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Posts Tagged ‘Black Friday’
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
There is more updated news on the Full Tilt Poker front as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed to a deal that would see Groupe Bernard Tapie purchase the assets of the floundering online poker room: IF the current ownership agrees to forfeit those assets to the DOJ according to an article that appeared on money.cnn.com this past Friday.
The deal would call for the DOJ to make restitution to US players that have been unable to withdraw some $150 million from the site since Black Friday, while Groupe Bernard Tapie would take on the responsibility of repaying players from the rest of the world. However, it was implied by Full Tilt Poker attorney Jeff Ifrah that a 100% payment is not guaranteed, and that players would have to fill out a request to the DOJ.
If payments on account balances are not 100% guaranteed, it’s quite unlikely that the DOJ would honor Full Tilt Poker Points accumulated by players, some having amassed tens of thousands of dollars worth of these now potentially worthless points.
Groupe Bernard Tapie would shell out $80 million for the assets, which when combined with the up to $250 million owed by Full Tilt poker to players from the rest of the world makes this a huge amount of capitol to sink into the poker room.
By agreeing to forfeit their assets, Full Tilt Poker will have the civil complaints dropped against the site itself (although charges would still remain against key individuals specifically named by the DOJ).
Tags: Account Balances, Assets, Bernard Tapie, Black Friday, Civil Complaints, Cnn, Department Of Justice, Doj, Full Tilt Poker, Gbt, Money, online poker, Poker Players, Poker Room, Rest Of The World, Restitution, Tens Of Thousands, Thousands Of Dollars, Us Department Of Justice
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
The poker world let out a collective “ONE TIME” yesterday afternoon after learning that Groupe Bernard Tapie had come to an agreement with the US Department of Justice that would allow players from around the world to be repaid IF they can now convince 2/3 of Full Tilt Poker shareholders to sell to GBT.
Subject: Poker broke the story, posting an E-Mail sent to Full Tilt shareholders by CEO Ray Bitar:
Dear members,
I am pleased to announce that today the Department of Justice and Groupe Bernard Tapie have reached an agreement in principle regarding the acquisition of the companies comprising FullTiltPoker. My understanding is the deal provides that in exchange for an agreed upon payment by GBT, and a GBT commitment to assume responsibility for payment of ROW players, DoJ will reimburse US players and settle the outstanding civil litigation with the companies comprising FTP. Beyond these conditions, issues like the time frame and process for repayment of players remain unclear at this point and time.
With DoJ’s consent now in hand, GBT may now proceed to finalize an agreement to acquire the companies or assets that comprise FTP. That agreement will very likely address the status of your shares or interests in the successor company. When I receive that agreement, I will coordinate with our attorneys to ensure the terms of that proposed agreement will be shared with the membership and voted on.
-Ray
According to Subject: Poker, the deal agreed to by GBT and the DOJ would call for the DOJ to repay US players (most likely from the hundreds of millions seized before and after Black Friday) while GBT would take on the responsibility of player funds from the rest of the world.
Of course there are still some hurdles to clear, and it remains unclear how the DOJ would repay players. For a look at some of the issues that could arise you can check out this article from CalvinAyre.com.
Tags: Acquisition, Assets, Attorneys, Bernard Tapie, Black Friday, Ceo, Civil Litigation, Department Of Justice, Doj, E Mail, Full Tilt Poker, Hurdles, Poker World, Principle, Rest Of The World, Shareholders, Successor Company, Time Frame, Us Department Of Justice, Yesterday Afternoon
Posted in Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
The poker world let out a collective “ONE TIME” yesterday afternoon after learning that Groupe Bernard Tapie had come to an agreement with the US Department of Justice that would allow players from around the world to be repaid IF they can now convince 2/3 of Full Tilt Poker shareholders to sell to GBT.
Subject: Poker broke the story, posting an E-Mail sent to Full Tilt shareholders by CEO Ray Bitar:
Dear members,
I am pleased to announce that today the Department of Justice and Groupe Bernard Tapie have reached an agreement in principle regarding the acquisition of the companies comprising FullTiltPoker. My understanding is the deal provides that in exchange for an agreed upon payment by GBT, and a GBT commitment to assume responsibility for payment of ROW players, DoJ will reimburse US players and settle the outstanding civil litigation with the companies comprising FTP. Beyond these conditions, issues like the time frame and process for repayment of players remain unclear at this point and time.
