Arrest Warrant issued for Poker Legend Ted Forrest

[ftpjesus]

Apparently Ted has been nailed over a bad marker he wrote to the Wynn regarding 2 checks totaling $215,000 between Oct 2012 and May 2013.. He apparently had a payment arrangement worked out which he failed to comply with. Additionally Forrest has additional issues with the Mirage over similar issues for approx. $40k. Apparently there is a difference of opinion on what Ted did or didn't do according to his attorney Chris Rasmussen. Reading the article I don't know what leg Forrest has to stand on this is standard practice for the casinos to use the criminal courts as collections thugs by virtue of charges of fraud and bad checks.

Also for some odd reason they mention Forrest's bet with Matusow and how apparently Mike the mouth hasn't paid up.. Is Ted claiming its Mike's fault he couldn't pay the Casino????

http://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/a...bad-check-case

[Dan Druff]

Wow.

This is huge, and indicative of how the mighty in poker can fall.

I've known for a long time that Forrest was busto, but I didn't know about these markers.

The bet with Matusow was clearly mentioned because it's Forrest's way of casting the blame onto others -- basically that he would have been able to pay if Matusow hadn't stiffed him, and therefore it's Matusow's fault.

Which is bullshit.

Even if Matusow really owes him the money, that shouldn't affect the criminality of Forrest taking bad markers in the first place.

[sonatine]

holy shit....



larry flynt's stud game is not to be trifled with.

[ftpjesus]

Wow.

This is huge, and indicative of how the mighty in poker can fall.

I've known for a long time that Forrest was busto, but I didn't know about these markers.

The bet with Matusow was clearly mentioned because it's Forrest's way of casting the blame onto others -- basically that he would have been able to pay if Matusow hadn't stiffed him, and therefore it's Matusow's fault.

Which is bullshit.

Even if Matusow really owes him the money, that shouldn't affect the criminality of Forrest taking bad markers in the first place.

It wouldn't, first off Matusow owed/owes him that money from 2010 this happened 2-3yrs afterwards. Secondly while as I stated its a known practice I have to wonder if somebody had the cajones to do so if the criminal charges would stand up to somebody challenging the legality of them in the Federal courts as a violation of FDCA. This country has had a hardline that debts are not punishable by prison unlike in other places around the world and the precedent set forth by twisting the law to use the criminal courts to pursue debt collection is a slippery slope and potentially dangerous precedent. Yes its all about political power we know the casinos have the purse strings to control elections at times especially Sheldon Adelson and others..

Again the charges don't surprise me if he really renigged on a payment deal but to me still this should be something that given the right circumstances could be fodder for the federal courts.. Would it potentially cause the Casinos to re-evaluate who and when they give markers to?? Yeah maybe and maybe they should actually as they would be on the hook for the risk of default, instead of knowing they can just go after bad markers with impunity through the criminal court system in NV. Truthfully what they should do with the case of markers especially for those gamblers who live in the US is do like any store would do with a large check.. Call and verify funds thus freezing those funds available to the marker writer and guaranteeing payment.. They can then release the freeze on the funds amount if the marker is paid back.. I had cases where I had to write a check because my Debit card couldn't go through due to a cap on my daily limit so all the store did was call to verify funds and it was processed without an issue.. If the casinos are truly considering the markers as legally written checks then this shouldn't be an issue.. If they are considering them as loans/line of credit as they claim (considering the forms they make people fill out is more like a credit application and says the same) then the FDCA comes into play and it should preclude abuse of the criminal justice system as debt collection agents to bully payments..

[TheXFactor]

Forrest, 51, has more than $6.3 million in poker tournament earnings. He was charged with two felonies: drawing and passing a check without sufficient funds with the intent to defraud and theft, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Las Vegas Justice Court.

The defendant is identified as William Edward Forrest in the complaint, which claims he had insufficient funds when he tried to pass two checks totaling $215,000 between Oct. 28, 2012, and May 17, 2013, at Wynn Las Vegas.

His attorney, Chris Rasmussen, believes Forrest does not owe the casino money. Forrest was extended a line of credit to play on a casino marker, the lawyer said.


“We believe this is a long-standing civil dispute,” Rasmussen said. “And now that he’s in a dispute with them, they’ve moved to prosecute.”

According to Clark County District Court papers, Forrest signed a confession of judgment in 2013 that stated he owed Wynn $270,000. He had agreed to make 10 monthly payments of $10,000 and one payment of $170,000.

Court records indicate he had not complied with the agreement as of July 2015, but the case was ultimately closed.

Forrest and his attorney would like this to be a civil dispute.

However passing bad checks and/or using casino markers in Nevada has always been a criminal charge.

