When it comes to making a deal, FTP might be making one very soon in the online poker community. According to numerous reports made the past week, the pending deal that has been in motion for some time between Groupe Bernard Tapie and the Full Tilt Poker website is expected to be completed, signed and ready to go within the next couple of weeks.
Gaming Intelligence was one of the first to report that the Groupe Bernard Tapie lawyer named Behnam Dayanim is “reasonably confident” that this deal and French Investment Firm’s agreement to purchase the Full Tilt Poker’s website and company name with be completed within the next couple of weeks. This is a complex sale at its best, and this has leaf to Full Tilt Poker dragging on and has been for years since the agreement was made between the Group Bernard Tapie and the Department of Justice last November when both sides came together in an agreement that allows GBT to purchase the forfeited, high traffic FTP assets from the DOJ for $80 million.
As part of the agreement between the two companies, GBT is going to repay all of the non-U.S. players that are owed an estimated $150 million, and the DOJ would be the one’s responsible for repaying the U.S. players. This is estimated to be another $150 million out of pocket. This is a total of $300 million that has to be paid out of pocket once the deal goes through.The reports are that this deal is supposed to be closed by next week, and Full Tilt Poker could be operating once again as early as the beginning of next month.
Laurent Tapie is already in the process of collecting the licenses needed to bring the poker room back to life for players. Tapie was the one that indicated earlier in the year that GBT was in the middle of the negotiations with Alderney Gambling Control Commission, otherwise known as AGCC to resurrect FTP’s operating license and get them back up and running. A lot of the players miss it already. The negotiations are ongoing, and no other comments have been made by any of the companies’ parties, but we are crossing our fingers and hoping soon this agreement will be signed and done.
All we have to do as poker players now is to wait and see how long it will take this agreement to go into effect. We are anxious and impatient. We all want to go back to Full Tilt Poker’s website to start earning again. However long it takes, they will continue to have faithful players that will always use and love their database for poker playing.
Wildgras Co. Ltd.
