Poker Pros Hold Up Full Tilt Sale

The debts of around a dozen poker pros including Phil Ivey, David Benyamine and Erick Lindgren are the reason for the deal in the sale of Full Tilt Poker to French investor Groupe Bernard Tapie, according to GBT attorney Behnam dayanim.

Between $10 million to $20 million in loans is still owed to Full Tilt Poker by the poker pros in question, Dayanim told online gambling news site Gaming Intelligence last week. He said Groupe Bernard Tapie discovered the outstanding loans while conducting its own investigation into FTP's financial situation.

Questioned further about the investigation by another poker news site, Dayanim said that the investigation indicated that Full Tilt's situation was worse than the investor had initially anticipated, and that this meant there were still a few obstacles that would need to be sorted out before the deal could be closed.

This constitutes a setback, but hope is still on the horizon for players who have been unable to access their accounts since US authorities prosecuted Full Tilt Poker officials following the events of Black Friday in April last year.

As it stands, GBT still has a deal with the US Department of Justice in which GBT will acquire Full Tilt for $80 million, and in return authorities will dismiss all civil complaints against the poker site. Once the deal goes through, players should hopefully be repaid shortly afterward.