I wish to thank the entire poker community for the outstanding work in telling our elected officials that we demand action on the online poker issue. We as individuals have sent more than 100,000 letters and made countless phone calls to lawmakers this year alone. Let’s keep it up!

Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has ASKED for questions via Twitter for an upcoming town hall. You can send him pro-poker questions in under thirty seconds:

1. Send a prefilled, editable pro-poker Twitter question: CLICK HERE
2. Send a second Twitter question for good measure: CLICK HERE
3. You can track the pro-poker messages here.

I also wish to discuss the ongoing issue with player funds locked up at Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, and Full Tilt Poker. As someone with around five figures locked up on Full Tilt Poker, I certainly empathize with the situation.

PPA has issued statements demanding that Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet, and Absolute Poker refund player balances. Additionally, PPA representatives – including me – have made statements in several interviews with various poker media sources with demands for repayment. PPA does not accept the Department of Justice fund seizures as an excuse. We have also publicly praised PokerStars for doing the right thing in refunding its U.S. players.

More…

Full Tilt Poker has been very quiet about their non-payment to players since the Black Friday indictments effectively stopped their US facing operations. This week, however, they issued a statement that was predictable at best… blaming the Department of Justice for the payment delays. Also, J Todd looks at poker traffic on the web and welcomes two special guests.

LONDON — I am sat here, closeted in a London cafe, writing. Across the street, in the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel, Full Tilt’s lawyers are arguing forcefully to have their hearing with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission adjourned. I would be there, along with the assembled media, public, and business representatives, but we were all thrown out.

Full Tilt’s lawyers, lead by Martin Heslop QC of Jeffrey Green Russell, began proceedings by announcing that they would like the hearing to be adjourned. He then launched into a precise run down of why that application for an adjournment should be held in private. Never mind the application for a delay, Full Tilt’s lawyers wanted to prohibit all onlookers before the hearing got anywhere close to starting.

I’ll delve deeper into their arguments later on, but highlights involved Heslop claiming that the “publicity would be prejudicial to the interest of justice,” and that a secret hearing was in the best interests of Full Tilt’s customers. He even went on to invoke the Human Rights Act.

The meek pair of Alderney lawyers made a brief response, indicating that they would neither support or oppose any motion to adjourn. With that sentiment lingering in the air, the three Commissioners retired to a back room to consider Full Tilt’s proposal.

The Alderney posse did raise the interesting issue of $250,000 in unpaid licensing payments. Although enforced secrecy means I can’t access all the information, it was interesting to hear Martin Heslop reply that Full Tilt did not fork over the cash, because they saw no value in paying for a license that was going to be revoked.

When the AGCC reps returned, their approval of Heslop’s request was not met with overwhelming support. Veteran UK pro Harry Demetriou was so outraged that he stormed from the room, accusing Full Tilt of corruption. After a round of applause from the disgruntled onlookers, we trudged demurely for the exit as Heslop and co. looked on triumphant.

The panel are expected to announce their decision regarding an adjournment in the next hour. While there’s still room for a surprise, the forecast is grim.

LONDON–There’s nothing more exciting than mysterious European investors. The kind of people who turn up in blurry photographs, wearing sunglasses while looking into the middle distance.

At least that’s how I imagine the potential saviours of Full Tilt Poker must look. The beleaguered online poker provider is currently locked in negotiations with a secretive group of moneymen, who have designs on a portion of Full Tilt’s Euro operation. Ahead of next week’s landmark hearing in London, these briefcase wielding millionaires could be the last hope for the ‘Home of the Pros’.

An official announcement on the deal was expected late last week. No such missive emerged, but the news hounds at EGR Magazine did manage to rustle up a ‘source connected to the suspended poker company.’

Most important, the insider indicates that the buyout will have “nothing to do with [Full Tilt’s] stateside activities.” That would leave thousands of U.S. players waiting for Howard Lederer to refund their frozen bankrolls weeping on the sidelines.

The linchpin of the sale could be Pocket Kings, the company responsible for Full Tilt Poker’s software and marketing. The value of the actual Full Tilt brand is amorphous at best and will depend heavily on the outcome of Tuesday’s hearing.

The former online poker behemoths are being held to account by the gambling commission of Alderney, a small island off the coast of France, where their gambling operations are licensed. Following the events of Black Friday, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission revoked their license, effectively shutting down the entire network.

