What Happened to Full Tilt Poker Owners?

In June 2011, the Department of Justice shut down the online poker site Full Tilt Poker. The site’s owners, Ray Bitar and Nelson Burtnick, were charged with running a Ponzi scheme and defrauding players out of more than $430 million.

Bitar and Burtnick pleaded guilty to their charges and were sentenced to time served. Bitar was also ordered to forfeit $40 million and pay a $2.5 million fine.

Burtnick was ordered to forfeit $1.25 million.

The Department of Justice also reached a settlement with Full Tilt Poker’s payment processor, PokerStars. Under the terms of the settlement, PokerStars agreed to forfeit $547 million to the Department of Justice.

PRO TIP:Full Tilt Poker’s owners were charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling in 2011. As a result, they agreed to pay back all of the players who had been affected by their actions. The repayment process was completed in 2016, with over $150 million being repaid to players in total.

PokerStars also agreed to buy Full Tilt Poker’s assets for $184 million and repay all of Full Tilt Poker’s players who were owed money.

So what happened to the owners of Full Tilt Poker? Ray Bitar pled guilty to his charges and is currently serving a sentence of time served. Nelson Burtnick pled guilty to his charges and is currently serving a sentence of time served.