AGCC issues 100th online gaming license

The regulators who oversaw the massive failure of Full Tilt Poker have awarded their 100^th online gaming license this week according to the BBC. In an article published on the BBC News website the Aldernay Gambling Control Commission was reported to have issued their 100^th online gaming license to the Relax Gaming Network –the creators of Fast Poker, a pseudo-Rush Poker format that will compete with PokerStars Zoom Poker.

Robin Le Prevost, Alderney’s head of e-commerce, told the BBC that the small island is the “place to be” for online gaming companies, going on to add that, “The commission have got very high standards … they’re not going to lower that in anyway just to attract more numbers.”

Of course, the AGCC was the regulatory body overseeing Full Tilt Poker, the site that was indicted by the US government on Black Friday nearly one-year ago, and subsequently saw its AGCC license suspended in June, and revoked later in the year.

Full Tilt Poker still owes the online poker community in the neighborhood of $300 million, and many poker players have pointed the finger (or one of the fingers) at the AGCC for not being more diligent with the site. When asked about this Mr. Le Prevost told the BBC that “the case had done no damage to the island’s industry and claimed Alderney had received support from other jurisdictions for the way in which it had acted.”

After quite a bit of blowback over their handling of the Full Tilt Poker investigation, the AGCC launched a review of their actions in December of 2011. Here is the statement that was issued by AGCC Executive Director André Wilsenach:

“As soon as we became aware that there were possible irregularities in relation to FTP’s operational integrity AGCC acted to discharge fully our statutory obligations. We believe we acted appropriately and fairly at all times but, following our own internal assessment and the inevitable questions that have been raised by third parties, the Commission decided that it is in the best interests of players, licence holders and AGCC itself to commission an independent review and to make the outcome public.

“I am delighted that Peter Dean has agreed to conduct the review. He has many years of experience at the top of the British Gambling Commission and commands wide respect from operators and regulators alike. He has been asked to review fully the actions taken by AGCC in respect of FTP and to focus specifically on the appropriateness, timeliness and fairness of those actions.”