Tuesday August 2,2011 : Two year renewal granted to Kolyma
The Alderney Gaming Control Commission may be reconsidering Full Tilt Poker's online poker licence in the wake of Black Friday, but it appears that the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has no such qualms.
On July 19 the KGC granted an application to renew the Secondary Client Provider Authorization (“Secondary CPA”) held by Kolyma Corporation A.V.V. , operating as “Full Tilt Poker”, effective August 1, 2011 for a term of 2 years.
The KGC explains its decision thus in a public statement:
"To maintain a Secondary CPA, a licensee must maintain a valid licence to operate interactive gaming that has been issued by a comparable jurisdiction (the “primary jurisdiction”).
"Accordingly, the Commission is closely monitoring the proceedings being conducted by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (the “AGCC”) concerning the eGambling Licences held by Filco Limited, operating as “Full Tilt Poker”.
"The AGCC has confirmed to the Commission that, although the eGambling Licences held by Filco Limited are presently suspended pending the outcome of a hearing, these licences are still considered to be valid.
"Presently, Full Tilt Poker is not offering gaming to the public, or accepting player deposits, from servers that are located within Kahnawake or under the Commission’s supervision."
The decision is almost certain to attract criticism from players who remain unpaid – presumably due to insufficient financial resources – as Full Tilt negotiates for new capital from European investors.
Last week the AGCC postponed its hearing into Full Tilt Poker's licence suspension until at least September 15 to give those negotiations time to come to fruition "in the best interests of the players."
During the hearing Jason Hill, representing the AGCC, said that two of the charges against FTP related to allegations of non-payment of licence fees amounting to GBP250,000.
In related news, on the same day the KGC suspended the licence of Four Aces Poker Room without disclosing the reasons therefore.
The Commission's statement advises that the poker room may not operate until the licence is reinstated, and that the KGC has also "…issued to Four Aces a Show Cause Notice giving Four Aces thirty (30) days to show cause as to why its Poker Room Licence should not be revoked.
"The Commission’s decision to suspend the Four Aces was based on a number of operational and management concerns, each of which have been clearly conveyed to the licensee."