Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
i know it sounds crazy but the latest rumor trending is - Pokerstars has bought/is buying Fulltilt for around 750 million all this started from a thread in 2p2, still no confirmation from a reliable source though
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 6786
Looks like this is really true.
A surprise move, as there should be a lot of overlap of the player bases of those two rooms. We will see if they will be allowed to continue operating in the US market in the near future.
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
Absolutely no surprise here, at least for me. I don't want to play smart or something but since pokerstars is the biggest poker platform and has the money to buy FTP which was/could be it's biggest rival why not to do it??
I mean pepsi would buy coca cola if had the chance and vice versa
Frankly i like the idea of having the ftp software, promotions and rakeback with a premium support as on pokerstars.
Joined: May '09
Location: Spain
Age: 49 (M)
Posts: 1331
Posted by Macubaas: Absolutely no surprise here, at least for me. I don't want to play smart or something but since pokerstars is the biggest poker platform and has the money to buy FTP which was/could be it's biggest rival why not to do it??
I mean pepsi would buy coca cola if had the chance and vice versa
Frankly i like the idea of having the ftp software, promotions and rakeback with a premium support as on pokerstars.
Yes, i agree (now i REALLY see my bank in FTP).
But we must remember how many promotions or bonuses Pokerstars launch since FTP close.
Joined: Mar '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 6714
Just seen this over at EGR, makes sense to me, be your own main competitor, all goes in one pot. I think they have had this on the cards for a while, and let GBT do all the ground work for them, big business is savage business.
Joined: Oct '09
Location: Spain
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 2851
It just got confirmed. It's being posted all over the Net right now.
This sucks big-time. This means PS will have a complete monopoly on the market which means maybe no more need for great bonuses, rakeback, etc etc... They will basically own the market and do what they want. No more "healthy" competition between PS and FT.
GBT has released a statement along similar lines. An excerpt:
"We only regret that such a deal would signal further consolidation of a poker market already dominated by a single player – an outcome that may raise antitrust concerns and that, in the long run, is probably not good for players and for the whole online poker industry.”
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
Posted by IslandJack: It just got confirmed. It's being posted all over the Net right now.
This sucks big-time. This means PS will have a complete monopoly on the market which means maybe no more need for great bonuses, rakeback, etc etc... They will basically own the market and do what they want. No more "healthy" competition between PS and FT.
GBT has released a statement along similar lines. An excerpt:
"We only regret that such a deal would signal further consolidation of a poker market already dominated by a single player � an outcome that may raise antitrust concerns and that, in the long run, is probably not good for players and for the whole online poker industry.�
I am VERY disappointed.
I see your point but in one way they already had monopoly after FTP was closed. Still, if they keep the rakeback and the software the same i would be satisfied.
Joined: Mar '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 6714
The Full Statement from Groupe Bernard Tapie
“Groupe Bernard Tapie regrets to announce that, after seven months of intensive work, our efforts to obtain final approval of the United States Department of Justice of the agreement to acquire the assets of Full Tilt Poker have ended without success. Ultimately, the deal failed due to two major issues.
The parties could not agree on a plan for repayment of ROW players.
GBT proposed a plan that would have resulted in immediate reinstatement of all ROW player balances, with a right to withdraw those funds over time, based on the size of the player balance and the extent of the player’s playing activity on the re-launched site. All players would have been permitted complete withdrawal of their balances, regardless of whether they played on the site, by a date certain, and 94.9% of ROW players would have been fully repaid on day 1. DOJ ultimately insisted on full repayment with right of withdrawal within 90 days for all players– a surprise demand made in the 11th hour, after months of good-faith negotiations by GBT.
The legal complications surrounding the deal – specifically, questions surrounding the legality of the forfeiture under non-US laws – also proved unresolvable.
All of the key assets of the FTP companies reside outside of the United States. A non-US court well might regard the purported forfeiture as a “fraudulent transaction” and declare it invalid or deem the acquirer of the assets responsible for all of those creditor obligations. Given the $80 million purchase price, and the substantial amount of cash needed to relaunch FTP, those issues ultimately proved too substantial to overcome.
GBT is very conscious of the hopes it has created – among FTP employees that they will retain their jobs, among FTP players that they will recover their balances, and among the entire poker community that the world’s finest poker platform will be relaunched and bring a needed added element of competition to a world market that today is fully dominated by a single operator. GBT cannot accept the end of those hopes.
For that reason, unless a concrete and legally viable solution is found in the very coming days to save the employees and repay the players of FTP, we will move to our own plan of action.
We understand from press reports that the DOJ may have entered into an agreement with PokerStars pursuant to which PokerStars will acquire the FTP assets.
If accurate, we can only assume that PokerStars determined that it was willing to accept these legal and financial risks in order to resolve its own legal situation with DOJ.

If a PokerStars acquisition of FTP means that all FTP players will be fully repaid immediately, we are very happy for the players, as their final and full repayment has always been our priority.
We only regret that such a deal would signal further consolidation of a poker market already dominated by a single player – an outcome that may raise antitrust concerns and that, in the long run, is probably not good for players and for the whole online poker industry.”
As I understand it they will remain two septate companies, and will have to compete against each other, so bonuses, rackeback etc should still remain. But as IslandJack says, i don't expect healthy competition.
However, as GBT could not get the funds need, its good for us that someone who can will hopefully take over, be it PS or not, i'm not to fussed.
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
atleast the players will have their money unlike cereus where there is no hope at all. and doing this PS hav strengthened their position on top and gained respect for clearing the mess fulltilt created. but wonder if people will have to wait for 2-3 months more before fulltilt is back
Joined: Mar '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 6714
Players to be paid in 90 days. Ferguson to be removed from FT landing page. Open to the US! Isai Scheinberg will be stepping down from the company. Lets get ready to wait, again.
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
I don't care who buys the site! I just hope they keep the same software, gaming techniques / promotions and open it to U.S players. I know there's some type of change going to take place in the states due to a phone convesation I recently had with Moneybookers support personnel.
I was informed that I should open a new account with a new e-mail address / password in May so I could receive cashouts from poker sites or affiliates such as BRM. This all took place when I attempted to cashout my Mobpoints and it wouldn't go through so I phoned Moneybookers to find out what was going on. We'll see!
"We've had a lot of enquiries and there's lots of speculation on the forums, so I wanted to address the PokerStars chatter. As you know, PokerStars is in settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice. As such settlement discussions are always confidential, we are unable to comment on rumors. As soon as we have information to share publicly we will do so."
Joined: May '09
Location: Spain
Age: 49 (M)
Posts: 1331
Hi guys!!
I have a question. We must wait another few mounths to DoJ-PS put in a paper the the agreement, as happens with GBT? And wait another few mounths to PS open FTP?
This time i see spanish legislation begin before FTP reopen (and then i will pay to two thieves one called rake and another called Mariano Rajoy, lol.)
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
The never ending story I really stopped caring (since my bankroll isnt that much in FT, or should i have said wasnt ) and got bored and tired with all the crap. They are opening, they are not opening and so on. No more following the story and if they ever reopen thats good.
I hope though all players getting paid (and not because im one of them cause as i said my money is just a big buy in there) but because some players have a respective amount of cash. gl to all
Joined: Aug '10
Location: Germany
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 2219
Good news indeed when this is true. But i don´t believa that stars is buying the ft companys. They get only the software, the most player from ft play at stars now.
, since pokerstars is my stalking ground 
