PokerStars buys FTP for $750mln(?)

Rumor surfaced today that PokerStars made a settlement where it was supposed to buy FTP and pay all players back. Obviously without any source so looked like a standard internet trolling.

Until now (this is ChilliPoker CEO):


opinions on what is going to happen now?

edit, new info:



Interesting question, considering PS buys FTP and and runs both rooms at same time, where would you play if rakeback/tournamnets/software stays the same for both rooms as pre-black friday?

Poll: So?
(Vote): I would play at PS anyway
(Vote): I would play at FTP owed by PS
(Vote): I play somwhere else

holy shit, that would be amazing

Also: looks like both PS and FTP will run @ USA again when a the online poker market is legal according to their agreement with the DOJ.

Pretty much how I felt when I read that this is assumed to be true by NoahSD, the author of the former site subject poker

COME ONNNNNNNNNN

but then whats that bullshit thats been going for ages with the tapei group???

This is 800 times worse for online than someone else buying FTP.
800 times.
There will be absolutely no competition and Stars will be able to do whatever the hell they want.

Would certainly be a smart move for them if FTP is even the least bit viable as a business.

wow WHAT? this is a nice little mindfk

The rumour of the redemption of Full Tilt Poker by PokerStars materializes: Laurent Tapie confirmed that the repurchase by GBT has fallen in the water. A press release will follow

GL guys!

pls

On April 24 2012 10:00 Carthac wrote: Pretty much how I felt when I read that this is assumed to be true by NoahSD, the author of the former site subject poker

holyshit! now im definitely gonna get my money back!!!

On April 24 2012 10:41 Drakk wrote: The rumour of the redemption of Full Tilt Poker by PokerStars materializes: Laurent Tapie confirmed that the repurchase by GBT has fallen in the water. A press release will follow GL guys!

Did it go bust before or after Pokerstars stepped in? I would have thought the only reason PS would step in is that they saw the FTP/Taipe deal would become a reality and they would have to forfeit some of the market share they gained after FTP went bust. If the deal fell through before then I dunno why PS would step in now, and why it would cost more than Taipe would have paid.

On April 24 2012 10:27 taco wrote: This is 800 times worse for online than someone else buying FTP. 800 times. There will be absolutely no competition and Stars will be able to do whatever the hell they want. Would certainly be a smart move for them if FTP is even the least bit viable as a business.

if that is true stars has absolutely no competition by almost a year, did they increase the rake? no actually they decreased it! you can be right but its not gonna be that much worse, btw i only think stars decreased rake because of the state of world economy.

On April 24 2012 10:27 taco wrote: This is 800 times worse for online than someone else buying FTP. 800 times. There will be absolutely no competition and Stars will be able to do whatever the hell they want. Would certainly be a smart move for them if FTP is even the least bit viable as a business.

The point of this matter is: No one could actually afford to buy FTP + it's player base $ + it's risk of ruin

PS buying FTP and paying out 100% player funds AND eliminating all it's legal battles with DOJ is the best thing that could possibly happen. 801x the best thing.

On April 24 2012 11:28 xicotaSLB wrote: Show nested quote + On April 24 2012 10:27 taco wrote: This is 800 times worse for online than someone else buying FTP. 800 times. There will be absolutely no competition and Stars will be able to do whatever the hell they want. Would certainly be a smart move for them if FTP is even the least bit viable as a business. if that is true stars has absolutely no competition by almost a year, did they increase the rake? no actually they decreased it! you can be right but its not gonna be that much worse, btw i only think stars decreased rake because of the state of world economy.

they didnt decrease the rake wtf

I do not know, i just copy pasted something I saw on facebook!

Official statement from 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.”

On April 24 2012 10:00 tutz wrote: Also: looks like both PS and FTP will run @ USA again when a the online poker market is legal according to their agreement with the DOJ.

This is interesting. One time on that please.

Yeah Stars has been pretty legit owning the market to themselves since BF. Even if they became corrupt, with online poker legalized in the US we'll always have other options anyway. My guess is FTP owns a shit ton of patents worth buying, and of course operating 2 brands will absorb even more market. I wonder if the FTP pro's contracts are still live and Stars gets to scoop them all under one franchise too.