Why Groupe Bernard Tapie is really interested in Full Tilt Poker

A lot of people following the Full Tilt Poker saga since Black Friday have been left scratching their heads as to why a group of investors would try to salvage the Full Tilt Poker brand that many see as irreparably damaged due to the company’s mismanagement before and after Black Friday.

The investment group in question is Groupe Bernard Tapie, headed by French mogul Bernard Tapie and his son Laurent. While the GBT purchase of Full Tilt Poker is far from complete, a new reason for the company’s interest in the struggling online poker site has been revealed as the Groupe Bernard Tapie has recently announced its intentions to start a new tournament series known as the International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT).

These two ventures, the purchase of Full Tilt Poker and the creation of the ISPT, are actually tied to together as the ISPT would be held in stadiums (the first one slated to take place in Wembley Stadium in London) and the first round would feature the entrants sitting in individual seats playing at a private online poker terminal –which would facilitate the need for sophisticated online poker software.

This revelation puts the GBT interest in Full Tilt Poker into a whole new light. In addition to the interest in Full Tilt for its online poker operations, the group would also be utilizing the Full Tilt Poker software for their ISPT tournaments.

Basically the GBT could license the Full Tilt Poker software to their new tournament league, which allows the ISPT to rebrand the software. They can also host numerous satellite tournaments into ISPT events from Full Tilt Poker. Despite all of its troubles, Full Tilt Poker possesses some of the best software in the industry, not to mention the patented Rush Poker –which would come in very handy if you were trying to run a 30,000 person tournament!

Far from a done deal, there are a number of sticking points that must still be overcome, including resolving the site’s legal issues with the Department of Justice, as well as coming to a fair decision for all parties involved when it comes to repayment of players. The latter point is crucial for Full Tilt Poker’s brand to survive, but comes at a very high cost to the Groupe Bernard Tapie –rumors of possible stakes in the company to the hope that the DOJ will release most of the seized funds to allow for the repayment of players have been thrown around.