After months of speculation, it has finally been confirmed – Full Tilt Poker announced that it has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice which will allow the successful takeover of the online poker room by rival group Poker Stars. The price paid for the site is believed to be in the range of $730 million.
The three way deal will essentially see Poker Stars acquire Full Tilt Poker and have the civil forfeiture proceedings dropped against the beleaguered online poker room. However, the Department of Justice will still pursue criminal proceedings against the site, it was said.
While no amount was mentioned, it is believed that Poker Stars will make available around $300 million to the US government as a fund for money due to former US players at Full Tilt Poker. These players will then be able to make a request to withdraw their money, which they haven’t been able to access since Black Friday, April 2011.
The deal also states that Poker Stars will make available, within 90 days, money owed to players who are not from the United States.
Full Tilt Poker took the opportunity to apologize to all the players who had been affected by the 18 month saga, and thanked them for their patience while a deal was hammered out.
The online poker room surrendered all its assets to the US government, it was announced by the lawyer representing Full Tilt, Jeff Ifrah.
It is hoped that this is the beginning of the end of a case which has dragged on much too long, and which has caused frustration and anger among online poker players, not to mention the negative impact it has had on the internet gambling industry.
Click for a list of online poker rooms.