Not sure on how big it is, but the last one wasn't too small. Any larger, and it would have felt like a cavern, once the 1st flush of excitement wore off, and people got bored.

I'm planning on going again, and trying to broadcast live from the hotel if I can. We'll have to see what the AGCC think about that.

I'm really not sure what's going to happen, but I don't think the FTP lawyers will be able to get another postponement, or get the whole hearing held "in camera." They may however get certain parts held away from the view of the public, based upon commercial sensitivity in relation to any on-going discussions about a bail out.

i think we may learn some interesting facts, and get an insight into the inner workings of FTP, but I have no idea if this is going to speed up player payouts, but my guts says no.

FTP have some big sharks circling to buy them out, but I think the cost to the current owners may be a sticking point right now.

This sounds more positive than anything I have read recently. Can you give any indication at all as to where you are getting this information?

(I assume it is extremely sensitive, but indicating how credible your source is would be good given the nature of your information).

Previous hearing 'Hotel Event Fact Sheet', scroll down to 2nd page. Hearing was in the Albert Suite, accommodating 140 ppl theatre style, the whole suite was used.

http://www.chwcms.com/pkp/images/hot...ndon,%20UK.pdf

Sept 19th hearing 'Hotel Event Fact Sheet', scroll down to 2nd page. Hearing is in the Plaza Suite, 550 ppl theatre style.

http://www.chwcms.com/pkp/images/hot...ndon,%20UK.pdf

As you can see, the Plaza suite can be split up into various different room sizes. So I have emailed AGCC/Hotel to ask if they have booked the whole suite, if they have, they are expecting a ****load of people!

Last time the AGCC didnt expect worst case scenario with real investors eager to buy it all and FTP supposedly getting a deal done their number 1 priority. Pulling the plug was for protecting new customers and forcing FTP to make it happen and abbandon their ridicule claim on mega billions for their share.

This delay can only mean one thing and that is that the AGCC thinks it doesnt matter anymore

We know that at least 6 approaches have been made, and that further ones are probably on the cards. FTP is still a worthwhile long term investment, and outside this type on environment (Poker player communities/message boards etc.) the FTP brand is relatively untarnished (I know I'll get flamed for this, but I've done a non-scientific pole, and over 90% of people casually interested in poker had no idea of the issues surrounding FTP)

I have no new information to share right now, but IF I hear anything and I'm allowed to share it, I'll keep everyone in the loop as best as I can.

Soooooooooooo good, cept durrrr needs to be changed to Ray

Can we PLEASE get accurate reporting of what actually gets said at the forthcoming hearing?

Last time there were all sorts of mis quotes as to what was actually said about the $250k fee being paid and what it was for.

No doubt they will ask for no cameras and tape devices but if its a public hearing I cant see how that can be a legitimate request and hopefully someone will tape the whole thing and make the recording public after the event.

I'm going to be on the other side of the world on that date but doubt they will let me back into any hearing anyway.

I also think this is a good opportunity to put some pressure on the AGCC.

I think a load of questions should be submitted to them for answers by FTP counsel on behalf of the players but such quetions should be restricted to basic fatual questions like:

How much of a shortfall is there in US and RoW player funds along with demands for a balance sheet of where all those player deposits went and how much was paid in dividends and advenrtising and operating expenses and payment processor fraud and seized/frozen/made unobtainable funds due to DoJ action etc etc

Doubt we'll get any answers but a list of questions should be submitted nonetheless unlike a waste of time petition that was handed in last time.

These questions should also be given to The AGCC at least a few days in advance and used as a means for them to demonstrate that they are actively looking after players interests by putting those questions to FTP lawyers.

It would be difficult for FTP not to disclose an accurate paper trail or description of all income they have raked and player funds deposited under these circustances as these are of paramount importance to all players and need to be answered and the AGCC hearing is the perfect place to ask them.

FTP have forfeited all rights to any kind of confidentiality as far as their accounts for any of their group of companies are concerned because in there buried away deeply are the player funds and deposits and as such the players are entitled to know where exactly those funds are or have been spent as they were not FTP's to squander.

+1

Random question:
Would a super legit run site need a license to run?

I mean if Pokerstars announced today that they were dropping their license but it changes nothing to ways things are run(not that I think Stars is super legit it's just if we can't trust Stars we should just stop playing), would that be plausible?

As much as I'd like to see an open forum and discussion on this, they are under no compunction to do so. A Public hearing is only open to the public to view, not to take part in, unless invited.

I'm hoping to arrange a few things to try and get some discussion with relevant people from the hearing, but I'm sceptical that they'll want to get involved.

The AGCC did actually promise a full transcript of the last hearing, that didn't materialise, but I'm going to be asking some questions on this when I talk to the PR people later this week.

