

These differences, along with the public comments (or lack thereof) following Black Friday, have led to the court of poker public opinion seemingly being more accepting of Ferguson’s return than Lederer’s.

In the end, the settlement agreements paint the picture that Ferguson and Lederer had different levels of culpability (at least in the eyes of the government) when it comes to their role in the demise of Full Tilt Poker, as well as how they tried to deal with it.

His return seems to have caught the poker world off guard, as the disgraced former Full Tilt owner was treated more as an object of curiosity than a returned exile and object of scorn. Many in the poker world saw as a preemptive move by Lederer to try to smooth things over and pave the way for a return to the WSOP this year.īut before Lederer even had a chance to show his face at the WSOP, it was Ferguson, the 2000 main event champion and former Full Tilt Poker owner, who turned up at the Rio.įerguson and his trademark look - complete with cowboy hat, long hair and beard - showed up for the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship without any foreshadowing and sans apology. In the run-up to the WSOP, Howard Lederer issued an apology statement to the poker community. But stealing the show was the return of Chris Ferguson to the WSOP for the first time since 2010.įerguson wasn’t in a chatty mood, telling PokerNews three times, “I’m just here to play poker,” when they questioned the five-time WSOP bracelet winner about his return.įerguson may not have wanted to discuss his return, the poker community certainly did, as social media lit up, as did the 2+2 forums.

Colossus II, developments (see below), and grumblings of controversies (Top Up Turbo satellites and Allen Kessler-unapproved structures).
What happened to full tilt poker owners series#
The first week of the 2016 World Series of Poker had its fair share of big stories.
