Tiltware CEO and co-founder of Full Tilt Poker – Ray Bitar – has broken his silence for the first time since Black Friday, and issued an apology to “all who have been affected by these events”.
Ray Bitar is the first major name to speak out since the US Department of Justice indicted him and other owners of Full Tilt Poker on April 15th 2011 for violating UIGEA and, in an interview with Poker Strategy´s Matt Kaufman, explained the reasons for his silence.
Working Towards Repayment of the Full Tilt Players
Bitar claimed in the interview that his primary focus had been the repayment of the players and the survival of Full Tilt Poker. When asked why he had not made any public statements in almost a year, Bitar replied that he had been working tirelessly to resolve issues with the Department of Justice and that public statements about the ongoing process may have jeopardised the eventual outcome. He added that he had no intention to “hide” or “ignore the situation”, and he acknowledged that the events surrounding the Full Tilt Poker scandal had hurt a lot of innocent people which “it´s my main job to put right”.
Ray Bitar Attacked for Meaningless Statement
Despite his public apology, reaction to Bitar´s interview was negative. Although the apology was published late in the evening (US time), a head of steam developed on the online poker forums attacking the statement for its lack of information and brevity. It was generally agreed upon that Bitar could had made the same statement at any time in the past eleven months, but failed to do so, and it may have been a staged public comment so that when a deal is concluded with Groupe Bernard Tapie, Bitar can come out of the mess a little cleaner and say “I told you I was working on a deal”.
More Interviews to Come?
The conclusion of the Poker Strategy article hinted that there may be more interviews to come however, should the remainder be as meaningless as the one published last night, the reaction will be to stir more dislike of Bitar and his cronies. As a PR exercise the interview did nothing for Bitar or Full Tilt Poker, whose ex-players still remain pessimistic of ever seeing their bankrolls again and cynical of anything that has to be passed through Full Tilt Poker´s lawyers first.
As one wag on the 2 plus 2 forums put it:-
Q: – Why did it take so long for Bitar to issue an apology
A: – Because requests for interviews have to go through FTP support!
The sixth anniversary of the Sunday Million at PokerStars will take place this Sunday, with the online poker site guaranteeing a prize pool of $6 million in the $215 buy-in poker tournament.
On Sunday, March 11th, players at PokerStars will compete for a piece of a $6 million prize pool, with at least $1 million going to winner of the biggest weekly tournament in online poker. The buy-in is the same as it is every week despite the larger guarantee; the tournament starts at 14:30 Eastern on that Sunday.
Satellites to the Sunday Million are still running for as little as $1, and there will be a 1,000-seat guaranteed satellite before the tournament, as well. To find the Sunday Million and satellites to the tournament, open the PokerStars lobby, and click ‘Tourney’ & ‘Special’.
If you don’t have a PokerStars account, you can sign up here. For more on this Sunday’s tournament, visit the PokerStars website.
The biggest weekly online poker tournament in the world, the Sunday Million, turns six years old today and to celebrate PokerStars have upped the guarantee to an absolutely massive $6,000,000! The buy-in remains the same $215 but for this week the winner of the Sunday Million will walk away with at least $1,000,000 in cold hard cash!
The inaugural Sunday Million took place on Sunday 6 March, 2006 and it attracted a bumper crowd of 5,893 players who were eventually outlasted by the player knowns simply as aaaaaaaa. He walked away with the lions share of the $1,178,600 prize pool.
Since the day the Sunday Million has become the tournament every aspiring poker player wants to win, not only for the gigantic prizes on offer but the prestige attached to winning such an event. There have been 278 winners in total, 2,116,513 combined entrants and prizes of $444,149,600 paid out! Whoever wins the sixth anniversary Sunday Million will almost certainly win one of the largest first places prizes of any online tournament in the history of the game.
The largest Sunday Million on record took place on the tournament's fifth birthday when an astonishingly large crowd of 59,128 players entered and created a prize pool of $11,825,600. Will the field and prize pool be even greater this year now there is a $1,000,000 guaranteed first place prize and at least $6,000,000 in the pot to start with?
