Alderney's Actions Against Full Tilt Poker Could Benefit U.S. Players
It’s been a lively two months for members of the online poker community. The latest upheaval came on Wednesday, when the Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended the license belonging to Full Tilt Pokerin the wake of Black Friday. With play on Full Tilt, the world’s second largest online poker site, now ground to a halt, PocketFives.com sought comment from the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a lobbying group for players in the United States.
PPA Vice President of Player Relations Rich TheEngineer Muny told PocketFives.com on Wednesday that Alderney’s actions could actually benefit U.S. players.
“I think it’s great news for American players because this is the type of action that will cause Full Tilt to take the steps it needs to in order to repay American players,” Muny told us. “When you look at them being noncompliant in following Alderney’s gaming procedures, it’s clear that a mitigating step will be for them to repay U.S. players. The more pressure on Full Tilt, the better.”
Word around the rumor mill was that Full Tilt Poker was seeking to raise capital to pay out U.S. players in the form of $200 million for 50% of the company. On Wednesday, PokerStars revealed that since Black Friday, it has sent over $120 million to American users.
If Full Tilt Poker were facing a capital shortfall, Muny claims it’ll now be forced to resolve it: “If they don’t have the money, they would need to make some decisions on what to borrow or sell, or how to raise funds, or how to address the players. They have a number of steps they can take at this point. Since they haven’t taken these steps, I think it’s natural that various regulators would step in and take action.”
Why would Alderney act now, 11 weeks following the Black Friday indictments of individuals associated with Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker? “Everyone is willing to give a company some slack in the first few weeks,” Muny speculated. “After a while, it’s just extended too long, and that’s what regulating boards are for. That’s what we’re looking for in the U.S. If companies weren’t responding, we’d expect U.S. regulators to take the same action.”
He summarized, “I would think this is something that would spur Full Tilt to go to their regulators with a plan to pay U.S. players.”
At the time of writing, Full Tilt Poker had not yet issued public comment on the matter. Muny hypothesized what the final statement could say: “The response FTP will come out with has to address U.S. players. I would expect them to come out and announce however they plan to address the current situation here in the U.S.”
If you’ve never heard of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission before today, the PPA’s Vice President of Player Relations broke down its purpose: “Alderney is a gaming control commission located in the Channel Islands. They offer an enforcement mechanism where they provide a regulatory body. They have the power to suspend licenses and enforce the provisions of the regulations. They can assess fines and do all sorts of enforcement acts to ensure the compliance of its sites.”
Besides Full Tilt, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission’s licensees include SkyBet, Boyle Poker, Golden Palace, Eurobet, 24hPoker, Paddy Power, and Sportingbet.
Despite many non-U.S. players on PocketFives.com being up in arms over the temporary shuttering of Full Tilt Poker, Muny argued that all of its customers should be pleased that the site will soon adhere to its license: “Players in Europe should be happy too. They have a day off to see Full Tilt fall in line with their gaming regulators. They can come back tomorrow and know that their money is safe.”
We’ll keep you posted on the latest right here on PocketFives.com. In the meantime, read PokerStars’ response to Full Tilt’s license being suspended. Plus, check out the latest Full Tilt cashout rumors.
