Failed Tapie Coup a Good Sign for Players

A couple of weeks ago, Groupe Bernard Tapie tried to entice the employees of Pocket Kings to join them in a new online poker venture.

Reports have now surfaced that indicate that those employees have turned down the offer.

Poker Junkie blogger Compncards wasn'tshocked by this development, but still thinks that this is a good sign for players hoping for PokerStars to save the day.

Employee Retention by Pocket Kings is a Good Sign

It seems that GBT's attempt to lure Pocket King's employees away has failed.

At first, I was not surprised by this development but after thinking about it, this very well may be a good sign for the company.

First, the fact that the employees of Pocket Kings stayed with the company rather than jump ship for a "guaranteed" offer indicates to me that they have some strong assurances that the PokerStars deal will go through.

I am not talking the "a deal is nearly there" assurances that we received for months from GBT, but assurances that were strong enough for employees to not jump ship.

When someone is given a choice between jumping ship and potentially keeping their livelihood or staying with a company on the "chance" that they may still have a job, there has to be something more than speculation there for someone to stay.

What Will GBT Try Next?

To me, the attempt by GBT to steal the employees of Pocket Kings was not just a self-serving measure but possibly a retaliatory act by the company.

Since they couldn't have the company, they figured they would try and acquire the people that make up the company. A clever tactic, and one that might have worked had the Pokerstars deal not been in the works.

The question now is, what's next for GBT? Will they try and set up their online poker company with a new cast of characters or will they back out of the online poker market?

Also, will there be some type of legal action taken by the company against PokerStars should they take over Full Tilt?

It wouldn't shock me, but I don't see that getting them anywhere other than some attempt to smear PokerStars' reputation.

Increased Confidence in Players Getting Paid

Prior to the last couple of weeks, I've held the belief that Full Tilt players were not getting repaid.

Everything has pointed to that fact and I have never felt that a company was going to step up and buy out Full Tilt. Then PokerStars came along and I entertained the idea based on the potential for them put a stranglehold on online poker for the next decade on more.

With the failed GBT coup now behind us, I actually am beginning to have some confidence that Full Tilt players will get their money back.

Everyone is keeping mum over at PokerStars and employees with the company about to be acquired are not jumping ship. This points to a potential positive result in the next few weeks.

With that said, I do think this is the last and really only chance players have now of getting paid back. Should this deal fall through, it's over.

However, for the first time in a year, I am optimistic on the chances of repayment. Now it is up to PokerStars and the DOJ to make this thing happen.