The big news story of the week was the collapse of the Groupe Bernard Tapie-Full Tilt Poker deal, which coincided with rumors that PokerStars has been in discussions to purchase their former rival. According to various outlets a deal is very close to being finalized and announced. Read about this story and more in this week's Industry Update.

Full Tilt Poker GBT Deal Falls Through; PokerStars Next in Line?: There were dramatic developements from the ongoing Full Tilt Poker sale discussions this week. On Tuesday long time suitor GBT announced that their deal to acquire Full Tilt Poker had fallen through. Luckily for those hoping for a deal, rumors began to leak earlier in the morning that PokerStars had agreed to purchase Full Tilt Poker for $750, which includes a settlement with the DOJ and repayment of all players.

Those reports turned out to be a bit premature as PokerStars would only comment that settlement discussions were in progress and confidential. Multiple outlets "confirmed" that a deal should be signed within days. Optimism for a deal is at an all time high but many will not be comforted until an official announcement is released.

DiamondFlush Poker released a great article on why the GBT deal fell through.

As a result of the GBT deal falling through, the Alderney License hearing was canceled.

Everest Poker Could Lead In Massachusetts : In last week's edition of the Weekly Industry Update, we informed you that Massachusetts was considering regulated online poker. This week Everest Poker released a press release stating that they were well positioned to be the first to offer online poker games if/when internet poker was brought to the state.

The press release noted that Everest Poker is the only European-facing poker room with an office in the state. According to CEO Tim Den, "The proposed bill rewards responsible European online poker operators and encourages local technology companies and, fortunately for us, Everest Poker is exactly both of those things. The bill presents Massachusetts with a great opportunity to be a pioneer in legalizing Internet poker in the U.S., and there’s no question that Everest Poker is better positioned than any other operator to take advantage of that opportunity."

PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic continued its spring slide, down for 10 out of the last 11 weeks and 2.7% last week alone, according to PokerScout. The iPoker Network has bucked the trend with a 2% increase since late March, while PokerStars has lost 10% of their traffic and Party Poker is down 16%.

Jottings: Twoplustwo Down, Passwords "Considered Compromised"...Only Poker Merges with Colt Poker...PKR Unveils Sneak Peek of new software...California tribes come out against bill unless amended...Las Vegas Sands CEO still against internet gambling...Spain regulated market likely delayed...Shuffle Master on a roll...States, Congress
Clash on Online Gambling

Tags: full tilt poker, massachusetts, poker traffic, pokerstars, weekly update

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‎ Poker Industry News

Update: PokerStars has addressed the rumors about the purchase of Full Tilt Poker. Says discussions are confidential and they can not comment further.

After months of negotiations, Groupe Bernard Tapie has released a statement saying that their deal to acquire Full Tilt Poker has fallen through, citing two major issues: agreement with the DOJ on a plan to repay players and U.S. legal complications surrounding the deal. But not all hope is lost for players hoping to be repaid or for a relaunched Full Tilt Poker.

The GBT news of this morning coincided with credible reports that PokerStars may have agreed to purchase Full Tilt Poker for a sum of $750 million. The amount reportedly includes settlement with the Department of Justice and a refunding of all players their full balance, believed to be over $300 million. In a surprising twist when announcing the GBT news, iGaming France confirmed via Twitter that "external sabotage" may have been in play with the GBT/DOJ negotiations. The comment suggests that developments related to PokerStars may have played a role in the GBT talks breaking apart in the final hour.

The GBT statement also addressed the PokerStars' rumors (which at this point, are just rumors, albeit quite credible). "We can only assume that PokerStars determined that it was willing to accept these legal and financial risks in order to resolve its own legal situation with DOJ.

 If a PokerStars acquisition of FTP means that all FTP players will be fully repaid immediately, we are very happy for the players." GBT went on to say that it would be regrettable for additional consolidation in an industry already dominated by a single player.

PokerStars is, of course, the largest online poker site by a fairly wide margin, equivalent in size to the next 15 largest sites combined. If the deal turns out to be true, there is little doubt PokerStars' purchase of Full Tilt Poker would further cement their position in the marketplace and would increase PokerStars' already high favorably rating with players. The move would allow them to maintain their market share and even increase it if a PokerStars-owned Full Tilt Poker platform were to coexist with PokerStars.

While it is true that many PokerStars players also play on Full Tilt Poker, many European players on networks such as Party Poker and iPoker moved there after Black Friday and then the subsequent collapse of Full Tilt. Even without U.S. traffic, Full Tilt Poker was the second largest online poker site in the world before their license was revoked by Alderney last year.

This is a developing story with additional information likely in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned to PAS for the latest info, breakdown and analysis.

Tags: full tilt poker, gbt, pokerstars

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‎ Poker Industry News , ‎ PAS News

Be sure to follow the Poker Affiliate Solutions Twitter feed for the latest up-to-the minute updates.

I think I speak for everyone in the industry when I say the lack of news over the weekend provided a welcomed break. In today’s PAS update on Black Friday we take a look at the rapid rise of Merge Gaming and the shutdown of an Arizona credit union and Steve Wynn comments from last week.

