Anonymous sources have reported to eGaming Review and Gaming Intelligence that the deal between Groupe Bernard Tapie and the United States Department of Justice is looming in the near future, and should be completed very soon (by the end of next week– around the 23rd). Most poker players are unconvinced, however, as this is not by any means they’ve heard the “no, no, we’ll have things fixed soon” or “resolution is just around the corner!” spiels before. Most people aren’t getting their hopes up and are instead regarding the news with a dose of skepticism common among the once-bitten and twice-shy.
Benham Dayanim, the lawyer for Groupe Bernard Tapie, gave March 16th as the extended deadline for repayment of outstanding debts by professional poker players with outstanding debts to the site– players like Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, David Benyamine, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, and Barry Greenstein. GBT blamed these players for the delays in both finalization of a deal and repayment of the players whose money was tied up in Full Tilt for the better part of the last year. The anonymous sources saying that a deal is imminent are implying that enough of these players must have coughed up their owed funds since GBT called them out for their responsibility.
The majority of the “evidence” that the deal is going down soon seems to lie in discussions that Groupe Bernard Tapie has been having with several prominent groups in an effort to obtain licenses and reopen the site. According to the anonymous sources, GBT has been in talks with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (the AGCC, which was responsible for dismantling FTP last summer), the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and the licensing board in Spain, where legislative changes require more paperwork than they did a year ago. Tapie is allegedly also putting a team together for the reopening of the website and has an investor who will repay all of the former Full Tilt players. Last week, we were speculating about whether GBT really wanted to reopen the online poker site, or if they just wanted to seize the software, as the Full Tilt name has been so damaged that it likely can’t bounce back, and now they’re allegedly getting all their ducks in a row to reopen the site? Some news sources are speculating that the FTP site, remastered by GBT with new graphics and a new look, could be open sometime in April (although not to American players). It seems a big leap from last week, when there were no new developments at all.
The timing of these rumors, released by “anonymous sources” to news outlets that require hefty subscription fees in order to get the full story, if particularly curious. Within a week of news breaking that another company might be interested in acquiring Full Tilt, and as more and more ire is directed at the flailing company and the players and other people behind it, not only does Ray Bitar come out of nowhere to make a statement– his first in the 11 months since Black Friday, but now more rumors are being leaked? It all just seems a little well-timed to be coincidence.
We’ll see by the end of next week whether there’s actually something going on over at Full Tilt, or if these conveniently-leaked rumours are nothing more than another smokescreen. Keep coming back to Max Poker Bonus for the latest developments in the Full Tilt Poker deal and other poker news as it develops!