Rumors that PokerStars might be lining up a major takeover bid for Full Tilt Poker have emerged over the past few hours and are right now spreading like wildfire across the web.

The rumors started early this morning when an anonymous poster created a thread on TwoPlusTwo, titled "PokerStars Purchases FTP(?)".

In the thread's original post, the creator claimed that PokerStars has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to buy out FTP, and that the deal would mean refunding of all players and both sites to go back online.

The thread was almost immediately shut down as the poster did not provide any sources to his claims, but it was later reopened with moderator "NoahSD" adding that he had received messages from "a number of sources" telling him to undelete the thread.

The rumors would later be fueled additionally by tweets from ChiliGaming CEO Alexandre Dreyfus and French online iGaming magazine, IGamingFrance.

"Pokerstars buys FullTilt for a consideration of $750m, including settlement with DOJ and full balances of players (330m). I’m impressed," were the words from the ChiliGaming CEO, who has also been the only source so far to put an actual number on a potential deal.

Meanwhile, IGamingFrance claimed to have been in contact with Laurent Tapie, who according to the magazine declined to comment but promised to have a press release out "later today."

Another input also came from Daniel "jungleman12" Cates, who last night tweeted that he had received "very promising news regarding the Full Tilt situation. Cates' today went on to reiterate this claim in a new blog post on his personal website, junglemandan.com, in which he once again expressed his optimism about the future of the inactive site.

Other reports from different corners of the web this afternoon further pointed to the failure of Groupe Bernard Tapie to complete its pending deal with the Department of Justice, hinting that PokerStars may have come from behind to take advantage of the situation.

According to eGaming Review, sources close to the matter today confirmed that the deal has indeed fallen through, with the Tapie group citing "unresolvable legal complications and failure to agree on player repayment plan" as the reasons for the deal's last-minute collapse.

So far, however, all reports remain unsubstantiated and are therefore to be understood as little more than unconfirmed rumors at this point.

No changes have been made to the Full Tilt Poker domain either, just as no official statement has been released from any of the involved parts.

Poker.org will be following the case and will bring further news as the happen.


Daniel "jungleman12" Cates spoke out on QuadJacks radio in a brief interview, explaining that his earlier tweet about the exciting Full Tilt Poker events that were to follow were in fact not related to PokerStars buying the plagued company. Cates added that he was worried and uncertain of the situation as PokerStars have not made any statements to this date.

According to Cates, PokerStars staff have been informed to neither confirm nor deny the statements.


As twoplustwo is exploding, Shaun Deeb's supposedly official account lit up the forums with words of the PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, claiming that the deal may be inked. Deeb, a notable tournament player and a regular at PokerStars tables as well as Full Tilt Poker, stated the following:

I feel bad making a new thread but dont want this info lost elsewhere but cliffs are included my source I trust a lot.

Anyways the deal is already done by what I am told;

Players will be paid within 90 days

FTP will be open in the US market

Isai will be stepping down from the company

If these statements are true I feel that Isai deserves all our thanks+ business in the future with his company he is bailing out the igaming industry's tarnished reputation

Following today's rumors, PokerStars chose to release a brief statement on the status of its settlement negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The statement from Head of Corporate Communications for PokerStars, Eric Hollreiser, did not deny or confirm the rumors about the company buying Full Tilt Poker, and instead simply stressed that PokerStars cannot comment on the reports at this time.

Here are Hollreiser's words, according to the PokerStars Corporate Blog:

We've had a lot of enquiries and there's lots of speculation on the forums, so I wanted to address the PokerStars chatter. As you know, PokerStars is in settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice. As such settlement discussions are always confidential, we are unable to comment on rumors. As soon as we have information to share publicly we will do so.