With DoJ’s consent now in hand, GBT may now proceed to finalize an agreement to acquire the companies or assets that comprise FTP. That agreement will very likely address the status of your shares or interests in the successor company. When I receive that agreement, I will coordinate with our attorneys to ensure the terms of that proposed agreement will be shared with the membership and voted on.
-Ray
According to Subject: Poker, the deal agreed to by GBT and the DOJ would call for the DOJ to repay US players (most likely from the hundreds of millions seized before and after Black Friday) while GBT would take on the responsibility of player funds from the rest of the world.
Of course there are still some hurdles to clear, and it remains unclear how the DOJ would repay players. For a look at some of the issues that could arise you can check out this article from CalvinAyre.com.
Tags: Bernard Tapie, Black Friday, Civil Litigation, Department Of Justice, Doj, E Mail, Full Tilt Poker, Hurdles, Poker World, Rest Of The World, Shareholders, Successor Company, Us Department Of Justice, Yesterday Afternoon
Posted in Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Despite the virtual online poker blackout in the United States, the online poker training site BlueFire Poker has continued to grow, including making some major additions to their already impressive roster of poker coaches. The latest addition to the BlueFire Poker team is one of the most well-respected poker coaches in the industry, Dusty “Leatherass9” Schmidt.
Schmidt is one of the most successful online poker grinders in the history of the game, and has no qualms about being a grinder; evidenced by his chosen online poker moniker of “Leatherass”. Schmidt can boast what is possibly the single greatest statistic in online poker history: He has never had a losing month in his 5-year career!
The former Team PokerStars Pro (Schmidt resigned his position with PokerStars following Black Friday) and perennial Supernova Elite player has also authored several highly acclaimed poker books including Treat Your Poker Like A Business and Don’t Listen to Phil Hellmuth.
Schmidt’s role at BlueFire Poker will be to create 6-max and full ring NLHE content for the site, which already boasts such online poker heavyweights as Phil “OMGClayAiken/MrSweets28” Galfond, 2010 WSOP November Niner Jason “PBJaxx” Senti, High Stakes pros Niman “Samoleus” Kenkre and Martin “Dr Giggy” Fournier-Giguere, as well as the more recently added Sit & Go and Multi-Table tournament pros.
You can check out Dusty Schmidt’s BlueFire Poker bio page here and as always BlueFire Poker is offering a free 7-Day trial to anyone interested in giving the site a trial run.
Tags: Black Friday, Blackout, Elite Player, Former Team, Fournier, Giggy, Grinder, Grinders, Heavyweights, Impressive Roster, Latest Addition, Moniker, Niner, Omgclayaiken, online poker, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Books, Qualms, Statistic, WSOP
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
As the saga that began on Black Friday (nearly 6-months ago) continues to unfold for Full Tilt poker the news simply gets worse and worse for both Full Tilt poker and the thousands of online poker players who have some $390 million frozen in their Full Tilt poker accounts.
On Thursday morning the Aldernay Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) decided to fully revoke the operating license of Full Tilt Poker, after releasing its findings from the hearing that took place about a week ago in London.
In the initial press release and subsequent detailed findings, the poker world became aware of a number of things. First and foremost, Full Tilt poker representatives refused to take part in the hearing when their request for a further adjournment was denied –Full Tilt was then represented by AGCC officials in the hearing, who presented the site’s side of the case.
Additionally, it seems Full Tilt Poker was required to segregate player funds, as the AGCC listed the following regulation as one of the many Full Tilt poker was in violation of: “The Company will ensure that, at all times, there are sufficient funds in this account to cover all balances held by the company on behalf of its customers. The Company confirms that this account is not used as a security for any other operational liability”.
Another interesting revelation was that Full Tilt poker was fudging the financial statements it was sending to the AGCC by including funds that had been seized by the US government, as well as the shortfall caused by accepting eCheck deposits from US players when they had no means of processing the transaction –this “credit” to players accounts was also something the site was prohibited from doing under their licensing agreement.
