Actually, the DoJ sued Stars for $1.5B. It was FTP they sued for $1B.

The article also specifically states that none of the WSJ's sources provided a specific time frame for the introduction of a federal bill.

Still, this article made me jizz my pants, even though it doesn't provide any info that hasn't already been widely speculated about on these boards. Crap poker news sites report that Reid and Kyl are working on a bill, and I roll my eyes at the wishful thinking. The WSJ reports it, and I get a hella lot more excitable.

The DOJ issued a statement saying that the Wire Act - an act which played 0- part in Black Friday - applies only to sports betting.

In other words, nothing changed, but random people keep grasping at the idea that we might have online poker back in the US some time next week.

April 26th, 2011 - PS begins repaying its US customers following BF


April 26th, 2012 - PS........

Just Sayin

Much of this concern stems from the fact that Tapie was not planning on making ROW players whole (if the details as reported by diamond flush are accurate). So there would be lots of players with potential claims against the FTP assets if other countries don't recognize the sale as cleanly separating FTP's assets and liabilities. But if the rumors about pokerstars are to be believed, and they are going to make all players whole, then there should be no major outstanding claims against FTP, and hence no substantial unknown liabilities for stars.

All this fuss over a game played with horizontal pieces of cardboard,with funny coloured shapes and pictures,and circular,plastic wagering disk.

Seriously,if this means you guys getting paid,then this would be fantastic! news.

Incorrect. PS signed a clause forbidding them from re-entering the US market, but FTP didn't. That is presumably where a great amount of the value lies in this deal.

This thread should be titled "Tape/FTP deal falls through and various arguments about what comprises a monopoly." The title is so misleading and after 200 pages there is no proof that there is any deal at all.

I wished you wouldnt have posted that.... now i'm going to be looking forward to tomorrow. lol

Both of them signed the exact same thing and it's not permanent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38PxHgf90Nk#t=1m12s

I don't think the DOJ will be dropping the criminal charges against Isai,Bitar,etc What PS would be doing by purchasing FTP is settling the civil complaint against both PS and FTP.

I suspect once PS settles the civil complaint with the DOJ (whether FTP is part of the deal or not) that PS will change ownership somehow. Isai Scheinberg will step down or sell the company privately or maybe bring PS or the combo PS/FTP public. The only way PS or a FTP owned by PS could realistically enter into a licensed/regulated USA market(fed or state) is to have a clean and clear ownership,executives,and upper management that has not been indicted and/or convicted of gambling related crimes.

A combined PS/FTP would bring a big price tag on the open market allowing Isai too walk away with a **** load of cash free to either fight the DOJ charges or stay outside of the DOJ's reach. It allows a newly owned PS/FTP to pursue new legal markets(USA) without the ownership being hindered by the BF indictments.

PS buying FTP is a win for PS and for FTP players being paid in full.

Entering the market when legislation is passed, not prior.

Most of these post make me feel more dumb the second after reading them. There should be some kind of quiz that needs to be taken before you are allowed to just post rubbish. I'd like to see a thread where its just what the mods say and not have to read all the other useless posts.

Ok, so it's the 'not permanent' aspect that people have been referring to when it's been stated. Thank you for clarifying that, Noah.

When Isai sells he is not going to sell them as a combo deal. He will sell them separtely and get more money.

remember this post in 1 year.

Sure this is very possible. I'm sure he'll do whatever brings in the most money. The point is there's really no way that Isai can keep PS or FTP and reenter the US market whenever that time comes.

Well it was reported in November by the New York Post and again in January by the National Journal that Reid and Kyl are having discussions. I spoke with both of the reporters covering these stories and they gave me a few more quotations that were left out of the articles.

The thing is that this issue is really, really tiny for big media outlets and actually really important details can be neglected. So it is important that the poker media try to pick up where these reporters leave the story since they may not try to pursue the story further.

I'm not liking the title of this thread. If someone says that Jennifer Tilly is one to keep an eye on next year, I'm going to make a post that says
Breaking: Tilly wins WSOP with quads 6 hands in a row(?)

Huh? People CHOSE to use Microsoft too. They could have used IBM, Linux, Sun, or any number of other options instead. The legal definition of 'monopoly' doesn't go down the route you suggest, it is pretty much just having more than a certain market share.

Having both players in a duopoly merge into one company would require approval from government regulatory bodies in my country for sure (I can't say whether similar laws apply in other countries)

I think that I love the idea of the AGCC never seeing another dime from FTP again.

I get it, but question still stands. I mean, guys like Deeb and Elky, and Matusow, and what not, start spewing out about deals being done, or not done, when their actual verifiable knowledge of the deal is no greater than our own, and yet, because these guys are really good at poker, everyone else wants to jump to this cognitive disconnect that somehow, that makes them actual insiders with regard to specific confidential business transactions.

Does not compute.

Maybe it's just that, some people *want* things to be true badly enough, that they'll give full credence and credibility to any statement that supports what they want, irrespective of any common sense as to the likelihood of that person actually having a basis to know something the rest of us don't.

True this, especially the bolded part.

There are some poker-news sites that make a decent attempt at practicing journalistic integrity, and there are others that do nothing more than write articles that just repeat and rehash unsubstantiated rumors. Seeing this in print in the WSJ is a small light in a fairly dark tunnel.

So the DOJ
- Extorts foreign companies out of hundreds of millions
- Holds hundreds of millions of customers' money that was seized over the years
- Puts hundreds of workers in other countries out of work

All because something that was not illegal will soon formally become legal in the U.S.? Sorry, I just wanted to recall what went on here.

I bet this was much more profitable than invading an oil bearing or poppy growing country.

This is very closely related to confirmation bias. In other words, some people hear only want they want to hear.