Groupe Bernard Tapie Acquires Full Tilt Poker

Leading French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie has reportedly reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to acquire controversial online poker room, Full Tilt Poker, for an estimated $80 million.

Earlier this year, Full Tilt Poker was just another successful online poker room with players from all over the world. But that all changed on Friday, April 15, when the DOJ charged the site's owners (as well as those of PokerStars and Absolute Poker) with fraud, illegal gambling practices and money laundering, in a crackdown infamously known as 'Black Friday.'

On that day, the DOJ seized Full Tilt Poker's domain as well as 75 bank accounts associated with the poker room and its payment processors. Full Tilt later banned American players from its site and froze existing players' accounts, who to date, have still not been reimbursed to the tune of millions of dollars.

Tapie Forged a Deal with the DOJ Last Week

Enter Groupe Bernard Tapie, which in September approached the DOJ with the view of acquiring Full Tilt Poker and reopening it by as soon as January next year to players located outside of the United States. And after forging the deal with the DOJ last week, it looks as if Groupe Bernard Tapie's plans for the poker room will indeed come to fruition.

Said Full Tilt Poker lawyer Jeff Ifrah on the Groupe Bernard Tapie DOJ deal, 'It is a very creative solution. The question now is, with the agreement behind us, how is this going to work? Are the players going to get everything back, what's the process for filing claims and so on. These are things that the players are concerned about now.'

According to the terms of the deal with the DOJ, Groupe Bernard Tapie will acquire Full Tilt's assets for the sum of $80 million, and its managing director, Laurent Tapie, has confirmed that subject to the deal being approved by the company's shareholders, he intends to retain the 'identity' of the online poker room and begin the process of repaying players.