Full Tilt Poker has released a new statement to PokerNews relating to the status of their exclusive negotiations with European investors. In the release, they state that while the exclusive negotiations have ended that the company "plans to continue discussions" while they also explore opportunities with additional potential investors. Full Tilt Poker also apologized for their lack of communication over the last month and a half. Reasons given for the silence include confidentiality agreements along with "unexpected and complex legal and financial issues arising from Black Friday and its aftermath." The company strives to improve communication with customers going forward and that their main goal remains to secure capital to repay all of their global customers. In an EGR article posted on Monday, they site wrote that any agreement -- European or through other potential investors -- would likely have to be done with a management overhaul. According to the article, a "number" of potential investors are bidding for Full Tilt Poker with one investor actually going as far to enter in discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice. It is widely assumed that a settlement would be needed for a final agreement to be reached. So will Full Tilt Poker find a buyer? In one week, it will be two months since Full Tilt Poker first went offline. Players and affiliates are increasingly frustrated with the delay and lack of progress. On everyone's mind is the September 15th deadline, which the Alderney Gaming Control Commission gave Full Tilt Poker to find an investor. Does the deadline come and go with no new buyer, putting players and affiliates on an endless loop of more delay, or will we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel?
This week, Full Tilt Poker paid their outstanding licensing fees from the AGCC and also received a secondary license renewal from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. These stories and more are a part of this week’s PAS Weekly Industry Update. Full Tilt Pays Licensing Fees, Kahnawake Renews Secondary License The Alderney Gambling Control Commission, the holder of the Full Tilt Poker gaming license, has issued a statement confirming that Full Tilt is now current with overdue license fees. In a statement on the AGCC website, the AGCC noted that the payment is "in players' best interest since it allows commercial negotiations to take place that might result in a successful refinancing deal." The AGCC has also imposed conditions that requires Full Tilt Poker to "arrange for the ring-fencing of identified players' funds under their control." In other news, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission announced the extension of the secondary Full Tilt Poker license by another two years. It is unclear what this license renewal actually means going forward. Caesars Pressing Aggressively for Legislation: It's no secret that Caesars Entertainment, among the largest publicly traded gambling companies in the US, is a supportor of regulation in the United States. In an interview with MoneyShow.com, Caesars CEO Gary Loveman stated the company is continuing "pressing very aggressively for the US Congress to legalize online poker, and I think we have a very good shot." Latest Traffic Update from PokerScout: In the latest traffic report from PokerScout, they reported that traffic was down 6.5% in the previous week as the summer seasonal slowdown continued. Notable traffic declines included a 15% drop from Boss Media due to the Bad Beat Jackpot going off at a record prize the previous week. In more positive news, the newly opened Italian market for cash games continues to do well. More new CPA deals Online poker affiliates are jumping on CPA deals for their commission guarantee. Over the last few weeks PAS has added over a half-dozen new CPA deals. This week, Betfred Poker, an iPoker poker room, was the latest CPA added to the PAS network. Stay tuned for even more coming in the next couple of weeks! Jottings: Greece egaming legislation changes...Google Chrome is now #2 in the UK...Massachusetts State Senator Rush wants online gambling program for state...new report looks to the future of mobile gambling...Bwin.Party to merge French operations...Sportingbet, bwin.party stocks move down with the rest of the market...poker ruled a game of skill by French court
