DN getting way way too much stick in this thread imo.

What he say's about old vs new isn't "gloryfying" E-dogs behavior he's just trying to give you an insight into a large reason why this situation has developed.

Whenever I'm about to undertake financial dealings with someone in poker my first question is, Do I Trust Them? If it's yes then I go ahead and I take the risk that it might go wrong, we live and die by our judgments and this is no exception. If it's no I refuse to do business, even if it's a great spot I usually won't take the risk or it needs to be very juicy. If the answer is I'm not sure, I will ask around with people who I do trust and use their opinions to make a judgement.

If it goes wrong it goes wrong. No excuses at all. This is alas part of the gambling world and as much as it sucks if we don't like then we shouldn't be gambling.

I am glad that haralabos and brandon posted as well. BUT it needs to be mentioned that Haralabos is telling us that Rafe Furst has done nothing wrong, yet calling out the shareholders for being to busylaundering money and buying banks to mask their financial transactions. Rafe was on the board of Directors, not JUST a shareholder. How can Rafe POSSIBLY be innocent when even HV admits that the shareholders were robbing us? As for Brandon Adams, he also stuck up for FTP. None of these scumbags from before poker exploded deserve any respect OR trust from us. If the $2800 guy had never posted this, would HV or DN have ever said a bad word re: EL? No way...

Really good post. I have nothing much to add, I hope people get paid back, just in the couple of days this thread has been up, we have found out about millions of dollars of debt EL is in, it wouldn't be surprising if it turns out he is 8 figures in debt, with no income and minimal assets.

There are no White Knights in the poker world, proof positive. Sweet baby Jesus what a mess.

Someone photoshop EL's head on the Honey Badger.

I wonder if edog is allowed to play bj at the palms

The interesting thing to think about is what life will be like for a man that was living massively in debt and underwater while receiving 250k+ a month, when the gravy train and source of income dries up. That lifestyle change will be excruciating since clearly he's way past the point of having the self-control to just grind it out. He's gotta be so desensitized to money at this point and so accustomed to a certain lifestyle, that it will be like a runaway train destined to crash and hit rock bottom, which is obviously what's in the process of happening now. As soon as his credit dries up because people get wise to the fact he can't repay, that's it, no more action, no more lifestyle, and he just becomes another gambling junkie trying to get himself straight. FTP and his reputation was the only lifeline he had separating him from other top tier gambling degenerates gambling it all away.

LOL. Too funny. Well played zero.

The word choice is so ironic

I do feel some empathy for Erick

Gambling addiction can be a truly powerful disease which is extremely hard to understand if you have never had an issue with it. Last time i went broke ~2005 i borrowed $5000 from my parents to help me get back on my feet. They knew i had issues and i expressly promised i would not gamble with their money. Long story short, within a week i was feeling depressed and i blew all the money playing Blackjack in a period of weakness. That's when i hit rock bottom and decided to accept help. Letting my parents down like that was truly one of the worst feelings in my life.

At that point i moved from Vegas and lived with my parents for a short period to get myself together. I deposited $50 online and spent 1.5 years grinding micro stakes in order to pay back my parents (I owed them 13k at that point along with rent and other bills)...That time period was terrible for me. I spent the whole time like a college student but without the fun. I spent <$300 a month on food and <$100 a month on entertainment. Within 6 months i had some money for a bankroll but was determined not to increase my standard of living until my parents were paid back in full (I tried to pay interest but they would not accept it)...

Anyway, i guess the point i'm making is i went broke, borrowed money, gambled it away like a true degen scumbag, hit rock bottom, and then made the situation right. All is not lost for EL. He can do the same thing. Hopefully he hits his rock bottom soon and figures out what he needs to do.

The tone of these comments is getting annoying. Yes of course there are people in poker who fit this quoted description. It's somewhat lame that they are in the elite, rare category of truly top professional, but yes they exist. E-dog was never one of those types, though, and he's actually on the other end of the spectrum, a pure action junkie.

To me, the most surprising thing about the countless comments identical to yours is how naive you are. What do you expect, a player to discuss his gambling and financial problems on TV? Did you not realize that many poker players are gambling addicts?

People are rarely honest with themselves about the impact of their leaks, so they're not going to come out on ESPN and say, "I'm broke despite my 7/8-figure winnings/income," but you can safely assume going forward that quote describes many players.

We know how Erick handled his gambling debts, gambling .. Im curious to see how he handled his stable of horses .. Was he easy to deal with, Organized, always had cash available etc..

Someone like him won't have the discipline to grind it out like you. He'll be trying to get staked and struggling to fight his degen urges and playing in big games. It's unlikely he has any skills that professions are interested in so he's going to be stuck in menial jobs. I wouldn't be surprised if he disappeared. Erica sure knows how to pick them.

By the looks of it, he owes people the kind of money he will never be able to pay back now that FT is gone. But yeah i hope he at least realizes he needs to completely change his life. As for rock bottoms, been there done that and yes, it certainly is a sobering experience, helps put your priorities straight. I didnt build a huge debt, messed up some other stuff but its all the same. You hit the bottom and you really realize you cant continue that way. Well, some of us realize anyway, i know people who will never really learn.

I remember a twitter exchange from about a year ago where Erick tweeted @ Haralabob about betting games. The convo was basically would you bet any of todays games, and Haralabob said no, Erick tweeted back but if you had a gun to your head who would you bet? Must have been so hard to hold back knowing that this guy needs to be in action at all times and is almost flaunting that while owing you a big number for 6yrs.

It seems this is what a lot of these famous busto degen pros do, and is why comments like "he's a nice guy at the tables though" are completely irrelevant to me.

kinda hate to laugh since this is all serious for EL and for others but A+ sir

I hate to derail this thread but I'm trying to explain how cool Bob is to my wife as I sit here in the ER. But can someone link me to the video where Bib tells the story about not being able to rent at Avis or wherever on HSP? I Googled and searched YouTube but came up empty.

cliffs of degenyamine bustoness? it is basically the same story?

Sorry, I wasn't trying to annoy anyone with the tone of my post. I'm not an insider. Most of the knowledge I have about the finances of professional poker players comes from what I read here on the forums.

Even you seem to admit that only the "elite, truly top professional" players have a steady stream of income and good credit. I love the game and find it sad what seems to be happenning to all but the best-of-the-best of the players.

It seems that many pros who are failing now had a better shot of being profitable through business (e.g., FTP) ownership than in actually playing the game.

RC

This makes no sense how does erick acting like a degenerate (and pretty scummy) prove their are no "white knights" in the poker world? I have no idea what this means. If you want to believe that everyone in poker is shady and scummy and this one guy being a huge degen reinforces that belief, alright, but seems kind of lol to me. Like an absurdist black swan theory.

If i remember right when David was playing on fullt tilt those big games Full tilt he had like a credit there like some high stakes player have in some casinos. He was in huge dept with full tilt if i remember the story right. This though as i see it looks much worse the David saga at least as i see it.

Someone will put him in some events or a big cash game and he will eventually win and be able to pay people back.

Its so damn ****ty that people with a golden ****ing ticket completely piss it away and use their image to help them be a total degenerate.

In no way did Shane say that only "elite, truly top professional" players have an income stream. Reading comprehension and reality FTW.