Alderney Gambling Control Commission Suspends Full Tilt Poker’s License

29. Jun, 2011 0 Comments

In a surprising turn of events, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission announced on Wednesday that they are temporarily suspending the license of Full Tilt Poker as they prepare to hold a hearing regarding matters surrounding the Black Friday indictments unsealed on April 15th.

Full Tilt shut down after AGCC suspends their license.

According to the initial press release: “Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has today issued Hearing Notices under Regulation 46 of its Regulations to Vantage Ltd, Oxalic Ltd, Filco Ltd and Orinic Ltd, collectively trading as FULL TILT POKER.

In addition, AGCC has issued Suspension Notices under Regulation 47 to the above named companies requiring them to suspend all operations with immediate effect.

The decision to suspend these licenses follows a special investigation prompted by the indictments unsealed by U.S. Attorney General’s Office in the Southern District of New York on April 15, 2011, during which grounds were found to indicate that these licensees and their business associates were operating contrary to Alderney legislation. The nature of the findings necessitated the taking of immediate action in the public interest.”

A follow up release stated the following:

“AGCC has issued Suspension Notices under Regulation 47 of the Alderney eGambling Regulations, 2009 to the above named companies requiring them to immediately suspend operations.

The above named companies must, until the Suspension Notices are cancelled or the Commissioners of AGCC have reached a determination at the conclusion of the hearing convened in accordance with Regulation 46 of the Alderney eGambling Regulations, 2009 cease to exercise their eGambling licenses, which means that these licensees must from today cease to: -

Register new customers;
Accept deposits from existing customers;
Allow existing customers to withdraw funds that are held in their accounts; and
Permit customers to participate in any form of poker game play or gambling transaction.”

We consulted the Alderney eGambling Regulations, 2009 and according to Regulation 47, the Executive Direct, with the approval of at least one Commissioner, has the power to suspend a license if he is satisfied on reasonable grounds if he thinks that a ground in section 12(1) of the ordinance has been violated, the matter is urgent enough to require suspension ahead of a hearing, or if they feel that doing so will prevent public interest or AGCC from being harmed in any way.

Looking at the Ordinance section 12(1), “The Commission may take action under this section where -

(a) an eGambling licensee or certificate holder is no longer a fit and proper person to hold the eGambling license or certificate in question;

(b) an associate of an eGambling licensee or a certificate holder is not, or is no longer, a fit and proper person to be associated with the operation of the licensee or certificate holder;

(i) a provision of this Ordinance or of regulations made under this Ordinance; or

(ii) a condition attached to the eGambling license or certificate in question; or

(d) a Temporary eGambling licensee is no longer licensed or properly licensed in another jurisdiction to conduct eGambling operations

By reading the regulations and ordinances, it would appear that Full Tilt would fall under the provisions of the Ordinance in 12(1)a and 12(1)b. Also, considering that US players are still unpaid, the public good clause could be claimed as well.

The Executive Director for the AGCC, Andre Wilsenach, made the following statement,

“The decision to suspend the eGambling license was in the public interest and, because of the seriousness and urgency of the matter, it required that immediate action be taken ahead of the regulatory hearing.”

In addition to the license suspension by the AGCC, Moneybookers has also cut ties with Full Tilt. In an email released to Moneybooker users, they stated,

” As a Moneybookers customer, you already know you are the most important part of our business. We always make sure you receive the safest service.

For this reason we have stopped accepting deposits made to Full Tilt Poker.

There are extraordinary circumstances behind this situation which are beyond our control. We will not comment on these, just take appropriate action that protects our customers.

We have requested that the Moneybookers logo be removed from Full Tilt Poker, but cannot do any more to make sure it is not displayed. Moneybookers is no longer available from Full Tilt Poker, and you will receive an error message if you attempt to use our service there.”

It does not stop there. The Full Tilt-sponsored program “The Poker Lounge” announced earlier in the week that they have ceased production indefinitely after Full Tilt has yet again failed to pay them. If you remember, the week after Black Friday, production on the program had halted due to non-payment. Negotiations were held and they agreed to resume production on July 22nd. That will not happen now due to Full Tilt’s failure to pay.

At present, Full Tilt Players are unable to load the poker site as it times out. If you visit their website, there is a notice near the bottom of the page that states “The system is currently down for maintenance. Please check back soon!” No mention of the suspension is made anywhere on the site.

PokerScout.com confirms the shutdown as they list cash player traffic at 0, and the site normally has a seven day average of 9,000 players with 13,515 players during peak times.

Also, it appears that traffic on PartyPoker has already taken a nice bump as a result of the announcement. Traffic on the site is up 6% so far today after the announcement.

Reaction to the license suspension has been mixed with surprise and fear that this may be the end for the site. Many did not fear the ADCC would not actually pull the trigger and suspend Full Tilt and many that have money on the site feel that they no longer will receive their funds.

Full Tilt’s hearing with the ADCC is not scheduled until July 26th, and at present it does not appear that Full Tilt has the option to appeal the decision. A shutdown of nearly a month will almost certainly hinder if not cripple any efforts they had in place to negotiate deals to return player funds. There is also no guarantee that they will retain their license after this hearing. Whether or not this is the end of Full Tilt Poker as we know it remains to be seen, but we will bring you more information as it becomes available.

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