With its deal to purchase the besieged Full Tilt Poker now dead, Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) seems to be looking at a completely different angle for its online poker dreams: starting its own site. According to a report on Diamond Flush Poker, GBT front man Laurent Tapie (pictured) allegedly sent an e-mail to several of the prominent members of the staff of Full Tilt Poker.

The e-mail was sent following last week’s failed negotiations between GBT and the U.S. Department of Justice(DOJ). Allegedly, PokerStars, once Full Tilt’s biggest rival, is stepping into the negotiations.

In a press release distributed last week after the failure of the negotiations, GBT cryptically stated its future plans. In a statement buried in the middle, GBT noted, “We will move on to our own plan of action” after the fallout of the DOJ discussions. The e-mail cited by Diamond Flush Poker seems to point out what those actions may be.

Almost immediately following the press release, Tapie sent an e-mail to 14 employees within Full Tilt simply titled, “Message from Laurent Tapie.” In the e-mail, Tapie allegedly explained the failure of discussions with the DOJ to key Full Tilt members and observed that Pocket Kings, the company behind Full Tilt Poker, had the funds to pay employees for the month of April, but not May.

As a backup plan to the total purchase of Full Tilt, Tapie informed the Pocket Kings members that he offered Ray Bitar the idea of licensing the Full Tilt software for usage by GBT, which Bitar allegedly stated needed DOJ approval, a point Tapie did not agree with.

“I am unwilling to allow seven months of effort to go to waste, to see 200 employees lose their jobs, and to witness former FTP players around the world go unpaid,” Tapie wrote. He continued to say that, using a significant portion of the funding earmarked for Full Tilt, GBT would start its own online poker site under the company created for the FTP purchase, Game Cubed. There is a caveat, however.

“I will do this only if I can attract all of the Pocket Kings key staff to join me,” Tapie allegedly wrote, saying that current salaries and benefits would be carried over to the new company. “With your help and know-how, we will launch a new website that will be best of breed in 6-7 months.” If the members of Pocket Kings moved over, Tapie proposed that they would create a new software platform and offer former Full Tilt players the opportunity to recover their lost bankrolls under the old GBT plan.

GBT is not letting those key members of Pocket Kings have much time to consider their options. According to the e-mail, a cutoff date of May 1st was set. At this time, there has been no word as to what the major players at Pocket Kings have decided and attempts by Diamond Flush Poker to clarify Tapie’s actions have been refused.

The proposal has been the subject of a great deal of discussion on the PocketFives forums. “GBT dragged the deal on and on when they had the chance to close it in the exclusive period,” andrechiu wrote. “Probably overconfident and thought they were the only potential buyer in town. Right now, the deal is off and they came back to beg those FTP employees to start another site? Kinda pathetic.”

CANUKEH44 observed, “[If] GBT puts up a new site, it’s going to be a long, slow process to build up traffic without U.S. players unless he gets it done and up and running about the same time as legislation goes through and the U.S. market opens up again.”

It seems there are still surprises in the Full Tilt saga that haven’t been explored. PocketFives will monitor the developments as they continue to come in. Here are our latest updates on the Full Tilt Poker saga:

GBT Lawyer: “We Were Prepared to Move Forward with FTP Deal”
Poker Industry Insiders Comment on U.S. Impact of PokerStars, Full Tilt Deal
Major Media Outlets Lend Credence to Full Tilt, PokerStars Rumors
PokerStars Stays Mum on Full Tilt Acquisition Rumors
Poker Community Reacts to PokerStars Rumored Purchase of Full Tilt
Analysis of Alleged Full Tilt Buyout by PokerStars
GBT: Issues Surrounding FTP Purchase “Proved Unresolvable”
Rumor: PokerStars Buys Full Tilt, GBT Says Statement Coming Shortly