On Friday, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) announced that it has granted Full Tilt Poker a renewal of its Secondary Client Provider Authorization (Secondary CPA). Full Tilt, once the second largest poker room on the internet, had its primary license suspended by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) on June 29th and has not spread any poker games since to anyone in any country.
Interestingly, according to clause 51 of the KGC’s regulations, Full Tilt was required to apply for a Client Provider Authorization (primary) once its AGCC license was suspended:
“In the event the license from the primary jurisdiction is suspended, revoked or allowed to lapse, the holder of a Secondary Client Provider Authorization must, within thirty (30) days, apply for a Client Provider Authorization under these Regulations, failing which the Commission may suspend or revoke the Secondary Client Provider Authorization.”
The key word there appears to be “may,” as the Secondary CPA has been renewed. There has been no indication as to whether or not Full Tilt actually did apply for a new primary CPA.
Of course, many may wonder how in the world Full Tilt could be granted a license, secondary or otherwise, when a respected gambling commission already revoked one and said that Full Tilt must “cease to register new customers, accept deposits from existing customers, allow existing customers to withdraw funds that are held in their accounts, and permit customers to participate in any form of poker game play or gambling transaction.”
The KGC answered this question in a statement, explaining (emphasis Poker News Daily’s), “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.”
The minds of the hopeful will naturally take the next step and interpret all this to mean that Full Tilt is going to re-open with its Secondary CPA, but there is no indication that this will actually happen.
Last Tuesday, the AGCC held a public hearing to present evidence regarding Full Tilt’s suspended license. The poker room’s legal counsel requested that the pre-hearing application for adjournment be held “in camera” or in private, lest anything in the public hearing potentially damage its efforts to find new investors in the company. The AGCC granted Full Tilt’s request, took the hearing to a private setting, then announced that it would be adjourned until September 15th, at the latest.