You obv didn't read my entire post

Eagerly awaiting a POKERSTARS STATEMENT please.

Barry has been a constant in your PS Pro business model, now given his implication in the Full Tilt debt scenario, one would hope Pokerstars has some comment on this.

OK

Can you show me how to get a zero interest 3million dollar loan? I'll even settle for 100k.

Colour me disillusioned. I have to question the morals of someone who carries around that kind of debt. What would have happened if you just couldn't pay back the money because you were destitute or mentally incapacitated? Or deceased? Would you have ended up a glorified version of Eskimo Clark?

Maybe you could write about it in your next book - would be a fascinating read.

I like the idea of an escrow, although the logistics of one for many millions of dollars would obviously need hammering out before any of the pros did so.

However, I think if this were likely to happen, it would have happened by now. Anyone who owes FTP money has certainly been aware of that for all this time. I can understand not wanting to give the money to an insolvent company currently being run by thieves, but surely the idea of escrowing all pro money owed to FTP to be distributed to the players in some manner (depending on what deal happened, or if no deal happened) would have occurred to someone long before where we stand currently.

upps...sorry for that - agree with you

I would not be surprised if Barry was let go from ps. They have Daniel and Isildur now who are way more visible than Barry. I would also assume that Barry is not very cheap for PS to keep around. Probably has a decent deal with them. I'm not saying they let him go entirely because of this incident. PS probably has to cut down on expenses as well, and letting Barry go would be a reasonable place for savings.

And I dont get how the Barry idolizers hate on the ones who have something negative to say about this incident. He borrowed $400k from a rival company, never paid it back. It's been 2 years now. getting $400k loan with no interest is ridiculous. Not paying it back as soon as possible is even more ridiculous. He owes shi*loads to casinos, but loans $400k. God damn, I dont care how stand up guy Barry is, that is irresponsible, and there is no denying it. None. Zip. Nada.

And for the record, I still like Barry and I _think_ he is one of the good guys. (Cant be 100% sure for anything anymore though...)

EDIT: Oh, and having $400k loan for a few years with on interest is ridiculous. One could just put the money away and let it grow some interest for themselves. Even with economy the way it is, one could get a decent interest for money like that. say 2-3%? Without too much of a risk.

[x] Consider putting the money in an escrow account. Create one if necessary.

YEAYYY Barry signed me his book after I busted him lets make a thread 5 stars so funny lolz w00t

YEAYYY Phill Ivey showed again after BF what a balla lets make a video asap about him lolz what a dude

You are not very different from 12 year old girls many of you. As they revere their idols, actors singers etc, you revere yours. They have Johnny Depp or whateva u got Ivey. Even after you acknowledged that they degened OUR money you still think high of these people.

Now I don't know or I couldn't care less about how good or bad is BG, or Ivey or everyone else. What I do know tho is that the owe money, our money, and instead to organise smthing and give em back, they either dissapeared or they try to moralize their position NOT to pay, and ONLY after it is made public that they owe $$.

Now keep the comments about how you respect BG comming.

i'm sure you are aware that FTP is not a bank and had pretty unique business practices.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this before now, but if Barry did indeed borrow the money several years ago, as both he and the reports claim, then it's entirely likely that he did, in fact, borrow from profits/dividends rather than borrowing from player funds.

Remember that FTP wasn't insolvent for its entire history. At one point in time they had more than enough to cover all player deposits and pay themselves massive amounts of dividends. If he borrowed during that time period, constantly harping that "HE BORROWED OUR MONEY!" is both factually inaccurate and needlessly inflammatory.

Actully Barry G just might be the guy to write "The Book" on FTPs rise and fall, from a slightly involved mostly observant insiders view. I would sure buy it!

+1

Barry for president

Stop chiming in because there is absolutely NO POINT in any Escrow "in the name of players" getting the money!!! GBT is the only out, period. Pay them, they buy FTP, it is very simple. Any ideas about some escrowing to give Barry an oppurtunity to pay something he doesnt have is not sufficient at this point. GBT is the end game!

You run GBT off, and there is no end-game, its all the player, left with zero balances. So unless such a "stand up" guy in the poker world, takes the initiative to make good on his now self-admitted bad debt, I am pretty sure the others who owe millions to FTP, never will either.

