I have to admit, I was a BASHER of Brandon... I think he did a decent job in his latest entry.. Very smart guy but slightly delusional...

He did praise Pokerstars with a thinly veiled shot at them:

The poker world rightly praises Pokerstars for its extreme efficiency in funding US withdrawals. I’ll admit that Pokerstars is, in a certain way of looking at the world, the perfectly run poker organization. It’s the most efficient and ruthless rake gathering machine ever created. I can admire that, I guess, but my heart is with Full Tilt. They’ve made amateurish mistakes at times, but Full Tilt is an organization run by poker players, with sympathy for the wellbeing of the overall poker community.

source: http://www.macroeconomicwoes.com/unc...nnot-hold.html


Mod edit, NoahSD: Removed full text of Brandon's post.

Does he make some kind of point somewhere in there?

If fulltilt cares so much about the wellbeing of the poker community, why the multi-entries?

Apart from that I agree with pretty much everything he said, but it's hard not to when everything he said is pretty obvious.

LOL - he has no point really... Just in a wierd way explaining his thought process on why he is wearing his FTP patch, and his zealous support of FTP even in this crisis..

Unreal how he is basing the POKER UNIVERSE on FTP being the stability of poker - wow....

My fear is simply that, if Full Tilt can’t hold it together, poker will enter a dark phase.

White Noise!

Cliffs: If FTP fails, the industry is in bad shape, so I'm going to continue blindly supporting them because my heart is with them.

Oh yeah, and Poker Stars might be the best run poker site, but they're still a bunch of blood-sucking leeches.

Anyone who ever thinks that Full Tilt will go under, that people are going to abandon it and stop depositing on it because, obviously, why would anyone continue to deposit on a site that is so embattled, so "shady", or whatever, would do well to remember the above.

Poker is not a normal business. Gambling is not a normal business. Some very smart people (many of whom post on 2p2) have been able to _make_ a business out of poker while avoiding the pitfalls of gambling, but the vast, vast majority of players have not. That's what kept UB/AP in business after the superuser scandal, and that's what's keeping Full Tilt in business now.

And that's why (and how) Full Tilt is going to pay us back, sooner or later.

"But I believe that they deserve just a little more patience in their efforts to overcome management mistakes and a government seizure."

I guess.

I'd like more info on who the "Full Tilt guys" he's referring to are. Does that mean he's friendly with Ray Bitar? or is he referring to Lederer / Ivey?

my heart is with POKERSTARS

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This is like saying: "The scientific community is right to reject previous held beliefs that the earth is flat due to new, overwhelming evidence to the contrary, but my heart is with the flat-earth believers because I always kinda liked it better that way."

Seriously, just lol at his delusion in wanting to hate PS and justify his love of FTP.

I just hope Brandon doesn't drink the FTP coolaide because he is a bright individual but totally out of touch...

It already has entered dark phase. The consumer loses when sites are monopolies.

Cliffs
Pokerstars - professional
FTP - amateurish

both rip off the punters

lucky to have either of them otherwise you would get ripped off violently.

shills gonna shill

A bit grandiose and dramatic....smart people can get like that sometimes. Mostly, they enjoy hearing themselves talk (or write in this case) and feel like they are really enlightening the unwashed masses. Unfortunately, yawn....

Positives:

-Full Tilt pro speaks about Full Tilt.
-Brandon Adams is loyal to his friends.

Negatives:

--Nothing new about Full Tilt refunding player's money--though does reference failures as "in the short term."
-Doesn't say much else other than a weird assertion that Full Tilt and Online Poker cleaned up a violent industry... that will quickly become violent again without them.

Conclusion from reading:

-If poker is going to get violent again, as far as Russ Hamilton and Scott Tom are concerned, the sooner the better.

FYP

OP is an avatar thief

nuff said

Got I can't stand this guy! Stars is ruthless rake machine and I guess FTP is saint rake machine...lol. Run it twice only take 1 second longer but they rake it twice as much, that is effen ruthless if you ask me. What wrong with this guy?

Only way to kill a cash cow is running by shady, ruthless, super greedy, etc individuals.

OP,

slightly delusional?

I think this is a well-reasoned article, actually. I'm intrigued by the idea that poker is built on self-delusion... seems pretty spot on. How else do losing players continue to punt off money? They continue to convince themselves that it will be different this time. The pro poker player's lifestyle is entirely dependent on the "fish" and his ability to continue deluding himself in this manner.

It's a harsh reality, but it has been legitimized by glitzy TV coverage and corporate-style management of online poker sites. We've known for a long time the UB was the Enron of poker, but finding out about Full Tilt's mismanagement was a bigger blow. I think Brandon's right: If Full Tilt can't pull it together and pay us back very soon, we're headed for the dark ages of poker.

Cliffs: BA begs Howard to cash him out

I think this is the first time I have seen something written by Brandon Adams that doesn't mention he went to and teaches a course at Harvard.

Hey Brandon, Full Tilt Poker is 2nd in this category by a landslide. Their pokerscout #s tell us they are raking millions every day. Any idea where that money is going?

Raking is not the same thing is earning.

The only actual income Full Tilt/Stars/whatever other online poker site gets is the result of players SUCCESSFULLY (read: no echeck problems, advances, etc) depositing. So what matters far more now is how much people are continuing to deposit, especially since much of the real funds representing the "rake" are currently frozen.