Full Tilt is an online poker room that opened in June 2004. In 2003, many poker professionals that included Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer came together with a common goal, to establish an online poker room. Ray Bitar, though not a professional player, was also an important player in the founding of Full Tilt poker. Bitar met Ferguson in 1999, when Ferguson was a client of Bitar’s at his trading company. Ferguson helped Bitar improve his poker game and Bitar helped Ferguson improve his trading. Bitar left his company in late 2003, to become the CEO of TiltWare, the software and promotional company of Full Tilt Poker. A legion of poker pros and executives of TiltWare announced Full Tilt Poker at the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas. Full Tilt became operational and open to the public on July 10th, 2004.
Launch
Full Tilt launched when many other online rooms had been in existence since the late 90s. Initially, this seemed to be a hard barrier to burst through, but Full Tilt seemed to attract a base of players almost immediately. Through great marketing and ad campaigns from TiltWare, Full Tilt attracted an active but still small player base in the online poker world. Full Tilt still had a long way road ahead to become an internet poker giant, Party Poker was the king of internet poker at the time and PokerStars was also fighting for market share.
Over the next 2 years, Full Tilt continued their ad campaigns and increased their player base, therefore increasing their profits. Many professional players played on Full Tilt and their names were marked with red lettering, earning them the nick name “red pros.” Customers loved the idea of playing with and/or watching their poker idols.
UIGEA and Effects
In 2006, the United States congress passed the UIGEA an acronym for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This impacted many online poker rooms across the internet, many were public companies and if they continued servicing US players their shareholders could be charged criminally.
This forced many of the larger rooms out of the US market, the most notable being Party Poker. Party Poker’s exit of the US market, along with other sites, propelled Full Tilt to the top of the online poker pyramid. The passage of the UIGEA started a war for dominance in the US online poker market between Full Tilt and PokerStars. Almost instantly, they sucked up Party Poker’s player base and increased their profitability.
As Full Tilt expanded, they offered improvements to players. In 2007, they upgraded their software, introducing a faster client. Full Tilt also got a boost in 2007 when they sent Jerry Yang to the 2007 World Series, Yang won the main event in dramatic fashion all while wearing his Full Tilt Poker hat and jacket.
Black Friday and Aftermath
In early April 2011, Full Tilt entered partnership with Fertitta Interactive, in which the two would work together if internet poker were federally legalized in the United States. Things were looking good, that is until on April 15th, 2011 when disaster struck for Full Tilt. What will forever be known as “Black Friday” for poker players, the United States Department of Justice indicted many top executives at Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Absolute Poker. TiltWare CEO Ray Bitar and leader operating officer Nelson Burtnick were indicted. The charges included fraud, money laundering, and violation of federal gambling laws. Full Tilt’s domain www.fulltiltpoker.com was seized by the FBI and millions of dollars were frozen.
Full Tilt suspended real money play for US citizens almost immediately. Though, Full Tilt had lost its US player base, it still had a large international base of players and things appeared to be salvageable. US players demanded their balances which totaled around 150 million dollars, weeks and then months went by without payment and each announcement made by Full Tilt gave no specifics about the payment to players.
The Alderney Gambling Control Commission revoked Full Tilt’s license in June of 2011 and advised players everywhere to steer clear. The US Department of Justice accused Full Tilt founders Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson of operating a global ponzi scheme, alleging that they skimmed money off player’s deposits for their personal gain. Ferguson and Lederer have denied these allegations.
Full Tilt Sale and Future
Full Tilt was thankfully sold to a French investment group in November 2011. The Groupe Bernard Tapie purchased Full Tilt for 80 million, within the purchase was a deal to repay players in full. The DOJ was involved in facilitating the deal and will handle the repayment of US players.
Most estimate the sale will be completed in the near future but so far no specifics have emerged on exactly when. Player’s funds are still being held and again still no details regarding payment to players have come to light. Full Tilt is still not operational and is facing attacks from lawyers across the globe, only time will tell how this situation will ultimately end.
