The 2016 World Series of Poker is currently ongoing. As usual there is a lot of famous players in the halls. Popular professional poker players as well as Hollywood celebrities can be seen at the Rio All-Suite poker rooms. But there is also a very unpopular player that decided to play some poker in Vegas this summer – Howard Lederer.
Howard Lederer, one of the leading figures behind the poker site Full Tilt Poker, decided to enter the $10 000 No Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship.
Lederer was once a very popular player and a respected entrepreneur. But after the FBI and the Department of Justice shut down Full Tilt Poker in 2011, the mismanagement of the popular poker site was immediately brought into light and Lederer got a lot of the blame. Even though Lederer had stepped down as CEO of the company he was still a founder and a board member of Tiltware LLC, the company that launched Full Tilt Poker in 2004. The Department of Justice claimed that Full Tilt Poker was a Ponzi scheme that allowed Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Rafe Furst and Ray Bitar to pay out close to $450 million to themselves and other owners. Late in 2012 Howard Lederer settled a civil lawsuit with the Department of Justice.
Full Tilt Poker is now a part of Amaya Gaming. The site operates under the name Full Tilt. Poker is still the main focus, but the new owners are making some big changes and you can now play a wide range of casino games and other games under the Full Tilt brand. There have also been some minor improvements since Amaya Gaming bought the site. The bonus offer for new players is better and the site can be set into different languages such as English, German, Russian, French and Swedish. But the most popular news since Howard Lederers’ departure from Full Tilt Poker was that the players got a guarantee to get their money back. It took years but eventually players did get their money back.
Howard Lederer was a quiet figure during this time and was heavily criticized for it. People wanted answers and an apology for what had happened. Just recently Lederer made a public apology via Daniel Negreanus blog on fullcontactpoker.com where he wrote: “I take full responsibility for Full Tilt’s failure to protect player deposits”.
Even though some time has passed, players got their money back and Lederer apologized, a lot of players were unhappy to see Lederer back at the tables. Nevertheless he is playing in the 2016 World Series of Poker and he made it to day 2 in the $10 000 No Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship.
