Black Friday Archives: The Lederer Files, Part 1
April 15, 2011, is a day that will forever be remembered as the one that changed the landscape of online poker, especially in the United States. It was that day that many lives were turned upside-down after the U.S. Department of Justice cracked down on major online poker operators.
One of those operators was Full Tilt Poker, then operating with its own independence. In September 2011, the DOJ amended the Black Friday complaint to include allegations that Full Tilt Poker and its board members had defrauded players. One person named was Howard Lederer. The amendment detailed how Full Tilt Poker owed approximately $390 million to players worldwide, including about $150 million to American players, while having only about $60 million on hand in its accounts.
Then, in September 2012, the DOJ would file a Second Amended Civil Complaint to introduce new forfeiture charges against Lederer and Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar. After a year-and-a-half of silence, Lederer would speak at length to PokerNews about what led to Black Friday and Full Tilt Poker's management thereafter in a seven-part series titled The Lederer Files.
Here's Part 1:
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