The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has confirmed that next week’s hearing into the fate of Full Tilt Poker (FTP) will take place in private. September 19th’s hearing into the company’s suspended operating license is now not open to the public and is to be held “in camera.”
Executive director Andre Wilsenach’s statement read:
I am pleased that the FTP hearing will continue as scheduled, as was argued on my behalf. However, I am disappointed with the tribunal’s decision that, notwithstanding my arguments to the contrary, the hearing will be held in private. I believe the public has a right to know the reasoning behind the decisions to suspend FTP’s licences and call a hearing, and to hear the evidence that will be put forward on my behalf. It is my understanding that the tribunal conducted a difficult balancing exercise of the interests of the various parties, taking into account the legal arguments for and against further postponing the hearing, and for and against allowing the public to attend the proceedings.
PokerStrategy.com carries a further statement from the under-fire poker company as they try to explain more about the financial problems around the company. According to the statement, Pocket Kings Ltd is now operating under a “cost optimization program” and they are guessing that they need costs to go down by “approximately €12m.”
It adds, “If all of the required cost savings were to be achieved through redundancies, approximately 250 positions could be affected; however the exact number cannot be confirmed until the conclusion of a consultation process with its workforce.”
There have already been a number of job losses at the Irish-based firm so this will be bad news for all of those that remain at the company and at a time when the country’s economy is far from buoyant.
Later on, the statement starts to look at players eventually receiving remuneration. The statement adds, Pocket Kings firmly believes it has a very strong future in Full Tilt Poker’s Non-US Markets, and is fully committed to ensuring Full Tilt Poker restores the site and repay players in full. To this end, Full Tilt Poker has retained Sea Port Group Securities, LLC as its financial advisor with regard to raising capital and/or assisting in securing a strategic partner in order to fund continued operations of Full Tilt Poker’s non-U.S. business. The Company is in active discussions with several parties and will provide a further statement in due course.”
This latest statement comes in the face of a number of class action suits being filed by various players that are owed money by the company and those lawsuits currently remain the best way for money to be returned to players.
The full statement from Pocket Kings Ltd can be read here.
