Will PokerStars Get Immunity in Exchange for Buying Full Tilt?

It came as somewhat of a shock when it was announced a couple of days ago that Groupe Bernard Tapies (GBT) bid to buy the assets of Full Tilt Poker fell through but what was more startling was the news that PokerStars was in the running to purchase Full Tilt for $750 million. I spoke to people in the industry and while some weren't anxious to discuss the situation until the arrangement was finalized, I did find a couple of sources who were willing to talk anonymously. According to one of those sources, who is very close to the situation, PokerStars interest in purchasing Full Tilt has nothing to do with the assets or player lists of the now defunct Full Tilt (after all most non American Full Tilt players have already gone to PokerStars and both PokerStars and any rejuvenated Full Tilt would still banned from accepting U.S. players), but rather PokerStars is interested with the agreement the company has reached with the DoJ which is far more valuable to them.

The question on everyone's mind is why in the world PokerStars would want to buy Full Tilt's assets and more importantly how it's worth even close to $750 million. After all, the goodwill in the Full Tilt brand is more or less gone and PokerStars is by far and away the biggest poker site in the world even today. The 2 sources told me that the answer is in the details that probably will never be released to the general public. The DoJ most likely is prepared to make a deal with PokerStars similar to what was arranged with Party Poker. If that is indeed the case then the lawsuits filed by the DoJ against Isai Scheinberg and Paul Tate will be dropped and PokerStars will effectively be given a pardon which will allow them to pursue a license to operate in the U.S. It's highly unlikely they will endeavor to get a license themselves but will team up with one or more existing casinos. Don't forget that Wynn had originally agreed to partner with PokerStars to offer a poker product to Nevada residents when the online product is legalized in the state and even though Wynn pulled out after Black Friday there will almost certainly be some renewed interest if PokerStars is given immunity. And as for Full Tilt they were willing to partner with Station Casinos so PokerStars would now have a couple of major partnerships already lined up and it seems just a matter of time before Nevada does legalize online poker. 888 Poker has already signed a partnership with Caesars and that deal was never cancelled since 888 was already effectively granted immunity after coming to an agreement with the DoJ after the passing of the UIGEA. As such, the agreement would be worth $750 million to PokerStars if they truly believe that online poker stateside will come sooner rather than later. And Wynn and Station will want to make sure the previous agreements are renewed so that Caesars doesn't get a huge head start in offering online poker in Nevada.

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