Last week, it was confirmed that the Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) came to an agreement to buy the Fulltilt name, assets and debts from the U.S. Department of Justice for a sum of $80 million. The agreement stated that the GBT would be responsible for paying back all international player balances, while American players would still need to go through the DOJ to receive their funds.
The latest news on this deal is that the GBT has now struck an agreement with the DOJ that would explicitly permit the new Full Tilt Poker to re-enter the US market if and when legislation is passed for regulated online poker. This is big news, as until now, no online poker site had been given the go ahead by the DOJ to re-enter the US market. Of the deal, Full Tilt Poker attorney Jeff Ifrah says:
“The deal that was reached between the investors and the Department of Justice is going to pave the way for players to be reimbursed and it’s hopefully going to pave the way for a new FTP to be re-launched. Those two together, is good for poker, good for the industry and good for the players.”
While the approval from the DOJ certainly won’t hurt the chances of the new Full Tilt Poker re-launch, there are still many hurdles before online poker is legalized and regulated in the United States. There are multiple bills currently being debated and seeking more support among players and both private and public organizations. There are even a number of states who are seeking ways to offer intra-state online poker to their own residents, as the UIGEA only makes it illegal for online gaming across state and country borders.
On the international online poker stage, Full Tilt Poker will likely push soon to re-gain their gaming license from the Alderney Gaming Commission. Their license was revoked in September when it became evident to the commission that FTP could no longer remain solvent without the $331 million in funds that the DOJ had seized earlier in June of 2011.