[BeerAndPoker]

All them famous Ted Forrest stories of him having a few million in his box seem face palming right now with his situation the past few years. Rumors are he was struggling just like many of these "Full Tilt" pros after Black Friday (including Matusow) when they made these silly prop bets for large sums of money relying on their FTP residuals spending it before they even have it feeling the well would never go dry.

Ted was the ultimate degen gambler who wasn't saving for his future or buying nice things when he was winning big. It wasn't about that with Ted but more the rush of being an action junkie playing in the biggest games possible.

If Ted Forrest ever helped some people get back on their feet and any of them have a lot of money right now then it's time for them to return the favor to get him out of this mess. They aren't obligated to do so but it would be a good gesture if he helped them through a rough patch.

You have to pay a casino debt it never just goes away until you do so. A casino will do anything to collect including a time payment plan deal like this instead of seeking you be thrown in jail where it will be forever if they even get paid at all.

If you fraudulently try to roll them with bad checks they will come at you quick. He was lucky they were willing to work with him probably because he actually plays a game they know a person can beat in poker giving him a chance to win it back versus dumping the money in the pits.

I'm sure Ted Forrest intentions were that he could cover these checks quickly with some cash game scores but he continued on the run bad train.

Ted Forrest is the type of guy that I wouldn't be surprised if he had all his WSOP 2016 action despite having casino debts in various places. He also comes across as the type that unless he wins really big he's not going to be paying off his debts so quickly. If he won 300k maybe he pays the Mirage the 40k he owes but he's not doing that on a 100k score, for example.

Come forward Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson to take care of Ted Forrest one time with the 8 figures you netted off Full Tilt.

[nunbeater]

Wow.

This is huge, and indicative of how the mighty in poker can fall.

I've known for a long time that Forrest was busto, but I didn't know about these markers.

The bet with Matusow was clearly mentioned because it's Forrest's way of casting the blame onto others -- basically that he would have been able to pay if Matusow hadn't stiffed him, and therefore it's Matusow's fault.

Which is bullshit.

Even if Matusow really owes him the money, that shouldn't affect the criminality of Forrest taking bad markers in the first place.

Huge lol at making a two million dollar bet with Mike Matusow. How the fuck did he think Mikey was gonna pay if he lost? Usually I feel bad for people when they get stiffed for huge amounts but jesus fucking christ how did he not see this coming?

70k in four years oh wow lol

[Dan Druff]

Remember Breakout Gaming, that failsite which thought it was going to form its own currency and become some sort of weird hybrid between bitcoin and an online poker site?

http://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sho...reakout-Gaming

Forrest was involved with this. Though I have to imagine at this point he didn't have the $ to invest in it, and was more of an ambassador for it, in exchange for ownership.

In the thread above, Haley Hintze reported Forrest once owned 10% of UB, and made at least $10 million from that alone.

[Sidewinder]

Remember Breakout Gaming, that failsite which thought it was going to form its own currency and become some sort of weird hybrid between bitcoin and an online poker site?

http://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sho...reakout-Gaming

Forrest was involved with this. Though I have to imagine at this point he didn't have the $ to invest in it, and was more of an ambassador for it, in exchange for ownership.

In the thread above, Haley Hintze reported Forrest once owned 10% of UB, and made at least $10 million from that alone.

I remember when UB was in pre-launch (not even beta), everyone was talking about Ted and Hellmuth starting this poker site.

Clearly something happened along the way. Phil became the face of the brand and Ted barely promoted or had any involvement.

I heard when they went public, a lot of people made a lot of money. I remember once in a nlh game (right after UB went public) Russ H (playing as Russ H) told Phil in the UB chat he was awfully grumpy for someone who just made 35 million (or something like that). i heard Antonio hustled his way into some equity and got a million. Phil G and his little friend (not Rafe but the other guy) painted the UB logo on some gay bus they drove around the country in (Ultimate Driving Advernture or something).

I do not know how much of this was on paper and how much they cashed out.

How in the fuck the Tom's ended up owning the site and what happened to Ted's piece (and why he never promoted the UB brand) seems to be a mystery that was never unraveled, at least to my satisfaction.

What crazy times those were.

One of the most underrated comedic moments was when FTP decided to promote their brand by protesting the olympics (8 years ago I guess?) because poker wasn't considered a sport, but it should be and therefore eligible for the olympics.. The irony, which seemed lost on these idiots, is if poker were a sport then their scamming site most assuredly violated the Wire Act which made it illegal to be the "house" and book sports bets. Clowns.

These people, none of them too smart, had the absolute mortal nuts and they all tried to stiff the world. UB/AP did that. FTP got saved. Stars stiffed almost the entire US poker community when they shorted everyone on their FPP payouts. Partypoker stiffed affiliates when they "bought" EmpirePoker and nullified all affiliate deals.

