Full Tilt Poker Rescue Deal Fell Trough

It was no secret that most poker players were waiting for a deal between the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Full Tilt Poker and French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) to go through but, unfortunately, the deal has stalled and no final agreement has been reached.

The negotiations have gone on for quite some time now with GBT and Poker Stars trying to buy Full Tilt Poker. The plan was that Poker Stars would acquire Full Tilt Poker and all of its current financial dues which included paying back some $330 million to Full Tilt account holders that lost their money when the company was shut down. The entire deal was to the tune of $750 million of which the DoJ would keep the balance.

The rumor mills are flying with reasons about why the deal was not made but Poker Stars has yet to comment. One glitch that was reported was that the DoJ changed the timeline on when Full Tilt Poker players were to be paid back at the 11th hour and another was that there was a legal issue with the DoJ forfeiting Poker Stars under non-US law. This second reason is quite problematic for Poker Stars as the most valuable assets of Full Tilt Poker are abroad.

Although players and the poker world in general were looking forward to the deal, there was a discussion about the merger causing somewhat of a monopoly. However, Poker Stars stated that it would run Full Tilt Poker separately as they believed that Americans would not respond well to a French company.