Merge Keeps Breaking Records: According to PokerScout, the top US-facing network, Merge Gaming hit 2,384 real money players at 9:55 PM ET last night, smashing another peak time record by besting the previous mark of 2,307. The site is now ranked #11 in the world, is the eighth largest international poker room and is now easily in a class with Microgaming, Entraction and Boss. The site has grown over 35% since Black Friday.

Arizona credit union shut down: It came to light last week that Vensure FCU, based in Arizona, was recently closed as a result of being one of 16 US financial institutions that had an account(s) seized by officials from the US government. At the time the credit union was closed, there was nothing in their financial health that suggested the credit union needed to be closed. Federal officials have declined to comment.

Steve Wynn comments on internet gambling: In an AP story last week, Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn provided thoughts on the terminated deal with PokerStars. When asked about the Wynn Resorts-Poker Stars deal from last month, he stated the following:

We've been approached over the past several years by most of the Internet players who wanted to combine with us and take advantage of our brand, and we finally became convinced, sort of hesitantly, about PokerStars, because there didn't seem to be any interest in the government to enforce restrictions on the game of poker. Based upon that, we made a very tentative, conditional deal that said if the United States government makes poker legal and provides that anybody who's been dealing poker recently is acceptable -- and then if that legislation passes in Washington -- and then if you can get approved by Nevada or Jersey or whoever's the licensing authority, then we'll go into business and split it with you 50-50 and we'll put our name on it.

Jottings: Great Toronto Globe story on who PokerStars founder is Isai Scheinberg….Profile on Australian Daniel Tzvetkoff, the man responsible for the DOJ indictments…iMEGA Chairman Joe Brennan says the “signs were there for two years”…Poker player responses about future plans…F-Train speaks of the “victimless crime” and the future of the case.

Feel like you’re behind on the developments?:

You can also check out our Twitter feed where we provide you with the latest up-to-the minute developments. For your convenience we have also provided an archive of previous updates:

PAS Statement on DOJ Announcement 4/15
4/16 Cliff Notes: Details of indictment, when US players were shut out, Player funds, canceling of B&M partnerships, Initial statements from PokerStars, Full Tilt and the PPA
DOJ Domain Name Agreement 4/20
4/21 Cliff Notes: DOJ agreement, A new not guilty plea, AP/UB.com new message for US players, statements from gaming commissions of Kahnawake, Isle of Man and Alderney
Incredible Black Friday Promotions: We lay out the best of the best
4/22 Cliff Notes: Online poker traffic update, Antigua weighs in, Absolute Poker statements, collection of statements since 4/15

Tags: black friday, full tilt poker, merge gaming, pokerstars, steve wynn

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‎ Poker Gaming , ‎ Poker Industry News

Be sure to follow the Poker Affiliate Solutions Twitter feed for the latest up-to-the minute updates.

You hate to say that things have “calmed” a week after Black Friday, but in a relative sense it seems to have done exactly that on Thursday. News and opinion is still flying 10 times faster than normal, but that’s down from the utter chaos we were seeing. Perhaps we have reached a point where the proverbial dust can actually start settling. The main news of the day was a statement coming from Absolute Poker, the first statement released by the former #3 US-facing room since the Black Friday developments. In the release, Absolute Poker responds primarily to the DOJ statement announcing the domain use-agreement with Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars. See the full statement at the bottom of this post.

In other news over the last 24 hours…

Poker Scout Traffic Update: In PokerScout’s latest traffic report, Merge and Cake continue to grow at lightning fast speeds, while European traffic growth is more modest, but still impressive after a week. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker seemed to have stabilized a bit, while Absolute Poker continues their slide. PokerScout has estimated the entire market has taken a 21% hit in traffic.

Existing US Rooms: Merge Gaming: up 36%, Cake Poker up 31%, Bodog: up 36%
European Rooms: Party: up 10%, iPoker up 5%, Ongame down 1%
Former US Rooms: PokerStars: Down 24%, Full Tilt Poker Down 48%, Cereus: Down 53%

Antigua Weighs in on Poker Site Shutdowns: Antigua officials have said that the United States has violated global trade law when they shut down the domain names of four major poker sites last week. Antiqua, who has previously brought about WTO complaints regarding the United States government’s position on online gambling, is considering additional action in the WTO.

Jottings: Poker sites continue to market incredible Black Friday promotions… PokerStars US players worth $5 million per day, $1,000 per player?...PPA’s D’Amato reiterates position on legality of online poker in Washington Post blog article…Existing Cereus Network players are still able to play and non-US cashouts remain limited…Iowa passes internet poker study bill measure….538’s Nate Silver gives his analysis and outlook.

