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Full Tilt to Shut Down Internet Poker for US Players

by , Apr 15, 2011 | 8:16 pm

Comments (33)

Full Tilt Poker issued a formal statement on “the sitch” – txt thanks to @CKrafcik.  They are saying they will shut down access for U.S. players but give no time frame.

<note: I’m chasing my last FTP rungood right now though – it’s not closed yet!>

Full text (emphasis added):

Full Tilt Poker Supports Poker Players And Its Chief Executive

Dublin Ireland (April 15, 2011) –  Full Tilt Poker is saddened by today’s charges against its CEO Raymond Bitar and offers its full support to Mr. Bitar and Nelson Burtnick. Online poker is a game of skill enjoyed by tens of millions of people in the United States and across the world. And, Full Tilt Poker remains as committed as ever to preserving the rights of those players to play the game they love online. Mr. Bitar and Full Tilt Poker believe online poker is legal – a position also taken by some of the best legal minds in the United States.

Full Tilt Poker is, and has always been committed to preserving the integrity of the game and abidingby the law. “I am surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to bring these charges. I look forward to Mr. Burtnick’s and my exoneration,” said Mr. Bitar.

Unfortunately, as a result of this action, Full Tilt Poker has decided that it must suspend “real money” play in the United States until this case is resolved. However, Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide peer-to-peer online poker services outside of the United States.


33 Comments to “Full Tilt to Shut Down Internet Poker for US Players”


  1. Neva Peace     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 6:54am

    How dare to gov’t. They control everything we do. It’s MY money and I should be able to spend it any way I want. I’m retired, old, and disabled, so playing poker is one of the things that I can still do. I can no longer get out and bowl, dance, etc. This gov’t is becoming so controlling (what else is new LOL) If they would use their resources to do something really worthwhile for this country, it would be much better. I am going to surely miss playing for real money, but will continue to play for fun on the sites that I can still get on. Maybe the sites should offer to give the gov’t a percentage of the take and they would be happy.

    A very unhappy, disgruntled poker player!


  2. danny w ziegler     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 9:04am

    help, i need to find a way to get on, i know there must be, but how? Poker is my life please help or i may have to end my life. Not kidding


  3. tulsapoker1     says:
    April 25th, 2011 at 10:13am

    try playaces by sportsbook i was on stars i put 35 on this site and its up 115.00 its alright there


  4. danny w ziegler     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 9:50am

    answer my fucking questions u fucking idiots, i mean it


  5. linda     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 11:19am

    Why can’t I access the site in Canada then??


  6. PLEASUREMEAT     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 12:30pm

    why is it illegal for U.S. PLAYERS to play online poker, and its ok fof the rest of the world, were supposed to be the freest country in the world, its our money, why cant we do what we want with it, the retarded government could get tax money from this, so that they can waste it on obamas fucked up lack of leadership they want to take our freedom away from us all of it, its not right we need to stand up and vote these cocksuckers out of office, next ellection vote against obama, even if its beavis and butthead running against him, if we dont then we get what we deserve, a soon to be natzi police state, were everthing free will be illegal GOD BLESS AMERICA


  7. joe     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 4:31pm

    legislation was passed back in 2006 and went into effect this year It’s the republicans nor Obama.


  8. Joelcoss81     says:
    April 19th, 2011 at 6:58am

    That may be true but, the democrats still what their piece of the pie. Its that left wing mentality that creates more taxes and infringes on our rights by making more laws. Americans really need to wake up!!! Its simple when you look at like this; on the extreme side of left wing party
    you communism. When you look at the polar opposite you have anarchy. Most of us want to live somewhere in between


  9. Michael     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 4:33pm

    How do you get your money out of the site since it is down?


  10. gustav     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 4:41pm

    Finally, they stop online poker rooms that are not regulated. Why do we want regulation? because all poker rooms can “cheat” people out of their money. Hey, banks are now more heavily regulated to protect the public from loan sharks. Online poker should not be ilegal but it should be regulated to prevent “swindling” the online poker player. Hey just think, on how many times full tilt has swindled people because they have an “Full tilt” player who knows all the cards. the next couple of months you will see on how they would cheat people.


  11. George     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 6:36pm

    Can I make two points? First, this came from the Bush Administration, not Obama. America took the biggest hit to our freedom in my lifetime during the Bush years. The Patriot Act robbed us of alot, but most people think it only effects the “bad guys.” Second, this isn’t about the poker sites cheating players. It is about the poker sites going around the law to make their money even though online poker is illegal in America.


  12. adam     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 6:39pm

    Danny u should try playaces.com. Hope u r ok. if u need someone 2 talk to hit me up with your contact info and we can chat bro


  13. ezymny04     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 7:48pm

    A 60-Minutes story told of large American companies who were relocating their headquarters in Ireland because of a lower tax rate. Now millions of Americans will establish bank accounts in other countries to fund their poker play. The question is, “Why is America BROKE?”

    I wonder if we can still pass gas and urinate in the shower!

    Donald Trump for President.


  14. whatdaphuck     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 8:40pm

    FUCK POKER


  15. joelv     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 9:48pm

    Because first off, there is no way to PROPERLY regulate online play and, more importantly, it hurts US economies such as ours here in Las Vegas, as well as countless Native American casinos throughout the United States. It’s great for free poker, but if you really want to gamble….PROPERLY….come to vegas!


