PokerStars Acquires FTP and Repays Ex FTP Players
PokerStars has recently signed a settlement deal with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), according to the terms of which the largest online poker room in the world will acquire Full Tilt Poker in exchange for $731 million. PokerStars will pay a sum of $547 million in exchange for the Full Tilt Poker brand and assets, and the DoJ will use these funds to refund Full Tilt Poker’s US poker players. PokerStars will use the rest of the $731 million to repay Full Tilt Poker’s players in the rest of the world.
On April 15 last year, the US federal government cracked down on three major online poker rooms—Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker. While PokerStars quickly recovered and repaid its US players, Full Tilt Poker was unable to do so. To make matters worse, Full Tilt Poker lost its licenses to operate in European countries as a result of which players in the rest of the world were unable to access their Full Tilt Poker accounts. When the DoJ cracked down on it, Full Tilt Poker was the world’s second largest online poker room, having a huge community of as many as 334 million players all over the world. Their accounts were frozen, and Full Tilt Poker was unable to pay them back.
By the end of July 2012, PokerStars signed a settlement deal with the DoJ and purchased the brand, as a result of which Full Tilt Poker players all over the world will finally be repaid. Moreover, PokerStars plans to re-launch Full Tilt Poker as a separate brand in the European market and has already applied for licenses.
Although the details are still not clear, Full Tilt Poker players in the rest of the world are expected to be repaid by Nov 6. PokerStars will pay a total of $184 million to Full Tilt Poker’s international players. Since the DoJ has taken upon itself the task of refunding US players, the wait will be longer for US players. According to the DoJ, Full Tilt Poker owes around $150 million to its US players.
In spite of the federal crackdown, poker is far from dead in the US. In fact, it is more alive than ever, with players searching for US friendly online poker rooms and professional players migrating to poker friendly countries where they can play poker in a legalized and regulated environment.
Immediately after the crackdown, US poker players were too scared to deposit real money in other US friendly online poker rooms, but now, they are slowly migrating to US friendly poker rooms. Besides, there are plenty of poker portals that guide US players to the best and most reputable online poker rooms and the best bonuses.
In the meanwhile, the US government, both at the federal and state levels, has realized the revenue-generating potential of online poker. The US government is now aware that the only way to stop US dollars from flowing out of the country is to properly legalize, regulate, and tax its online poker industry.
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