There are satellites running right now that will allow you to win a seat into this amazing tournament for literally nothing and with late registration open for three hours in tonight's Sunday Million there is no excuse at all to miss it! There is a special 1,000 seat guaranteed tournament taking place one hour before the Sunday Million kicks off where you could win your shot at $1,000,000 for just $11!
Tonight's $6,000,000 guaranteed Sunday Million kicks off at 1830 and we would love the eventual winner to be a PokerNews player so get involved now! Team PokerStars' Liv Boeree gave PokerNews readers some sterling advice on how to succeed in this massive event.
"When playing the Sunday Million, it’s important to be patient. It attracts huge numbers, and in order to navigate your way through, you have to learn to play the waiting game if the cards don’t cooperate."
Good luck!
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If you do not already have a PokerStars account, and why not, then download PokerStars through PokerNews and become a member of Club PokerNews. By entering the marketing code UKPOKERNEWS and the bonus code STARS600 you will be able to claim a 100% match up to $600 sign-up bonus and be eligible for all future promotion run by PokerStars and PokerNews, which have been over $200,000 in past years!
Read more: The PokerStars Sunday Million Turns Six Today; $6 Million Guaranteed | PokerNews
Low cost buy-ins are available to Super Sale tournaments at the beginning of April and buy-ins to the weekly $200,000 Guaranteed have been reduced.
Titanpoker-com, the leading online poker room in Europe, is offering discounts on buy-ins to some of its most prestigious tournaments at the beginning of April 2012. Discounts range from 60% to 80% off the regular tournament buy-in prices. In addition, buy-ins to the Titan Poker's hugely popular Sunday night $200,000 Guaranteed freezeout tournament have been drastically reduced on a number of start dates.
Read more here: Titan Poker Discounts Entries to its Popular Online Tournaments - PR Newswire - The Sacramento Bee
The clientele of the world's largest online poker site, PokerStars, have been buzzing in recent days over the introduction of Zoom Poker. Do you remember Rush Poker on the now-defunct Full Tilt Poker? Well, think of Zoom Poker as its cousin. The Zoom Poker game play is very similar to that of Rush Poker – once your action in a hand is finished, you're whisked away to a brand new table with a new set of opponents where a new hand begins immediately.
Read More: PokerStars Launches Real Money Zoom Poker
In a candid interview last week, Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu stated that Full Tilt players expecting the poker site to be sold to Group Bernard Tapie and to be fully reimbursed for their frozen account balances should not be counting too heavily on seeing their funds, as he believes the deal will never go through.
Seemingly not contented with blasting Full Tilt Poker on his weekly video rants in which he has referred to Ray Bitar, Howard Lederer and Chris Feguson as “scumbags” and “shameful little weasels,” Negreanu sat down with Poker Strategy and expressed his opinions on various topics, including the recent rumors that the sale of Full Tilt will become finalized sometime this week.
Read More: Full Tilt Players Not Getting Paid, Negreanu Says
The Relax Gaming Network, owner and developer of the Rush Poker-style game Fast Poker that was announced last week, has received a licence from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC).
Read More: Alderney Defends Full Tilt Poker Regulation - European Poker News
I want to play and I have all the banking requirements to do so but when I give them my address will I get poker email from them? i.e. will other members of my household be able to know im gambling?
Over $250,000 in prizes will be awarded to poker players in the Cash Point competition that ranks them based on their participation in cash games.
Titanpoker the leading online poker site in Europe, will stage a competition during the month of April offering its cash game players over $250,000 in total prizes.
Read More; Titan Poker Stages Huge Promotion for No Limit Hold'em Cash Players - MarketWatch
Roy ‘GodlikeRoy’ Bhasin has become the first Oceania-based Team PokerStars Online member after the Australian was revealed as the latest pro to be snapped up by the world’s leading poker room.
