In breaking news out of the online poker world, a French Investment company is reportedly very close to a deal in negotiations with the US Justice Department about taking control of the seized Full Tilt Poker assets, and relaunching the poker room internationally. Obviously the site would no longer cater to any US player. The investors under the name Groupe Bernard Tapie have long been in negotiations to purchase Full Tilt, and until now there have only been rumors about development, with no concrete evidence of serious progress. This is the first major breakthrough in the negotiations since day one, and the likelihood we see Full Tilt Poker back online could be sooner than expected.
There are thousands of people on pins and needles awaiting the return of Full Tilt Poker, both because of the money that they’re owed and for some to a much lesser degree, miss their favorite online poker site. The fact that the US Justice department as well as the investors are close to a deal that would bring Full Tilt Poker back up and running is of paramount significance, and there are indeed several parties excited over the potential contract. First and foremost, international players are expected to get immediate access to their full account balance, while US based players will have to go through some serious red tape, explained further below in the article.
So who are these French Investors and can they really pull this off?
– more in depth info on organization/person
The dreadful events of April 15th left Full Tilt poker being shut down in the US, and also being charged with $1 Billion dollars by the US government. The $1 Billion is part of a civil suit, however, executives at Full Tilt Poker have are also facing criminal indictments. Unfortunately for Full Tilt and it’s beneficiaries, the problems seemingly snowballed after April 15th, with more big names being listed as wanted by the government. In these additional allegations Full Tilt Poker and it’s investors were accused of serious crimes as well claiming that the poker site was actually a complex ponzi scheme. Although they were facing multiple charges along the realms of illegal gambling, fraud and money laundering, Full Tilt has claimed that the US laws do not affect them in any way, or outlaw online poker at all for that matter.
While the French Investors Groupe Bernard Tapie are expected to not only handle the civil dispute with the US Government but also pay out International players, US based players likely won’t get access to their money so easily. It’s expected that all American players will have to file a dispute with the US Department of Justice first, something that players are sure to show enmity to.
Unlike another major online poker site who was kicked out of the USA (Pokerstars), Full Tilt was unable to pay out their accounts for multiple reasons, leaving many players with money owed and/or locked up completely. If this deal does finally go through, all players could potentially see their money in full once again, a scenario that was not so likely just a few short months ago.
Both representatives from the investors and Full Tilt say they are close, but still have some more hurdles to overcome. Although nothing is concrete yet, an attorney for the French Investment group, Behnam Dayanim had this to say: “”We have an oral agreement that is in the process of being reduced to writing and expect to resolve all outstanding issues,””
We’ll keep you updated on this extremely important issue.
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