As a member of the Channel Islands, Alderney is governed by UK law, so the AGCC are taking a short plane trip to London to present their evidence in public. I’ll be entrenched on location, sneaking out morse code transmissions tweets (@JoeOE18) to keep you in the loop. Keep your eyeballs glued to Pokerati for hard hitting analysis as the hearing continues.

The 2011 WSOP wouldn’t be the 2011 WSOP without chatter about Full Tilt. And here, on the last day, Howard Lederer makes another appearance in Las Vegas, apparently at another Asian restaurant. But this time it was none other than Todd Brunson who had the unexpected run-in with the once-proud father-figure of Full Tilt Poker.

And Brunson reports — via the often unreliable Twitter — that he got paid his Full Tilt balance of about $150k … in a way that suggests Lederer is either going door-to-door making payouts (perhaps tidying up affairs before he has to “go away”?) or possibly just living out of his car …

ToddBrunson

He asked how much I had on tilt and I told him 150k.. He said come with me. We went to his car and he opened his trunk and paid me!!!!!! 23 hours ago

ToddBrunson
Look who I just ran into.. I told him the wsop killed me and I was cash short…… http://lockerz.com/s/121600156 23 hours ago

Either way, the stress seems to be doing Lederer right, physically at least, as the previous poster boy for the well-fed high-stakes “poker body” seems to have shed a few (dozen?) pounds around the saddle.

Persona non grata: You mean you haven’t been paid yet? Have you submitted your W-9?

And while it would be nice if someone really did get their Full Tilt balance refunded … it can’t be an ideal structure for payouts when they’re happening out of the trunk of a car, even if it is a $250k Audi.

Doyle said to have been buying up Full Tilt dollars at a discount

Meanwhile, since we’re relying on Twitter here … this seems as good a time to pass on a “rumor” that I feel confident enough about the source — someone inside Bobby’s Room — that it might reveal why Brunson’s father, Doyle, has been extra sour on poker as of late.

Supposedly, a few weeks ago, Doyle was playing in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, and he was tweeting about his slaughter of Billy Baxter. Soon, talk shifted (off-Twitter) to Full Tilt’s money problems. Brunson reportedly said he was confident they intended to pay, and believed they eventually would … and with that began buying up Full Tilt accounts for about 60 cents on the dollar. Can’t confirm the exact amount he purchased … but the kinda money that people playing in the highest-stakes cash game in Vegas might have on Full Tilt Poker.

The next day, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended Full Tilt’s license, effectively shutting the site down indefinitely.

To catch you up to date … Phil Ivey dropped his lawsuit because (choose one or more):

a) He had a change of heart and realized he was wrong. Apologies accepted, hugs exchanged.
b) His attorney advised him that he was putting himself at risk by potentially taking the stand.
c) Sitting through a even just a deposition could prove less profitable than sitting in a cash game.
d) He settled, obv, meaning Ivey and Full Tilt somehow got square, even if you did not.

Meanwhile, French regulators ARJEL yanked Full Tilt’s gaming license in France, Ray Bitar says his feelings are hurt by Wicked Chops insinuations that he’s no longer CEO of Tilt (as if! scroll down to bottom) and everyone seems to have forgotten that the leaders of AP/UB are apparently on the run with however much player cash and T-shirt swag they can stuff on a southbound plane.

With all that, whether in a nick of time or too little too late, a group of New Yorkers is suing Tilt class-action style, with a complaint that looks like it was cut-and-paste together from DOJ press releases and 2+2 threads.

Can we expect a rash of lawsuits to come? Should they?

The PPA has put out a legal guide for anyone considering court-action as a way to get an everated online poker site pay up:

The PPA’s legal team has prepared a legal analysis of the options available to individual players who still have not been able to access their online poker funds held on account.  The document, “Legal Rights of Players with Unpaid Account Balances – A PPA Information Guide” seeks to provide our members with facts and information about how individuals can seek to claim their online poker account money.    We hope you find this document useful and informative.  Should you have further inquiries about players’ funds you can contact our Litigation Support Network at: legal@theppa.org.

The document attempts to explain the complexities of forfeiture law, as well as what the remedies are for someone who believes the government unjustly seized their property. I feel like I’ve seen this seizure list a dozen times … but what’s new to me is realizing the government asserts they flat out own the companies — Full Tilt, PokerStars, AP/UB, et al … regardless of whether or not players got their money back.

