Full Tilt Poker Accused Of Stealing $440 Million Of Players' Winnings In Giant Ponzi Scheme

[gmenknicks]

i used to play on FT and never once had a problem getting paid or even heard of another player having a problem until Black Friday...so if it was a ponzi scheme it was still in the earlier stages where everyone is getting paid and is happy...

just take what the AG says with a heavy grain of salt. of course they have to make FT to be bad and the case to be ironclad..

i may be completely ingorant to some peoples troubles before BF but i know i got paid every single time i ever asked for money...

 

[huckleberry]

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if one of the sportsbooks here was doing the same thing.

When you give people 4-6 week time frames for cash outs, it raises red flags.

the "dirty little secret" of the offshore gaming market -- every single one of the offshorebooks is run the same way. i can tell you, out of every 100 offshorebooks doing postup, maybe and i mean MAYBE ONE could produce all funds "on deposit". the other 99 out of a 100 are all a ponzi scheme and that is a fact. having said that, there are many other examples in the business world that are run the same way and are presented as rock solid financial institutions, etc. bottom line, nothing is 100% safe, you just have to:

1. do your homework and find a place that is "more stable" than the rest
2. avoid the "bad luck" kick in the balls like many encountered with this poker mess

 

[Cap'nCrunk]

Reminds me of fractional reserve banking. Obviously, the big difference this wasn't government sanctioned so it was taken down in the early stages.

 

[ProPokerPlayer]

Nice video msg from Howard.....

 

[TheWolf]

Hey, you guys may be lucky like I was and get a nice new crispy check for $54 from Bet On Sports when I had over $1,200 in my account.

I suppose the balance of my money is now helping to pay down the nation debt.@)

 

[vegasjack2]

I can guarantee that every poker room and sportsbook and online casino for that matter operates similar to this. If no crackdown had ever been put in place, nothing would of ever been exposed. Think about how much these poker rooms actually pay out in comparison to what gets deposited. In the grand scheme of things, how many poker players actually win? Sure as hell is not 50% like most people think. One guy loses $20 to this guy, this guy loses $40 to another guy and that guy drops $100 to a fourth guy. At the end of the day, the poker room only has to pay out one person and who is to say when or how much he cashes out. Odds are that the amount all four of them deposited wont have to be paid out for quite some time, if ever. Look at how much money was left in everyone's accounts. There are even people in this thread claiming thousands. To believe that any of these poker rooms or sportsbooks actually have dollar for dollar to payout is ludicrous. I believe in sports betting this problem is probably much much worse. In sports betting its documented that such and such a percent actually are winning bettors. What is it, in the 10% range. If books get 100 people depositing $100 each on a Sunday that’s $10,000. I could almost guarantee as a bookmaker you would be safe pocketing $8000 of that money if not more. With a website that has the volume and popularity of full tilt or any of these sportsbooks your almost safe pocketing the whole amount because each of these websites know that there are deposits coming tomorrow to cover the few winners there are today.
If anyone was SHOCKED that this type of thing actually existed in these poker room/sportsbooks I guess this is your wake up call. I think the only reason myself and everyone else should be shocked is because of the household names and some what gambling "celebrities" involved in the scam.
I make a deposit for the games I want to bet on the weekend each Friday and make the withdrawal Monday morning. Sure you may eat some fees, but at the end of the day the money stays real and in my hands and your not at risk of being buried if anything like this happens, and as we have seen it has and probably will keep on happening for the time to come until all of this is resolved.

 

[awmllc2000]

I've already counted my ft money as lost. All I can hope for now is that these crooks do some hard time.

 

[CowboyT]

The craziest part is the amount of profit FTP made without a shady scheme. There was a tourney fee of literally tens of thousands of dollars and a pot take for hundreds of thousands every hour on that site.

Look at a brick and mortar casino for an example of comparison. I know the slots are the true money maker, but online, there is almost no overhead.

How can a site like that have so much corruption when they're making so much money?

 

[Jstack34]

The craziest part is the amount of profit FTP made without a shady scheme. There was a tourney fee of literally tens of thousands of dollars and a pot take for hundreds of thousands every hour on that site.

Look at a brick and mortar casino for an example of comparison. I know the slots are the true money maker, but online, there is almost no overhead.

How can a site like that have so much corruption when they're making so much money?

Thats what i wonder? They rake every tournament and every pot and people are playing constantly and all they have is the servors goings. They had to make a fortune. Its crazy

 

[Fishhead]

Nice video msg from Howard.....

FUNNY and sad

 

[festeringZit]

[ What's funny is that nasty bitch Annie Duke (the sister of Lederer) is the commissioner of the league ]

Lederer and Ferguson Suspended from Epic Poker League

Lederer and Ferguson will be sidelined in EPL events pending the outcome of the civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker.


