Full Tilt Poker, Groupe Bernard Tapie US Justice Dept Settlement: Not Quite

Reports surfaced this week that Groupe Bernard Tapie out of France had entered into an agreement with the US Justice Department that would result in payment of all players.  But as we here at Gambling911.com have come to expect over these past several months, news coming out of the Full Tilt Poker camp is not always what it seems.

This is yet another perfect example.

An attorney for Groupe Bernard Tapie revealed on Thursday that, while talks were ongoing, a final settlement has yet to be agreed upon in writing.

"We have an oral agreement that is in the process of being reduced to writing and expect to resolve all outstanding issues," Attorney Behnam Dayanim told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

Oral agreements, for the most part, tend to be worthless. 

Barry Boss, an attorney for Full Tilt, offered pretty much the same: "We have made significant progress towards a settlement but there are still issues to be resolved."

Once a deal is finalized, U.S. players seeking their funds would likely have to file claims to the Justice Department, a source close to the situation told the Wall Street Journal.

Approximately $115 in funds were seized by the US Justice Department on April 15 after two of Full Tilt Poker’s executives were charged with money laundering and bank fraud.

Whether players see all of their funds returned also remains to be seen.  Likewise, the process could take some time.  Case in point, when BetOnSports was indicted in July of 2006, it took nearly five years to the week for customers to receive their funds, and even then it was 3 to 5 cents on the dollar. 

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher