The group will take over Full Tilt’s debts
It is rumored that a fund for US players will be set up
The online poker industry was shaken this spring, when the United States government started one of the vastest campaigns against online poker sites that were performing illegal activities. During the April seizures, Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and the Ultimate Bet network were shut down for a couple of days, and they were unavailable for players from all over the world during those days, and for players within the United States ever since then. In the meantime, other online poker giants that were not active in the US, like Party Poker, were unharmed.
While PokerStars more than fully recovered, without so much as a scar to show what they’ve been through, Ultimate Bet was the first to give up on online poker, and Full Tilt Poker was dragged through an enormous scandal that culminated in its license being suspended back in June. In September, its license was revoked altogether, and not long after that the company announced that they have been taken over by Bernard Tapie, a company specialized in saving dying corporations.
Recently, it seems as though the Bernard Tapie Group, Full Tilt’s new owners, have come to an agreement with the United States Department of Justice. According to the deal, Bernard Tapie will take over any obligations that Full Tilt has to its players from all over the globe.
This was announced earlier today, when Ray Bitar sent an e-mail to Tiltware shareholders. In the email, he announced that, as far as he knows, both US and non-US players will receive a refund, with the payment responsibility falling on Bernard Tapie’s shoulders. Exactly how the players will get their money is unclear at this point in time.
With this deal with the American authorities out of the way, Bernard Tapie can focus on acquiring all of the companies that make up Full Tilt Poker. Furthermore, if GBT (Groupe Bernard Tapie) and their shareholders will come to an agreement, the company will set up a fund from where the US players will be refunded. However, this is just a speculation for the moment, and no time period has been proposed for this.
This announcement comes one week after a well known poker magazine started to interview players that had money in Full Tilt Poker on the method that they would prefer to be refunded. The French magazine is rumored to have connections with Bernard Tapie, and it seems like the company was just finding a way to quickly solve the problems.
