Comprehensive Tilt CEO Ray Bitar in Ill Health and Near Destitute, Allen Cunningham Says

Ray Bitar was forced to surrender $40 million after pleading guilty to charges related to his time as CEO at Full Tilt, but avoided a prison sentence that is harsh.
Poker pro Allen Cunningham says that former Full Tilt CEO Ray Bitar is struggling with health problems and hasn’t been living the high life at all since his sentencing last year, despite what some poker fans may think. Those comments came in the center of a TwoPlusTwo.com forums thread discussing the details of the assets that Bitar was forced to forfeit as an element of his punishment for crimes linked to their time as head of the poker site that is infamous.
‘According to my sources Ray Bitar is unlikely to live no more than a couple years and is nearly penniless,’ Cunningham wrote in an answer the ‘conspiracy theorists’ whom advised that Bitar faked his heart disease to get a more lenient deal year that is last. ‘He don’t get away with anything. That should be worth more than a nvger that is random gossip as I was member of group full tilt.’ [sic]
Guilty of Full Tilt Charges
Bitar ended up being sentenced April that is last to served after pleading guilty to charges of illegal Internet gambling and conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. That phrase also included the forfeiture of $40 million in assets that were based on his work at Full Tilt. At the time, Judge Loretta A. Preska noted that Bitar would have faced jail time as well if it hadn’t been for the fact that he needed an urgent heart transplant to handle a serious medical condition.
Despite Cunningham’s words, nonetheless, posters continued to question whether Bitar had really been punished harshly enough for their crimes at Full Tilt, which included suggesting to players that their funds were protected in segregated records, not surprisingly clearly not having been the scenario. That led to more communications from Cunningham, who felt that the reality ended up being far different from what most posters thought.
‘Sorry, I did not realize the thread was just about baseless speculation,’ he wrote. ‘ I just saw ten posts contradicting what I had heard from some social people close to Bitar so we thought somebody might prefer to know.’
Adequate Karmic Punishment, Cunningham Says
Although some of this other posters within the thread didn’t think that a former Full Tilt pro was in the position that is best to be convincing them that Bitar had been worthy of sympathy, Cunningham made it clear that he felt that the increasing loss of Bitar’s wealth and his failing health ended up being ample punishment for his crimes.
‘we feel like this’s maybe not getting away with slots of vegas casino lobby it in a way that is karmic least. And especially in contrast to the conjecture at the start of the thread that he had hidden accounts and faked the heart problem,’ Cunningham wrote. ‘Some people still have not gotten paid and it’s mostly Ray Bitar’s fault, but he isn’t benefitting from it.’
The statements came in the wake of newly released information about the $40 million in assets forfeited by Bitar as a component of his sentence. In total, money ended up being seized from 18 bank that is different at eight different banks, including five reports at the financial institution of Valletta in Malta. Four houses were additionally surrendered, along side several commercial properties. Bitar was also forced to provide up his stakes in over 30 different corporate entities, including 23 that had been associated with Full Tilt.
New Jersey Sports Betting Gets Injunction from Judge
New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak thinks that recreations betting will prevail in the ultimately court battle over its legality. (Image: Chris Pedota/northjersey.com)
New Jersey sports betting was expected to start this past Sunday, but an injunction granted by a federal judge place a stop to those plans ahead of the first bets could be taken. Judge Michael Shipp granted that injunction on Friday, following the four major recreations leagues and the NCAA requested a block that is temporary betting until their lawsuit to quit New Jersey recreations gambling entirely could be heard.
The injunction came just an after governor chris christie signed a bill that partially repealed new jersey’s ban on sports betting, allowing the practice to take place at casinos and racetracks week.
Christie and state legislators wish that by allowing sports betting without explicitly regulating it, they can skirt rulings that are around previous found that the state’s sports gambling aspirations would have violated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
Judge Sees Irreparable Damage
In their ruling, Judge Shipp discovered that the sport leagues would have suffered irreparable harm if sports betting were become permitted at Monmouth Racetrack weekend that is last.
‘ More legal gambling leads to more total gambling, which in turn results in a heightened incentive to fix plaintiffs’ matches,’ Judge Shipp published in their opinion. He additionally noted that a restraining that is temporary would make sure that the problem was decided in court.
New Jersey officials are making it clear that they will stay fighting this battle into the courts, however, and which they expect that they will eventually prevail.
‘This is an order that is temporary the core dilemmas surrounding sports wagering in New Jersey are completely considered by the court,’ said Michael Drewniak, a spokesperson for Governor Christie.
