Ray Bitar Runs Out of Options

When rolling the dice and playing with monopoly money, one is always at risk of pulling the dreaded, “Go directly to jail, do not pass go” card.

Full Tilt Poker’s chief executive officer Ray Bitar infamously printed monopoly money and credited it to the accounts of U.S. poker players and it was a final throw of the dice for a man who saw the writing on the wall. It took a while, over a year, but Bitar finally drew the Community Chess card and went to jail.

The beleaguered, on-the-run executive threw in the towel at the beginning of July and flew to New York form Ireland to hand himself in to authorities. Upon his arrival he was served with a new indictment which saw the possible jail term he might serve increase to 145 years.

He spent a week under lock and key awaiting bail which he eventually made and was released. He is allowed to travel between New York and California but under electronic surveillance.

Bitar was finally facing the music for his bad choices, bad decisions, and bad luck.
As CEO of Full Tilt the buck stopped with him. He may have received bad advice and he may have been surrounded by people who were in fear that their goose was about to stop laying golden eggs but ultimately he called the shots. Most big lies start from small ones but someone somewhere can usually say “stop”. Who, within Full Tilt Poker, knew what in this sorry debacle we may never know but now, with Bitar ready to defend himself, we should get some answers. This is too little too late for the thousands of players whose lives have been blighted by their disappeared bankrolls but hopefully it is the start of a process of resolution.

Low Key WSOP Main Event Final Table

Many European poker fans woke up on the morning of July 17 to the disappointing news that the World Series of Poker main event final table featured only one European and no women. The last two ladies in contention, Elisabeth Hille from Norway and Gaelle Bauman from France, had faltered at the final hurdle, knocked out in 11th and 10th respectively. Our sole representative, Andras Koroknai from Hungary may have got lucky to make the final table (see Main Event feature) but is no forlorn hope sitting second in chips and with a 2010 victory in the L.A. Poker Classic for $1.79 million under his belt he has a proven track record in taking down a big event like this.

Most of the American players are also obscure though several of them are very serious players, among them two bracelet winners (Greg Merson and Steve Gee), and a couple of primarily cash game pros (Robert Salaburu and Jeremy Ausmus). While it may not have the big names or personalities we’ve become accustomed to over the last few years this may just help shift the spotlight to poker and I’d expect the final table to be no less competitive this year, even if it is perhaps initially less exciting. ♠