Ex FTP Players Get More Anxious About Refunds
Since the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has so far made no announcement regarding either its oral agreement with the French investment company Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) or the refunding of ex Full Tilt Poker players, the US online poker gaming community is getting more anxious than ever.
Behnam Dayanim, the legal representative of GBT, however, is as optimistic as he was when he first announced the agreement between GBT and DoJ ten days back. He says: “We are waiting to hear back from the DoJ and still hoping to finalize an agreement. It takes time. We have an oral understanding with the DoJ that we’re trying to reduce to writing.”
Ex Full Tilt Poker players, however, are skeptical. The GBT has to first get the DoJ’s nod and then wait for the approval of FTP’s shareholder’s before the acquisition deal can get finalized. According to an email sent by Ray Bitar, the CEO of Full Tilt Poker, to the company’s board of directors, the DoJ would refund US players while GBT would refund players from the rest of the world (ROW).
Regarding this arrangement, Dayanim says: “There are two big differences between US and ROW players. One difference is that DoJ views the activity of Full Tilt in offering wagers to US players as being unlawful. It doesn’t take that view with ROW players. From Tapie’s perspective, there’s a difference in that the ROW players will continue to be players with a re-launched site. Contrastingly, Tapie will have no further interaction with US players.”
Players also want to know when Full Tilt will become functional again. Dayanim says that the DoJ has to first give its approval, after which Full Tilt Poker and GBT have to sign an acquisition deal. The online poker room will get functional as soon as this happens, he says.