This is just too logical and true for some of the posters, and the Trolls who have been unleashed again don't care at all! Very good point here though. Maybe some of the other debt is similiar to what you posted.

Sorry if I missed somebody else clearing this up but wanted to mention that I believe the reason that BG is concerned with US player repayment and hasn't mentioned non US players is because it has been written in the media that GBT will facilitate the repayment of non US players. The DOJ will then be responsible for the repayment of US players and so far, there is nothing structured that guarantees one red cent will be seen by US players from the DOJ. Anyway, that is why BG is waiting on GBT's deal with DOJ playing out.

Just my 2 cents. Thanks.

Should Barry get negative feedback? Yes. Why? Because just like any type of celebrity, whether it be in sports or entertainment, are held in a higher standard in our society especially in a situation where the perception is the top poker pros(Ivey, PA, Dwan, Gus,Negreanu, Greenstein, Brunson, etc....) have millions of dollars in their bank accounts and live lavished lifestyles from their poker earnings. Players look up to these people the same way sports fans look up to their heroes on their favorite sports teams. When one of our heroes let us down we feel angry,hurt and bitter towards our heroes and this situation is no different and actually is worse when you consider the players involved BORROWED money not from the company itself but the money of the players who look up to them.

And why didn't Barry accept responsibility for his actions? Not once in his statement did he apologize to the poker players or poker community for illegally taking money (player's money) he never paid back for several years? A simple: "while it is a common practice in the gambling community to get credit from casinos (which I have paid back everytime) I have been negligent in paying back this loan. If I had known this money would eventually come out of the players pockets I would never had requested such a loan. I am sorry for what I have done and I will do my best to rectify my transgression to help the players receive their money." Without actually accepting his responsibility for his mistake he actually comes across much worse to the poker players who read his explanation.

Is Barry as bad as the other players involved? No he isn't. I really believe he is a good person at heart and has done great things for poker as well as raising money for different charities via his professional job which others have not. However, when his name is placed on the list of players who have basically borrowed money from the players who look up to them he without paying the company back he needs to come across a bit more understanding to the people who were affected by this situation.

LOL !!

Why does Barry feel like he is responsible to pay somewhere where the money will be used to pay off only US players? Everyony should get paid, not only US players. Just pay the BTG, or pay according to percentage how much of the money is missed by US players, and how much are owed to the rest of the world. or pay 50% to BTG and 50% to DOJ. whatever. Just pay for god sake.

Escrow the money, so that BTG knows the money exists. Do something to not be part of the reason this deal might fail. If this deal fails, and Greenstein's name is among the ones who are responsible for the deal failing, I can assume BG's reputation as 2+2 hero is gone. Make some effort to pay your debt. If BG doesnt want to pay it directly for the aforementioned reasons, escrowing the money would be a great first step. It would also put some pressure on the others who owe money to FTP.

So you actually want to place trust in their accounting practices? If anything, I think everything about the company should rightfully be brought into question and differentiating where the money came from isn't as clear cut as you try to make out.

I need a "loan"!! Make it in small unmarked bills delivered to a location in Death Valley of my choosing.

-Seldom Seen Smith

neverending very weird things

Do you guys realize this is barry g? A guy that has donated millons to charity....

So you'll cover it if he doesn't pay right?

-1, anyone can say they're going to pay back, why no response to the escrow part? If Barry was for an escrow account to pay it back immediately and GBT only gets it if they pay back and GBT said no then I agree they're the bad guy. But I had mid 5 figures on there and although there are a lot of bustos posting here no doubt I recognize the names of other people who were playing at least midstakes on FTP and I presume have 5 and maybe even a few 6 figures locked up.

I mean he was pretty vague about everything. If he'd offered to set up an escrow and GBT said no you'd think he would have posted that. That's my issue with him (and other pros who owe money) right now. I mean yes he's posting about it and that makes him better than the other pros who owe, but at the end of the day he's not doing anything that helps us get our money that Ivey/Benyamine/etc. aren't doing.

edit: Also played with Benyamine at WSOP this summer and he was all blaming the DoJ for not paying out claiming they had a lot more locked than Stars and that's why they hadn't paid out yet. What a ****ing scumbag.