Fuck, it seems like the only poker sites to ever **NOT** stiff were Paradise Poker and Bodog/Bovada. WTFFFFFFFFFF????$#$@!

[TheXFactor]

Poker pro faces 2 felonies over $215K in casino debt
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/sep...paign=mostRead

A professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker event championships since 1993 and millions of dollars in tournaments is fighting felony theft and bad check charges in Las Vegas, where a casino accuses him of failing to repay $215,000 in gambling debts.

William "Ted" Forrest's defense attorney, Chris Rasmussen, said Friday his client believes his longstanding dispute with the Wynn Las Vegas resort is a civil issue, not a criminal matter.

"It was a loan. He didn't commit a crime," Rasmussen said. "They sent him to the bank to open a $100 bank account. They knew he didn't have the money. And now they take years to prosecute."

Forrest, 51, appeared Thursday before a Las Vegas judge, who let him remain free without bail pending an Oct. 18 preliminary hearing to determine if the case will be tried in state court. He could face up to 14 years in prison if convicted of both charges.

Forrest is accused of failing to repay debts underwritten by IOUs known as casino markers at the Wynn casino in October 2012 and May 2013.

Nevada treats markers like fraudulent bad checks under a 1995 state law that serves as a model for other states with casinos.

The Nevada Supreme Court last year rejected one high-roller's challenge of the process that lets Nevada resorts turn to county prosecutors to collect unpaid gambling debts, and allows prosecutors to collect a 10 percent processing and prosecution fee with any settlement.

Why would the casino send him to the bank to open a $100 bank account?

I bet this 1995 law was supported by the lobbying arm of the casinos that gave these fuckers on the Nevada legislature money so they would treat writing bad checks exactly the same as not paying casino markers.

Writing bad checks is not the same as not paying back casino markers.
Writing bad checks is a real crime. Not paying markers back to the casino, is just a bad debt.

[cmoney]

Wow.

This is huge, and indicative of how the mighty in poker can fall.

I've known for a long time that Forrest was busto, but I didn't know about these markers.

The bet with Matusow was clearly mentioned because it's Forrest's way of casting the blame onto others -- basically that he would have been able to pay if Matusow hadn't stiffed him, and therefore it's Matusow's fault.

Which is bullshit.

Even if Matusow really owes him the money, that shouldn't affect the criminality of Forrest taking bad markers in the first place.

I always wondered why you never hear much about the IRS auditing these poker players. But it is probably because they never keep a positive balance for very long.

[Erin Micunt]

Is there a bounty on him? He's standing right in front of me at borgata

[Dan Druff]

Is there a bounty on him? He's standing right in front of me at borgata

I wonder if he left Nevada because of this arrest warrant.

[LarryLaffer]

Is there a bounty on him? He's standing right in front of me at borgata

I wonder if he left Nevada because of this arrest warrant.

if he did then he's an idiot and probably should hire a better lawyer. when there was a warrant out for me I was told to basically hide. not go to a fuckin casino

[hardeight]

I wonder if he left Nevada because of this arrest warrant.

if he did then he's an idiot and probably should hire a better lawyer. when there was a warrant out for me I was told to basically hide. not go to a fuckin casino

There not going extradite for passing bad checks

[hardeight]

Is there a bounty on him? He's standing right in front of me at borgata

I wonder if he left Nevada because of this arrest warrant.

he doesnt come up in the warrant database

https://secure3.lasvegasnevada.gov/ewarrantlookup/

[BCR]

Run Forrest Run

[lvpkr1009]

I wonder if he left Nevada because of this arrest warrant.

he doesnt come up in the warrant database

https://secure3.lasvegasnevada.gov/ewarrantlookup/

He's not showing up in the Vegas search because that's different than Clark County.


His warrant is cleared and a preliminary hearing is set for 10/18 in this case

https://lvjcpa.clarkcountynv.gov/Ano...aseID=12056309

Not sure if it's the same dude but a William Forrest in the database has a shit ton of illegal parking tickets

[lvpkr1009]

[ftpjesus]

Holy fuck if I'm reading that right his full bond was nearly $2MILLION.. of which he had to put up 10% but still that's fucking insane.. Child molesters don't even get bond that fucking high.. Gotta love the corrupt incestuous nature of the Casinos and being able to strong arm people by the casinos.. Years ago if you didn't pay they threatened to break your hands and shit in a back room. Now they use the courts and legal system as their 'enforcers'. I admit I'm rooting for Ted here.. This shit is unreal they knew damn well the bank accounts were proxy for the markers and I still maintain if somebody got this shit heard in Federal Courts it would be ruled a violation of FDCA and tossed out as overreach for turning what is a civil debt into a criminal matter