Sydney’s Bhasin emerged as the player of choice after a selection process that saw an initial list of possible candidates cut down to 10 players – including the likes of Aussies Jay Kinkade, Tim English, Jesse McKenzie, Benn Skender, Jonathan Karamalikis and Matt Wakeman – from Australia and New Zealand, with the Pot-Limit Omaha specialist being considered the standout option as he “shined through to win himself the position”, according to a Team Online manager.
Read More: Roy Bhasin Joins Team PokerStars Online
Titan Poker's iPoker Online Poker Series (iPOPS) is getting under way later this month, and players can already begin qualifying for the exciting tournament series that features a $1 million guaranteed prize pool!
The second installment of iPOPS will feature five tournaments staged between April 29 and May 6. The series will appeal to all types of players, and include both low-priced events and a high roller tournament. Satellites are running now for the five iPOPS tournaments:
Read more: Win a Share of $1 Million in Titan Poker's iPoker Online Poker Series | PokerNews
Two Full Tilt Poker directors were hit with another class-action lawsuit Thursday by online poker players upset because they can’t withdraw funds from the company.
Attorneys for four lead class-action plaintiffs filed suit in federal court in Las Vegas against Full Tilt directors Howard Lederer and Chris ''Jesus'' Ferguson, alleging conversion.
The lawsuit complains that before and after ''Black Friday'' — nearly one year ago on April 15, 2011 — Lederer and Ferguson ''exercised unlawful dominion and control'' over players’ funds in Full Tilt accounts.
Read More: New class-action suit filed against Full Tilt Poker directors - Thursday, April 12, 2012 | 8:11 p.m. - VEGAS INC
Tournament Parser, a program that parses your online poker tournament information and allows customers to post rails to forums, has released its newest version, 2.94, which includes a number of updates. Version 2.94 was made available to the public by Tournament Parser creator "whitecow" earlier this month and features a fix for the PokerStars Audit file change, which previously affected winnings of $1,000 and over.
Pokerfest II Online kicks off at 13:30 EDT on Sunday, April 22, with the first of four Pokerfest tournaments scheduled for that day — the $215 buy-in $350,000 guaranteed no-limit hold'em event. What a way to get the month long online poker festival under way.
The second edition of the superb online festival boasts no fewer than 47 events between April 22 and May 22 with a staggering $3,500,000 in guarantees and a Main Event that will pay out at least $1,000,000! Along with the 47 tournaments there will be multiple side events taking place between April 22 and May 6, so if tournament poker is your thing then you will only need to play on PartyPoker in the coming month!
Read more: PartyPoker Weekly: Pokerfest Online II Stars This Weekend and Much More! | PokerNews
It's been a tumultuous year for Full Tilt to say the least. After the Black Friday indictments, the company had its license revoked, was named a "Ponzi scheme" by the Department of Justice, faced two class action lawsuits and had some of its biggest representatives suffer severe and irreversible brand damage. The company has also experienced a lengthy period of negotiations that has only left those interested in the company's status with a bitter taste in their mouth. There have been no formal press releases, no widespread media interviews and minimal outreach in communication. Quite simply, the company has done its best to remain in the dark as they appear to take a step in a new direction.
Read More: Is Full Tilt gearing up towards re-launch - ESPN
Hi everyone.. today i transfered 44 USD into my Skrill account, but stupid me did not click that it was for online gambling.. now i cant deposit it into pokerstars.
My question.
Does anyone have a Skrill Account and a pokerstars account who would be willing to swap skrill money for pokerdolarrs?
ie
i transfer u 44 usd into your skrill
u transfer me the 44 into my pokerstars account?..
sabreena wrote:
I want to play and I have all the banking requirements to do so but when I give them my address will I get poker email from them? i.e. will other members of my household be able to know im gambling?
You do have to use a site like Ewallet to make a deposit (which can take a few days to clear from your bank account and has limits for the amount you can deposit each month...gone are the days of quick, easy deposits, which I guess might be a good thing, since it is all to easy to clean your account in the heat of the moment...hehe). Good luck, and win big!