You can read the entire press release here, and the complete list of charges here
Tags: Adjournment, Agcc, Black Friday, Breaking News, Complete List, Entire Press, Financial Statements, Full Tilt Poker, Gambling Control, Initial Press, Licensing Agreement, online poker, Poker Players, Poker World, Press Release, Revelation, Saga, Shortfall, Thursday Morning, Us Government
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Just as things were starting to settle down in the poker world, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York decided to rip off the band-aid that had been placed over Full Tilt poker since Black Friday by issuing a proposed amendment to the civil complaint it filed in conjunction with its Black Friday criminal case.
In the proposed amendment US Attorney Preet Bharara called Full Tilt Poker a “Global Ponzi Scheme” stating, “Full Tilt insiders lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited,”
Also, for the first time Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst were named as owners of the company –while some 19 other owners/shareholders were spared having their names attached to the amended complaint, most likely because of the limited roles they had in the operation of the company.
The complaint alleges that Full Tilt Poker stated in numerous E-Mails and on public message forums that player’ funds were safe and secure, and were kept segregated form operational expenses –which turned out to not be the case. The complaint also alleges that Full Tilt Poker owners were paid over $443 million between 2007 and 2011, and these payments continued even after problems arose in the processing of US player funds, and even in the days before Black Friday.
You can read the entire complaint at the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/65666240/Amended-Full-Tilt-Poker-Complaint-PR
Tags: Band Aid, Black Friday, Chris Ferguson, Civil Complaint, Criminal Case, Doj, Full Tilt Poker, Howard Lederer, Insiders, Loyal Customers, Operational Expenses, Pockets, Poker World, Ponzi Scheme, Public Message Forums, Rafe Furst, Safety And Security, Scribd, Southern District Of New York, Time Howard
Posted in Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
In a scene reminiscent to the way the company initially conveyed their message to the public after Black Friday, a representative from Full Tilt Poker –this time Full Tilt Poker attorney Jeff Ifrah—has been answering questions on the 2+2 Poker Forum. Ifrah has been actively engaged in the conversation since just after the site issued their most recent statement –which was their first in a very long time—on the status of negotiations with potential investors.
Ifrah has been peppered with questions since creating his 2+2 account, some of which are legitimate concerns from the players, while others are the usual half-cocked theories that seem to plague these sorts of threads. Overall Ifrah’s responses have been what you would expect from an attorney, neither corroborating anything or flat out denying things, all the while leaving enough wiggle room to maneuver should things go in a different direction.
That said, the communication line between Full Tilt Poker and the poker world as a whole has been non-existent for roughly two months, so any correspondence is a welcome sight at this point. Here is a look of at a few of the more straightforward questions that Ifrah has answered:
- Ray Bitar is still the CEO of Full Tilt Poker
- The 8-week silence from the company is from a confidentiality agreement with one group of investors
- Full Tilt Poker will be releasing more statements in the near future
For anyone interested in reading through the lengthy thread you can find it at 2+2
Tags: Answering Questions, Bitar, Black Friday, Ceo, Communication Line, Confidentiality Agreement, Correspondence, Full Tilt Poker, Investors, Legitimate Concerns, Lengthy Thread, Long Time, Negotiations, Poker Forum, Poker World, Silence, Sorts, Straightforward Questions, Welcome Sight, Wiggle Room
Posted in Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Friday, August 19th, 2011
If you’re not familiar with the work of Thomas “SrslySirius” Keeling from QuadJacks you can check out his category of Weird Al Yankovic type music videos on YouTube, dealing with just a single subject: Poker. The videos are pretty hit or miss, with some of the more popular ones being a remake of Rebecca Black’s Friday, which focuses on Joe Sebok, a remake of Party in the USA titled Party at the DOJ obviously dealing with Black Friday, and his collaboration with the Micros to make the Erik Seidel inspired Seiborg.
Of course there have been a few flops (in my opinion of course), including an ode to Prahlad Friedman signing with UB Poker, Black and Yellow; a recent entry titled F**K You featuring Howard Lederer; as well as the older Message-board Grinder and Poker Conspiracy videos.
However, Srslysirius may have outdone himself with his latest entry dealing with the ongoing Jose “girah” Macedo, Haseeb “DogisHead” Qureshi, and Daniel “jungleman12” Cates, scandal playing out on 2+2 — with a little help from the DMX song What’s my Name.