Lesniak Says State Will Continue to Fight
State Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union County), who’s got been one of the leading voices behind sports betting into the state, expressed his frustration into the judge’s ruling. Lesniak pointed down that it is difficult to genuinely believe that the NFL may have suffered irreparable harm if New Jersey was allowed to supply activities wagering while they also held a game title in London, England the 2009 Sunday, a location where sports gambling is perfectly legal.
‘it was bought by the judge,’ Lesniak said. ‘That’s why i am not optimistic about the judge eventually ruling in our favor. I wish we had a different judge…but he’s the judge.’
Lesniak and other people think that a path that is likely the situation will see Shipp ultimately rule against nj in case. Nevertheless, the state would then appeal to the Third Circuit, where Lesniak says he is ‘very confident’ that their state can win.
For the time being, Lesniak says he’s not so sure that the injunction completely stops recreations betting within the state. Whilst it would prevent venues in New Jersey from offering bets on NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL games, along with college recreations, it’s possible that casinos and racetracks could offer wagering on still golf, tennis, and other activities. Perhaps most lucratively of all of the, they may be able to let customers place wagers on soccer matches around the entire world.
‘we believe betting on soccer is a big attraction for New Jersey,’ said Lesniak. ‘Can you imagine Portugal playing Spain, what a big attraction that would be?’
Lesniak as well as other supporters are hoping that sports betting may help revitalize the Atlantic that is struggling City by allowing them to offer the same selection of gambling options seen in Las Vegas.
Paul Phua Sports Betting FBI Bust Tactics Had Been Illegal, Says Counsel
Paul Phua’s so-called unlawful sports ring that is betting Caesars may have been busted by unlawful FBI tactics, their defense group claims. (Image: pokertube.com)
The defense in the Paul Phua illegal sports case that is betting motioned to have evidence dismissed, saying it was gathered illegally by the FBI. Phua, a poker that is malaysian well-known regarding the high-stakes circuit, was arrested in June, along with seven guys and one woman who are accused of operating an illegal World Cup recreations betting operation out of three luxury rooms at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The defense claims that the FBI acted in an improper way by first switching off the Internet to the rooms and then posing as fix technicians so that you can get inside and collect proof in the instance which fundamentally led to the arrests.
No Search Warrant
According to US law, authorities must either obtain a search warrant or suspects must waive their protections that are constitutional unreasonable searches. Evidence which is regarded as to possess been collected improperly should not be submitted at test.
Defense lawyers said that the FBI orchestrated the undercover operation contrary to the advice of assistant US Attorney Kimberley Frayn, whom apparently told them that it was a ‘consent issue,’ according to a conversation recorded by a detective for Caesars.
Court documents show staff at Caesars becoming suspicious last summer, when Phua, or one of their associates, asked them to put in an unusually massive amount technical equipment in the suites, and asked for extra bandwidth on the top the conventional WiFi access. Employees also observed computer monitors that appeared to be showing likelihood of World Cup matches, while big TV screens were tuned directly into World Cup soccer games.
Caesars tipped off the FBI, which then monitored activity in the rooms through the entire thirty days. Phua and his cronies were raided on 9, with gambling records, computer equipment, and other evidence seized july. The Gambling Control Board described the scene at the suites as being a kind of ‘high-tech cable room,’ where illegal World Cup bets were being monitored by computers remotely connected to others computers overseas. All eight defendants have already been faced with at minimum one count of the illegal transmission of wagering information and of running a illegal gambling business.
But set up tactics employed by the FBI will endure at trial is controversial to state the least. ‘They were trying everything they could getting inside without a warrant,’ said Phua team defense attorney Thomas Goldstein.
Previous prosecutor that is federal Rasch told the Associated Press that the movie evidence taken by the FBI during the ploy could possibly have to be dismissed. ‘Police are permitted to make use of a specific sort of subterfuge, but whatever they can’t do is produce a specific kind of circumstance,’ he stated.
Ivey and Robl Had Posted Bail
Phua, whom the FBI claims has links to Chinese organized crime, had bail set at $2 million following his arrest, while a $48 million jet that is private held as collateral. Bail was paid by fellow poker benefits Phil Ivey and Andrew Robl, who’ve spoken down in defense of the friend.
Natalie Collins, a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office, said that prosecutors had been made aware of the protection’s complaint, but declined to comment in advance of the trial that is pending.
The scenario is certainly one of several that have appeared over the month that is past have raised doubts over FBI evidence gathering methods. The FBI sent a fake news story about a bomb threat to a suspect in order to get him to click a link, thus revealing his location to then in one such case. The Associated Press, to whom the whole story was attributed, complained that the tactic was ‘unacceptable’ and that it undermined its credibility.
