Ray Bitar has spoken publicly for the first time since the closure of Full Tilt Poker. The Full Tilt boss sends his apologies to the online poker community and claims to be working hard to find a solution for the company.

Ray Bitar has been one of the most talked-about personalities in international poker for his role in the ongoing Full Tilt scandal.

Like Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and the remaining Full Tilt entity, Bitar has keep almost entirely quiet about the company's troubles, but he now steps forward to issue an apology in a new interview with Pokerstrategy.com.

The interview represents Bitar's first official statements since Full Tilt Poker closed its doors for business on June 29th, 2011, and Bitar is the first member of the Full Tilt Poker management to step forward.

The actual statements, however, reveal little new about the actual situation or the inner workings of the company.

Instead, Bitar simply explains why he has been keeping silent with legal issues and ongoing investor negotiations, saying that these issues have forced him to silence against his will.

He does however claim that he has been working on resolving the situation.

"My love for the sport and the poker community has made it very difficult to keep silent, particularly in light of the many angry sentiments directed at FTP, myself and others, in newspapers and blogs. Given the lack of information that has been made public, I can certainly understand these sentiments," Bitar says.

"My primary focus has been and continues to be working towards getting us to where we want to be – the repayment of the players and the survival of the company. I have been fully dedicated to this cause and am doing everything possible for a beneficial outcome," he adds.

Bitar further claims that he is working "day and night" to ensure the survival of Full Tilt Poker and the payout of outstanding debts to players.

He claims that this job is taking "most of his time", and that he is sincerely sorry for the delays the process has experienced already.

"I would like to offer my sincere apology to all who have been affected by these events and to clarify that my silence was not an attempt to 'hide,' or 'ignore,' the situation," he says.

"It was done out of necessity to ensure the focus remained on the continued efforts to reach the best outcome for the players. My entire focus is on obtaining a successful resolution for the players. I hope that before long I can provide some good news for all of the players involved," he adds.

Read the full interview here.

Source: Poker.org