Alderney suspends Full Tilt's operating license

[absoluthamm]

What Full Tilt have done is nowhere near as bad as what happened with Absolute/UB, and people still continued to deposit there. Also if you're in the US you couldn't have put money into Full Tilt even if you wanted to, so all this smug "I'm so clever with the benefit of hindsight and you're all so stupid" talk is largely rhetorical. I hope it makes you feel better, anyway

First, I am in no way saying that anyone that kept depositing on Absolute/UB was smart either. And no, it is pretty much the general consensus of the thinking poker world that anyone that had deposited into FT before they paid out US players was a damn fool(coming from both US AND International players on multiple boards), because it was obvious that they didn't have the funds for them, so what would make you think that by the time you were wanting to make your withdraw, that they would have the amount? Sorry, but you're completely wrong, I do a little research before I put money into a company, and if it's on fire, then it will stay where it's safe... Not sure if I can dumb it down any more than that.

 

[dj11]

and yes i am sick of some of stupidity in this country anymore, overall the usa is NOT ok. so i cant complain, there isnt too much religious right here anymore.

FYP.

While we enlightened souls have diminished the effects of the religious right here in California, they have gained strength in the heartland of America and are determined to completely ruin the USA, and they are more successful at it than we enlightened ones.......

 

[dj11]

What Full Tilt have done is nowhere near as bad as what happened with Absolute/UB,

I think this perception needs some serious re-thinking.

At the time the Cereus (they weren't Cereus then) scandal arose, both AP and UB were doing good, financially, and had no payment issues. The scandal arose because of the acts of single individuals, who could have been singled out for prosecution. I for one think Cereus handled it fairly well considering it was 5 years ago, and the industry was and is still developing. Nothing quite like that had happened before, and fixing a new problem ended up being a good thing in general.

FullTilt on the other hand seems to have had a corporate mentality that acted on the notion they had invented the ultimate money machine, which while being almost true, was misused, mismanaged, and in the end abusive of ALL its customers, whereas the only folks at the AP/UB issue to have suffered where the high rollers.

In both these cases the internet effect just magnified a long existing problem with card based gaming. Card sharks have forever been dealing from the bottom of the deck, but only a table full of players would be affected. With the internet, and software to help, the # of players affected was effectively everyone who played at these sites, during these incidents.

There will be other improprieties in the future. Can not be prevented without severe scrutiny. It is part of the risk involved with money management in gaming situations. Off the top of my head I will guess that all hand odds might be adjusted .5% against us for the unknowable 'asshole who runs this place' conundrum.

 

[F4STFORW4RD]

I think this perception needs some serious re-thinking.

At the time the Cereus (they weren't Cereus then) scandal arose, both Absolute Poker and UB were doing good, financially, and had no payment issues. The scandal arose because of the acts of single individuals, who could have been singled out for prosecution. I for one think Cereus handled it fairly well considering it was 5 years ago, and the industry was and is still developing. Nothing quite like that had happened before, and fixing a new problem ended up being a good thing in general.

FullTilt on the other hand seems to have had a corporate mentality that acted on the notion they had invented the ultimate money machine, which while being almost true, was misused, mismanaged, and in the end abusive of ALL its customers, whereas the only folks at the Absolute Poker/UB issue to have suffered where the high rollers.

In both these cases the internet effect just magnified a long existing problem with card based gaming. Card sharks have forever been dealing from the bottom of the deck, but only a table full of players would be affected. With the internet, and software to help, the # of players affected was effectively everyone who played at these sites, during these incidents.

There will be other improprieties in the future. Can not be prevented without severe scrutiny. It is part of the risk involved with money management in gaming situations. Off the top of my head I will guess that all hand odds might be adjusted .5% against us for the unknowable 'asshole who runs this place' conundrum.

Full Tilt had a licence which did not specify that they had to keep player money separate, and they operated in accordance with that licence. Obviously if you have a source of working capital which you don't have to pay interest on, it gives you an enormous advantage against other businesses who would have to borrow money and pay interest on it. As far as I am concerned Full Tilt made two strategic mistakes, firstly they did not put enough effort into customer service, secondly they put too much emphasis on the US market. They were not, and are not, corrupt.

They have been put in a very difficult situation by the US government, because the reality is that the land of the free is NOT actually the land of the free, because there is no way that a citizen of a place that bans online poker is actually free. I might expect it in a place that was totally dominated by religious freaks... oh, hold on... wait a minute... (please note that this paragraph was said with tongue firmly in cheek )

It is very easy to suggest that what happened at Abolute/UB was the action of just one rogue person, but there was quite a lot of evidence to suggest that top people there knew what was going on and chose to turn a blind eye. What happened there was corruption. That is far worse than anything Full Tilt have done. Full Tilt is not particularly unusual in the sense that it is poorly managed, either, a lot of companies that I have encountered are so badly run that it amazes me that they manage to stay in business at all. That is completely different to being corrupt.

 

[Poker Orifice]

First, I am in no way saying that anyone that kept depositing on Absolute/UB was smart either. And no, it is pretty much the general consensus of the thinking poker world that anyone that had deposited into FT before they paid out US players was a damn fool(coming from both US AND International players on multiple boards), because it was obvious that they didn't have the funds for them, so what would make you think that by the time you were wanting to make your withdraw, that they would have the amount? Sorry, but you're completely wrong, I do a little research before I put money into a company, and if it's on fire, then it will stay where it's safe... Not sure if I can dumb it down any more than that.

