AGCC Hearing - Negotiations in Private, No Investors Present

Full Tilt Poker's AGCC hearing is underway in London, Victoria Park Plaza Hotel, but not publicly as it was announced: Full Tilt lawyers managed to take the case private. Full Tilt Poker owes AGCC £250,000 in license fees, and wants to adjourn the hearing, as they are still in talks with their alleged investors.

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission revoked the operational license of Full Tilt Poker on June 29. The reason for this decision was that Full Tilt Poker was unable to pay their U.S. players since the Black Friday (April 25), which is clearly a breach of their AGCC license agreement. They owe $150 million according to reports. FTP is offline for all since their license has been revoked.

A few days later, the Los Angeles Times reported that Full Tilt Poker has struck a deal with European investors, who are willing to buy the majority of Full Tilt Poker, backing them financially to be able to pay the $150 million to players. This news, however, proved to be premature, because as we now know it, no deal has been struck, only negotiations were underway.

FTP did not comment on the case yet, in fact, they haven't made an official press release since the Black Friday, which only reinforced the confusion in Full Tilt users. Everybody hoped for some good news after today's hearing at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel in London. Unfortunately, not much of importance have happened yet.

Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of ChiliPoker was interviewed by QuadJacks before the start of the hearing. He told his interviewers that Full Tilt Poker is still negotiating with their investors, therefore, they got an adjournment from ARJEL, FTP's French licensor, so he expects such an adjournment to be rearched with the AGCC as well. He didn't expect any more to happen today. He added that not only does Full Tilt struggle with payments because their bank accounts are frozen, but because they don't even have enough money on those accounts to pay their debts.

The hearing started today morning at  10 a.m. BST. No news came from the numerous reporters present for half an hour, because no electronic devices were allowed in the courtroom. The first (and to date only) new information was that Full Tilt Poker owes the AGCC £250,000 in licensing fees, which the FTP lawyers did not want to pay, claiming they are not willing to pay for a license that no longer exist. Later, as they went to a private discussion with Alderney, FTP lawyers stated that they will pay the fees in 7 days if:

• The hearing can continue "in camera", meaning in private
• The AGCC guarantees that there is a chance of reinstating the license in the near future

After this, the AGCC sent out the public, the viewers and the press representatives alike, following the negotiations of such terms. Half an hour later, they announced that the hearing will continue in camera from then on.

Local reports seem to reinforce Dreyfus' opinion, it looks like that Full Tilt Poker will get more time to get to the funds needed to pay their players.

The private hearing ended short after 1 p.m, the announcement was due for 3 p.m. local time, however, according to latest news, Full Tilt Poker's representatives will have to answer to 9 questions in 15 minutes at 4 p.m. local time. I will be updating this article as news come in.

A bit of irony - Lederer doll at the hearing