Black Friday and the aftermath: Online Poker Implications

[boldie]

all them bowls that are in limbo could probably feed china for a day.

That's what I'm thinking. Hoping everyone gets their bowl back but I doubt it'll be soon.

[TightEnd]

FTP Agreed to Exclusive Negotiations
July 10, 2011 - 7:43 PM EDT
By Noah Stephens-Davidowitz

Full Tilt Poker has entered into an exclusive bargaining agreement with a prospective European investor.

The agreement, reached on June 30th, requires Full Tilt to stop negotiations with other prospective investors for at least three weeks while the primary suitor conducts due diligence investigations and negotiates with the poker site’s executives. Due diligence presumably poses a significant hurdle in this case because Full Tilt is an opaque entity with a complex corporate structure, an indicted executive, a civil complaint against it from the United States Department of Justice’s, and public troubles with regulators in Alderney, France, and the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. Subject: Poker has confirmed from numerous sources that the US DOJ, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, and the French regulatory authority ARJEL are all actively communicating with both Full Tilt and the prospective investor.

A reliable source who spoke on the condition of strict anonymity said that Full Tilt’s primary request is enough money to repay players and to cover a potential settlement of the United States Department of Justice’s civil complaint against the poker site.1 Since Full Tilt agreed to this exclusive agreement in spite of the presence of other suitors, the poker site’s executives presumably believe that the primary investor is likely to meet these terms.

This exclusivity agreement is the same agreement reported by the Los Angeles Times, which was widely misinterpreted as a finished agreement to sell some of the company.2 Subject: Poker wishes to stress that no such deal has been finalized, and to our knowledge, Full Tilt has not yet raised any capital from any investors. The actual deal simply involves exclusive negotiations, though it may lead to a sale in the future.

The prospective investor was introduced to Full Tilt executives in mid May by Phil Ivey, a Team Full Tilt member and a partial owner of the poker site. Shortly afterwards, on May 31st, Ivey released a public statement complaining about the fact that players had not been paid and filed a civil complaint against Tiltware, one of the companies behind Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt responded quickly with a remarkably angry public reply claiming that Mr. Ivey’s lawsuit was hurting negotiations with prospective investors. Ivey withdrew his lawsuit on June 30th, the same day that the exclusivity agreement was signed. Subject: Poker has heard conflicting reports about how Ivey’s public feud with the poker site has influenced negotiations.

Full Tilt Poker has been unable to repay its US players since the US Department of Justice indicted its principals and filed suit against some of the many companies behind the poker site on April 15th. It has recently had troubles repaying non-US players as well. On June 29th, Full Tilt’s main regulator, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, suspended the site’s licenses. Subject: Poker has reported throughout on the company’s largely secret attempts to raise capital in order to repay players, and we will continue to investigate and report on what we learn.
Footnotes

   1. Our source said that the Department of Justice has already outlined the terms of a potential civil settlement with Full Tilt Poker. However, Subject: Poker is unable to verify this claim, and this is the first that we’ve heard of such advanced negotiations with the DOJ. ↩
   2. Subject: Poker regrets publishing an article announcing the LA Times report and thus contributing to the misunderstanding. ↩

[TightEnd]

In response to a comment

Quote from: DungBeetle on Today at 10:24:55 AM
Is Dempsey the only man still wearing Full Tilt patches?   You'd be more welcome playing in a 3 ft squared swastika in the current climate?

tikay responded:


No, but he's in a minority.

I've been delving into this, & have asked 8 or 10 Red Pros or FT sponsored (as were?....) players their views. So many different, & individual specific replies. The only commonality is that none of them seem to know anything.

Might just blog the feedback today, though, you'll understand, I'm sure, it'll have to quote "anon" sources, as most of them did not want their views "on record", the convos were officially deemed "off record", on the understanding only that I would not quote names.

I'm fascinated by the terribly awkward spot they are in. It's not quite as simple as outsiders might think. And no, I 100% do NOT have a flag to fly for, or against, Tilt. I just find the whole situation bizarre, & I'm incredulous that it got to this, &, really, somehow, the great & good of poker seem to have just shrugged their shoulders & moved on.

My real angle is that many of these players are friends of mine from down the years. "yesterday" they were fine chaps, today some of them are being villified. But they are the same people now, as then, & they knew nothing of what was going off.

The other jaw-dropper is the "Crisis Management PR" - or total lack of it. In Tilt's spot, any line other than "OK guys, here's where we are, heres the situation" is sub-optimal. Communication is all in such a situation.

It's just the most astonishing story EVER in Online poker, but it seems to drop off the front page amazingly quickly. A couple of months ago, they were the world's 2nd biggest Room.

I got some serious abuse somewhere because I interviewed Flushy, wearing a Tilt badge, but the guy completely misread the whole piece, & jumped to all manner of incorrect assumptions, so I eventually gave up trying to reason with him. Fact is, Flushy is the same guy now as he was before all this went off, & he knows nothing of what happened, or why.

I think the thing is  scandal & a disgrace, absolutely, but having taken the time & trouble to listen to Flushy's take on it, I see no reason why I should suddenly hold a different view on him. I think exactly the same of him now as I did before, (whatever that was...) & I see no need to apologise for that.

