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 …
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.
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.
“Unreliable” Twitter? Oh, it’s reliable, all right… it’s a reliable way to level thousands of followers, how ever many more who saw it as a ReTweet, and one popular poker blog.
I admittedly bought it at first — had my requisite hesitation and disclaimer language — and still haven’t totally unbelieved it yet. Did make a few hedline edits though to better convey the uncertainty.
However, the fact that such a “joke” could even be a joke is a sign of the times, no?
how she going der