A group of unknown persons has bought the domain name of the dead online poker skin, Full Flush Poker, and immediately erected a virtual warning sign on the website.
An unspecified group of peeps has purchased the domain name of FullFlushPoker.com for an undisclosed fee via auction, and they want you to know they do NOT have your money, are NOT liable for your debt, and are NOT associated with the prior owners.
Yes, the new owners haven’t just capitalised the word NOT, they have even typed it in bold – the equivalent of shouting in your ear with a megaphone.
Flushdraw’s Haley Hintze broke the news of the deal after it came to her attention that the new owners of the domain name had posted a notice on the front page of the once popular website.
The notice explains that the previous owners are not returning calls, have likely fled the countries in which they operated, and stiffed not only the players who are left $2m in debt, but also marketing affiliates, and the people who worked in the Costa Rican offices.
Full Flush Poker was the mother ship of the Equity Poker Network (EPN). Launched in 2013, as a non-profit network, the EPN closed down at the same time as Full Flush Poker.
Speaking to CalvinAyre at the time of the launch, EPN founder Clive Archer explained that the network didn’t ‘guarantee players funds for any specific operator,’ stating that responsibility for player funds laid with the ‘specific operator.’
Archer left EPN Dec 2015 after a period of ill health prevented him from fulfilling his duties. It’s unclear who was running EPN or Full Flush Poker at the time of their demise. In her article, Hintze points out that a ‘whistleblower on a popular poker forum’ named Jorge Barahona, Victor Bigio, Hugues Marion, Leon Vargas, and Ben Johansen as individuals with a connection to the two sites.
The notice also mentions a ‘pending lawsuit’ to retrieve lost funds stating there is ‘no evidence of this litigation,’ and it may well be a scam. The lawsuit the notice refers to seems to be one rumoured to have begun at the hands of the online gaming consumer protection outfit Game Protect.
A notice on the Game Protect website seeks funding from potential claimants to cover court fees more than $5,000 and wants the money deposited in Bitcoin. An update on Jan 14, 2017, states that Full Flush Poker owe a player called Agirlinoh $152,000, and he has joined their litigation campaign. That same statement asserts they have received claims totalling $248,000.
The statement on the Full Flush Poker website warns people not to pursue this line of enquiry stating the minds behind Game Protect are unknown and unproven. Instead, they suggest that you contact the new owners of the domain if you want to get your money back because a ‘group of concerned affiliates and poker sites have come together in an attempt to help the victims.’
If you are a victim of the Full Flush Poker atrocities, then check out the link for yourself and make your own mind up about who is telling porkies.
