Been a while since I checked in here at FTP, so thought I’d leave a quick digest to update you on my shenanigans. Since my last digest I had news that my good friend and NPF moderator Dave Collins recently suffered from a heart attack whilst over in Majorca, I understand he is now fit and well back over the UK. I have gave him my best wishes in a thread over the NPF, but just to repeat that all at FTP wish you a speedy recovery mate and delighted with your progress mate. Guess we can rule out another all night Bill’s Saloon session on the vodka redbull and jagerbombs 
.
I’ve booked up to head back over Las Vegas on November 9th as kind of an early birthday gift to myself, I’m travelling alone but upon arrival sharing a room with my good friend Dominic Mahoney over at Treasure Island. My journey is kind of inconvenient as I fly Newcastle > Amsterdam > Los Angelas > Las Vegas, with a total travel time of 17 hours leaving Newcastle at 05:55 and arriving Las Vegas 15:11. This will be my ninth visit and I’m excited as I was on the build up to my first, there is a bunch of Teesside boys (10 in total) staying over at Riviera notably Ian Woods, Brett Angell, and Rakesh Gupta who I’ll hang and kick back with whilst in town. Ian Woods has reserved a table on the night I arrive over at the Top Of The World Restaurant, Stratosphere which I’ve heard and read good reviews about, so that should be a great way to start the holiday.
There are a few good tournaments in October;
Saturday 1st October: Gala Teesside £100 NLH F/O âPoker Player UK Tourâ
Sunday 2nd October: Aspers £100 NLH F/O â£10,000 Guaranteedâ
Tuesday 4th October: Circus £50 NLH F/O â£6,000 Guaranteedâ
Saturday 8th October: NPF Championships âCircus Free Online Casinâ
Saturday 15th October: Gala Teesside £250 NLH F/O âMain Eventâ
Saturday 22nd October: APAT UK Team âMark representing NPFâ
Then the final weekend in October (Friday 28th October) I’m away to Amsterdam with my mates away from the felt, taking the DFDS ferry from North Shields. So lots to look forward to in the foreseeable future, with hopefully some run good along the way.
Take it easy
My obsession with pull-ups continues…. I can now do 3 proper pull-ups before I fail. 2 months ago I could only do 1. A few years back I could not do any. When I was 20 I could do 6. My target is to be able to do 10 proper.
I now weigh 13st 5lbs (85kg or 187lbs)
By Pauly
San Francisco, CA
Dear Full Tilt Poker,
Fuck you. Pay me.
Sincerely,
Pauly
* * *Update: Since the Frenchies just signed acquisition papers, I will re-publish my statement in French courtesy of my translator, Benjo…
Cher Full Tilt,
Rien à foutre. Tu paies!
Merci,
Pauly
Originally featured on PokerStrategy.com.
It took nearly two weeks (and before that three months) for the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) to revoke the license of Full Tilt Poker. We are only a few hours into this latest plot twist, but after a two weeks of silence, there has already been a big backlash against the AGCC by the players, no matter how inevitable this news was.
Should we be directing our frustration at the AGCC right now, after all they are not accused of money laundering, they didn’t accept deposits that they couldn’t process, they didn’t report funds as liquid when they had been seized by the DOJ. These were all things that were out of control of the AGCC, and they noted this in their press release which stated they were ‘fundamentally misled’ about the funds at Full Tilt.
Out Of Their Control?
But let us look a little deeper into what was in their control. The accounting evidence in the determination notice was compiled by accountants Dixon Wilson on the 28 June 2011. These audits highlighted that around $331 million was seized by the US Department of Justice between 2007 and 2011. These frozen funds were reported as liquid, and should have been immediately brought to the attention of the AGCC by Full Tilt.
So in 2007 Full Tilt should have reported this, and by not doing so, they managed to fool the AGCC for four years?
Four years?
What on earth does a regulator do if they cannot notice a $331 million shortfall on account over four years? Is it not the job of a regulator to regularly audit a company with millions of dollars of customer money, instead of naively accepting whatever play money account balance is reported at the end of the tax year?
Where were the Audits?
It depends entirely on the industry and the country the business is in, but most regulators insist on annual accounting audits by third parties to ensure things like this do not happen. Full Tilt was a privately limited company, which usually means that they would be subject to less mandatory audits, but surely that is no excuse?
Very few privately limited companies would ever hold onto customer funds for significant amount of times like an online poker room does. In that regard they are operatively more similar to a bank, and with so much potential for financial ruin, surely the AGCC should have treated regulating them in the same manner?
Although I am sure that the AGCC do ensure company accounts are audited regularly, I cannot believe for one second that this happened with the degree of scrutiny they should have been. Let me remind you once again, $331 million seized since 2007 – how can any remotely experienced accountant miss that?
