According to Wendeen Eolis of Poker Player Newspaper, "The ups and downs and glitches in negotiations between PokerStars and the United States Department of Justice with respect to Full Tilt Poker have come to an end. Without giving away the identity of a consistently impeccable resource, it is now safe to say announcements for public dissemination are in the works. At this point, I am ready to go out on a limb: FTP customers will see their monies well in time for Christmas shopping."PocketFives has not been able to verify the story independently and no mainstream media outlet like Forbes or the Wall Street Journal is discussing it in any way. Instead, the entire hubbub has come from within the poker industry. Read the thread.
Take Doyle Brunson, for example, who once served as the face of his own online poker site. Brunson Tweeted on Saturday afternoon, "Full Tilt players are going to be paid in full! Wonder who has been working on that for the past year? Oh wait… #congratsHowardwhatshisname." He added, "I think this is for sure. I wouldn't bet my life we get paid, but I would bet a lot of money."
Rumors have floated around that a resolution could come to a head as soon as Monday. In the meantime, posters on Two Plus Two have largely flamed Brunson (pictured) for his Tweet, including one member who said, "Saying the monkeys who stole the money in the first place are working hard to get it back is not only meaningless but stupid. Same as people trying to give Bitar credit for trying to help."Others countered by saying that any party who aids in the resolution of the Full Tilt Poker fiasco should be given credit: "I am pissed to be in this situation in the first place, but if anything Bitar or Howard has done has possibly gotten my $ back, I'm thankful for their work, although still incredibly upset they put me in this scenario in the first place."
Also substantiating the ongoing rumor of an impending Full Tilt Poker payback announcement is Gambling911, which published on Friday, "Gambling911 has confirmed that a deal for PokerStars to acquire Full Tilt Poker has been given approval by the U.S. Attorney’s in the Southern District of New York. An announcement was forthcoming perhaps as early as next week."
What a payback will entail remains to be seen. Full Tilt Poker executive Ray Bitar turned himself into U.S. authorities in New York earlier this month. Bitar (pictured) allegedly told Full Tilt employees via e-mail, "Hopefully our deal with PokerStars will very soon make our goal [of repaying all players] a reality. My return to the U.S. is part of this process."Meanwhile, Pokerfuse reiterated to readers on Saturday, "To the best of our knowledge, based on sources close to the issue, the reports yesterday are false, there is no set date for an announcement, and there is still the possibility for the deal to fall through." However, the same news site conceded that "significant legal process was made recently."
Eolis previously reported that a deal by PokerStars to buy the assets of Full Tilt Poker was to be announced during the World Series of Poker, but no such directive took place. PocketFives had also heard from a source outside of Eolis and company that an announcement during the WSOP was expected, but never came to fruition.
We'll keep you posted on the still emerging story right here on PocketFives.