The video had me laughing from start to finish (especially when the first DOG – IS – HEAD! Fires off). Keeling threw in a lot of 2+2 specifics just for the forum nerds, like a reference to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tyler Smith, and even a mention of the lurid rumor that Qureshi just might be gay.
Here is a link to the video on the QuadJacks YouTube page
One thing to realize is that these videos are not meant for little ones, so if the kids are around “Ear Muffs”.
Tags: Black Friday, Doj, Ear Muffs, Erik Seidel, F Scott Fitzgerald, Featuring Howard Lederer, Haseeb, Joe Sebok, Little Ones, Macedo, Micros, Music Video, Music Videos, Prahlad Friedman, Qureshi, Rebecca Black, Tyler Smith, Type Music, Weird Al Yankovic, Youtube
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
According to a number of unspecified sources it looks as though one potential purchaser of Full Tilt Poker is a conglomerate of online poker companies that includes Playtech, Bwin and 888 Poker. These rumors go against the earlier reports that were coming out of Full Tilt Poker headquarters stating that the likely investors were not associated with the online poker industry. So it’s unclear whether the rumors are mere speculation, if Full Tilt Poker was not completely forthcoming with who the investors were, or if the initial investors have dropped out allowing the online poker companies to make a late push at purchasing the site.
Since Black Friday, Full Tilt Poker has been struggling to stay afloat, as the veil has been lifted from the shiny exterior to reveal what amounts to a company using a lot of smoke and mirrors to give off the semblance of a well-oiled machine. Among the secrets revealed were that player funds were used for marketing and operational expenditures, rogue employees were selling 100% rakeback accounts on the side, and that the site had allowed players to deposit via eCheck despite not having a payment processor capable of making the transaction –something that caused a $160 million shortfall when Full Tilt tried to collect these deposits months after the fact.
Should the rumors be true, and Full Tilt Poker is purchased by a menagerie of current online poker sites, it’s likely the first order of business would be to repay the players who have been waiting since mid-April to retrieve their funds from the site. Any other course of action by the new owners would make the Full Tilt Poker brand a toxic asset in the poker world.
Tags: Black Friday, Bwin, Conglomerate, Echeck, Full Tilt Poker, Initial Investors, Marketing, Menagerie, Online Poker Sites, Operational Expenditures, Order Of Business, Payment Processor, Poker World, Purchaser, Semblance, Shortfall, Speculation, True Poker, Veil, Well Oiled Machine
Posted in Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Monday, August 15th, 2011
The coaching roster at Bluefire Poker has been growing since the beginning of the year, and despite Black Friday the number of poker coaches at the site has once again increased. Bluefire Poker recently ran a contest to determine their next poker coach, and after tons of feedback from their members, one of the industry’s top poker training sites has decided on adding not one but two new coaches!
Here is a look at the new coaches at the site:
JP Zdancewicz
A Heads-Up and 6-Max No Limit Holdem and PLO specialist who began playing in 2007, JP knows a thing or two about coaching as he drew upon some of the best minds in the industry when he first started out himself. Now JP finds himself on the other end of the player/coach relationship, having already helped 20 students himself.
Coleman Whitsitt
Another Heads-Up and 6-Max specialist, Coleman focuses exclusively on No Limit Holdem and can be found playing anywhere from $2/$4 to $25/$50 when the conditions are right. Coleman received his own poker education from top players like Jay Rosenkrantz and Daniel Cates, and take credit for some of fellow Bluefire Poker coach JP Zdancewicz’s success, having coached his good friend early in his career.
The duo will join an already stacked roster of poker coaches which includes Bluefire Poker owner and founder Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, 2010 WSOP November Niner Jason Senti, Niman “Samoleus” Kenkre, and Martin Fournier Giguere.
For more information on Bluefire Poker or to take advantage of their free 7-day trial you can visit their website at www.bluefirepoker.com
Tags: Black Friday, Coaching, Coleman, Education, Giguere, Good Friend, Jp, Martin Fournier, Niman, Niner, Omgclayaiken, Player Coach, Plo, Poker Sites, Relationship, Rosenkrantz, WSOP
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
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