspective I feel I’ve got nothing to hide.  And since I trust in our system of justice and have the utmost respect for my legal counsel, I will refrain from talking about the case until it’s resolved.

What I would like to express here is concern for my family, friends, colleagues and supporters who believe in me and who feel my pain as if it were their own.  It sucks to have to endure the character assassination and potshots being taken at me in the media and social networks without being able to defend myself.  Privately though I have received incredible support from many of you, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me.  May you never have to endure something like this, but if you do, I hope you have friends as good as mine.

To the skeptics, please consider that not everything you read is true, and our society is built on a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.  It’s difficult to take back hurtful things that you might later regret, when the damage has already been done.

To those of you who have asked what you can do to show your support, I am grateful for the offer.  My only request at this time would be to not let the naysayers and haters be the only voices out there expressing their opinion of me. My twitter is @rafefurst, and I’d love to hear from you publicly.

With Respect and Love,

Rafe

[AndrewT]

Unconfirmed report that the AGCC have revoked Full Tilt's licence permanently.

http://gaming-awards.com/NEWS/249/revoked-full-tilt-poker-license

EDIT: Ninja'd by Tighty.

[TightEnd]

http://unibetambassadors.com/blog/here-lies-full-tilt/

[TightEnd]

On Tuesday, following the U.S. Attorney’s filing of an Amended Complaint in the federal civil action pending in connection with the April 15th 2011 indictments, Epic Poker League’s Standards & Conduct Committee indefinitely suspended League members Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. The Amended Complaint named Lederer and Ferguson as defendants, specifically in relation to their roles as directors of Full Tilt Poker from April 2007 to April 2011. Committee Chairman Stephen Martin said, “The Committee voted to suspend Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson indefinitely, pending the outcome of the Department of Justice’s action.” Martin, a former federal prosecutor, serves as the Independent Ethics Advisor to Epic Poker.

Martin emphasized the following factors in the Committee’s decision:

(1) Although the Amended Complaint constitutes a civil, and not criminal, action and facts are alleged but not yet proven, “the specificity of the allegations and the fact they came from the United States government made this the right course of action in the best interests of the players in the League.”

(2) “The government chose to name Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson individually in their roles as members of the board of directors Full Tilt.”

(3) The Committee will continue to monitor the legal actions. “If other members are named in the actions, the Committee will consider additional disciplinary action.”

The Committee’s jurisdiction is based on Player Disciplinary Policy and the Players’ Code of Conduct. Howard Lederer, who has signed those documents and is a 5-year cardholder, is indefinitely suspended. Chris Ferguson, who has not yet signed League documents but is eligible for a 5-year card, has also been suspended.  Neither Howard Lederer nor Chris Ferguson has yet to play in an Epic Poker League event.

Committee member Andy Bloch recused himself from consideration of the issue. Commissioner Annie Duke, while a non-voting member of the committee, does not participate in any committee decisions or discussions that involve league member discipline.

The Notice of Disciplinary Action of September 20, 2011 appears on EpicPoker.com’s Standards & Conduct page. http://www.epicpoker.com/events/standards-and-conduct.aspx

[doubleup]

that's pretty close to a Ponzi scheme.

If it was a ponzi scheme the DoJ would have filed criminal charges instead of trying to seize more funds for its personal use while shouting "ponzi scheme" to justify this act.  

Btw this whole affair has been caused by stupid americans, thieving americans and talibanesque americans.  
-Stupid americans open a poker site,
-talibanesque americans pass laws making it difficult to get money on site,
-stupid americans try to get round the laws using dodgy processors and getting money stolen by thieving americans and seized by talibanesque americans,
-thieving americans make multiple deposiits on site when they realise their bank accounts aren't being debited,
-stupid americans dont notice this until almost all the fcking money has gone,
-talibanesque americans seize what is left of the money