HorribleHank

Very dissapointing. If anyone thinks this is a punishment you would have to be crazy! 1st and foremost he gets to keep his name for future hall of fame purposes which is bullshit! 2nd this is just a fine for a fraction of what he squandered! He is guilty of fucking people all over world out of their money!, destroyed a lot of the online gaming community credibility. This guy was known as the" Professor" for $%#&% sake! Then the DOJ just grinds a ltiile profit off of Howard! and all is right woth the world! I hope the poker world is far less forgiving! He should be banned from poker for life!!

Just 1 question Ray? How much did you pay your lawyers so that you could blame your lawyers! Working day and night to get peoples money back! The cosmic universe is listening and knows you are full of shit! We can handle the truth because we already know the truth. You and your friends basically stole from the poker community to live a lifestyle you did not earn!
I could live with that. But the fact that you and your friends are hiding behind a bunch of lawyers so that you can keep as much of your ill gotten gain is what disgusts me. Add to the fact you are "sincerely sorry". Where the #$@! was this apology 8 months ago when it might have meant somthing. What about when you knew you were insolvent and still taking players money. Buy the way were you not still eating your imported lobster dinners at the time you knew the company was in its enron freefall! I bet you had a juicy steak dinner today going over your strategy with your lawyers. No grilled cheese sandwhich for you. You and your friends owe the poker community a great sum of money and a real apology! Not some empty scripted meaningless tripe crafted by your lawyers. The rest of your life will be a vaccuum of sorrow and regret unless you right this wrong! I pity you.

In light of all the online scandels and the various methods of cheating in poker. Casino's must protect the integrity of the game! This is why online poker is slowly dying. Full Tilt, AB, and UB have stolen millions from players. Top players have been outed in chip dumping, and other forms of collusion. Every Player should invest in videos on poker cheating, ( Ihave a few myself) not for cheating, but to know when you are being cheated. ) I really don't know if you are innocent or guilty. It may just be bad coinicedence and/or luck. I may have done the same thing. I think clear guidlines must be given to players to protect themselves and their image. I don't know how you can deal with evry scenario possible. But this needs looking into. What if you had won and then there was screams of collusion. That could potentially have been even worse. My point is we now more than ever need to protect our image as poker players for the game. Cheaters as stealers need to be outed from the community with proper evidence. Howard, Chris, and Ray are you reading this.

Great list......guys. \How about toning down the in your face adds when I click on an article......its starting to get annoying.

Horrible Hank

I completely agree with Flintsword about more focus ON AB and UB. What did Phil and Annie know prior to making one of the best laydowns in history and quietly leave UB. This has been quietly swept under the rug with everyone's attention on Full tilt hitting front page poker internet news for the last few months.

Horrible Hank

Fine! Give them the names they are worth nothing now anyway! Bizarre logic dont ya think

Horrible Hank

Wonder if Howard and the boys thinks this gets them off the hook! Hope they get what is coming to them. While I am very happy if the players get their money back, a serious crime has been committed. The only reason they were working their asses off was to avoid Jail time. I don't think they deserve a break and prison sentences for everybody!!

I'm gonna pay yah! I'm gonna pay yah! when ? Tomorrow, Ive' got a big deal workin out.
Tomorrow arrives: Wheres my Money? I'm gonna pay you i'm gonna pay you just need a little more time how bout 3 days!
3 DAYS LATER: WHERE IS MY FN MONEY!!!! ......BANG YOUR DEAD!

Horrible Hank

I believe the DOJ has done the players a huge favor in going with the ponzi angle. I also believe that Full Tilt's Lawyers, Howard Lederer, & Chris Ferguson were caught off guard by this bold and aggressive move. They certainly would rather be found incompetent than fraudulent. This in my opinion now opens the door to more successful civil litigation. Class action lawsuits like (1) in the U.S. and (2) in Canada will be the way to go. We don't have a complete balance sheet picture here but 440 million paid to shareholders, players owed 390 million world wide, Full Tilts bank account at 60 million throw in 43 million maybe for processer payment fraud. How can Full Tilt justify the unfathomable payments to shareholders. In regards to the high rate of return that was never promised or stated, the players themselves create their own high rate of return based on their bankroll (investment). How many times do you here the term ROI (return on investment bantered around by professional poker players on camera and in the books they publish. The professional players base their game stakes on their bankroll size , skill of opponent and hours played. They thus determine how much ROI they will make. It looks like Full Tilt was to aggressive in paying money to its shareholders and dipping into the players funds which should have been protected. They also gave the illusion that the players money was safe. They also kept taking in new money when they knew they would be insolvent with a run on the bank of 6million. Full Tilts mistake was crediting approx 130 million to players accounts when they had no way of debiting the accounts. Full Tilt was relying on the new deposits to pay the older withdrawels. I can see where the DOJ has connected the dots to make the ponzi claim. In regards to just going after 3 of the 19 shareholders, I think its just a ploy to get some of the smaller shareholders to sweat it. Hopefully a few will crack under pressure and come forward to tell what they know or don't know truthfully. Anyways I think it was a brilliant move by the DOJ which gives the players a better chance at getting some of their money back through litigation, gives the goverment a stronger barganing chip in the regulation of online gambling. In the end the lawyers will be the big winners as usual. This is going to be going on for years and years. And to those of you who think if DOJ had left them alone you would have better chance of getting your money back, get real! Your money was gone along time ago. Also to those of you who said online gambling was rigged and this is vindication for you..... Get stuffed because they did not have to rig the game and make you lose. They just took your money and paid it to the Shareholders (themselves) anyways. Check my site out at howtoplayonlinepokerforbeginners.blogspot.com

