In the United States, online poker seems to have totally gone, but you don’t need to be disappointed as it has brought some luck for you. You may have a job in hand if you are qualified enough as the U.S. government is looking for personnel who can take on the gigantic task of returning millions of dollars to Full Tilt Poker customers

A notification for a Claims Administrator, an administrator to handle the Full Tilt case has been posted on the website for the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) of the Southern District of New York. This is a great opportunity for the players as they would be fortunate to assist the government, the “enemy” responsible for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 and Black Friday of 2011. The job is very interesting because the administrator would be responsible for all but helping the fellow online poker players to bring some sort of closure to the whole Full-Tilt-stole-player-funds mess.

The job is not for an independent contractor, but the U.S. government is looking for a Claims Administrator who “will design and execute a process to solicit, receive and evaluate claims, and to process payments, for losses incurred by U.S. victims” of Full Tilt Poker. The U.S. government also estimates that there are around 1.3 million players to be paid by Full Tilt Poker, with $159 million waiting to be distributed.

“In so doing,” job notification reads, “the Claims Administrator will obtain and evaluate information, such as financial transaction records, from claimants, and analyze information contained in user account records provided in database and other format by Full Tilt Poker.”

Applicants have been asked to furnish the detail of relevant experience they have, their qualifications, and previous claims administration experience. Additionally, applicants are also required to reveal all the contacts they or their any relatives have had with PokerStars, Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker, or any other gambling company. They must also disclose any possible conflicts of interest involved with online gambling companies.

The U.S. customers of Full Tilt are getting their payments because the U.S. government and the PokerStars agreed upon a deal of settlement on July 31^st, 2012. According to the settlement deal, PokerStars has agreed to pay the United States a penalty of $547 million and also acquired the assets of Full Tilt Poker. The entire amount will be divided between U.S. and non-U.S. customers. The non-U.S. customers will receive the $184 million, while PokerStars make $731 million. According to the reports, PokerStars has already made the first of three required payments i.e. $255 million to the United States.

However, the details on how the remission process will take place have not been revealed by the government. Full Tilt’s U.S. customers, however, will need to go through the U.S. government to receive their funds.

Original Article

After a lot of speculations and exchange of rumors on the online forums and otherwise over the last weekend of July 2012, it was officially declared that online poker website PokerStars will acquire the assets of Full Tilt Poker, another poker website on July 31, 2012. The declaration was jointly made by PokerStars and United States Department of Justice, when they announced the deal made between them would result in dropping of all charges against PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker and will permit the purchase of Full Tilt by PokerStars. The deal will not only bring restitution to players who had their money involved, but will also consolidate the global online poker market as the deal is conceived in adherence to the regulations of online poker in the US.

The deal came as a relief to poker players who are yet to be paid back their dues. While PokerStars would be responsible to pay back the balances of players in the rest of the world, the citizens of US will be paid back by the US DoJ. The U.S. government has officially stated on the issue:

“Under the terms of the settlement with Full Tilt, U.S. victims of the company’s alleged fraud will be able to seek compensation from the Department of Justice (“DOJ”). The funds that will be used to compensate qualifying victims will come from the $547 million that will be forfeited by PokerStars as part of its settlement with the Government.”

Following is an excerpt from a statement released by Full Tilt Poker lawyer, Jeff Ifrah, on behalf of Full Tilt Poker:

“Full Tilt Poker is very pleased to announce the conclusion of a three-way transaction with PokerStars and the United States Department of Justice which will result in all of FTP’s US players having the opportunity to be paid. The agreement ends the company’s civil forfeiture proceedings with the U.S.
Department of Justice.

Under the terms of the agreement, PokerStars will pay a substantial amount of money to the United States, and the government has agreed that all U.S. players will have an opportunity to request that they be compensated out of those funds for their losses. In addition, within ninety days PokerStars will make available for immediate cash withdrawal or play, the account balances for all of Full Tilt Poker’s non-U.S. players.

