by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Nov 27, 2011 | Updated on Nov 27, 2011
At first glance many poker players were overjoyed to hear the Full Tilt had finally been bought by French investment group, Groupe Bernard Tapie. In their original article CNN had mistakenly reported that the deal has been finalized, but that was not true. They have since revised their article to show where the situation stands currently.The deal that is currently laid out on the table states that the French investors are poised to purchase all of Full Tilts remaining assets for an estimated $80 million. The roadblock, as it stands currently, is the fact that these $80 million worth of assets have yet to be handed over by Full Tilt to the US Department of Justice. Once these assets are voluntarily handed over, then we may begin to see some more progress.CNN’s earlier article had assumed that the remaining assets of Full Tilt had been agreed to be handed over, but they hadn’t.Here is how the deal will pan out if it goes according to the tentative plan that already exists. This plan states that once Groupe Bernard Tapie purchases Full Tilt’s assets for $80 million, the US DOJ will begin repaying players who lost money on Black Friday. And the French investment firm will assume all responsibilities of Full Tilt and handle business as it pertains to all non-US customers. As far as Full Tilt forfeiting their assets, it must be voted on by their board of directors. Just like the sale of assets in the company, we are assuming that the forfeiture of the assets will be passed on a 2/3 majority vote.The excitement that was unleashed by the poker community at the break of the original story was well founded because not only are players going to receive the money they lost last April, but former non-US players will be able to return to play on Full Tilt. It has been about 8 months since Black Friday and finally it seems like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We will be sure to keep you informed as more news on this topic breaks, especially because we expect that good news may be just around the corner…this time for real.
