Say Goodbye to Full Tilt Poker

Looks like if you're a Full Tilt Poker (FTP) user, not only is your online bankroll frozen, but now all operations of the online poker site are suspended, as of today.

Full Tilt Poker is registered in Alderney and regulated by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC), under the name Filco Limited.  Alderney is a tiny island in the English Channel.  FTP has had its entire online operation suspended by the AGCC.  In a statement released by the regulator, FTP was instructed to stop customers playing on the site and suspend all withdrawals from the site.

This action, along with Phil Ivey's recent $150 million lawsuit against FTP, puts the poker giant in some seriously hot, murky water.   FTP has issued a response to Ivey's lawsuit, but has not yet issued a statement on the AGCC's harsh actions.

I'm not sure exactly what this means for you.  I personally have about $300 frozen on the site that I'd much prefer to have sitting in my own bank account.  All this creates a dark cloud of uncertainty hovering over online poker and it seems anyone's guess how it will play out in the end.  My guess is most players, especially US players, will never see their FTP deposits again...

Spiderman's a Shark?

Looks like a series of high-stakes underground A-list celebrity cash games has been unearthed.  And guess who's getting sued for winning?  Spiderman's Tobey Maguire.

From what I've read, the game's sharks were Tobey Maguire and Ben Affleck.  Donks apparently included Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio.  High Stakes Poker announcer Gabe Kaplan was a regular, as was poker pro Dan Bilzarian, who's also being sued.  Bilzarian had some choice words here for Brad Ruderman, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison last year for operating a wire fraud and investment adviser fraud scheme that lost investors $25 million.  $5.2 million of those dollars were lost on the underground celeb games and duped investors are suing to get that money back.  Good luck with that.
ABC coverage, KGO coverage, Card Player coverage, TMZ here and here.  Watch the news video here or click "Read More."