Full Tilt Poker apologizes to all of its customers who endured a long and difficult period wondering whether this day would ever come.”

Original Article

PokerStars seems to be in the news too much lately, and not for very good reasons. This time it has brought itself into limelight for allegedly walking out of its deal with the controversial Full Tilt Poker that was initiated by the Department of Justice. The reason behind the fallout may be Department of Justice not dropping the criminal allegations against PokerStars. However, if PokerStars has really backed out of this deal or not is not clear yet because no official statements have been issued on this matter. The main reason behind this rumor is the tweets posted by James Barnes who was once the legal counsel for Party Gaming.

According to this rumour, PokerStars will engage in a legal battle and will be defending itself against the criminal charges filed against it by the Department of Justice since the Black Friday. It is being said the last nail in the coffin for Isai Scheinberg, the PokerStars owner was when the Department of Justice did not take back the civil charges filed against him, and that is why he decided to call of the deal that Department of Justice has initiated.

Due to the civil charges filed against Isai Scheinberg, he has been listed as FBI’s most wanted following the Black Friday. Barnes’s tweets suggest that the deal was never a real one but it was meant to chuck out Full Tilt Poker from the industry and that Isai Scheinberg is tensed about the jail term he may receive due to the criminal charges against him.

However, Barnes’s tweets were not accepted by a few and one of these few was Andrew Feldman who is an ESPN Poker Edge Host. His tweet said that according to Eric Hollreiser, the Head of Corporate Communications for PokerStars, PokerStars did not call off its deal with the Department of Justice, and any such allegations are false and fabricated.

Since Eric Hollreiser has not taken any stand on this burning issue, the rumours cannot be put to rest nor be believed to be true. But his silence may lead people to believe that this rumour has some sense to it, and if PokerStars hasn’t really walked out from this deal, they will have to make a statement at the earliest to clear rumours like these and let people know what is happening out there and also clear their position at such crucial time. Until that happens, the tweets by Barnes’s and Andrew will surely be playing with people’s minds.

Original Article

There are a lot of poker players who are famous for different reasons, not necessarily related to their skills.  Chris Ferguson is one of them. He has been nicknamed Jesus, obviously because of the fact that he resembles the paintings and portraits of Lord Jesus.

Fergusonwas born in a wealthy and educated family. He was devoted to studies and has been awarded PhD in computer science. As most people had predicted after seeing his academic performance; he proved them wrong when he chose playing poker as profession.

He has been playing poker since childhood and even before he was a teenager he had a very good understanding of different poker skills which could be perfected to win a lot of games.

Fergusonis not by any means conventional because he did not try and scale the success ladder by participating in small tournaments and then moving up the progress ladder. He started off with the top rung players as he targeted them and tried to ascertain as what makes them so successful and learnt different moves which they opt for the sake of clinching the game. He is definitely a shrewd observer and this observation skill turned out to be very good as he understood the moves and improved his poker playing skills.

He is known for his huge participation as he participated in as many as 70 different events in 2004 and managed to cross the 75 mark in 2005. One might consider participation in so many events to be a dangerous move because one can lose a lot of money in the process. However,Fergusonmanaged to make unbelievable money from his exploits.

He has managed to win five bracelets.  He is a renowned figure in the championship rounds at prestigious events like World Series of Poker. His knowledge of computer comes in handy because he makes a lot of calculative moves based on computer programs and calculations and this has taken him too far. Also, he puts on a motionless pose which helps in preventing the opponents from getting too much information about his moves by reading his expression at the different moves which he makes.

Fergusonserved as the director of Full Tilt Poker, which was cofounded byFergusonalong with a few other poker celebrities. The company came under attack of funds problem and draining of money recently in 2011; howeverFergusonhas been trying to deal with the matters and get away with it.

Original Article

The Diamond Flush Poker website has published an exclusive report of a leaked email from Laurent Tapie, the executive director of the Bernard Tapie Group and the key man who is spearheading the Full Tilt deal, to 16 “key” employees of Pocket Kings.