Collection of statements released since Black Friday

DOJ Press Release on Indictments
Poker Stars and Full Tilt Initial Statements
PPA Initial Statement
Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Alderney Gambling Control Commission, Isle of Man Gaming Commission
DOJ Domain Use Agreement
Poker Stars and Full Tilt Statements Regarding Domain Use

The new Absolute Poker statement can be seen below:

"Absolute Poker has retained Blank Rome LLP as United States counsel to provide legal advice in relation to civil and criminal matters filed in federal court in Manhattan and made public on April 15, 2011. Absolute Poker is aware that on April 19, 2011, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York entered into separate agreements with FullTilt Poker and PokerStars. These agreements concern the use of the respective Full Tilt Poker - Learn from the Pros and PokerStars - USA domain names. The US Attorney, in a press release dated April 20, 2011, stated that the government is willing to enter the same agreement with Absolute Poker and UB.

"At this time, Absolute Poker's top priority is, and must be, the refund of balances to its and UB's US players. However, given the far-reaching consequences of the US Attorney's actions for Absolute Poker and for the entire poker community, Absolute Poker believes that the responsible course of action is to review with its attorneys the relevant court filings before taking any action.
"Absolute Poker believes that the US Attorney shares the view that refunds to US players are an immediate and pressing concern, and Absolute Poker wishes to make clear that it wants to work cooperatively with the US Attorney to safely and efficiently return its players' funds. To that end, Absolute Poker's counsel has initiated communications with the US Attorney's office and plans to continue proactively advancing those discussions.

"Further information and timely updates will be provided to Absolute Poker/UB's players as we move forward."

Tags: absolute poker, black friday, carbon poker, full tilt, pokerstars, traffic

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‎ Poker Gaming , ‎ Poker Industry News

Be sure to follow the Poker Affiliate Solutions Twitter feed for the latest up-to-the minute updates.

Almost a week after Black Friday, news and fallout from the day continues to reverberate. On Wednesday, to the surprise of many industry observers, the Department of Justice released a statement that they have reached an agreement with Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker to have their domain names restored. In today’s edition of our Black Friday report, we take a look at this major development as well as other news surrounding the events on everyone’s mind…

DOJ Domain Name Agreement: The DOJ-PokerStars/Full Tilt Poker agreement allows the restoration of both dot com domain names with an assurance from PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker that they no longer service US players. The agreement also expressly states that both sites can continue to offer services to non-US players in regulated markets. Cereus has not yet made the same agreement, but the statement says the agreement is open to the site if it chooses.

Read our summation on the DOJ statement. After the DOJ release, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars both released statements expressing their desire to pay players. Full Tilt Poker’s statement was a bit more cautious as they mentioned the “practical and legal impediments” to make quick payments.

A New Not Guilty Plea: A second individual who processed payments for online poker sites pleaded not guilty in New York on Tuesday. Chad Elie, was released on $250,000 bail, and is the second payment processor to plead not guilty this week.

Absolute Poker/UB.com update: When signing on to UB.com and Absolute Poker, US players are greeted with a message that states that the site has “suspended real money activity for online players based in the U.S. due to legal developments.” Many US players are still able to log in and play at the time of this writing, however.

Jottings: ESPN is removing poker ads and some advertising on their poker broadcasts. …Conservative journalist John Stossel is saying to leave the gamblers alone… 2+2 poster names the counsel for PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.... PokerStars FAQ to USA players… Spencer Bachus stands firm on online gambling position… Great take from BWOP about what may have triggered the online poker investigation.

New Statements from Licensors of the indicted poker sites

Kahnawake Gaming Commission (License for Absolute Poker and UB.com)

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (“KGC”) is reviewing the indictments issued on April 15, 2011 by the Southern District of New York against three online poker companies, one of which (Absolute Poker) holds its primary gaming license in Kahnawake. The KGC's principal concern is that players are not adversely affected by the actions taken by US authorities. The KGC is presently engaged in discussions with its licensee concerning the status of player accounts. Upon completion of its review, the KGC will determine what steps may be required and will issue a further statement at that time.

Isle of Man Gaming Commission (holds license for Poker Stars)

Following developments on Friday 15th April, the Commission is aware of documentation issued by authorities in the USA which makes allegations against PokerStars and some of its personnel. While we are discussing the matter on an ongoing basis with PokerStars and watching developments, we can confirm that PokerStars’ licensing status in the Isle of Man remains unchanged.
We are aware that PokerStars have suspended the availability of cash-play games in the USA and we are currently endeavoring to ensure that any player who wishes to withdraw money from their account can do so.

Alderney Gambling Control Commission Statement (holds license for Full Tilt Poker)

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (“AGCC”) is aware of proceedings brought against Full Tilt Poker and individuals concerned with its operations by the authorities in New York State. AGCC will review the documentation affecting its licensee and to facilitate this AGCC will undertake its own investigation into these allegations; no further general commentary will be provided pending progress in these matters.
AGCC notes that its licensee, trading as Full Tilt Poker, denies all of the allegations. Upon the grant of its license Full Tilt Poker identified that it had obtained specific legal advice relating to its proposed activities. AGCC further notes the current public statements made by Full Tilt Poker to its customers and its recent decision to suspend “real money” play in the USA. AGCC is concerned that appropriation of Full Tilt Poker’s dotcom site is hampering and potentially adversely affecting its lawful operation elsewhere in the world.

Tags: absolute poker, alderney, black friday, doj, espn, full tilt poker, indictments, isle of man, kahnawake, pokerstars, ub.com

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