Full Tilt Poker Claims to Have Found a Buyer

October 3 - Only one day after an announcement by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission that it had revoked Full Tilt Poker's gambling license, the online poker room revealed in a dramatic statement on Friday that it has found a buyer.

The company confirmed that the French tycoon, Bernard Tapie, who once owned Adidas and is a former minister in the French government, was the prospective Full Tilt Poker buyer after he agreed to purchase the company and its assets.

Tapie is naturally aware of the problems facing the company in the United States, and the fact that its license was revoked by the online gambling jurisdiction of Alderney.  As such, the sale of Full Tilt Poker is subject to the condition that the group settles its legal problems favourably with the US Department of Justice. Full Tilt's executives are facing charges ranging from money laundering to running a Ponzi scheme and defrauding their players of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Online poker players around the world were cautiously optimistic that there was a small chance to see some of their money returned to them - cash which they have been trying to access since April 2011.

Full Tilt Poker's statement said that the agreement with Tapie included a plan to repay players their money owed.

Obstacles in Way of Full Tilt Poker Sale

There are, however, many obstacles in the way of a potential sale of Full Tilt Poker to Bernard Tapie.

First of all, they will have to get through multiple layers of bureaucracy and legal issues, starting with the return of funds to online poker players and continuing with negotiations with the US Department of Justice.

There is nothing to say that the DOJ would be even willing to enter into negotiations with the online poker room and, even if it did, Full Tilt Poker may be slapped with a fine so large that the French group may balk at the sum and pull out of the deal.

It should be remembered that when Party Poker's Anurag Dikshit reached a deal with the DOJ for his part in a 2008 suit against the group, his fine totaled $300 million.

However, Tapie said in an interview that he "wouldn't have undertaken such a project if he didn't believe in its potential" and that he believed it was possible to "once again make the site one of the leaders in the industry."

Another obstacle may be Tapie himself. The businessman has served time in jail for fraud and match fixing, and this could be a problem when Full Tilt makes another attempt to regain its lost license from the Alderney Gambling Commission, which insists on a sterling reputations and track record for all licensees and their owners.