Through the email Tapie has made a dramatic proposal. He has offered all employees the chance to maintain their current salary but with a condition of working for a new poker site under the Game Cubed company Tapie which has recently been registered in Ireland.

Tapie has also made the primary condition mandatory for all to accept the offer:

I will do this only if I can attract ALL OF the Pocket Kings KEY STAFF to join me. With your help and know-how, we will launch a new website that will be best of breed in 6-7 months.

I know that any such step requires a leap of faith, so here is my offer: as of May 1, I will hire the entire Pocket Kings key staff – every single one of you – at your current salaries and with your accumulated benefits intact. I also will include stock options in the new company, so that we all will share in what I believe to be the exciting upside this opportunity represents.

Tapie added further, “The staff would write entirely new software and launch a new brand with an offer to former Full Tilt ROW players to recover their lost balances if they join the site.”

However, it has not been confirmed if any employee has accepted the offer.

The email was reportedly leaked out just hours before Tapie released the official statement where he made his declaration that the company was pulling out of the Full Tilt deal. Tapie himself seems doubtful and has called off the Full Tilt deal.

Some reliable sources also reveal that the Full Tilt Poker deal did not happen as expected because the Tapie Group couldn’t reach an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on the matter of a timeline for paying back ROW players.

Tapie wrote in his email: the DOJ ultimately refused to accept the Tapie Group’s proposal for repayment of the players on April 14, 2012, because it wanted GBT to pay back 100% of the $184 million owed to ROW players in 90 days. Since the Bernard Tapie Group /Full Tilt deal fell through, former competitor PokerStars has been rumored to be in negotiations with the DOJ to buy the floundering Full Tilt Poker for $750 million.

Original Article

A long awaited hearing on granting license to AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission) is expected to end very soon as the Full Tilt Poker subsidiary, Orinic Limited, is all set to meet with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission to review their application for an eGambling license. According to the notice released by AGCC, the hearing will be public and oral representation will be made. The hearing will take place at 2pm on Thursday, May 3 at the Braye Beach Hotel in Alderney.

Earlier, Orinic Limited, the only Full Tilt subsidiary company held a Category 1 license. The license did not permit Orinic to carry out online gambling in Alderney. Although, unlike other Full Tilt Companies, only Orinic limited was not stripped of its AGCC license last year in the month of July. The license was only suspended for a six-month following an internal review done by the AGCC and the Full Tilt.

Now, with the latest application submitted on March 23, Orinic is seeking a Category 2 license which would permit them to offer full online gambling services and handle gambling transactions. However, Orinic has also welcomed objections from those who have on receiving a license through a written statement subjected “a written statement of the objection and the grounds on which it has been raised.”

Orinic Limited was incorporated in Alderney, in January 2011, and it applied for a license in order to market Full Tilt Poker to Swiss-based residents in the same month. But as the application was similar to that of other companies operating under the Full Tilt—Filco, Oxalic and Vantage—a separate license was issued. Later, when US DOJ seized the Fulltiltpoker.com, its business operations inefficiency was exposed. Full Tilt had no problems and they had not even segregated their player funds neither did they have enough cash on hand to pay back players. But their problems were exaggerated when the AGCC revoked their gambling license and effectively shut down their website for players worldwide.

Here is the statement from the AGCC website:

In the matter of an application by Orinic Limited for a Category 2 eGambling licence

TAKE NOTICE

that the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, pursuant to Section 4 of the Alderney eGambling Ordinance, 2009 and Regulation 23 of the Alderney eGambling Regulations, 2009, will hold a public hearing at which oral representations may be made.

This hearing will take place at 2.00pm on Thursday 3rd May, 2012 at the Braye Beach Hotel, Alderney.

The pieces of the puzzle appear to be falling into place for the rebirth of Full Tilt Poker, as this AGCC licensing process is happening alongside re-staffing of FTP company Pocket Kings Ltd and the launch of New Full Tilt Poker Limited by Laurent Tapie of Groupe Bernard Tapie.

