Full Tilt Poker’s player pool was fully integrated into PokerStars on May 17 and the poker platform was officially retired. Within the wake of the general closure of what was some of the largest online poker sites on this planet Howard Lederer, a former board member of the now defunct business, has opted to place out a press release through Daniel Negreanu’s poker blog.

Lederer have been a persona non grata within the poker world after the fiasco that followed the united states.. Department of Justice’s actions on April 15, 2011. Players with money in accounts on Full Tilt Poker looked as though they may not ever retrieve their funds after poker’s Black Friday due to the site’s failure to segregate player funds from the money used to function the business. Players only received any type of relief when PokerStars announced that they might buy the corporate and pay out player’s balances.

Negreanu posted Lederer’s statement and likewise gave his own commentary, saying it is, “the more or less apology people would have liked to read five years ago.” Lederer’s full statement are available below. For more of Negreanu’s thoughts on it, take a look at his blog post which are found here.

I am writing to apologize to everyone within the poker community, especially to the entire players who had money on Full Tilt Poker on April 15, 2011. When Full Tilt Poker closed in 2011, there has been a shortfall in funds, a distressed sale to recover those funds, and a protracted delay in repaying players. Throughout this period, there has been little cause of the delay, and no apology. Players felt lied to. They trusted the site, and so they trusted me, and that i didn’t live as much as that trust.

I take full responsibility for Full Tilt’s failure to give protection to player deposits leading as much as Black Friday. The shortfall in player deposits should not have happened. I must have provided better oversight or made sure that responsible others as long as oversight. I USED TO BE a founder within the company that launched Full Tilt, and that i became the face of the company’s management within the poker community. A lot of our players played at the site because they trusted me.

Even though I USED TO BE now not overseeing daily operations, my inattention within the two years leading as much as Black Friday imperiled players’ deposits. My involvement in Full Tilt from 2003-2008 put me in a singular position of trust—a trust that I disappointed by failing in order for Full Tilt was properly governed after I stepped away in 2008. My failure to ensure proper oversight was in place after I left led to the location that started to unfold on Black Friday. Players weren't in a position to get their a refund for no less than a year and a half, and, for many, it's been for much longer. I’ve been a poker player my entire adult life. I DO KNOW the significance of getting access to one’s bankroll. The lost opportunity, frustration, and anxiety lots of FTP’s customers experienced within the intervening years is unacceptable. I WILL NOT be sorry enough for what happened.

During Full Tilt’s rise, I received numerous praise. I couldn’t see it on the time, but I let the headlines change me. Within the first couple of years after Black Friday I made a whole lot of excuses, to my friends, my family and myself, for why I wasn’t the bad guy or big-headed or wrong. Within the months immediately following the crisis, I focused numerous energy on looking to refute allegations that were factually untrue. I convinced myself that I USED TO BE a victim of circumstance and that criticism was being unfairly directed toward me as opposed to others. I USED TO BE missing the larger picture.

At a marriage within the fall of 2014, I USED TO BE sitting with a friend, talking about Full Tilt. I USED TO BE grumbling about how unfair my lot in life had become. My friend didn’t let me off the hook. I’m paraphrasing here, but he said, “Howard, it doesn’t matter whether you knew concerning the shortfall or what you probably did to assist players receives a commission. These players feel such as you lied to them. You were the face of the corporate within the poker community. Thousands of players played at the site because they trusted you several. pros represented the positioning because they thought you were on top of things. And also you happily accepted the accolades while falling in need of their trust.”

At the time, my friend’s response felt like a slap within the face, but it surely is apparent to me now that it was fair. An apology isn't enough, but it surely is what I'M ABLE TO offer to the poker community within the wake of a travesty that I would not have allowed to happen. I'M sorry.

Following Black Friday Lederer settled with the united states.. Department of Justice. In exchange for the chance to confess to no wrongdoing within the civil complaint that stemmed from Full Tilt’s failures Lederer forfeited no less than $2.5 million in cash and assets, including several pieces of real estate property and vehicles. He also handed over the contents of a bank account, although the settlement didn’t specify the quantity of the funds in that account. Lederer was paid a minimum of $42.5 million by Full Tilt over the process his involvement with the company, which he helped in founding.

With those forfeitures in mind and this apology made, has Lederer even begun to fix the bridges burned by the whole Tilt fiasco and his failure to take responsibility for the site’s mismanagement?

“The option to accept his apology is a private one,” says Negreanu. “For what its worth, I ACTUALLY believe the apology to be genuine.”

Genuine or not, Lederer likely has some distance to head before he's capable of play in poker’s biggest events without facing hostility and contempt.

Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]