..... even though there were many games going, "softer fields" & non-US getting paid out regularly. (not to mention that I'm sure in the opinion of all FTP regs., the FTP software RULES over the other sites.... in other words, FTP diehards prolly don't particularly like playin' on other sites).

 

[okeedokalee]

Agree PO.Using 888poker at the mo' and starting to enjoy my aces kings and queens not being cracked relentlessly so as an FT die hard may adjust to this new environment although it is early days yet.

If FT does not re-start will stay on 888 and try Party and Luvinpoker.

The best thing FT offers is a wide variety of games.

 

[cardriverx]

http://www.subjectpoker.com/2011/07/agcc-in-talks-with-ftp/

Some more good news. Nothing certain though.

 

[Skinhead]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo America is like umbrella from resident evil. Trying to take over the internet. This bullshit is cos of the feds. See you on party poker while thats still there.

 

[F4STFORW4RD]

http://www.subjectpoker.com/2011/07/agcc-in-talks-with-ftp/

Some more good news. Nothing certain though.

While ARJEL’s announcement of the scheduled meeting appeared to stress the downtime and players’ inability to access their accounts as the French regulatory authority’s primary complaint against Full Tilt Poker, the suspension notice makes clear that the poker site and ARJEL have had other problems: The notice says that ARJEL asked Full Tilt Poker to submit a new application for licensing on May 12 to show that French players’ funds were secure. According to ARJEL, FTP’s application, submitted on June 17th, was incomplete. It also cites Full Tilt’s failure to keep its players informed of the situation since the site went down on Wednesday as another reason for the suspension. Indeed, Full Tilt Poker has released no public statement since both the French and international sites went down on June 29th, and their web site has displayed various messages blaming the downtime on “scheduled maintenance” or “a system update.”

http://www.subjectpoker.com/2011/07/ftps-french-license-suspended/

 

[ALL IN CLUBS]

They emailed this back to me this morning.

 

[absoluthamm]

Why don't you just copy/paste those emails? Not only does it take longer to print screen/paste/edit/save/attach/upload/submit, but it also is always cut off so you can't read the whole thing. I don't understand why people screenshot only text...

 

[Poker Orifice]

What?

 

[absoluthamm]

FU

 

[coolnout]

http://wickedchopspoker.com/ray-bitar-out-at-full-tilt-alderney-to-unsuspend-license/ bitar out, hopefully license gets unsuspended by friday

 

[F4STFORW4RD]

Some Tilt employees are being told that Alderney will unsuspend the company’s gaming license by the weekend, possibly as early as Friday.

Please, please, please - pretty please!

 

[woody19]

http://wickedchopspoker.com/ray-bitar-out-at-full-tilt-alderney-to-unsuspend-license/ bitar out, hopefully license gets unsuspended by friday
really hope so i miss fulltilt sooooooooooooooo much

 

[Poker Orifice]

cool news there coolnout

 

[OzExorcist]

Direct result of me using my One Time, obv

 

[kidkvno1]

http://wickedchopspoker.com/ray-bitar-out-at-full-tilt-alderney-to-unsuspend-license/ bitar out, hopefully license gets unsuspended by friday

Cool, maybe it's all of the ppl emailing them.

 

[Poker Orifice]

Cool, maybe it's all of the ppl emailing them.

For sure! That ^ must be it.

 

[cardriverx]

http://wickedchopspoker.com/ray-bitar-out-at-full-tilt-alderney-to-unsuspend-license/ bitar out, hopefully license gets unsuspended by friday

So far this is the only site to report this information, and to my knowledge, it's not that reputable a site.

It's a good sign, but no big or respectable sites have backed it (Subject Poker, actual news sites)

I hope it's true.

 

[serendipity]

I can't believe you guys are going to consider Full Tilt after this debacle. I am hoping they get their license too, so I can get my money out and put it somewhere that takes the business seriously.

 

[OzExorcist]

So far this is the only site to report this information, and to my knowledge, it's not that reputable a site.

FWIW (I have no connection to them or anything like that) over the years I've found Wicked Chops to be one of the best informed and most intelligent poker blogs around.

Sure the stupid name, jokes and preoccupation with posting barely-safe-for-work pictures of girls makes it seem like you shouldn't trust them for serious news but in my experience the opposite has actually been true and they certainly don't have a reputation for just making stuff up.

 

[Amroth]

Wow, that would be pretty good news. Hope they are true and we can get into by friday.
And also good news for those of you who want to take the money out of there.

Anyway, do you think they will be able to let people get their money out of there just by the moment they reopen¿?

It seems to me that if they had problems with money withdrawals last weeks they may not have solved them yet. What do u think?

 

[OzExorcist]

Wow, that would be pretty good news. Hope they are true and we can get into by friday.
And also good news for those of you who want to take the money out of there.

Anyway, do you think they will be able to let people get their money out of there just by the moment they reopen¿?

It seems to me that if they had problems with money withdrawals last weeks they may not have solved them yet. What do u think?

Impossible to say because we don't actually know why their licence was suspended in the first place.

What we do know is they were still processing deposits and withdrawls for non-US players right up until the suspension and it's reasonable to expect that being able to process withdrawls would be a condition of the AGCC reinstating their licence.