We all knew the ramifications of Black Friday were not yet over, and we were right. The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) took the decision earlier today to suspend Full Tilt Poker’s license following an investigation “during which grounds were found to indicate that these licensees and their business associates were operating contrary to Alderney legislation.” Big words.
What this means, for now, is that Full Tilt must not:
- Allow new customers to register with the site
- Accept deposits
- Allow existing customers to withdraw funds that are held in their account
- Permit customers to participate in any form of poker game play or gambling transaction.
Number 4 being the big one just now. CalvinAyre.com managed to grab the below screenshot that was presented to poker clients trying to withdraw earlier today:
And it’s not going to change for the players any time soon, considering the press release continues on to say:
Due to the nature of the forthcoming judicial proceedings no further comment can be made at this time. The regulatory hearing will be held on Tuesday 26 July 2011 in London.
Will the Gambling Commission on the Isle of Man now take a deeper look at PokerStars following this? PokerStars are a pretty big employer on the Island, so I’m sure they’re already in deep conversations with the Gaming Commission to resolve any issues following Black Friday. It will certainly be interesting to see how that side develops!
Update: Isle of Man Gambling Commission Statement Released
This evening, the Gambling Supervision Commission on the Isle of Man released a statement confirming that PokerStars were operating within the boundaries of their license which:
remains unchanged following today’s statement from the Gambling Control Commission in Alderney.
More information can be found here: http://www.gov.im/gambling/