Full Tilt Poker Buyer Speaks Out On Deal

Laurent Tapie of Groupe Bernard Tapie has revealed a few of his group's post-purchase plans for Full Tilt Poker.

In an interview with Matt Richtel of the New York Times, Tapie made the statement, “Full Tilt Poker is injured but not dead."

He said that in the two months before the United States Justice Department shut the site down that more than two million Americans played poker at Full Tilt, with an additional two million people from around the world taking part.

Tapie did acknowledge that Full Tilt Poker does indeed owe around $300 million to players around the world and stated that the funds would indeed be paid back. “We are going to put all the money into the company we need to to please the players. They are the key asset, above all.”, Tapie said.

Mr. Tapie did reveal that his investment group would not be purchasing the company if no resolution was made to settle the civil lawsuit that was filed by the DoJ, and that any employees found guilty of crimes would not be allowed to work at the company in the future.

Another potential obstacle to completing the deal is whether or not his group or Full Tilt Poker will be repaying the funds to players. The decision is likely to be made by Federal courts in America, who will decide how much restitution Full Tilt managers will be required to pay.

Speaking out about online poker regulation in the States, Tapie said he hoped it might open up but must assume the market is closed until a law is passed in favor of the online card game.

“It’s a natural instinct to gamble. Gambling has been there for thousands of years, now, the Internet has made gambling more easily accessible, presenting a combination that he opined is unstoppable.", he said.