Original Article

With several incidents taking place in the poker world such as the license of the Full Tilt Poker revoked by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, the management of Full Tilt Poker that had nearly shattered the coffers of players’ money and the “Black Friday” indictments; poker world seems to have been divided by these issues. The outrages in the poker community are representing both the facets that these issues present.

The star professional poker player, Daniel Negreanu, has expressed his exasperation over the actions of Full Tilt Poker which is distressing the poker world through a variety of media. Recently in an interview with Poker Player UK, Negreanu called the Lederer family “scoundrels” and in a blog posting on his Full Contact Poker site, he unhesitatingly stated that “Ray (Bitar) is a buffoon, Howard (Lederer) is arrogant and Chris (Ferguson) is a liar.” Further at the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final, Negreanu, on a video blog, expressed no sympathy over “Vegas justice” on Lederer and stated that they should be bashed in the nuts with a baseball bat. Following such ruthless comments from Negreanu, the “Godfather of Poker,” Doyle Brunson, posted a blog on his own website saying, “Was Full Tilt guilty of gross negligence and terrible mismanagement? Yes, of course.” Through his rational interpretation, he further also attempted to defend two of the alleged perpetrators of the Full Tilt fiasco, Lederer and Ferguson.

Brunson also revealed that Jack Binion was almost at the verge of buying Full Tilt, but Ray Bitar, who on the advice of Ferguson took over control of the entirety of the Full Tilt operation in 2008. With the development of the site, Bitar started paying out the huge sums to the members of Team Full Tilt and the board of directors. That encouraged Brunson to ask, “If you were a stockholder, would you question the management of a company sending you hundreds of thousands of dollars each month? I doubt you would.” Brunson, however, believed that Bitar was trying to alleviate the situation and he might have worked things out, if Black Friday won’t have happened. He also cleared his stand over the issues and stated that none of the stakeholders knew anything about the issues with Full Tilt Poker.

As a result, we can analyze that how the two leading poker member are going through the clashes and arising plenty of questions over the issues. The most controversial question which has been hovering over the Full Tilt tragedy around the poker world is “When did members of the board of directors and/or the members of Team Full Tilt know anything?” According to a blog posted by Brunson, if the directors and the members knew everything and kept on taking the money then they are alleged of the criminal activities; and if they knew nothing then they can’t be called a good business men.

The other question which has created outrage in the poker world is “Are Bitar, Lederer and Ferguson the ‘fall guys’ for Full Tilt’s failure? “ It’s not surprising the cause is simply the receiving of huge sum of money for the operation of their company. However, the fact is that Bitar carried on the business at the best of his abilities, but because of “Black Friday” indictments, the mismanagement of Full Tilt the business eventually caused them severe loss, and even took them to the point of dissolution.

Besides Lederer, Ferguson and Bitar, the poker players also have not been spared; they were also held responsible for the Full Tilt issues and thrown on a number of questions about Phil Ivey, the players owing money to Full Tilt for their loans and the level of allegation on the other members of Team Full Tilt. Brunson writes in his blog post saying “I don’t want to keep them from rejoining the poker world. Where do you stop the level of responsibility?”

It is believed that the answers lie in the middle of the two extremes. Now, only time will tell how the poker world would pull through the controversial issues and end these malicious debates or continue to infuriate the poker community.

Original Article

According to some close sources, Laurent Tapie, Director of Bernard Tapie Group, has recently moved to Dublin.  It is believed that he has gone there on the verge to relaunch Full Tilt Poker in Europe shortly.  As goes the popular belief, anything happening in the poker industry can hardly be kept secret from the messengers of the online and live poker communities. No official announcement has been made by Bernard Tapie Group, Full Tilt Poker or the U.S. Department of Justice, but the news has caught the attention of the media and the poker world. While the Bernard Tapie Group and Full Tilt Poker are still “finalizing the deal with the U.S. Department of Justice,” it is considered that the takeover is “a done deal.”

