POKER PETITION FROM DISGRUNTLED F.T.P. PLAYERS

02/16/2012 : POKER PETITION FROM DISGRUNTLED F.T.P. PLAYERS
 
Popular player message board the platform for a discussion on excluding FTP pros from the World Series of Poker
 
Disgruntled Full Tilt Poker players exchanged views on the popular twoplustwo message board this week on whether FTP professionals who owe money to the company (and by association unpaid players) should be allowed to participate in the next World Series of Poker.
 
The issue is rooted in reports  that former FTP professional players owe around $16.5 million in total to the embattled company.
 
The allegation has been confirmed by a legal representative of Groupe Bernard Tapie, which apparently uncovered the debts during its pre-acquisition due diligence checks. Claims that said professionals have been reluctant to respond to enquiries or pay off the debts have created some tension.
 
Informal social networking communications from some of the professionals indicate that  whilst some deny any indebtedness, others would be prepared to pay up, but only when the FTP debacle has been finalised and there is certainty regarding their position.
The player petition currently gathering momentum on twoplustwo proposes that all FTP shareholders and those who are in debt to Full Tilt should be banned from the World Series of Poker this year.
 
In what seems to be an attempt to put some pressure on WSOP to accede to the banning demand, the petition also urges signatories to boycott the event should their demands not be met.
 
Whether poker's most prestigious tournament should be drawn into an affair in which it has had no involvement or fault is the subject of some debate in the twoplustwo thread.
 
Given the current situation vis-a-vis the FTP-GBT proposed takeover, the still ongoing discussions with the US authorities and the lack of specific individual indebtedness data this would not appear to be the right time or place for either the petition or the boycott action it implies.