Full Tilt Poker: Will Shutdown End Future of Online Gaming; Has Phil Ivey Won?

How Will Scandal Affect Online Gaming and the Sport of Poker?

The future of online gaming is hanging in the balance right now, but with the latest news it seems like it is starting to tilt a little bit more toward the negative side of things.

At one point there was seemingly no reason that online gaming could stop growing. It was just too convenient. The very same games, the very same gambling and the very same money that you could win at a casino or gaming hall could be had with the click of a button on your computer or laptop.

Instead of needing to go somewhere to find the thrill of gaming, all you had to do was sit down in front of a PC screen and play. You could play with people from all over the world. You could even be playing against professionals.

You could be a professional yourself.

The convenient part about online gaming is that all of your earnings could be stored in an online account; you didn’t even have to get up out of your seat to collect.

Unfortunately, it was just as convenient for the hosting sites to steal your money as it was for you to win it.

The popular poker website Full Tilt Poker is a prime example of that scenario.

Poker star and legend Phil Ivey filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the site, accusing it of not having any money left in its reserve account to play U.S. players.

Here is an account of the lawsuit from Sheri Geller of Poker Player Newspaper:

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The complaint also includes the fact that there is approximately $150 million owed to US players and that Full Tilt Poker has not returned any of that money.  Ivey alleges that, unbeknownst to him, Full Tilt failed to maintain a reserve account sufficient to satisfy the return of funds to US players.

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In simple terms: Full Tilt Poker, or Tiltware (parent company), used deposits for other investments, which is not unusual, but the problem is the company didn’t have enough money left in its reserves to pay players what it owed them.

The site claimed that it was going to pay its players back but was shut down and has been under legal fire ever since.

Word has come out that Full Tilt Poker has taken yet another hit—that the site has stopped operating in the British Channel Islands—according to Shan Li of the Los Angeles Times.

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The gambling commission on the island of Alderney suspended the licenses of Full Tilt Poker and affiliated companies following an investigation prompted by indictments in the U.S., according to a statement Wednesday from the commission. Those indictments, filed in New York in April, charged company executives with bank fraud and money laundering.

The Alderney commission said its investigation found evidence that Full Tilt was operating in violation of local laws.

"The decision to suspend the eGambling license was in the public interest and, because of the seriousness and urgency of the matter, it required that immediate action be taken," said Andre Wilsenach, the commission's executive director.

"

Obviously Full Tilt Poker is under water, which means that online gaming could potentially receive the final nail in its coffin.

Will this really usher in the end of online gaming, though?

As I said earlier, online gaming is such a popular way of playing the games, especially poker.

Phil Ivey was obviously searching for justice, but did he understand the consequences of his actions?

Now, in no way do I disagree with what he did, and I hope that this situation will eventually play out in favor of those who are owed money and poorly for those who are guilty. That being said, how will the gaming community be affected by such a big hit to one of its main markets?

How will the game of poker be affected by this?

That still remains to be seen.

Phil Ivey has won this battle, but here's to hoping poker won’t lose the war.

Follow Andrew on Twitter: @AKonSports