Entering into its fourth day, there have not been any decisions announced in the hearings between the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) and the shuttered Full Tilt Poker, leaving the status of what used to be the second largest online poker company in the industry in the lurch.
The hearings began on Monday and, to the chagrin of many in the poker world, were held in private in London. This decision was made back in July when, during a sometimes raucous public hearing, the AGCC determined it was in the best interest of Full Tilt Poker to be able to freely discuss potential ownership changes that could salvage the company and their gaming license. Those hearings took a shot on Tuesday with an announcement from the United States.
On Tuesday, Preet Bharara, the U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that an amended complaint had been filed in the “Black Friday” indictments to include poker players Howard Lederer, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Rafe Furst along with the original subjects in the first indictment. In that announcement, Bharara stated that Full Tilt Poker was “an international Ponzi scheme” that defrauded players out of money while paying many involved in the company tens of millions of dollars over the past five years.
Even after the U. S. Department of Justice announcement on Tuesday, there was no information that came out as to how the AGCC/Full Tilt hearings were going. As Wednesday played out, there was a great deal of speculation among the media as well as heated discussion over poker message boards.
Several outlets have reported that the AGCC will make a determination today that the gaming license for Full Tilt will be permanently suspended, while other outlets state that the meetings are continuing. As the meetings on Wednesday were drawing to a close, a statement from the lead attorney for Full Tilt, Jeff Ifrah, sparked a blitzkrieg of discussion on one of the top poker message boards in the community.
An acquaintance of Ifrah, a poster named “bbfg” on the Two Plus Two forum, asked him how the hearings were going and, if they weren’t going well, what he could post to potentially affect the AGCC’s decision. Ifrah gave him a statement to post, which read:
“Right now it is important to encourage the AGCC to delay any ruling for a minimum of 30 days in order to permit a timely transition to a new ownership structure. The AGCC is aware of the identity of the new ownership group. It does not involve anyone associated in the slightest way with the current FTP membership. I plead with all of you to do this and unite in this one effort.”
“A negative AGCC ruling will cause all efforts that have been undertaken to secure this investor group to fail and leave customers in the cold,” Ifrah is quoted by “bbfg.” “It is not necessary for the AGCC to issue any negative ruling now. The company is not operating and there are investors truly interested in closing a deal with the company. I can assure you that the investor deal includes repayment of ALL player obligations. We have come too far in these months since Black Friday to let this fall apart now. Please.”
This statement ignited a firestorm of discussion among the members of 2+2. It seemed it was almost evenly divided on both sides of the issue, with some members deciding it was a “freeroll” to send a supportive message. The logic behind that opinion was that, at this moment, players aren’t receiving any money with Full Tilt inactive. If a buyer is pending, then a slight delay could change the situation and get players paid worldwide.
“Regardless of whether the investor exists or not, it’s still in our best interest to get this extended,” poster “VarianceMinefield” stated in the thread. Another poster named “gnvsnnkv” agreed, stating, “We might as well postpone the verdict for a month. I’m fully behind the idea of urging AGCC for more time!”
The opposition to Ifrah’s request called into question the public relations blackout of Full Tilt since “Black Friday” and why the company now would think it warranted their customers’ support. In these members’ view, Full Tilt Poker has had long enough since “Black Friday” (over five months) to get their house in order. Another month, in these posters’ opinion, wouldn’t change anything that has happened nor would it have an effect on players getting their money back.
“I don’t necessarily believe an extension would get me my money back,” poster “Peter Popoff” opined. “They’ve spent the last five months lying and skewing facts. I feel like this is the tenth time they’ve had an investor that was inches away from a deal. I’d need more information before I’d take any action.”
Another poster, “LetsGambool,” offered his thoughts in posting his opposition: “I think it’s equally likely that there is no deal and FTP uses the extension to siphon off whatever recovery value remains for creditors. Unless this transition involves some sort of caretaker stepping in to run the company for creditors under the supervision of a real court and all current ownership of FTP giving up their stakes, count me out.”
Over the span of more than 1000 posts, players have debated the issue well into this morning. Included in the debate over the Ifrah request was discussion on whether the major players at Full Tilt should face criminal charges, exactly who the potential buyer would be and whether the statement by Bharara that Full Tilt was a “Ponzi scheme” was accurate.
With all of the discussion, there still isn’t a firm decision from the AGCC as to what the future will be for Full Tilt Poker. Poker News Daily will continue to monitor the situation as the online poker world waits for either the closure of a once proud organization or its potential rebirth.
