Is an Apology Enough? Should We Forgive Howard Lederer?

Howard Lederer made his second significant attempt to rehabilitate himself recently when he released a statement to the poker world using one of his most forthright critics, Daniel Negreanu, as the vehicle to release it. In the statement he accepted full responsibility for what happened in the lead up to the collapse of Full Tilt and it was a far cry from the “I dunno” series of recorded Pokernews interviews in 2012 where Howard had hoped to offer explanations that would deflect some of the blame from his shoulders onto others. The interviews proved unsuccessful at the time, backfiring dramatically, even making things worse if that were possible. This time, at least, there was remorse and contrition on display from Lederer.

This article is not supportive of Howard nor is it a vilification of him. I only aim to provide you with food for thought and will therefore present both sides of the argument. Critical articles have been written many times already and will continue to be written each time Lederer raises his head above the parapet to test the waters and attempt to heal some of the wounds that remain open. My question is, can Howard Lederer ever expect to be forgiven?

Why would we accept his apology?

Howard Lederer was a significant part of a million dollar company but he was certainly not alone in making the mistakes that led to the downfall of Full Tilt. There was a catalogue of failings that culminated in the company being ran precariously when there was so much money flying around that with only a pinch of prudence it would have not only survived but flourished.

The company simply got too big for them. They were clever people who did very well to spot an opportunity, bring their idea to the market and watch it flourish. Yes, it was good timing but that is how you make money in business, you get in first. Fundamentally, the owners were gamblers who were conditioned to bet big when they spotted an opportunity for profit. They certainly did this and eventually went busto.

This in itself is not unusual for a poker player but they forgot that in the event of a collapse they would take a lot of people down with them and should have had the wherewithal to treat the company finances with more care than they perhaps treated their own in the past. But these people were gamblers. It might also explain why they had the ego to run the company in this way and then believe they understood the law better than the lawmakers. Does this excuse them at all? No, but it offers some explanation that it was not super business people that were steering this huge ship.

I remember at the time being consciously aware that for a professional poker player like Howard Lederer, someone who had spent his early adult years in New York playing chess and poker rather than obtaining a proper job, it was quite the turnaround to develop himself into a business mogul managing a massive company like Full Tilt with all the difficulties that would entail. But in reality it was success itself that kept the company going for a while but it got away from them and their egos would not allow them to admit it. Until, it seems, four years after the collapse.

Does it matter if Lederer says sorry? Will we ever accept it?

Many poker players suffered greatly when Full Tilt could not pay them their money and it is completely understandable that they would struggle or simply refuse to forgive someone who caused them this pain. I understand this and would never suggest they wrong to feel this way.

I can, however, offer a scenario where I would never be 100% happy but I could say to myself, “Alright, case closed”. Any player who is eventually not refunded by the DOJ should be reimbursed by the company owners out of their own pocket. By this I mean everyone involved and not just Lederer as there are others who took their money, the players money, ran straight home to their gated community and expensive security systems and resolved to avoid the public gaze from then on. They can afford to do this for as long as it takes.

It is certainly not right that these individuals get away whilst Lederer takes all the heat. On this basis Lederer was at least willing to reach out and say sorry, in the full knowledge that he would be heavily criticised. The rest remain hidden from view. We can feel two things at the same time so I praise him for the apology whilst not absolving him either. He certainly deserves heat, just not all of it.

Why the poker world struggles to forgive

Whether Howard Lederer likes it or not, just because other people went home and hid does not excuse him from criticism even if he shows contrition and says sorry. There is also no getting away from the fact that when the effluence slammed into the ventilator, it was not the shareholders like Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson that felt the pain, it was the players.

Yes, Lederer et al. endured public vilification which I am sure was unpleasant and I would not like to be in their shoes, but they were able to retreat to their massive homes with enough money to live on for the rest of their lives with only the inconvenience of the situation to worry about. They did little, if anything, to take responsibility for the situation for a long time or to ensure those responsible, if they believe they were not personally to blame, were held accountable or named and shamed for their role in the fiasco.

Part of being a senior decision maker, shareholder and beneficiary of the infamous “distributions” is that when things go wrong, the customers have every right to look to them as senior decision makers and ask for answers about what happened and what went wrong. When they did ask answers the public encountered a man who was known to be intelligent suddenly reveal his memory was like a sieve and this was simply not credible. It rightly roused more anger when there was already a lot of anger present.

There will always be those who hate Lederer regarding of what he does. Howard must and will accept this. Their money will now be well hidden, invested in other things and if legal action is ever taken for punitive damages lawyers will endlessly argue over culpability and it would never be straightforward. With this in mind, I once again reiterate my understanding to those who for these reasons along with many others remain angry, upset and shocked at how such a successful online poker site could have collapsed so quickly.

We trusted the company and they let us down, some of you at great personal cost. The owners came out of it tarnished, but far better off themselves than the players who made them so wealthy did. For this we remain unhappy and retain a sense of injustice. While Howard Lederer might feel a little hard done by when he has made what I am sure are genuine attempts to express regret, he must understand the reality of the situation. Whilst there may well have been good intentions at the root of the crass incompetence at the time, he can now sit in his mansion with more money than we can ever dream of whilst players hope for no more than their money back.

I think for a man who was clever enough to build a multi-million dollar company from the ground up, he will understand why sorry is only the first step of a very steep staircase indeed.