PS would eventually buy over FTP and everyone gets repaid 100%.

Anyone still selling FTP bucks? I think it might be 80-85 cents on a dollar now

Two good interpretations:

Full Tilt Poker: Not a Ponzi Scheme but a Combination of Incompetence and Denial

How Things Became So Screwed Up At Full Tilt Poker

Warning: Top link gave a malware alert and didn't connect. Obv. link taken out in quote.

When is Gus going to play ?

From Sept 2011 article (1st link):
Jeff Ifrah, also denied the claim that Full Tilt was a ponzi scheme in an interview to Reuters on Wednesday:
*
“FTP may have made mistakes, but I have seen no evidence to support the DOJ's characterization of it as a global Ponzi scheme,” Ifrah said.


If you read the indictment, there is plenty of evidence FTP was a ponzi scheme and a massive fraud.

OK, ive been out of touch with this situation for the better part of a year (real ID is aeppoker but appatrently theres some sort of password reset required)

When i came by to catch up on this thread, i assumed that one of two things would happen. EIther people like Mpeth and NSD would have been correct, and ftp payouts would already have begun at least or people would have finally acknowledged FTP as a lost cause and the rumors of buyouts, bailouts and rescues would have been popularly debunked as wishful thinking and FTP spin.

I would not have believed that 9 months later things would be effectively the same and people would be still be giving credence to promises that had spent all this time not materializing.

This is my question -- does anyone else think it would be a good idea to like set a date or something after which no one takes this sort of rumor seriously anymore.

just one mans humble opinion.

While I agree that things are comically the same as they have always been in the "next week" regard, this is the first time the DOJ has directly suggested next week. (see extension request).

The date when rumors aren't taken seriously is whenever something definitive happens. Stray rumors have already been largely discredited by most.

Very few people view themselves as evil. Very few people see what they are doing as evil or harmfull. But a hell of a lot of harmfull evil seems to get done. In the end, in the FTP mess, they might as well have done it intentionally because they gained so much money at the expense of so many people they damaged and even nearly destroyed a few.

I can't help but comment on this.

The reason for writing the book isn't because it's going to sell well, although if it's well written and takes on general life themes, it could turn out to be a sort of sequel to Wolf's Bonfire of the Vanities.

The reason to write it is so it can provide the basis of the script for the inevitable movie! Like a couple of years ago, there was a movie called Middle Men which was about the people who provided credit card transactions for porn sites. The FTP saga is definitely movie worthy. DF just has to make sure to provide plenty of texture which include excessive lobster consumption and after-Christmas-party orgies but with poker.

You re welcome DF, you re welcome. Just make sure to ship 1% of your compensation when the movie gets made!

Wonder what page/chapter we are on today? Hopefully close to the Bibliography lol

This is where we were aug/sept of last year.

So we're still not waiting on jack binion to ride to the rescue?

Nah. We re probably in the final act just before the end titles tell us what happened to the various protagonists.

Although there's still some room for some unexpected twist, like Ray Bitar revealing himself to be Keyser Soze or Chris Ferguson walking on water... to escape to the Caribbean.

You re many chapters behind. We know far more than we did back then and the debate is very different than it was back then. The idea that PS is to buy FTP is credible and confirmed by multiple sources and events. It still may not, but we aren't just inventing stuff out of thin air just to keep our hopes alive.

Btw, everyone had to have their password reset because the site went down after a hacker attack. I bet you can still get your old account up and running again.

yeah, i know im behind. I never thought id say it, but i wish SP was still around so i could catch up wo reading through the whole thread.

i read in atf about the PW reset -- just waiting on a mod to get back cause i forgot my email address that i used to register....

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...24/?highlight=

http://diamondflushpoker.com/

Bro- catch up before posting from now on.

I don't know what you're talking about with the AGCC, but the DOJ said this on June 29, in requesting an extension until only this Monday.

