Online gaming is again under the spotlight this morning, following the release of a remarkable statement by one of the worlds most well known and respected poker professionals.
Friday 15th April 2025 (Dubbed Black Friday) was a day that online gaming will remember for a long time. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) indited online gaming giants Poker Stars and Full Tilt with all manner of charges relating to the legalities of US players being able to play poker on both sites.
Since then there have been many twists, turns, arrests, and rumours surrounding the websites, and one in particular is causing quite a stir. After initially locking all US players out of the two sites there was quite a lot of confusion as to what was going to happen to money held by the two sites for US players. Were they going to get it back, and if so when?
The DOJ later gave Poker Stars and Full Tilt the go ahead to pay all locked American players account balances and within days there had been hundreds of thousands of US players logging into the poker clients and requesting cashouts. So far this appears to have gone relatively smoothly for Poker Stars, but for Full Tilt this seems not the case.
In a recent statement Full Tilt suggested there “may” be more delays in players getting back the funds owed. When asked what the company were doing to help speed up this process, the reply given was somewhat alarming.
“We are raising capital to ensure that the US players are paid out in full as quickly as possible. It is important to remember that Full Tilt Poker has always paid out our players, even in the face of previous legal obstacles or factors not in our control, such as payment processor defaults and prior actions by the US government which resulted in US player funds being seized”.
Players across the globe are united in their disappointment with how Full Tilt appear to be handling this issue, and today one of the biggest names in poker has joined the many thousands of players that are unhappy with Full Tilt poker.
Phil Ivey is one of, if not the worlds greatest poker player. A name synonymous with Full Tilt poker, a sponsored pro, and regularly seen wearing the Full Tilt logo.
Mr Ivey released a statement on his website today saying he is deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. He also went on to suggest he will not be attending this years WSOP as he feels it unfair that he should be able to play in this prestigious event, when Full Tilt’s actions are preventing others from doing so.
One can only imagine what is going on behind the scenes at Full Tilt, but from the outside looking in, it doesn’t appear to be much.
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