While we continue to wait for progress reports on the Full Tilt Poker sale discussions, a report was issued this week supporting the Alderney Gambling Control Commission's handling of the Full Tilt Poker saga after Black Friday. Meanwhile, another European regulator, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, released a statement pertaining to Everleaf's compliance with that agency's regulations. Be sure to check out these stories and more in this week's Industry Update. Full Tilt Poker Update: Despite another week passing, there is still nothing nothing substantive to report on the Full Tilt Poker/GBT sale front. Wicked Chops again reported that the deal still appeared to be on track stating that GBT investors met in Ireland last week to negotiate the latest terms. In the meantime, we continue to wait and wonder. In related news, an independent report on Alderney's handling of Full Tilt Poker stated that the agency's actions were "appropriate, timely and fair" and their handling of the situation was "an example of regulation working as it should." A AGCC Director praised the findings and said "Our focus now is to assist other authorities to recover as much of the players' funds as possible." LGA Releases New Statement on Everleaf: The Lotteries and Gaming Authority, the licensor of Everleaf Gaming, has released a brief statement that reads in full: "The Lotteries and Gaming Authority would like to notify the public at large that Everleaf Gaming Limited has closely collaborated with the LGA and is addressing the identified non-compliances, where the LGA is closely following Everleaf's operation in order to ensure continued adherence to the Laws of Malta." It has now been almost two months since U.S. players were abruptly shut out of Everleaf Gaming sites. There is no new word on how U.S. players will be paid but there have been reports of players being cashed out of foreign bank accounts. Non-US players are being cashed out in approximately one month. Campos and Elie Trial Averted: Two weeks before a landmark online poker trial was to take place involving SunFirst VP John Campos and payment processor Chad Elie, both defendants have plead guilty. Elie plead guilty on a single conspiracy charge and could face 6-12 months in prison while Campos got off with a misdemeanor charge. The plea deals, which were seen as quite favorable to Elie and Campos, likely mean the prosecution will now focus on the CEOs of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. A sentencing hearing will take place on June 27th where the Judge presiding in the case will determine whether to accept the plea. PokerScout Traffic Update: For the seventh consecutive week, online poker traffic dropped, down approximately 1.8% from the previous week. According to PokerScout, four major networks declined by more than 5% including Party Poker, iPoker, Ongame and Microgaming. Warm weather and the increase interest in PokerStar's Zoom Poker are being blamed for the decline. Jottings: Bwin.Party Revenue falls during 2011...888poker earnings double...Golden Palace and Win2day receive Belgium licensees...Nevada licenses likely in June...Bad Beat Jackpot tables removed from Party Poker...Delaware to introduce online poker legislation...CA Senator says internet gambling is already happening.
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?
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.
Proposed changes to the United Kingdom's gambling laws, an update from Alderney on the ongoing Full Tilt Poker license suspension and a successful World Series of Poker -- it's all part of this week's PAS Weekly Industry Update. UK Plans to Announce Reforms: Under the new proposals, the UK would make significant changes to the country's gambling laws in the wake of issues at Full Tilt Poker. According to the plan, the changes would add additional protections to British consumers. Any operator offering games would be required to receive a license from the UK Gambling Commission. Member of Parliament John Penrose said in the official release that "overseas operators get an unfair advantage over UK-based companies, and British consumers who gamble online may have little or no protection depending on where the operator they deal with happens to be based." Currently, any gaming operator serving British customers must be licensed or regulated in an European Economic Area state or through one of the states approved by the DCMS and placed on the UK "White List." Full Tilt Poker Update: The initial reports from the LA Times that Full Tilt Poker had been sold to European investors now seem to be premature, with Subject Poker reporting that Full Tilt Poker had simply agreed to "Exclusive Negotiations." According to the report, the United States DOJ, the Alderney Gaming Control Commission and the ARJEL were all involved in the discussions. Meanwhile, the AGCC released a statement July 12th that a public hearing would be held in London on July 26th at 10 AM local time. WSOP Seen as Success: After Black Friday, many assumed that attendance at the World Series of Poker would be way down due to a combination of U.S. players not able to qualify online and bankrolls being tied up at Full Tilt Poker and to a lesser extent, Absolute Poker and UB.com. That fear turned out to be unfounded as traffic during the entire series has been much better than expected and up from last year. The 6,865 players that entered the Main Event this week was the third highest in the history of the event. PAS shares thoughts on what this years attendance figures may tell us about online poker. The Main Event will conclude on July 19th. Rakefree Promos-- Good or Bad?: As we reported in the PAS forum, there are couple notable "rake-free" promotions running this month by PAS partners. Party Poker is waiving the buy-in fees on ALL multi-table tournaments, while iPoker sites are slashing rake on cash games up to 50%. In a recent blog post, Pokeraddict outlined how he believes the rake reduced promotions are great for players and affiliates. The Vice President of Bodog weighs in with some thoughts on why the promotions may not be a good idea. Jottings: One of the longest supporters of online poker, Ron Paul has decided not to seek another term in Congress, will focus on presidential election instead...Reid/Kyl letter seeking clarification on DOJ online poker stance...California Senate Committee hearing on online poker, Correa says "Authorize Online Poker This year"...More co-sponsors for Barton Bill...Segregated player pools for Spain, international players welcome to join
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