PocketFives.com can independently confirm a story published by Subject Poker on Monday that Full Tilt Poker entered into exclusive bargaining rights with a group of European investors to sell a majority stake in the company. However, a source close to the online poker room told PocketFives.com that a tentative sale, which was first made public by the Los Angeles Times two weeks ago, must be agreed upon by July 21st. If no sale is forged by that date, Full Tilt can likely seek alternative investment sources.

According to the Times, Full Tilt Poker owes players as much as $150 million, money that the site purportedly does not have on-hand. A Full Tilt Poker attorney told PocketFives.com last week that a deal should be finalized within two weeks: “The game plan is that within the next two weeks, this deal will close, and the number one feature of it is for players to get paid back. The investor is aware of that and everyone knows that’s the critical material term. Without that term, the deal won’t happen.” Read more.

Subject Poker and other sources have reminded us that mounting legal troubles could stand in the way of a transaction being agreed to by July 21st: “Due diligence presumably poses a significant hurdle in this case because Full Tilt is an opaque entity with a complex corporate structure, an indicted executive, a civil complaint against it from the United States Department of Justice, and public troubles with regulators in Alderney, France, and the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory.”

Complicating the matter even further is a class action lawsuitfiled by Nick Hammer, Robin Hougdahl, Steve Segal, and Todd tbt4653Terry (pictured) citing the RICO Act. A wealth of Full Tilt Poker pros are named in the legal action, which seeks triple damages and bluntly asserts, “RICO Defendants ran the Enterprise and directed the Enterprise to engage in a broad scheme to defraud and lie to U.S. financial institutions, the Federal Reserve, and Plaintiffs about the nature of their business.”

According to Wicked Chops, Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey (pictured) is responsible for bringing the two parties to the bargaining table, although whether the exclusive negotiating rights will end prior to a deal being struck remains to be seen. Initially, Full Tilt scoffed at the contract proposed by European investors, reportedly because they were seeking an 80% stake. Ivey responded by filing a lawsuit against the poker room’s parent company.

In the meantime, all anxious online poker players can do is wait.

One poster on TwoPlusTwo explained the significant hoops that a new investor in Full Tilt must conquer: “If anyone is going to invest ample capital into a fragile company like FTP, one must be completely confident that it’s got all the bases covered. Further, these investors realize that if they don’t pay back U.S. customers, then they’re going to lose all their player confidence around the world. By paying back U.S. customers, they will finally exhibit somewhat of a cash flow to sustain business activities.”

After July 21st, it’s presumed that Full Tilt Poker officials can once again negotiate with any party.

U.S. players have been unable to access their funds since Ray Bitar (pictured, image courtesy Wicked Chops) and Nelson Burtnick were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on April 15th, although neither has surrendered to authorities. In fact, a source close to PocketFives.com told us that Bitar was seen last week at Full Tilt Poker’s headquarters.

At the end of June, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended Full Tilt Poker’s license, although it did not publicly announce the reasons for its actions. To address those, a hearing is scheduled for July 26th in London. In the meantime, the site’s virtual felts remain vacant and PartyPokerhas become the second largest room in the world in terms of real money ring game traffic, according to PokerScout.com. Full Tilt poker has not yet responded.

Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest Full Tilt Poker updates. Also, check out a thread in the Poker Sites forum for more details.