In March 2011 Full Tilt Poker (FTP) was the largest online poker room. It went through an astounding chain of events over the last 18 months. This is something every online player should be familiar with whether he plays at online casinos or online poker.

On April 15 2011 the United States Department of Justice(DoJ) obtained an indictment against three online poker rooms, FTP, PokerStars and Absolute Poker. The charge was financial irregularities connected with online gambling payments under the UIGEA. It was alleged that these online poker rooms accepted payments from players under the guise of selling them merchandise in order to bypass the prohibition on online gambling payments processing. The bank accounts of the three online poker rooms were frozen.April 15 has been given the name Black Friday in the online gambling industry. FTP and Absolute Poker suspended all operations, while PokerStars continued to operate outside the United States.

At that point the online poker rooms held in custody players’ deposits amounting to millions of dollars. The DoJwas willing to release funds from the frozen bank accounts for repayment to American players under stipulated conditions. PokerStars availed of this facility and repaid its American players in full. However, it came to light that FTP did not have sufficient funds in its accounts to cover the players’ deposits. The DoJ accused FTP of running a Ponzi scheme and the online poker room went into deeper trouble.

FTP was licensed by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC). One of the license conditions was that FTP did not use the players’ deposits for working capital required to run the online gambling operations. AGCC has accepted the compliance statements from FTP at face value without any monitoring of their own. Under pressure to act, AGCC revoked the license of FTP.

During this period there were several reports in the press of FTP negotiating with unnamed buyers for the sale of its assets. One of the leading poker professionals Phil Ivey, who was also a brand ambassador for the online poker room, was also involved in some of the negotiations. But nothing materialized, probably because the assets were under the control of the DoJ and ultimately they would come into the picture. Meanwhile groups of FTP players began filing criminal suits adding to the woes of the online poker room.

The first real ray of light was seen in early 2012. A French operator by name of Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) made considerable headway in reaching an agreement. GBT apparently arrived at a settlement with FTP and began negotiations with the DoJ. All terms and conditions were agreed upon except for one. GBT wanted to make the repayment to American players over a period of time. The DoJ insisted that the entire amount due to the American players by deposited with them up front. The negotiations broke down on this clause and it was back to square one for FTP.

Meanwhile, PokerStars was operating successfully outside the United States, notably in Europe. It entered negotiations directly with the DoJ. It did not take long for PokerStars to reach an agreement. PokerStars had earlier paid the required penalties to the DoJ and cleared its account with them. PokerStars deposited the dues to be paid to the FTP American players. The DoJ is now engaged in clearing those accounts. PokerStars also purchased the assets of FTP. A new license to offer online gambling services was obtained from Isle of Man. An announcement has been made that FTP will go live in the first week of November 2012.