Horrible Hank

WOW! Kudos to the DOJ! Don't think FTP Lawyers, Lederer, Ferguson saw the Ponzi angle coming! This could actually good news poker players owed money by Full Tilt. The "PONZI" angle could open up civil litigation opportunities to reclaim some of the players "stolen" money. Class action suits like the one in the US and 2 in Canada will be the way to go! Players should jump on the bandwagon and join the lawsuits. From whats been published your money was and is gone, so don't blame the DOJ for losing your money. I think the DOJ has given the players their only opportunity to get back some of their money.

Horrible Hank

While statements are now coming out on a more regular basis, Full Tilt still has not said anything new. They have not addressed the alleged loans by Ivey and others, multiaccounting by employees, 100% rake back accounts apparantly for sale for 25-$50000. Once again Online Poker is not illegal but the way they were handling the transactions was. These are all stories that have been published on the net by reputable sites. Are they trying to telling us what we want to hear. Are they trying to stall for time till the hearings. Don't forget they want these meetings behind closed doors. Email the Alderney Gaming Commission to keep the meetings open.

Horrible Hank

Funny how after Black Friday,No balls poker shows up on T.V. That extra revenue from being a sponsored pro sure helps. I don't think Matasow play not that bad from a business point of view. I mean a 10% advantage with the down side of going broke on the hand if phil had AK. to possibly facing 3 possible overpairs and being a real dog. Fom Phils point of view he knows he has to hit to win. The real pros are not hoping to draw they want you to draw. So in the end they both win from the other player folding his stake in the pot. From a TV rating point of view awful and the players may have been reprimanded off the record by the shows producers after the show. From a Conspiracy point of view who is to say that theses players don't have arrangements behind the scenes to cover their action with the other players. Just put a "good show" on for tv and the people will keep depositing on their poker accounts. Good poker TV = Good online poker revenue. They make money for their appearance on TV, redistribute the money around to themselves after the show and their +ev in a sense. After reading up on all the Full Tilt crap is it really that far of stretch! I Havenot even had a chance to eat my Conspiracys o's
for breakfast yet, who knows what I'll come up with. Online Poker is turning into the X files..... The truth is out there somewhere!

Horrible Hank

Awesome poker segment. I will defintly following your shows. I watched your coaching Kristy videos and thought they were very good.

Horrible Hank

Its amazing to me that you can take a billion dollar campany and run it into the ground so quickly. Full Tilt stance of stick your head in the sand and maybe it will go away is utterly moronic. Ray Bitar will go down as one of the worst ceo's ever.
Hands down they had the best Software program going, an incredible stable of poker players. But in the end is there someone from Full Tilt not screwing the public some how. From pros getting outrageous money for wearing logos, to borrowing money from the player pool. I could be a fierce player too if I had a 10 million dollar bankroll. What about employess selling 100%rakeback acounts to players, multiaccounting, the list goes on and on. It seems everyone hand is in the cookie jar. No wounder there is no fn cookies left. But to top ot all off what I can't figure out .... is where is all the press coverage. Has Full Tilt some how bought media silence? If not for the internet who would know this was going on! Tobey Maguire has gotten more press coverage for his minor poker story. There is so much scandel and intrigue going on in full tilt you could turn it into a mini series ! And who suffers? The customers who bought into this complete fantasy land. We dreamed of one day living the life of a Full Tilt Poker Pro. But in the end they were living our dreams on our money

Horrible Hank

I wonder how many hands this statement had to pass through to make sure it said nothing in the end.

Horrible Hank

At least they have issued a dam statement. Now if they would put something in their fn statement that meant somthing to the poker community. With the recent resignation this might be a feeble attempt at reconnecting with their former clients. But there gonna have to do a helluva lot better than this. Maybe they watch to much seinfeld and have taken the show about nothing to literal. Maybe the potentienal investor was Chino! lol

Horrible Hank

EPL had to this to save face and try to establish some credibity in the poker world. Daniel Negreanu's decision to distance himself from this league shows sound judgement and people should be applauding his move rather than slamming him. Why would you want your name and brand associated with a league that allows people with the reputation of Chino be allowed to play. Not to mention unfortunate links to FUll Tilt who still have not paid its players. EPL is not the answer to Poker but a fresh start with people who dont have links to ultimate Bet or Full Tilt. You can't reward people that have been screwing people in the past. Just change the name and pay no attention to the man behind curtain seems to be EPL str.comategy.
Horrible Hank
Check out my blog at HowtoPlayOnlinePokerforBeginners.blogspot