Will Flushy come on here & explain his position? I very much doubt that! He wants to preserve his position for if & when Tilt re-open, & I'm sure most in his position would do the same, or at least understand his line.

I do know one thing - Flushy, as to his personal financial ethics, is squeaky clean, & I don't think a soul, anywhere, could suggest otherwise.

All very difficult.

[outragous76]

BIG NEWS!

THERE IS HOPE FOR FULL TILT


On the 12 April 2011 I played my last MTT on full tilt

Today, more than 3 months later





























I RECIEVED MY I KNOCKED OUT A FULL TILT PRO T-SHIRT

they are back - im telling you!

[smashedagain]

BIG NEWS!

THERE IS HOPE FOR FULL TILT


On the 12 April 2011 I played my last MTT on full tilt

Today, more than 3 months later





























I RECIEVED MY I KNOCKED OUT A FULL TILT PRO T-SHIRT

they are back - im telling you!

lol. Guy you crack me up.

[boldie]

BIG NEWS!

THERE IS HOPE FOR FULL TILT


On the 12 April 2011 I played my last MTT on full tilt

Today, more than 3 months later





























I RECIEVED MY I KNOCKED OUT A FULL TILT PRO T-SHIRT

they are back - im telling you!

Does it say "And as punishment they tookz all my moniez!" on the back?

[outragous76]

BIG NEWS!

THERE IS HOPE FOR FULL TILT


On the 12 April 2011 I played my last MTT on full tilt

Today, more than 3 months later


I RECIEVED MY I KNOCKED OUT A FULL TILT PRO T-SHIRT

they are back - im telling you!

Does it say "And as punishment they tookz all my moniez!" on the back?

haha - probs!

I havent opened it from its wrapper - i figure it could be worth a small fortune as the last ever FT tshirt issued! - i wonder if sharkscope will add any monies generated to my curve, or maybe as its more of a "live cash" if i could get it added to my HMDB

[Skippy]

BIG NEWS!

THERE IS HOPE FOR FULL TILT


On the 12 April 2011 I played my last MTT on full tilt

Today, more than 3 months later


I RECIEVED MY I KNOCKED OUT A FULL TILT PRO T-SHIRT

they are back - im telling you!

Does it say "And as punishment they tookz all my moniez!" on the back?

haha - probs!

I havent opened it from its wrapper - i figure it could be worth a small fortune as the last ever FT tshirt issued! - i wonder if sharkscope will add any monies generated to my curve, or maybe as its more of a "live cash" if i could get it added to my HMDB

2 arrived for me two days ago.

[boldie]

anyone heard anything about Tilt?

Last statemet I read was from 08-07 and then it was said "We expect a take-over to be completed in 2 weeks time". (http://www.poker.org/news/full-tilt-attorney-confirms-talks-of-takeover-deal-13598/) guessing that that'll run over a bit?

[tikay]

anyone heard anything about Tilt?

Last statemet I read was from 08-07 and then it was said "We expect a take-over to be completed in 2 weeks time". (http://www.poker.org/news/full-tilt-attorney-confirms-talks-of-takeover-deal-13598/) guessing that that'll run over a bit?

One Irish-based Online Room is offering a market on whether FT will resume trading on Tuesday, after the AGCC hearing.

[DaveShoelace]

anyone heard anything about Tilt?

Last statemet I read was from 08-07 and then it was said "We expect a take-over to be completed in 2 weeks time". (http://www.poker.org/news/full-tilt-attorney-confirms-talks-of-takeover-deal-13598/) guessing that that'll run over a bit?

Phil Gordon has got out of it http://www.quadjacks.com/2011/07/21/phil-gordon-full-team-pro-obtains-dismissal-from-lawsuit-quadjacks-poker-news/

Ivey spotted at an airport, rumoured to be going to the hearing.

Sir David of Shoelace will be at the hearing so I hear

And this just in http://www.egrmagazine.com/news/1680932/ftp-bidder-looks-to-buy-uk-and-irish-onlyassets.thtml

[alfiesdad]

Just hearing that FTP buyers are only interested in UK and Irish assets only....could they really do a deal for just the UK arm while the DOJ is looking into the company as a whole?

[ACE2M]

massively rubbish of me but i've not paid attention to any of this, i think i lost a few dollars but not much.

What kind of numbers are we talking about? millions and millions? any players declared how much they are down etc? any links to breakdowns etc would be great.

[outragous76]

massively rubbish of me but i've not paid attention to any of this, i think i lost a few dollars but not much.

What kind of numbers are we talking about? millions and millions? any players declared how much they are down etc? any links to breakdowns etc would be great.

in a news of the world style headline

minimum shortfall $60m - personally i think you could trebble it

unknown what should be on deposit

[wallysnooper]

Meeting with AGCC today, you can keep uptodate with the meeting through twitter.

Source from poker-king

The hearing, which may stretch into Wednesday, is open to the public. A number of organizations, including EGR Magazine (@egamingreview on Twitter) and The Poker Farm (@thepokerfarm) plan on releasing updates on the hearing throughout the day.

The hearing is set to begin at 10 am local time on Tuesday morning.

Hopefully we will get a real update on the situation.