by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Feb 5, 2012 | Updated on Feb 5, 2012
Poker players around the world with money stuck in Full Tilt Poker accounts received some good news this week, as a key figure in the investment group looking to purchase the poker site says the deal is nearly finalized.That announcement came from Laurent Tapie, who serves as the managing director for Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT). According to an interview with iGaming France, Tapie said that the purchase of Full Tilt Poker could be completed by the end of February.Details of such a settlement are unclear, although several figures and aspects of what has been proposed have been leaked to news outlets. It appears as though the purchase price for Full Tilt would be set at or around $80 million. However, after the Black Friday indictments, this money wouldn’t be going to the FTP ownership group; instead, the United States Department of Justice would collect the money as part of their case against the former site owners.Despite the optimism shown, there have been a few new issues that have cropped up in recent days that could threaten such an agreement. Earlier in the week, it was reported that several prominent professional players owed large sums of money to the site, totaling as much as $18 million. Another report by Subject: Poker found that Chris Ferguson might threaten to interfere with GBT’s purchase of Full Tilt in an attempt to retain some stake in the company, as he had given the site $14.3 million for operating expenses after Black Friday.But it seems that in the grand scheme of things, these issues are considered minor, as Tapie expects the deal to go forward barring any “last minute surprises.” Under the terms of the deal, it appears that GBT would take responsibility for most Full Tilt Poker accounts worldwide, including guaranteeing the account balances held by players. GBT would not be responsible for accounts held by players in the United States; however, it’s likely that the sale of Full Tilt would be used to help reimburse US online poker players who had accounts on the site.
