Full Tilt Poker released a statement, but it did not contain any information regarding the release of funds for US players. The entire statement does little more than attempt to put a public relations spin on a bad situation.
FTP tries to portray the image of a company that is not bankrupt by quoting a statement from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC), the group that issues a gaming license to FTP, stating that “FTP’s worldwide business is healthy and, although we’ve had some short-term challenges, it is operating as normal.” Relying on a statements from an organization that did nothing to ensure the safety of players’ funds is not carrying any weight with FTP’s former players.
The FTP statement makes no mention of the account that was recently released by the US Department of Justice nor the approximate amount owed to US players. It does state that FTP is in the process of “raising capital to ensure that the US players are paid out in full as quickly as possible.”
Some posters on 2+2 are pointing to the statement and inferring that FTP is insolvent, highlighting that the attempt to raise capital will be used to pay debts. However, Full Tilt has stressed that funds are purely to make payments quicker.
FTP points out that the company has never failed to pay players due to payment processor defaults and funds being seized in the past. However, it is highly unlikely that the company has encountered a seizure of this magnitude in the past.
The FTP statement also attempts to justify the silence of many of the FTP sponsored professional players. Some are speculating that this is a poor attempt to reduce the amount of scorn the FTP pros will receive at the upcoming World Series of Poker.
Most of the statement addresses the poor communication by FTP to its former US player base. The admission of the lack of communication and the brevity of previous statements is ironically included in a “brief official statement” posted only on a public poker forum. It ends:
It has not been easy to stay silent and watch the damage being done to our company brand and personal reputations, but we need to be mindful of the complicated and serious legal issues raised in the pending cases.
After admitting how poor their communication with former US players has been, they end the statement by trying to justify it.