They told us that they allowed Full Tilt an extension on their hearing to pursue an investor as it was in the player’s interest to do so, because it would enable the players to get their funds back. Rather fortuitously this also allowed them to get £250,000 in operating fees that were owed to them. Now that they have revoked Full Tilt’s license, I am not seeing much mention to them still looking to get the players funds back any more.
The AGCC are trying to say they were fooled by Full Tilt for all this time, I say that the AGCC failed us. Would the events of Black Friday still have happened no matter what they did? Yes. But had FullTilt been regulated with more scrutiny, had they been audited properly in the last four years, not only would Full Tilt’s accounting shortfall been noticed sooner, this most likely would have been prevented from ever happening at all.
So long as the AGCC has committed to the French investment group that Tilt’s license will be reactivated once 1) they buy the company, 2) they clear out management, and 3) they pay back all of the players / all funds will be secure, then that deal goes through just it would’ve before the license revocation.
While the AGCC’s statement made it clear that Tilt’s license could be “reactivated” if a new buyer is found (and presumably current management is cleared out), this revocation certainly doesn’t help the company finalize any potential investor deal–or get it any closer to generating much needed revenue again.
Which leaves us the platform.
Here are the only two options left, as we see it…
However, that customer list isn’t *much* of an asset at this point. They’re owed over $300M. So consider that a “toxic” asset. If you assume the customer list, you’re probably going to have to assume their debt too.
It’s not what we’re hoping for…but it is what we expect.
For Tilt and its management, this is obviously a worst case scenario.
As long as the DoJ blesses the deal too, which isn’t a given.
Knowing what they know now, there’s no chance the AGCC could allow Tilt to operate until the company comes up with the $300-350M it owes players across the globe. The AGCC would lose all credibility.
Option 2 – Bankruptcy, Liquidation, and Pennies on the Dollar: If the French investors end up walking from Tilt, we don’t see (or have heard from any of our sources) any other credible alternatives. It’s not like Tilt had a line of potential suitors waiting at the door before their license was yanked. They definitely won’t now.
The AGCC socked it to Full Tilt on Thursday, revoking their license. So now what?
All of the industry software experts we’ve spoken to agree the Tilt platform is worth around $100-150M. If they get a buyer on the hook for that money, the cash would likely be divvied up for pennies on the dollar to creditors (players, DoJ to a degree, etc.).
The brand and company dies. The DoJ will go more aggressively after all shareholders and their assets in an attempt to secure its penalty payments. The net widens. More shit hits the fan. And the whole industry suffers an elongated, dragged out, painful process.
The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) may have hammered the final (third or fourth) nail in Full Tilt Poker‘s coffin on Thursday when it revoked the beleaguered company’s gaming license.
Option 1 – All-In On Viva La France: As we’ve previously outlined, to straighten out the books, Tilt needs about $750-800M. That pays back customers, takes care of the DoJ fines, and provides some needed operating capital.
While Tilt lashed back at the AGCC for potentially putting their latest investor deal at risk, at the end of the day, Tilt management’s actions over the past year is the real cause for the predicament they’re in, and is the real reason why the license was revoked.
We still feel like this deal happening is a major dog, but what happened Thursday doesn’t move it from a two-to-a-one outer.
At this point, Tilt’s best option (and the one we believe is most likely) would be bankruptcy and asset liquidation.
So as Tilt is dealt yet another blow–it’s time to ask again: so now what?
Now–the alleged French investment group allegedly including Laurent Tapie had to know Thursday’s license revocation was a possibility. And if they knew this was a possibility, we don’t see any reason why AGCC swiping Tilt’s license suddenly prohibits them from doing a deal. They still need the same amount of money to do the deal. The brand is still just as toxic. The company still isn’t generating any income.
The assets, of course, are the software/platform, and to some degree, the customer list.
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AGCC Revokes Full Tilt Poker’s Gaming License
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Full Tilt Poker Shut Down: Alderney Suspends Gaming License
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Full Tilt Poker Alderney Hearings Today A Whole Lot of Nothing
Managed to just tip over the £6k mark in the end (barring a drunk 2am session 2moz !!!) and finished at £6,015 Last session was nuts. Was playing hu 30/60 hi lo limit for 2 hours, 45minutes of that on 2 tables.  Went +$500, then down $1,100 before finishing about +$300. Sooooo tired now though, it really took it out of me. Busy day 2moz but no poker thankfully !
Ended yesterdayâs post with that pic of the Full Tilt Poker zombie, coming for our brains. Was intending to refer more to the story of FTP than FTP itself, a story that just… keeps… heaving forward… step by staggering step. 
