Top online poker rooms have the ability to provide gaming options for amateurs to professionals. While amateurs can enjoy cash gaming and poker tournaments, professionals have access to additional features. As a pro of a top online poker room such as PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker, players will be able to earn payment with sponsorship or additional rewards. Before Black Friday, there were many pros affiliated with such sites as Full Tilt Poker and made a living by being part of the brand.
One such pro associated with Full Tilt was Erick Lindgren. In the past, Lindgren had borrowed money from Full Tilt as well as gained money accidentally when $2 million was deposited into his account by mistake. Lindgren ended up owing $2.5 million and did not seem in any hurry to pay the debt. Once Full Tilt Poker collapsed, many felt as though the debt would be erased. However, it appears this is not the case.
Lindgren is now being sued by the new owners of Full Tilt, The Rational Group. A federal court case has been created by Rational and is seeking the debt plus payment for damages. Based on numerous reports, Rational FT Enterprises is trying to recover $531,807 in loans plus the $2 million that was accidentally placed into his account.
With the acquisition of Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars was transferred the debt of Full Tilt. The collection process began in 2012 and Lindgren filed for bankruptcy. Lindgren had to file due to losing large amounts of cash based on his gambling addiction. With the new filing, the bankruptcy court did not discharge the debt to PokerStars which can now be collected by the brand.
In most cases, a bankruptcy filing will remove all debt and the filer will pay a set amount each month to take care of the debt owed. This filing will cause a blemish on the financial record and will not be removed until the set time period is reached. This is usually seven to ten years. With Lindgren, the pro was on top of his game for many years with successful wins, earning over $1 million in 2013. But last year, barely broke the $150,000 mark in profits.
According to a report at PokerUpdate, additional players may end up with a lawsuit alongside Lindgren. Several pros were named back in 2012 as to having owed the company money due to loans. The amount in loans could range from $10 million to $20 million which is not an amount that will be ignored by The Rational Group.
Such players as Barry Greenstein, Phil Ivey, David Benyamine and Mike Matusow are said to owe money to the company. Will there be additional suits filed on these players to see repayment or will these players be able to get away from owing the funds from years previously.
This is a situation that no poker pro wants to be in. Players strive to compete in top events and play online to earn cash which can then be used to continue posting high buy-ins to compete in major events. But as players can see a high point, there are also low points. When you experience loss after loss, it can be hard to get back on top.
Lindgren has had a rough go of things and is now subject to a suit that will seek payment for the large amount of cash due to the loan and mistaken cash added to the player account. It will be interesting to see if Lindgren will need to pay the amount due or if the court will close the case and the pro gets away without having to repay the amount from several years ago.