Last week, it was confirmed that the hearing involving Full Tilt Poker and the Alderney Gambling Control Commission would be adjourned until 15th September, 2011 in order to allow Full Tilt Poker extra time to experience a change of ownership or attract some further investment so that it can look at regaining its gambling licence.
Back on 29th June of this year, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended Full Tilt Poker’s gambling licence in light of recent issues involving the site that all started back on 15th April of this year when the US Department of Justice launched a federal investigation into the way several sites were managed. Full Tilt Poker was one of these sites along with Absolute Poker, Pokerstars and many more over the following weeks.
Full Tilt Poker has since gone from one controversy to the next with players still failing to get their hands on their own money, Phil Ivey entering a legal battle with the site over his decision to withdraw from the 2011 World Series of Poker and recently the site had suffered having its licence revoked in several territories due to a lack of confidence about how the company was being managed.
This hearing was scheduled in order to see if Full Tilt Poker was in a position to regain its licence for Alderney. However, after a hearing that lasted a matter of hours behind closed doors, it was revealed that the hearing would have to be adjourned so that Full Tilt Poker can use the additional time to find more investment and even seek new ownership.
It is felt throughout the industry that the future of Full Tilt Poker rests on whether or not this investment and potential new ownership can become a reality or not. Many people feel that the Alderney Gambling Control Commission has lost faith in the current owners due to players still not having access to their account funds and that the only way they see fit for Full Tilt Poker to have its licence suspension revoked is for a new clean slate to be introduced and for new ownership and investment to take the site into a new era.
The future of the site hangs in the balance, there is no doubt about that and this adjournment is largely seen as a stay of execution. It is an anxious time for the thousands of Full Tilt Poker players who are still owed money by the site but in a romantic gesture of support many of these players have still said that if Full Tilt Poker regains its licence they will return to the site without hesitation to play their poker once more.
15th September is set to be judgment day for Full Tilt Poker. It has the name, it has the supporters and all it needs now is the licence. 15th September will either be the re-birth of one of the biggest names in online poker or it will be the tragic end of an era. The deadline day draws ever nearer and Full Tilt Poker’s fate remains uncertain.
