According to an article that appeared on Subject Poker on Friday, Full Tilt Poker, which is currently idle after the Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended its gaming license two months ago, may have $128 million in uncollected funds. This number is up from the previously reported total of $60 million, which the U.S. Department of Justice published in a press release in May. Subject Poker added that the “total debt to U.S. players is roughly $150 million.”

Subject Poker explained where the nine-figure shortfall came from: “The new figure was first mentioned publicly by lawyers representing Full Tilt in Todd Terry et al‘s class action lawsuit representing U.S. players against many of the poker site’s companies and owners, and we have confirmed it with numerous reliable sources.”

According to Subject Poker and other industry sources, Full Tilt Poker’s conventional accounting method was as follows: “Players who deposited by electronic funds transfer received the deposited funds instantly in their Full Tilt Poker accounts. Typically, these funds would be debited from the players’ bank accounts a few business days after their deposit.”

The problem, however, was the funds were not taken from players’ bank accounts immediately, leading to what essentially amounted to a short-term loan. The poker news outlet added, “Full Tilt Poker was actually accepting deposits and crediting player accounts without payment processors in place to collect the money.” What resulted was nearly a $130 million cash shortfall.

According to Full Tilt’s lawyers and Subject Poker, the dormant online poker room can immediately recover $9 million of its $128 million debt. The rest would purportedly still need to be drawn down from U.S. bank accounts, which would breach Full Tilt Poker’s agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice saying that it can’t accept American deposits.

Sale discussions between Full Tilt Poker and a group of European investors purportedly brought to the table by site pro Phil Ivey (pictured) have come to a halt, according to a press release issued by the room earlier this week.

On Monday, Full Tilt announced that it had “concluded the exclusivity period of negotiations with their current potential investor. While Pocket Kings plans to continue discussions with its current investor, the company has now begun negotiations with additional potential investors to conclude the sale/partnership of the Full Tilt Poker brand and its assets.” Read more.

In the meantime, a hearing about Full Tilt Poker that took place on July 26th in London in front of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission was cut short after the site’s legal team asked for the meeting to be adjourned in order to continue sale discussions.

An Alderney press statement asserted, “The Commissioners decided to adjourn the hearing, as they felt it was in the best interests of FTP’s customers. A key consideration in their decision was to allow FTP licensees ‘to further pursue advanced commercial negotiations which could lead to a more beneficial outcome for player interests.'” A hearing will likely take place in London on or before September 15th, although a date has not yet been announced.

In the Subject Poker article’s comments, one player had seemingly questioned whether Full Tilt Poker would refund U.S. poker players in the near future. He wrote, “Unbelievably stupid malpractice. It’s been very quiet lately on the pending buyout front, so is it a case of no news is good news, or is FTP just quietly fading away?”

PocketFives.com will continue to update you on the latest Full Tilt Poker headlines.