The ban on Recording Devices was made after FTP made a request for this in order to protect them in regard to the DoJ case. Legally, the AGCC was placed in a difficult position, they actually wanted to stream the whole event, and made approaches to people to do so. the US legal position of FTP forced them to stop external voice recordings being made. They would be well within their rights to remove anyone from the hearing if they were recording/streaming, and remove any recordings made.

Yes, but not a good idea. While Stars would be able to run in certain parts of the world, the European market is tightening up, and the UK market (where they are actually based) would be off limits to them under new legislation being introduced. They would also not be able to advertise in the UK without a recognised licence.

You're not allowed to record the hearings in a UK court either, so in that context it's a perfectly legitimate request. I doubt they could realistically enforce it though.

I think a list of questions has a chance to be acknolwedged if it becomes a true hearing, but if it's simply another adjournment then they will simply be ignored (in the interests of 'justice') as are most questions submitted to the AGCC from the media.

I think the problem lies with major payment processors not dealing with unregulated sites

Ok TY guys

I was just wondering how important they actually are considering it looks like the commisions don't actually do that much.

While I don't agree with this post I do think that most people will play the "wait and see game" until the deposit any money with Full Tilt again.

That's why it's very important that every one is paid in full if they re-open. It's the best thing they can do to resurrect the brand. No marketing/re-branding will do them any good if 6 months after the relaunch there are still unpaid players.

The problem with deferring payments is that they could take too long to complete, given that FTP will not have the traffic it used to and the potential DOJ fine.

Cutting down on expenses will also be very important and the best place to start is to seriously limit the number of sponsored pros. FTP had nearly 200 sponsored pros, more than Stars, while Party Poker, the n.2 site right now, has 4! There is very little need for sponsoring American players and having Ivey on TV commercials will probably not do any good to the brand any more.
Those who stay should agree to do promotional work for free for a period of time and huge salaries to lesser known names such as David Benyamine must absolute stop.

By the way I had always believed that FTP regs would have a hard time getting used to the Stars Software but seeing a few changes that resemble FTP, makes me wonder if some FTP software designers have already joined the competition.

Either its public or it isnt public simple as that. I recorded it last time and would do so again to avoid possible mis quoting and reporting as happened last time.

However thats history.

Last time I contacted them in advance asking if they would take questions from the public/players which they could put to FTP representatives and they replied saying that no members of the public could submit any questions either at the hearing or prior to the hearing

This is a complete cop out as far as I am concerned and they should make a list of questions in advance or at least ask players what concerns they have and questions they would like put to FTP juts in case the commission should forget certain key areas that need to be covered.

I fully expect them this time round to have a list of questions that cover the players concerns prepared ina dvance and for those questions to be put to FTP representatives and for answers to those questions to be forthcoming.

My top five questions would be:

How much of a shortfall is there in US and RoW player funds
How much in total has been stolen by payment processors
How much has the DoJ caused to be made unavailable
How much in dividends have been paid out to owners
As the dividends paid exceed player fund liabilities why havent those dividends been returned to the players?

i bet anything that they will postpone another hearing till november with the words " we need more time to talk with investors"

To The Alderney Gambling Commission

"I can tell you that the position is this......"

"If they were to acede to my request to hold the hearing in public..."

"...and obtain answers from FTP on questions submitted by the players...."

"..... and get FTP to present a complete paper trail of all their income and expenses to date so that we can see just where all the player funds have gone."

"I will pay them GBP 250k ($400k) and I shall do so within 3-7 days of the hearing taking place."

Thanks very much Hippy, that paints the situation in a lot more positive light than I have been imagining. I am not a full tilt fan at all, but I cannot imagine Howard Lederer etc letting poker players lose their money because they wanted to get even more than they already have out of Full Tilt.

I suppose brinkmanship will come into play in these sort of negotiations in this circumstance, but I don't really see what the current owners hope to gain by stalling negotiations. [Speculation] Unless they think they can negotiate the doj situation, somehow have pocket kings file for bankruptcy (or just sell the full tilt brand) but tiltware holds onto the software, then reopen under a different brand (Epic!) in the future.[/speculation]

Agree with hdemet pressure needs to be applied now imo.

Haha, nice one sir!

But then they have not been playing in the first place. FTP has been shut down over two months. Pokerstars took their fish

Um...wow

Yeah, but it means that the Brand has not been tarnished irreparably. A new owner, and management team, with the same software, but better support, they'll be pushing 'Stars again inside 2 years, if they do it right.

People who say the FTP brand has been ruined and is worthless are pessimistic and don't understand how short people attention spans are.

I actually saw a thread on the BQ forum on 2+2 recently asking why he couldn't log into FTP, and it wasn't actually a troll!

Outside the US this really hasn't got much media coverage, well at least in the UK it hasn't.

I thought AGCC said that 15th september was absolute final date, now they change it wtf?