PokerStars Buys Full Tilt Poker

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For the last six months the gambling industry in the United States and world wide was certain that the Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) would complete the buy out of Full Tilt Poker. It was taking time, but then such complicated deals usually have plenty of niggles to be sorted out.

Two days ago a Twitter message from Alex Dreyfus, CEO of Chili Gaming, set the poker news forums on fire. The message stated that PokerStars, the biggest competitor of Full Tilt Poker, had finalized the deal with the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) to acquire the beleaguered online poker room. PokerStars has paid $750 million to the DoJ and closed the deal. It was reported that $330 million would go to repay Full Tilt account holders and the balance would be retained by the DoJ in lieu of complete settlement of outstanding charges against PokerStars.

Initially there was a report of a Washington-based attorney for GBT going on record that there was a last minute glitch over the period over which the Full Tilt Poker players were to be paid. Apparently, the DoJ moved the goal post and wanted the payment to be completed within 90 days of the transaction. GBT could not agree to this. Today a full statement from GBT has confirmed this. And GBT is annoyed that after seven months of intensive work, the DoJ backtracked at the 11th hour.

There was another issue that could not be resolved and this was the legality of the forfeiture by the DoJ under non-US laws. According to GBT this issue was vital because the key assets of Full Tilt Pokers are beyond the borders of the United States. The extent of liabilities that might arise in those jurisdictions remained uncertain. GBT is aware that the employees and the players of Full Tilt Poker were looking forward to the fruition of this deal. But in the final analysis, it is paying a lot of money and needs legally certain situations to work with.

The GBT statement also reacted to the reported finalization of the deal with PokerStars. PokerStars has accepted the legal and financial risks inherent in the DoJ conditions, probably to resolve its outstanding issues were the assessment made by GBT. The statement went on to say that if as a result all Full Tilt Poker players are paid immediately then it will be great, because that has been the overriding consideration for everyone. However, it will also mean that online poker will get further monopolized and this is not good for the long term.

Independent, but unconfirmed, reports have stated that PokerStars will not merge Full Tilt Poker with its operations but run it separately under the Full Tilt banner. Perhaps, American players would be more comfortable in dealing with PokerStars than with GBT. However, they are now waiting for an official statement from PokerStars.

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