The Fate of Full Tilt Poker

As the 1 year anniversary of Black Friday is upon us, one can’t help but wonder about what the fate of the once popular online poker site Full Tilt Poker will be. The company had its domain seized by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for trying to circumvent US laws and blatantly disregarding the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The founders and owners were indicted on numerous charges including bank fraud, illegal gambling and money laundering.

In September of 2011, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) revoked Full Tilt Poker’s license making it nearly impossible for the poker company to pay back the millions of dollars owed to US players. Prosecutors stated that the company had only about $60 million in the account but owed players nearly $390 million.

Now, as many countries are changing their online gambling laws and the US is also considering doing so, the question of the future of Full Tilt Poker comes into play. The French investment company Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) is still finalizing its deal to buy Full Tilt Poker from the DoJ, but many are speculating that the deal will go through. This is due to the fact that the Full Tilt Poker subsidiary Pocket Kings Ltd is currently advertising for immediate hiring in the departments of customer service and IT.

Additionally, Orinic Limited, another subsidiary of Full Tilt Poker has just applied to the AGCC for a Category 2 license which would allow the company to be an online gambling operator again. There has been some speculation that Full Tilt Poker could be back in the online gambling game within a matter of weeks but nothing has been confirmed yet.