Full Tilt Poker Success Stories Online
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Also Plays Under: Ashton 'theASHMAN103' Griffin spends most of his time playing on Full Tilt Poker. Occasionally he is seen on Pokerstars, where he also plays using the 'theASHMAN103' alias. I am not aware of any other accounts that Griffin currently plays under. Online Notes: Griffin is the classic 'rags to riches' online poker success story. Since Full Tilt Poker closed in the fall of 2011, Friedman has kept his hand in the world of poker. He has added eight cashes at the WSOP to his resume since 2012, with his best finish a fourth place run in the 2012 $5000 Seven Card Stud event. Since the closure of Full Tilt Poker, he has earned $114,457 in tournament cashes.

Donnie Peters

It has been one heck of a year for online poker. Black Friday rocked the poker world and sent players, especially those in the United States, freaking out about the loss of their livelihood. No online poker company had a more drama-filled year than Fill Tilt Poker (FTP) did.

Saying that FTP, along with its former player 'faces' as a whole, had a crazy year would be quite the understatement. Our No. 2 story of 2011 is all that encompasses the year FTP had, beginning with the meteor that smashed head on into the poker world — Black Friday.

On Friday, April 15, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice released an indictment against the founders of online poker's 'big three,' — PokerStars, Absolute Poker (AP) and FTP. The indictment cited charges of bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling. Restraining orders were filed against more than 75 bank accounts used by the online sites and their payment processors.

Just like that, a black cloud darkened the online poker world, and people began to panic. While AP folded, things went rather smoothly for PokerStars. FTP, on the other hand, saw a drama-packed year.

A press release on the indictment named 11 defendants: Isai Scheinberg, Raymond Bitar, Scott Tom, Brent Beckley, Nelson Burtnick, Paul Tate, Ryan Lang, Bradley Franzen, Ira Rubin, Chad Elie and John Campos. Of those named, Bitar of Burtnick represented FTP.

Within hours of the indictment, the sites began to cut service to U.S. players, blocked them from real-money games, terminated alliances with the online sites, and drove online grinders in the U.S. into mass panic. At approximately 12:26 p.m. PDT, PokerStars had stopped serving real-money games to U.S. players. At approximately 5:30 p.m. PDT, Alexandra Berzon, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, tweeted: 'A Fertitta spokeswoman said the partnership with Full Tilt — announced in late March — had 'expired.'

FTP held back on suspending real-money play of U.S. players until approximately 6:52 p.m. PDT. At that time, a release from FTP said, '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 abiding by the law.'

Ray Bitar, who was listed on the indictment, added, 'I am surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to bring these charges. I look forward to Mr. Burtnick’s and my exoneration.' The following day, FTP cancelled the Onyx Cup poker series that was set to have its debut.

It was later revealed that it was young Australian entrepreneur Daniel Tzvetkoff who had brought the online poker world to its knees. Apparently, Tzvetkoff was the one who had set up the payment-processing schemes used by the major online poker sites. In turn, he was labeled, 'The Boy Genius Who Just Took Down the Online Poker Industry.'

While all the madness was happening, U.S. players were freaking out. Many took to Twitter while others flooded the TwoPlusTwo forums, setting a record of more than 12,000 people online at the same time. It was during this madness that Team Full Tilt's youngest member, Tom 'durrrr' Dwan stepped up as a poker ambassador, attempting to reduce everyone's fears.

On Twitter, Dwan (@Tom_Dwan) stated, 'I'd guess FTP/Stars is worth more than 93 cents on the dollar (almost 100% you get paid but could take 2-3 months in worst case more).'

Things were now one big waiting game. PokerStars took proactive steps and released statements as soon as possible. FTP, on the other hand, remained silent and kept everyone wondering what was going on.

On Tuesday, April 19, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) and the Isle of Man Supervision Commissionreleased statements regarding the indictments of their licensees, Absolute Poker and PokerStars, respectively.

The poker world awaited word from FTP, which finally came in the following statement:

'The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) is aware of proceedings brought against Full Tilt Poker and individuals concerned with its operations by the authorities in New York State.'

'AGCC will review the documentation affecting its licensee and to facilitate this, AGCC will undertake its own investigation into these allegations; no further general commentary will be provided pending progress in these matters.'

'AGCC notes that its licensee, trading as Full Tilt Poker, denies all of the allegations. Upon the grant of its license, Full Tilt Poker identified that it had obtained specific legal advice relating to its proposed activities. AGCC further notes the current public statements made by Full Tilt Poker to its customers and its recent decision to suspend ‘real money’ play in the USA. AGCC is concerned that appropriation of Full Tilt Poker’s dot-com site is hampering and potentially adversely affecting its lawful operation elsewhere in the world. AGCC remains committed to providing a well-regulated, lawful environment for worldwide eGambling based in Alderney.'

On Wednesday, April 20, FTP announced that it had 'reached an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to regain the use of its worldwide domain name, www.fulltiltpoker.com.'

The statement also said that 'Full Tilt Poker has no accounting of the millions of dollars of player funds that were seized by the government; and the government has not agreed to permit any of the seized player funds to be returned to the players.' The statement concluded by saying FTP 'is ready to work diligently with the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York to try and resolve these issues and to get players their money back as soon as possible.'

It was widely understood that the statements from FTP and the U.S. Attorney's Office echoed each other in large part, but when FTP said that 'Full Tilt Poker has no accounting of the millions of dollars of player funds that were seized by the government,' and the U.S. District Attorney’s Office claimed that 'no individual player accounts were ever frozen or restrained, and each implicated poker company has at all times been free to reimburse any player's deposited funds,' things didn't seem to add up.

With confusion at the forefront of the allegations involving FTP and the statements released, PokerStars stepped forward with its own statement saying that, 'Returning U.S. players' funds is a top priority for PokerStars and the company can now start the process of returning money to its former U.S. customers. All PokerStars player deposits are completely safe.' As many people understood, it seemed as though PokerStars had things organized and that a plan was in effect to return players' funds, while FTP left everyone very uncertain about the issue.

On April 21 at approximately 11:27 p.m. PDT, FTP issued another statement reiterating that player funds were 'safe and secure' and that it was working with the U.S. Attorney's Office to return players' money.

About two weeks passed before the next FTP update. First, prosecutors seized four homes owned or connected to Ray Bitar, all in Glendora, California.

Then came an update from FTPDoug on the TwoPlusTwo forums.

In the update, FTPDoug said the site was still working to return players' funds and that doing so remained the site's top priority. He also apologized for the delay in the process; however, nothing in the statement answered questions regarding a timeline for the payouts. U.S. players grew even more uneasy.

Ten days passed with rumors swirling that another update was imminent. On May 15, FTPDoug was back on the TwoPlusTwo forums, but without much to appease players. Instead, the announcement

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