“SORRY!” says CEO of Full Tilt Poker [1]

Bitar is sorry……so are the poker players

CEO of Full Tilt Poker, Ray Bitar has spoken to the world of poker for the first time since Black Friday, giving the gaming world an insight into how his “life has drastically changed since last April.” Speaking to PokerStrategy.com, he delved into why he remained behind closed doors after Black Friday initially kicked off. He said:  “One is the ongoing legal process which has precluded me from providing any relevant information surrounding the on-going investigation, and of course, I have not wanted to jeopardize the process in any way.”

His second justification was that he claims he has been vigorously working every single day to ensure that players see their cash. His silence is also down to “working on the future plans of FTP,” which weren’t specified at this stage.  Ray said that if he kept on releasing public statements, then it would probably hinder the investigation as well as efforts to rectify the whole saga: “public statements would diminish the likelihood of a successful outcome, which is what we need to be focused on.”

He understands why the poker community are still livid at being out of pocket. Totally sympathising with them he said: “Given the lack of information that has been made public, I can certainly understand these sentiments. My primary focus has been and continues to be working towards getting us to where we want to be – the repayment of the players and the survival of the company. I have been fully dedicated to this cause and am doing everything possible for a beneficial outcome.”

In his closing statement to PokerStrategy, he left the gaming community with this thought:  “I would like to offer my sincere apology to all who have been affected by these events and to clarify that my silence was not an attempt to “hide,” or “ignore,” the situation. It was done out of necessity to ensure the focus remained on the continued efforts to reach the best outcome for the players. My entire focus is on obtaining a successful resolution for the players. I hope that before long I can provide some good news for all of the players involved.”