We recorded our first Wicked Chops Podcast yesterday with some friends from across the pond–Ben Fried, who launched Betfair’s poker room–and Kim Lund, who did the same for Poker Room. While some of the content is already dated (a lot of it is speculation about Tilt’s future in light of the AGCC license revocation), still some interesting European perspective on the Tilt situation and their international market perception.

Listen, and read more here.

Druff, Micon, and Drexel are all present for this one, as we return to the airwaves after a 16-day absence.  Tournament grinder Stacey Lynn is our special guest.  We talk about the Tobey Maguire poker bust.  AP founder Phil Tom is back at the WSOP playing Mr. Innocent.  We discuss the rumors that Full Tilt stupidly invested $200 million in a no-name movie company.  Micon continues to obsess over bitcoins.  The June 29th DonkDown Insert Coins Party is announced.  Drexel walks off the show when Micon won’t hang up on Yebsite.  Druff and Micon both deal with illnesses while hosting the episode.  Druff talks about being denied tomatoes on the side at a Subway restaurant.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Something in the Pokerati Twitter feed made me pause earlier today … huh … who woulda thought we’d ever see the day where a Full Tilt Mini Series of Poker PLO Event would be hyped with just a $10k guarantee?

FullTiltPoker 

Mini Series of Poker Event 31 starts at 15:20 ET. $30+$3 Pot Limit Omaha. $10,000 guaranteed. - http://ow.ly/5e5mF - 3 hours ago

Whether or not they crush the guarantee or there’s an overlay doesn’t really matter. But it does reveal something about Full Tilt’s confidence level, and imho shows a once-powerful entity crippled, having lost a few previous zeroes.

A Scot named Gingertoys with a new site called OneOuter.com interviewed Barry Greenstein, who discussed Phil Ivey … providing a bit closer glimpse at the angst and anger surrounding Ivey’s decision to file a $150 million lawsuit against Full Tilt and skip out on the 2011 WSOP.

Have a listen:
download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The stuff we hadn’t heard before begins about 50:40.

After declaring that he “helped [Ivey] probably more than anyone” as he was coming up, Greenstein addresses his closeness to the situation and how much has yet to be told: “I’ve got friends on both sides at the moment … There’s more stuff behind the scenes that isn’t coming to light.”

In the interview, Barry talks of a phone call where Ivey — generally emotionless on TV and in public — is screaming for nearly 5 minutes. “I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”

He also reveals the key to Ivey’s game being his “adapting to what his opponents are doing, and in real time figuring out a way to beat it.” I think Greenstein’s talking about poker here, but it could probably just as well apply to any off-table actions where millions of Ivey dollars are at stake.

He also says Ivey’s decision to skip the 2011 WSOP was independent of the lawsuit … that not only does Ivey want to be breaking records, but also he has several million dollars worth of bracelet bets he’s potentially surrendering.

Normally this sorta promotional bit wouldn’t catch my attention for any longer than it takes to press the “mark as spam” button. But for whatever reason, new somethings related to online poker and real money get a second look these days.

And this one … knowing the tensions we’ve seen between California card rooms and the poker sites we used to think of as the “good guys” (before government officials said, “no no they Full Tilt and PokerStars are the bad guys!”) … well, hmm, call me @JeffMadsenObv, but is it coincidence that California’s first brick-and-mortar card room to open an online poker site did so on April 15?

Aha. Exactly.

Likewise, might we see more California casinos opening up online outposts soon … and how many similar ops across the country will be trying to entice players to their no-money real-money tables with WSOP seats? Also kinda curious … a $7,500 cash buyout option for the winner. (That seems pretty good, no?)

More…

You gotta love the Hardcore Poker Show on Sirius 98 (moving to channel 158 tomorrow) … as they seem to know how to get the right guests at the right time to throw out a few doozies.

On yesterday’s show they talk to Pauly — one of the Top Two Podcasters on Tao of Pokerati — who lets it be known that while player money from PokerStars may indeed be filtering back to American players via US banks … affiliates got a form letter saying they would not be paid, and I think it sounds like he’s saying they have no intent to in the near future or ever.

Check with the Tao of Poker to see if he (or someone else) posts this letter. Until we see it I can’t know if Pauly — who removed his PokerStars affiliate banners — is simply speaking the aggressive truth or just playing squeaky-wheel hardball or both. He is a New Yorker, after all — from the Southern District no less!

UPDATE: He has posted it.