More delay in the Full Tilt Poker/Alderney License Hearing and an announcement from Bodog that the "Bodog" brand name will be leaving the US market by the end of 2011. These stories and more are a part of this week’s PAS Weekly Industry Update. Bodog Brand to Leave US: Upon first glance, it appeared that the US online poker market had suffered yet another blow with headlines that read "Bodog Leaves U.S." In all actuality, just the brand that was leaving the US market -- at the end of 2011. Besides moving players to a poker room with a new name, players and affiliates should notice little difference. Bodog pointed out the new brand, operated by Morris Mohawk Gaming, has actually been operating the brand for the last five years. The announcement came on the heels of Bodog UK being granted a license by the UK Gaming Commission, which Bodog understandably does not to be negatively affected by the operating in less regulated markets such as the U.S. Full Tilt Updates The highly anticipated hearing with the Alderney Gaming Control Commission regarding the suspension of Full Tilt Poker's license was further delayed due to a request from Full Tilt Poker citing "sensitive negotiations" with potential European investors. After a private hearing, the commission decided to grant the delay to Full Tilt until a time no later than September 15th so that discussions can continue with the potential buyers. The commission agreed with Full Tilt's argument that allowing the hearing to go on as planned could greatly endanger the delicate negotiations and thus further harm player's chances for being paid. Latest Traffic Update from PokerScout: Last Monday, PokerScout reported that online poker traffic was up 8% over the previous week. Notable increases from PAS partner sites include Boss Media and Bodog, while Cake Poker saw its position drop a bit after a large increase in previous weeks. Year-over-year top gainers include Merge Gaming (87%), iPoker (29%) and Party Poker (25%). PAS Keeps Adding New Offers PAS is continuing to bring new offers to online poker publishers. Over the last week we have added new offers for popular European sites including Chili Poker and William Hill Poker. Jottings: Boss Network Bad Beat Jackpot finally goes off at €1,265,583.34... Sportingbet could leave Turkey in Ladbrokes takeover...Details of Quicktender Investigation released...FairPlayUSA launches online gambling advocacy group ...Problem gambling is hugely exaggerated, according to Reason.com.
The buildup to the Full Tilt Poker hearing held today by the Alderney Gaming Control Commission in London turned out to be anti-climactic. After a full day of proceedings and deliberations, AGCC has given the poker room until September 15th to secure a potential deal with European investors or the AGCC or the hearing would go on as planned. PAS’s Account of the Hearing PokerAffiliateSolutions’ own Alex Gardiner was fortunate to be among 100 on hand to witness the highly anticipated hearing. The crowd that showed up at the Victoria Park Hotel in London contained a mix of poker press, affiliates and poker players – all eager to hear details of the case and see a sign of resolution in an ordeal – ultimately the repayment of funds to US players -- that has now been ongoing for over three months. The hearing got underway at 10:25 AM London time when Martin Heslop, a Full Tilt representative, made a request to adjourn the meeting and hold the hearing at a later date “in camera” (in private). He argued that a public hearing could be detrimental to the interests of justice. He apparently was making a case that any information that comes out in the hearing could derail the sensitive negotiations with European investors and thus ultimately harm the chances of Full Tilt Poker reopening and players being paid. AGCC representative Jason Hill voiced concerns that the interest of players are paramount in the proceedings and that if a decision were to be made to delay that it would be under constant review. Hill also revealed that Full Tilt Poker has failed to pay £250,000 in license fees, which Heslop says haven’t been paid because there was little need if the license is revoked permanently. Heslop said license fees would be repaid within 7 days at a time the license is reinstated. An hour into the meeting, the commission announced that they had granted Full Tilt Poker the right to privately discuss their reasons for requesting a delay. This caused some negative reaction from those in attendance including poker pro Harry Demetriou, who stormed out of the room shouting “what about the interests of players.” After a few hours of deliberations, the commission came back with a decision to adjourn the meeting and give Full Tilt Poker until September 15th to find an investor. Some Final Thoughts Since we’re basically where we were on Monday, nothing that came out of today’s hearing is likely to calm nerves of players and affiliates. Everyone involved has been extremely frustrated by the lack of progress in being paid and to a lesser extent, the reopening of Full Tilt (which is important because every day Full Tilt is not open seemingly makes the situation worse). One positive to take away from the hearing today is that the AGCC seems to think that the mysterious European investors have a very real chance of purchasing at least part of the company. They believe that going on with the full proceedings as planned could put the sale in jeopardy. Full Tilt Poker is running out of options and the best chance this ends in a positive resolution is to ensure the potential acquisition by European investors is given every chance possible to go through. Yes, we have to wait yet again, but in the end we all could be better off.
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