Doyle Brunson: ‘Full Tilt Poker Deal Likely to Fall Apart’
Though Full Tilt Poker’s French suitors attorneys continue to insist the deal to acquire the troubled company is still in, Texas Dolly and poker icon Doyle Brunson agrees with a number of other pros who have come forward to express their concerns, suggesting the deal is likely to fall apart.
Brunson has been accused of trying to defend some of the folks behind Full Tilt Poker, the one time second largest Web cardroom that shut down last year after the US Government froze over a dozen bank accounts linked to the company. Executives were charged with bank fraud and money laundering while three of the professional pros who represented the firm were accused by US authorities of perpetrating a ponzi scheme. A French firm, Groupe Bernard Tapie, is in talks to take over Full Tilt, however, little progress has been made to date.
“The deeper you dig into the Full Tilt mess the more intriguing it becomes. I'm being accused of defending Howard Lederer because of a personal friendship in lots of places. I'm not backing down one bit from what I said or what I believe. I have the right to have my own opinion. I'm not saying Howard (and Chris Ferguson) have no guilt, but the degree of the guilt is misunderstood and that there was no intent to defraud anyone. There are four different blogs up at http://www.doylebrunson.com sharing different points of view so everyone can decide for themselves. Would I bet my life everything I say and believe is true? No, but I would bet money most of it is. “
The website bearing Brunson’s name, DoylesRoom.com, was seized last May after getting caught up in a US sting operation. The DoylesRoom.com site, now Americas Cardroom, did not skip a beat following the action. Brunson was not charged.
In regard to Full Tilt Poker, Brunson expressed his worries over the company’s ultimate fate.
“Every reasonable person agrees there is at least a remote chance Howard and Chris knew nothing about the financial problems before Black Friday. Now the big question is why wouldn't the board of directors know? I've been told that FT was a California LLC and the board should accept the financial reports from management. The board was there as an advisory group and had nothing to do with finances except look at the reports. That is my understanding and if it isn't correct, don't all you lawyers out there hammer me about it. There was a seat open on the board that no stockholder wanted. The board could be changed by a majority vote by the stockholders but no one wanted the responsibility of being on the board. So perhaps that is another piece to the puzzle.
“If in truth Ray Bitar is the culprit in this mess why is he still running the remnants of the company? Why wasn't he fired right away? Simple answer is Bitar is the only one who knows all the ins and outs of the company, and the company gaming licenses were in his name. Who else knows? Bitar has his name on all of the different corporations, documents, bank accounts, etc. He is probably trying to do his best to make the best of a bad situation. Bitar undoubtedly is under the supervision of lawyers and FT representatives. I spent a couple of weekends before Black Friday playing Chinese Poker with Bitar, Lederer, and Eli Elezra while watching football games. By just listening to the conversation between Bitar and Lederer, it was obvious that Bitar has far more knowledge of FT affairs than Lederer.
“Another unanswered question is why did Chris Ferguson choose to leave 40 million dollars in the hands of FT Management? Was it because he thought the company was sound and it was a safe place for his dividends? Or did he leave it because he was a "good guy" and thought it might be needed in case of emergency. “
Brunson supports the notion that has been raised on the Gambling911.com website repeatedly, that the lawyers should see a sweet payday at the expense of players, hence the reason much of the “positive” news we are reading about the Bernard Tapie deal moving forward is coming from the lawyers.
“The real winners in this travesty will be the lawyers. This could drag on for years and the legal bills will be enormous. Who exactly will pay these bills? If Lederer, Ferguson, and Bitar have to go to trial, then appeals court, etc will they have to foot the expense? Will the stockholders who have been paid millions of dollars help? Most of them have lost that money gambling, living the good life, etc. I guess the answer to that is it's none of my damn business, and actually that is a very good answer.”
Brunson also counts himself among the Full Tilt Poker victims. He admitted to having $28,000 there.
“ Do I think the Tapie deal to buy FT will happen and we will get our money back? No, I don't think so but where there is life there is hope and the deal isn't completely dead yet. “
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