As part of its upgraded loyalty program, popular online poker room Titan Poker offers industry-leading incentives for members of all levels.
Titanpoker-com, the leading online poker site in Europe, has upgraded its VIP Program and introduced loyalty rewards that will benefit all players, including casual visitors to the poker tables.
The revised Titan Poker VIP Club groups players in five VIP levels based on their activity at Titan Poker's cash games and tournaments. Veteran enthusiasts and newly signed-up players who meet the requirements of a higher VIP level are recognized immediately with daily VIP level upgrades, speeding up their process of achieving extra benefits.
Read more here: Cash Prizes for Casual Players Now Available at Titan Poker - PR Newswire - The Sacramento Bee
Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT), the French investment company, is not going to acquire Full Tilt Poker after all; instead, PokerStars is showing an interest in acquiring the beleaguered online poker room. According to a G-poker report, the deal between the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Full Tilt Poker, and Groupe Bernard Tapie just did not work out. Both GBT and Full Tilt Poker have issued official statements to the effect that the deal has failed and that GBT will not be acquiring FTP after all. Behnam Dayanim, the legal representative for GBT, said that PokerStars is already holding talks with DoJ with regard to the acquisition of Full Tilt Poker.
Read More: PokerStars Mulling Over Acquiring Full Tilt Poker
At the end of 2010, PokerStars started its SuperStar Showdown challenge in which contenders would pit their skills against no-limit heads-up specialist Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom.
Now the world’s largest online poker room has announced another absorbing competition aptly called The Limit Hold’em Challenge, in which specially invited players will compete for high stakes.
Getting underway at 2pm ET on Saturday, May 5th, the first installment will see Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu take on mystery assailant “rUaBot” with both players starting with $75,000 bankrolls and playing 1,250 hands across two tables of $200/$400 heads-up limit hold’em.
Not much is known about Negreanu’s opponent “rUaBot,” except that he is a limit hold’em specialist, and discussing the poker format he had the following to say:
Ray Bitar is the first major name to speak out since the US Department of Justice indicted him and other owners of Full Tilt Poker on April 15th 2011 for violating UIGEA and, in an interview with Poker Strategy´s Matt Kaufman, explained the reasons for his silence.
Working Towards Repayment of the Full Tilt Players
Bitar claimed in the interview that his primary focus had been the repayment of the players and the survival of Full Tilt Poker. When asked why he had not made any public statements in almost a year, Bitar replied that he had been working tirelessly to resolve issues with the Department of Justice and that public statements about the ongoing process may have jeopardised the eventual outcome. He added that he had no intention to “hide” or “ignore the situation”, and he acknowledged that the events surrounding the Full Tilt Poker scandal had hurt a lot of innocent people which “it´s my main job to put right”.
Ray Bitar Attacked for Meaningless Statement
Despite his public apology, reaction to Bitar´s interview was negative. Although the apology was published late in the evening (US time), a head of steam developed on the online poker forums attacking the statement for its lack of information and brevity. It was generally agreed upon that Bitar could had made the same statement at any time in the past eleven months, but failed to do so, and it may have been a staged public comment so that when a deal is concluded with Groupe Bernard Tapie, Bitar can come out of the mess a little cleaner and say “I told you I was working on a deal”.
More Interviews to Come?
The conclusion of the Poker Strategy article hinted that there may be more interviews to come however, should the remainder be as meaningless as the one published last night, the reaction will be to stir more dislike of Bitar and his cronies. As a PR exercise the interview did nothing for Bitar or Full Tilt Poker, whose ex-players still remain pessimistic of ever seeing their bankrolls again and cynical of anything that has to be passed through Full Tilt Poker´s lawyers first.
As one wag on the 2 plus 2 forums put it:-
Q: – Why did it take so long for Bitar to issue an apology
A: – Because requests for interviews have to go through FTP support!