Home / Poker News April 2011 / Full Tilt Poker’s response to Black Friday
Full Tilt Poker’s response to Black Friday
Posted by: James Carter. - Mon, 2011-04-18 14:58
Full Tilt Poker, much like the other sites concerned, were a bit late to issue official reactions about the DoJ’s Friday move against them. They didn’t know what hit them so to speak, and for a while there, poker players – even those outside the US – were worried about their accounts and the funds stored in them. As soon as the initial ripples set though, the site and the people in charge reacted promptly. The company moved to a different domain name, this time a UK-based one and released a statement according to which the company still did not consider
online poker illegal and had some of the best legal minds in the US to back up its position. CEO Raymond Bitar and employee Nelson Burtnick were not arrested. The company has moved from LA to Dublin, Ireland in the wake of the 2006 UIGEA so they were both outside of US jurisdiction when the indictments were announced.
The company statement also said that everything considered, they were looking forward to Bitar and Burtnick’s exoneration.
Looking to reassure their remaining players too, the company has posted a pop-up message on its website, which said that despite all the bank account seizures which accompanied the DoJ onslaught, they were still in a position to honor all withdrawals in a timely manner and that players should not worry about the safety of their accounts. In a word: outside the US, it’s still business as usual.
Despite the appearance of normality that all the affected sites are trying to keep, it’s obvious that they know: the shop has closed and the heydays of enjoying the impressive volumes of the US market are over.
There was no word in the statement regarding the funds left behind by US players, although one would assume that the companies are eager to settle that issue as soon as possible too.
