29-JUNE 2011 UPDATE

This situation has now become far more serious.

02-JUNE 2011

Online Poker Sites is issuing a warning related to the potential financial instability of www.fulltiltpoker.com. At this time we are recommending poker players deposit and keep stored in their player account no more than they are comfortable losing should Full Tilt Poker prove or become insolvent. We at Online Poker Sites wish Full Tilt Poker the best and hope they pull through these challenging times, but in an industry where the regulation is minimal and players are not well protected we felt it is now in poker players’ best interest we issue this warning.

Background Surrounding this Full Tilt Warning

In 2009, Full Tilt Poker sued Intabill, claiming Intabill had stolen tens of millions of dollars. Intabill soon later collapsed and one of their founders Sam Sciacca sued the other founder Daniel Tzvetkoff for $100 million alleging he had siphoned millions of dollars from the company. In April 2010, Tzvetkoff was arrested. Facing 75-years in prison for UIGEA violations he eventually became a government informant and is currently in the FBI’s witness protection program. This means there is little chance Full Tilt will ever recover the tens of millions Tzvetkoff allegedly stole from them.

The next chapter in this saga was major. Perhaps with information from now FBI informant Daniel Tzvetkoff who allegedly robbed Full Tilt Poker for tens of millions of dollars, a case was built against four large poker sites over bank fraud, money laundering and illegal online gambling crimes in the United States. On 15 April, 2011 the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) worked together to seize bank accounts belonging to payment processors, Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet (UB.com). Each of these four companies had their domain names seized. Also a federal indictment was unsealed this same day where eleven individuals including two executives from Full Tilt Poker were charged with multiple crimes. The full indictment and list of charges can be read here.

Full Tilt began cooperating with the US authorities immediately and on 20 April, 2011 regained limited use of their domain name fulltitpoker.com as is covered in this document published at justice.gov.

Everything posted above is fact. Now let’s cover a few more facts:

1. Several of Full Tilt Poker’s bank accounts are frozen at the hands of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) *Note: monetary amount unknown*
2. The DOJ was initially seeking multibillion dollar compensation from the 4 indicted companies.
3. Full Tilt Poker left the US market on April 15, 2011 and now as of June 2, 2011 still has not paid US players.

Now for the some rumors and speculation:

1. Many poker news websites are reporting Full Tilt Poker processed $60 million recently in e-check deposits that never left players’ bank accounts, and are unsure which deposits these are. *note: whilst potentially an issue we assume that figure is largely inflated and includes the tens of millions Daniel Tzvetkoff had allegedly ran off with and then blew gambling and partying in Las Vegas*
2. The amount owed to US players is an estimated $150 million.
3. Many rumors have surfaced suggesting Full Tilt Poker is seeking bailout or financing in the range of $150 million to $200 million dollars. *Note: a popular suggestion is they cannot pay US players unless they receive this amount*

To get back to factual information one of the main celebrities behind the brand, living poker legend Phil Ivey has filed a lawsuit against Tiltware (the parent company of Full Tilt Poker) seeking damages that exceed $150 million dollars. A story that reports just the facts without much biased can be read in Poker Player Magazine’s article: Phil Ivey’s Lawsuit Against Tiltware – Tiltware’s Response.

Full Tilt is currently the second largest online poker site. With many professionals scrambling to get their bankrolls off the site and the hit to their image, the games might be softer than usual right now. If you’re a serious poker player and understand the risks, it might be worth giving Full Tilt Poker a little action.

However, consider the company owes an estimated $150 million to US players, lost tens of millions in uncollected payments for which they still credited players accounts with, have bank accounts frozen by the DOJ, presumably have a much larger bill to settle with the US authorities, and are also being sued by their best known sponsored player… please understand the risks. These are tough times for Full Tilt Poker, it is not unreasonable to assume this company might be or could soon become insolvent. With that, we recommend poker players only deposit and store at Full Tilt Poker an amount they are comfortable losing should the company go belly-up.

As the second largest poker site even without the US market, there is a considerable chance Full Tilt Poker does find a way to make good and still make future profits. However as the clock continues to tick and US players remain unpaid, one has to wonder about their future. At Online Poker Sites our sympathy goes out to all players desperately waiting the return of their poker funds.

Related Notes

Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet – Whilst semi-popular were never trustworthy companies in the first place; both had a history of cheating their players. Following the April 15, 2011 indictments chances are likely 85+% any funds stored at these sites are lost forever.

PokerStars.com – Immediately after April 15, 2011 indictments (as in same or next day) began calling players letting them know they would be paid. A couple weeks later all players were paid, they are in constant talks with the DOJ and still hold their place as the world’s largest online poker site.

Personally in our opinion PokerStars.com is a safe site to play at. They are the world’s largest with no competitor close in sight. However some poker bloggers have suggested avoiding indicted poker sites all together is wise. That’s a personal decision players need to make for themselves, personally we feel PokerStars.com is fine, but for those who want to avoid them, we recommend PartyPoker.com as a viable alternative.

Fair Reporting

Any company or individual named in this article who would like to provide response or have facts corrected you can see our policy related to this on the lower section of our page titled Poker Site Warnings.