Tony G, the owner of PokerNews is next on the show — and really, for all the voices that have been clamoring since “Black Friday”, he’s one of the biggest names in poker with a direct connection to the money-flow from Full Tilt, Stars, and others to do an in-depth, candid interview.

Here’s a clip from the show to give you a taste.

download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

And click here for the whole episode.

Controversial for sure … but his words seem to be less publicity-whorey than usual. The G says any American depositing money on any site is high-risk, and payout could be unlikely. While believing that Stars seems to be making good, he sees signs that Full Tilt accounts could be in greater jeopardy — and calls out Howard Lederer and Phil Ivey specifically to address the issue (either in public or private) and possibly offer up their personal assets to take care of players.

More…

Coming into Day Four the patch watch almost dead, after Day Four it IS dead. With only two patches to keep track of Day Four’s patch watch was made even easier with Mike Sexton (Party Poker) and Zach Clark (Doyles Room) sitting on the same table.

Although both players started out the day in the lower half of the leader board they only needed to outlast 6 players to make it to the money which they both managed. Clark would eventually be eliminated in 33rd place while his table mate Sexton managed a 27th place finish.

We caught up with Clark before he was eliminated to discuss Black Friday and how it is affecting his sponsorship deal. He declined to comment on anything exactly what he is being told but did tell us that he inquired about wearing his patch for the tournament and they told him to operate as normal when it came to that.

Coming back for Day Five is Blair Hinkle, who became the first player to win seven figures in a single tournament on Full Tilt back in March in the FTOPS Main event when he chopped three handed to receive $1,162,949.74, sits atop the leader board with 1,783,000. Catching up with Hinkle during a break he discussed his FTOPs score and told us that he had not moved the majority of his funds off Full Tilt before Black Friday. He did not seem overly concerned that he would have trouble getting the funds off site, but did state that it would be nice to just win this event for his second 7 figure score of 2011.

Day Six will start at noon today with 18 players playing down to the final 6 in the High Roller room of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Room. With no patches left and no one left to patch up players when the final six are determined this will be the first WPT final table in some time without a single player wearing a patch. Maybe that is a sign to come for future events in this post Black Friday era.

The first major live poker tournament since Black Friday in the United States kicked off today with the World Poker Tour at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood Florida. One of the unknowns coming into the tournament was wether or not sponsored pros would show up wearing their patches.

With 406 players in the field today only 13 players were found wearing either a Full Tilt Poker or a Ultimate Bet patch. The one “big three” site that did not have a single patched up player was PokerStars, even though WPT regular and PokerStar Pro Jason Mercier was in the field.

Also in the field today not wearing their normal patch were Maria Ho (UB) and Antonio Esfandiari (Victory). The fact that these two are not wearing a patch for their respected site while Adam “roothlus” Levy (UB) and Jonathan Little (Victory) are patched up definitely creates more questions.

Here is a rundown of the players found in todays field that were wearing patches:

Since we are on the discussion of who is wearing what Tony Dunst, who is known for always being well dressed was not wearing his normal suit today due to a delay in dry cleaning. Instead he was wearing a V-Neck shirt and a pair of jeans. Dunst will be returning tomorrow, hopefully in his freshly cleaned suit, to grind out his short stack.

After 5 levels of play only 290 players remain with registration open until the start of play with Randy Dorfman at the top of the leaderboard with 160,000. Other players returning for day two are Vivek Rajkumar, Shannon Shorr, Annette Obstread, Mike Sexton, Kathy, Leibert, and Lauren Kling.

The players will return at 12 noon local time tomorrow for the start of day two of this six-day event to play another 5 levels.

A Full Tilt-supported televised poker game in Cardiff, UK — The Poker Lounge — was canceled mid-event today, when the TV production company walked off the set after an expected wire-transfer from Ireland did not arrive, reliable sources say.

Supposedly, Presentable Productions were waiting on a second installment of funds from Full Tilt subsidiary Pocket Kings that had been promised by today, and at 4pm GMT, after recording the 3rd heat, they sent the camera crew and players home, with no plans for return. (The show is an 8-heat event featuring $20k sit-n-gos with seven players at each table.)

It remains to be seen whether this was just reactionary angst over a technical blip that could normally be resolved with little problem, or indicative of cash-flow and money-transfer issues that have far more severe implications. But either way, it does confirm a certain unease in the UK after problems in the US.

Presentable has been producing poker television shows since 1999, when their show, Late Night Poker, debuted in England.