By: Matthew Showell The Epic Poker League announced this afternoon that they have suspended Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson indefinitely following the US Attorney’s amendment to the civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker.
Epic Poker’s Standards and Conduct Committee decided that the amendment, which names Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson as directors of Full Tilt Poker, constitutes a breach of the EPL’s Player’s Code of Conduct.
“The Committee voted to suspend Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson indefinitely, pending the outcome of the Department of Justice’s action,” said Committee Chairman Stephen Martin, a former federal prosecutor who now acts as the Independent Ethics Advisor to Epic Poker.
In a story explaining the decision, Martin expanded on the factors that went into the committee’s decision, citing the specificity of the charges and the fact they came from the US government as key reasons behind the suspension.
Martin went on to add that should the civil complaint be further amended, the EPL committee will consider additional disciplinary action.
Andy Bloch, who serves on the committee, recused himself from consideration of the issue.
Annie Duke, sister of Howard Lederer, serves as commissioner of the Epic Poker League.

 

[Fishhead]

[ What's funny is that nasty bitch Annie Duke (the sister of Lederer) is the commissioner of the league ]

Lederer and Ferguson Suspended from Epic Poker League

Lederer and Ferguson will be sidelined in EPL events pending the outcome of the civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker.


By: Matthew Showell The Epic Poker League announced this afternoon that they have suspended Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson indefinitely following the US Attorney’s amendment to the civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker.
Epic Poker’s Standards and Conduct Committee decided that the amendment, which names Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson as directors of Full Tilt Poker, constitutes a breach of the EPL’s Player’s Code of Conduct.
“The Committee voted to suspend Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson indefinitely, pending the outcome of the Department of Justice’s action,” said Committee Chairman Stephen Martin, a former federal prosecutor who now acts as the Independent Ethics Advisor to Epic Poker.
In a story explaining the decision, Martin expanded on the factors that went into the committee’s decision, citing the specificity of the charges and the fact they came from the US government as key reasons behind the suspension.
Martin went on to add that should the civil complaint be further amended, the EPL committee will consider additional disciplinary action.
Andy Bloch, who serves on the committee, recused himself from consideration of the issue.
Annie Duke, sister of Howard Lederer, serves as commissioner of the Epic Poker League.

Embarrissing

 

[PatsFan1283]

Anyone got any updates or guesses as to when full tilt will pay players back? I know they supposedly just got sold or something....

 

[awmllc2000]

Anyone got any updates or guesses as to when full tilt will pay players back? I know they supposedly just got sold or something....

Good luck ever seeing a red cent. I wrote my losses off long ago. Feel free to read up on the 2+2 forums. Under nvg tab.

 

[ECS]

If I get back 50% of what I had I will consider it a huge win

 

[SpreadDestroyerr]

Well said! Think about brokerage and bank accounts the exact same way but multiplied by the hundreds due to all the leverage as far as margin and othered borrowed monies to make bets with especially in the underground markets known as dark pools. Nothing but digits on a screen backed by absolutely nothing! The Emperor has no clothes so to speak and will be exposed once the dominos start falling i.e. Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, etc.

I can guarantee that every poker room and sportsbook and online casino for that matter operates similar to this. If no crackdown had ever been put in place, nothing would of ever been exposed. Think about how much these poker rooms actually pay out in comparison to what gets deposited. In the grand scheme of things, how many poker players actually win? Sure as hell is not 50% like most people think. One guy loses $20 to this guy, this guy loses $40 to another guy and that guy drops $100 to a fourth guy. At the end of the day, the poker room only has to pay out one person and who is to say when or how much he cashes out. Odds are that the amount all four of them deposited wont have to be paid out for quite some time, if ever. Look at how much money was left in everyone's accounts. There are even people in this thread claiming thousands. To believe that any of these poker rooms or sportsbooks actually have dollar for dollar to payout is ludicrous. I believe in sports betting this problem is probably much much worse. In sports betting its documented that such and such a percent actually are winning bettors. What is it, in the 10% range. If books get 100 people depositing $100 each on a Sunday that’s $10,000. I could almost guarantee as a bookmaker you would be safe pocketing $8000 of that money if not more. With a website that has the volume and popularity of full tilt or any of these sportsbooks your almost safe pocketing the whole amount because each of these websites know that there are deposits coming tomorrow to cover the few winners there are today.
If anyone was SHOCKED that this type of thing actually existed in these poker room/sportsbooks I guess this is your wake up call. I think the only reason myself and everyone else should be shocked is because of the household names and some what gambling "celebrities" involved in the scam.
I make a deposit for the games I want to bet on the weekend each Friday and make the withdrawal Monday morning. Sure you may eat some fees, but at the end of the day the money stays real and in my hands and your not at risk of being buried if anything like this happens, and as we have seen it has and probably will keep on happening for the time to come until all of this is resolved.

 

[PatsFan1283]

http://www.nolimitstrategy.net/poke...sition-deal-to-be-confirmed-in-few-weeks/1767

Made a thread about this, should've just posted it here probably. Mods can delete the other 1 or merge if they want.

 

[Akillies]

A few of us thought we saw jeus ferguson at the Plaza in downtown las vegas the other nite, and someone said "it cant be him, cause so many people want to kill him he cant go out without bodyguards ". Guy sure looked just like him.