  16. yen-qi     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 10:33pm

    Linda, I’m in Canada and couldn’t play either. But I just downloaded the software again from fulltilt.co.uk and it’s working fine now!!


  17. Dan Michalski     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 10:35pm

    not sure it’s our job to provide the Feds a roadmap to areas that haven’t been fully snuffed out.


  18. linda     says:
    April 16th, 2011 at 11:54pm

    Thanks yen-qi!


  19. Rob     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 12:10am

    If you are outside the US you can now full tilt download from
    http://www.fulltiltpoker.co.uk/


  20. Free orion     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 2:01am

    Wtf is there a way to cash out my money? Wonder if they caught them cheating could we get our money back? Please respond to this!!!!!


  21. Dan Michalski     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 3:32am

    you are SOL, i am pretty sure dude. but you could always call the DOJ and tell them the money is yours because you transfered money from your bank to an online poker site.


  22. Josh     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 2:40am

    I’m on tilt!


  23. MiMojoMijo     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 4:14am

    DO NOT TRY TO TELL ME THIS IS NOT OBAMA !!!

    HIS DOJ WILL NOT Presue the BLACK PANTHERS for Voting Rights Intimidation during the 2008 Election. WONDER WHY? THINK ABOUT IT!
    HIS DOJ WILL NOT File Briefs defending the MARRIAGE ACT against lawsuites brought by the GAY RIGHTS GROUPS. WONDER WHY?? THINK!!
    HIS DOJ WILL FILE LAWSUITES and STOP POKER PLAYERS from playing. WONDER WHY??? THINK ABOUT IT??? Especially at a live ring game!!!!
    DO NOT LISTEN TO OBAMA WORDS–LOOK AT HIS ACTIONS WHAT DOES HE DO??


  24. merod     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 6:12am

    @mimojomijo

    you need a pill dude….this was started YEARS before Obama got on the scene….ask your republican religous bible thumppers why THEY did this….!!!

    ps… obama is a poker player


  25. Scott     says:
    April 19th, 2011 at 2:45pm

    You need a fact check. Religious Bible thumpers don’t run the DoJ. There are several things that were started years ago that the Obama DoJ has chosen to not investigate or prosecute. This particular thing was allowed to go forward. That’s just a simple fact.


  26. CDUKSHN     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 6:30am

    For all those that are claiming these sites “rip people off”, go watch the WSOP, Poker After Dark, local card rooms, or any table in Vegas and you will see the same kind of “ripping off” going on. It’s called bad beats and they happen regularly.
    For those of you who think the gov is not collecting taxes from this avenue or think it is “illegal” here is a link that might clear some light. http://www.pokernews.com/news/2006/03/tax-tips-poker-players.htm
    Also anything negative about Obama, as long as factual, is-well-truth. He’s a scum bag who hates this country and is a racist pig. Just like his wife. Disgusting people!!


  27. Jimbo33     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 10:14am

    yeah joelv… sounds great… would just love to come to Vegas, or the indian casinos around my area, trouble is, the all cost time and money to get to, as opposed to playing online, which costs nothing (unless you’re a donkey and lose money lol). But the bigger point is this, most casinon are filthy & smoke-ridden, which is proven to cause cancer and other ailments, even for those not chosing to smoke themselves .True, many rooms are “non-smoking” but since they are not in a truly separeate room, the smoke wafts through them as well. For someone like myslef with severe smoke allergies, I cannot spend hardly any time in a casino withouth be adversly affected. so, thanks to the f**ing over-controlling US government, I can now not play poker at all! MFers!


  28. marc broker     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 2:01pm

    Look at Danny’s comoment. This is exactly why this should be shut down. The owners says it’s NOT gambling? C’mon folks. What BS.
    And so many young people have quit school, quit their jobs to play poker for a living. How sick. It should be a pastime, not an ambition .
    And people like Danny will kill themselves if they can’t play.
    Ever hear of live casinos?


  29. Shroom651     says:
    April 19th, 2011 at 11:06pm

    people who play the game, play to test out there skills but those who have no skills shouldnt pllay… of corse this is gambling but u are old enough to decide to gamble or not. everything we do involves gambling we have bookies for sports games boxing ect..but poker gives u the advantage to win because every call u make its yours sports world is more luck than skills and can be rigg by players and coaches and most pokers star players are very well rounded people and smart…


  30. Koshka     says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 8:22pm

    Tax us! Take your cut from a deposit but let us play online!


  31. Itsgeorger     says:
    April 19th, 2011 at 7:51pm

    the casinos are behind this.. they loose money cause of online playing.. also some congressmen want to get paid off


  32. Shroom651     says:
    April 19th, 2011 at 10:40pm

    the government is bs so many wars are going on and the country is in so much dept that they have to find away to cover these depts and i believe there using fulltilt as there solution claiming fulltilt owes $3 billion in money laundering penalties<—- that is a lie! they just need the money for making more guns and planing more wars to come our country was never free to the people it was only free to the government!


  33. Bilbob     says:
    April 20th, 2011 at 4:47pm

    Wtf do we do about the money we have won and now we can not log on.