Although the deal went through several postponements of deadlines and decisive dates, but sources have confirmed that Laurent Tapie has started working on his new venture since he got in Dublin. He has regularly been visiting to the PocketKings offices; and getting everything finalized to reopen Full Tilt Poker in Europe. It is expected that the deal is eventually going to be officially signed up next week. There is also a rumor that the Bernard Tapie Group is aiming at relaunching the Full Tilt Poker under its original brand name only.

Laurent, son of Bernard Tapie Group honcho and well-recognized French politician and entrepreneur, has been heading the deal since the early negotiations which started late last year.

Last Thursday Barnard Tapie Group lawyer Behn Dayamin confirmed that he was regretful about the rumor but cheered up through the confirmation that Full Tilt was earlier in “ramp-up mode” and gearing up for a relaunch.

Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray BItar in an interview in early March apologized for his silence over the past year and revealed that Bernard Tapie Group is moving towards the successful take over.

Original Article

Born on November 3, 1082, John D’Agostino is a professional poker player who plays online at Full Tilt Poker. He won prize money of $99,450 in the second season of the World Poker Tour (WPT), Poker Stars Caribbean Poker Adventure event by securing a 5^th position. D’Agostino previously resided in Egg Harbor City in New Jersey and originally belongs to Seymour, Connecticut.

At the time of the United States Poker Championship 2004, he had a great lead by a good number of chips in his possession. But due to a bad loss in the game against another famous player Hoyt Corkins, his pocket 10s were lost to quad 7s, thereby leaving him with only 1 chip keeping him in 6^th place before being eliminated.

The second earning of $349,685 took place as he made it to 4th position in the second WPT finals in the fourth season of the Borgata Poker Open. Later, he scored a 2^nd position after the championship been won by Michael Miizrachi in the 2006 Open Championship. John D’Agostino didn’t have a very good year in 2007 with the cards.

As per some records of 2010, he earned a total amount exceeding $16, 00,000. John is famous with the name of “JDags” and is one of the young players who are playing poker as online pros and being successful winners. John started playing online as well as live at the age of 20. Judges handle more than hundreds of thousands of dollars every day in poker. He majorly came into the limelight with his play in the Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure where he got 5^th position and won around $1, 00,000.

The only job he ever really worked in his life was at a doughnut shop and since he started playing poker, he has never looked back. He was also invited to be a part of the GSN High Stakes Poker TV Show. He is one of the regulars at Full Tilt Poker high stakeholders and is a popular pro who can be spotted at $5000 NL games and above. He also loves to give advices and tips on a regular basis.

John D’Agostino has admitted that the chief turning point in his poker career took place in 2004 when he played Phil Ivey at the Championship at Turning Stone. He admits that he really gained a lot of respect and recognition in this tournament.

A major part of his online income from poker comes from the games he plays at Full Tilt. If you want to spot him playing, you can do that at Foxwoods but nowadays he is more into online playing rather than live.

In the year of 2004, he started with the World Series of Poker Circuit Event and earned a 2^nd position and $33,000 followed by 2^nd position in 2004 Championship at Turning Stone.

Some of his other poker achievements include:14^th position and $24,000 at Mirage Poker Showdown, 4^th position and $349685 at WPT Bogota Open; 5^th position & $99,450 at 2004 Poker Stars WPT Caribbean Adventure; 2^nd position and $32010 at 2006 Limit H.O.R.S.E and so on with 6^th position in 2011 WSOP 10 Game/Six Handed with an earnings of $32,200.

Original Article

Ray Bitar, CEO of Full Tilt Poker, has reportedly sent an email to Tiltware shareholders confirming the United States Department of Justice and Bernard Tapie Group are taking the final steps towards a deal.

In the email, Bitar informed shareholders that the United States Department of Justice and Bernard Tapie Group reached an agreement in principle that would see Bernard Tapie Group take responsibility for repaying non-US players, while the United States Department of Justice would facilitate the return of US player funds.

The complete e-mail is as follows:

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

Original Article