Did Attempted Sabotage Play Role in PokerStars-Full Tilt Poker ‘Acquisition” Leak

Following PokerStars addressing Tuesday rumors of a Full Tilt Poker acquisition and DOJ deal as something that essentially could not be discussed further, one has to wonder the motives behind leaking such sensitive information to the general public.  The events on Tuesday seem to suggest that PokerStars was perhaps an unwelcome suitor by at least some parties, certainly not the countless numbers of people owed money by Full Tilt Poker. 

The news of a “deal to acquire Full Tilt Poker” came on the heels of Groupe Bernard Tapie announcing it had ended talks to purchase the beleaguered Full Tilt Poker.

The statement issued by Poker Stars Tuesday afternoon read:

We've had a lot of enquiries and there's lots of speculation on the forums, so I wanted to address the PokerStars chatter. As you know, PokerStars is in settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice. As such settlement discussions are always confidential, we are unable to comment on rumors. As soon as we have information to share publicly we will do so.

For those of us here at Gambling911.com we were left wondering how such news could slip out, potentially placing in peril any such deal between Stars and the DOJ.

When Gambling911.com first broke the story of how Sportingbet had entered into a Non-Prosecution deal with the US Justice Department, we were told days in advance by attorneys Barry and Stuart Slotnick that we would get first dibs on the story but any leaks beforehand could prove detrimental.  As such, specific details of the pending deal were withheld.  Reporter Jenny Woo was required to sign a “nondisclosure” agreement and had to appear physically in their New York City law office to conduct her interview.  A taped conversation via the phone could have destroyed any deal (Sportingbet ended up paying a quarter of the fine imposed upon rival PartyGaming, which also entered into a Non-Prosecution agreement with the US Justice Department). 

During approximately nine months of foreplay between Full Tilt Poker and France-based Groupe Bernard Tapie, the amount of leaked news has proved almost laughable if not for the fact there are so many people owed money, it’s a little hard to laugh under such circumstances. One couldn’t help but consider the possibility that other agendas were at play.  While much of the poker sector from players to media outlets to operators have witnessed sharp declines in revenue since that dark day of April 15, 2012 (commonly referred to as “Black Friday”), a handful of attorneys managed to fill their pockets.

And then there is the strange coincidence of another French operator who just happened to first tweet details of the apparent deal early Tuesday. 

Full Tilt Poker has owed customers millions of dollars for more than a year now following an indictment on the aforementioned date.  Most of the associated bank accounts were froze by the US Government as opposed to just vanishing into thin air a la Bernie Madoff.  From Day One, the US Justice Department has attempted to reassure customers a portion of monies owed would be refunded.   The only thing unclear was how much of the funds belonging to players could actually be accounted for by US authorities. 

News that PokerStars had entered into a deal whereby they would purchase FTP increases the likelihood that affected customers will be paid in full.  After all, Stars, like Full Tilt Poker, also had funds froze by US Feds.  Unlike FTP, however, PokerStars returned player funds to all customers within weeks of the bank seizures.

Another thing Gambling911.com has been preaching for years through our experience dealing directly with operators, including the folks from both Stars and Full Tilt Poker – PokerStars has always proven to be a professionally run enterprise. 

Full Tilt Poker, that’s an entirely different story, but most Gambling911 readers have come to understand the difference between apples and oranges over the past year.

If we were betting men and women, which we are, our hunch is that Stars attorneys have spent the better part of Tuesday trying to explain how information pertaining to the PokerStars/Full Tilt Poker/DOJ “deal” leaked out. 

The good news is that the DOJ probably sees that “Full Tilt Poker/Groupe Bernard Tapie” is written all over this latest leak and that PokerStars should be exonerated.  Let’s hope so.

Without a doubt there is definitely a danger in leaking this sort of critical information out prematurely. 

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher