Okay, I know this is caribbeanpoker.org and Caribbean Poker wasn’t the type of poker being played at Full Tilt Poker. Perhaps that was a lucky thing for us. If you played the other kind of poker and had an account at Full Tilt – my sympathies. For those who aren’t familiar with the story, I’m actually going to take some time to discuss it, because it both baffles and fascinates me.
Full Tilt Poker is at its heart an example of poor company management. The company really should have been doing well. PartyPoker was and PokerStars seems to have rebounded from the April 15th Black Friday Poker Shutdown where 4 poker companies were kicked out of the US market and their bank accounts seized. But that action by the US Feds pulled the rug out from Full Tilt and the lid off the whole money management mess.
The problem actually seems to come down to one poor decision. The company decided to mix the funds in players’ accounts with operating funds. Well, there were a few more problems. They gave big players loans to play on and even when they had trouble processing US deposits, they put money in the players’ accounts so they could play. These last two items made Full Tilt popular with players. The first they didn’t know about. But as long as nothing upset the Full Tilt apple cart, everything seemed to run just fine. But once the DOJ gave a shove, the whole thing toppled over.
Since then Full Tilt has had its license pulled by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and can’t offer online poker right now. The licenses won’t be considered for reinstatement until the pay back about $300 million they own to players in the US and internationally. And they keep coming up with promises that business deals are taking place that will make all this happen. Players think they’re bluffing. Poker players are good at calling bluffs.