"The Government respectfully writes to request a brief adjournment of certain upcoming deadlines in this action in order to facilitate, and hopefully, to successfully conclude, certain ongoing settlement communications."

The AGCC never said that. Anything the AGCC said was based on lies they were told by Full Tilt. The government will not speak based on Full Tilt's lies, their comments are inherently more trustworthy.

The DOJ also said this about Ray Bitar: "That the defendant eventuallydecided to return to face the prior version of the charges – shortly before new ownership was expected to take over at Full Tilt Poker and terminate Bitar anyway, jeopardizing his ability toremain in Ireland –

Nobody is saying this thing is a lock. But there are legitimate reasons to believe a resolution is about to be reached.

Yeah they did. You could argue the DOJ is more credible, but the AGCC said almost exactly the same thing in late july 2011.


taken from pokernews.com:


That said, i take your point about how there's reason to be hopeful.

In regard to what you have to say about Bitar, the popular theory now seems to be that Bitar was a lone gunman, and everyone else (or nearly everyone else) thought things were just hunky-dory... ill read more about this before i offer significant commentary, but lets just say that its a theory that seems, to me, to strain credibility just a little bit.

The AGCC said something similar, but don't ignore that I said that anything that they said was based on lies they were told by Full Tilt.

Useless debate, though. Clearly, the two statements are different in the credibility they should be given.

Is Monday a deadline of some sort or has it been pushed back again?

IMO, one statement is not inherently more credible than the other.

The AGCC made this statement about a month after pulling the plug on FTP. There was no proof, at the time, that what they were saying was based on FTP mendacity, and there was certainly no reason to believe that they were in ftp's pocket -- after all, they had just revoked FTP's license.

FTP lied to the AGCC -- is there some reason to believe that they would not do the same thing to the DOJ?

Before you say that the DOJ is too smart, or too noble, to believe the lies -- keep in mind that The AGCC didn't let FTP lead them down the primrose path because they are stupid or corrupt. They did so for precisely the same reason the DOJ might: even if they were reasonably sure there was little hope of a deal going through, they would accommodate a continuance in order to avoid the impression that they were preventing players from getting paid by jumping he gun.


--

Monday is the deadline for filling of motions to dismiss. One of 3 things will happen:

1) A settlement will be reached and presented to the Judge for finalization and/or approval. If this happens, it's possible the settlement could be announced by the parties involved prior to judicial finalization, though, maybe more likely, it would be announced by the parties after it is finalized.

2) Another extension on the filings of the motions to dismiss is requested. Likely, the Judge would grant the requests if the DOJ can demonstrate that it is extremely likely they will reach a settlement very soon. If not, the third option is likely.

3) The parties file their motions to dismiss, motions to strike etc. and, hopefully, continue settlement discussions thereafter. Though, as others have stated, this changes the nature of the game some, for various legal reasons, but a settlement could still be reached at any time immediately thereafter.

That's my take on it. If anyone thinks any of that is wrong, I'm sure you will correct me.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/scandal-jus...161706645.html

Pro Michael "The Mouth" Matusow said in a recent interview on poker.org, "To me, I think they're a bunch of criminals."

Couldn't find the interview on Poker.org. But, if true, this statement seems like a 180 from Mike who has always defended FTP, Lederer, Ferguson etc...

Maybe he read the indictment and feels like he was betrayed?

Matusow Speaks Out on Poker Industry, Full Tilt, Ivey

PL.com: So you’re obviously not one of these guys who left the country to play online poker?

The bolded seems too obvious for me to engage in a debate about it.

Really? And had someone asked you in may 2011 "who do you trust more to look out for online poker players' interest in getting paid, the AGCC that regulates FTP or the USDOJ" your snap answer would have been "the USDOJ"

Now, today, the AGCC is discredited. But the AGCC statement, when it was made was just as credible as the DOJ statement is now.

ironic... didnt he go to jail for drugs or bookmaking or something a while back?.