Of all the falls from grace in the online poker world, none have been more shocking than the recent demise of one of poker’s major titans. We’ve seen some major turmoil after UIGEA. The Ultimate Bet scandal/Absolute Poker horrified us, especially the lack of any repercussions against the perpetrators. But none have served as a bigger wake-up call than the recent meltdown of the US poker industry. Pt 1 of this will deal with the history, and Pt 2 will be analysis.

The woes can be traced back to the UIGEA, a sketchy piece of legislation attached to the Safe Port Act. Congress members has a long-standing tradition of holding bills hostage unless other members sign their own bills, and UIGEA was tacked on to increase support for a bill to increase the security of American ports. The UIGEA didn’t ban poker outright, nor did it even mention poker once, but nonetheless, banks would take no chances (very ironic given what happened to most of them in just a year, a fitting end I suppose). Partypoker, the biggest provider at the time, completely pulled out of the US market. But Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker remained. The two were colossal sites. The two were gold standards of the industry. Granted, FTP demonstrated a severe lack of competency in its customer relations, but we overlooked that for the rakeback.

Fast forward to Black Friday. Any of us that had money on the site were horrified from day one. Then came the announcement that the DOJ was letting them pay us back, and we could breathe a sigh of relief. Stars sent out checks very quickly, but FTP remained mysteriously silent. Even Phil Ivey, once seen as one of FTP’s foremost leaders (who are the execs anyways?) filed a lawsuit and promised to boycott the prestigious WSOP.  That was just the tip of the iceberg for poker players, though. It took until late Feb for the trouble to hit the fan. FTP had its Alderney Gaming Commission license revoked. A major industry recognition, its loss meant FTP had no credibility in providing online poker and all play ceased.

Now, FTP is rumored to be in a buyout deal with European investors. FTP has no liquidity and estimated to have over a billion of dollars of liability. Still, it is a major name in the poker industry and is poised to make a major comeback if major changes are made in its management.

For those of you reading this who were Full Tilt Poker players and are looking for a new room I have to give a shout out to 888 Poker.  The 888 Poker bonus is one of the best in the business, with you receiving up to $600!