I might be way off in left field BUT, a good reason to do this would be something like killing your competition completely, yes they do not operate but if you do not buy them someone else eventually will come along.
If stars holds all the software, no one really can just come and get it, they can run whatever they want, they have all the rights to it, and really what is close to stars in traffic their next competitor is probably easy 18 months out from even denting them.
When poker legalizes in the states, pokerstars has nothing to hold it back from sucking up the market so to speak, if this is even remotely the angle they are taking, whats 750 mill to them really??.....I am upset I can't afford this, sounds like a safe bet to me!
With Isai and Tate (contrary to popular belief, this isn't me) likely haveing to step down to get this through the DOJ, I'm assuming this would allow them to re-enter the US market when it opens again.
Resale value would be massive for them:
1. Sell Stars to Caesars
2. Sell FTP2 to MGM
3. Wash your hands and leave with a few birrrrrion
With Isai and Tate (contrary to popular belief, this isn't me) likely haveing to step down to get this through the DOJ, I'm assuming this would allow them to re-enter the US market when it opens again.
Resale value would be massive for them:
1. Sell Stars to Caesars
2. Sell FTP2 to MGM
3. Wash your hands and leave with a few birrrrrion
ya, I heard this on quad jacks last night and it blew me away lol
I can't see how it could be a rumour IMHO. Stars is the biggest player in the online poker market, and if there is no truth to it, they would've come out by now and denied the rumours. To me, the fact that it's been 12+ hours since the rumour and Stars have done nothing to deny it, shows me that there is some truth to it.
fuck......if they said it on QJ's, I must be full of shiite
haha, yeah, that place is a bit of a joke sometimes
I had to shut off the podcast last night after they did a great job of covering the PS/FTP rumors, but then they had JRB on - and they started talking poker strat, i gtfo'd pretty quick lol
FTP was a marketing giant, they attracted players all over the world but PRIMARILY THE US, not to mention IMO their software is better, mtt/sng game selection is better and runs more, they offer rake back, and notoriously have all the nosebleed action for the rail birds.
So while its true there will be many of the same people on both sites, they offered different things, and the site appealed to different people.
Having both sites is great for the poker community as a whole, I don't see how anyone could argue this; the more money there is in the poker community, the better it is for everyone.
Yeah I get that, but if a company goes out and buys another company why are they going to take the time to run it differently if they already have a product out there? The idea is to swallow competition up no?
If another company bailed FTP out and ran it like the old days (bonuses/nosebleeds/etc) that would make sense, i think there is a reason why stars has now implemented "rush poker", new nose bleed tables, different bonus structures to finally put the dagger in FTP and the innovations they did.
Whether money is on 1 site or 5 million sites it is still the same poker money. It makes more sense to have 1 site with 5M users from a logistical standpoint (marketing/servers/customer service etc)
I do agree that it is healthy for more competition but it really isnt competition if the same company owns both sites.
IF GBT had bought FTP, it would have made sense to keep it going. With Stars in charge, it is akin to when Chrysler bought AMC off of Renault. They will take what is worthwhile and marketable, and bury everything else. In the case of AMC, Chrysler kept the Jeep lines and trademarks, and buried everything that was AMC. In the case of FTP, I am not sure what would be brought over to Stars, but I doubt you will see a reconstituted FTP anytime soon. As blackmagicz said, whether the $$$ is spread over 5 sites or 3 sites, it is all the same $$$, and paying all the extra dough for branding and trademarks, etc. makes no business sense.
I see this going the way of WWE buying WCW in 2001: Pokerstars will think they're brilliant for doing it, try to run FTP as it's own site for about 2 weeks, realize they have no clue how to run a brand to compete with themselves, take the two good pieces from it that they need, toss the rest in the garbage.
i had a whole giant post about how obviously stars would not mind having and running ftp separately, but the net cut out and i lost it. sorry, but i'm too lazy to go gather all my info again and lecture you guys. so i'll just say that obviously a company/corporation has many reasons to own and control various brands that essentially compete against each other. just look at kraft foods for example.
i had a whole giant post about how obviously stars would not mind having and running ftp separately, but the net cut out and i lost it. sorry, but i'm too lazy to go gather all my info again and lecture you guys. so i'll just say that obviously a company/corporation has many reasons to own and control various brands that essentially compete against each other. just look at kraft foods for example.
I was gonna put a long retort in......but I'm too lazy....and, I agree with u......so I won't
I fully understand why a company would want to have several brands but effectively what I am saying is that the product is still the same. Full tilt vs pokerstars is poker.
Kraft makes several different brands that compete at several different price points to cater to all customers.
Pokerstars already does that with all different types of games and buy ins etc.
Now if you said "pokerstars is the high end model reserved for bigger buy ins etc" there may be an argument.
If I am a poker player sell me on the difference between two sites owned by the same person theoretically offering the same game but different names.
Saying one site is softer than the next doesn't really apply because at this point stars has been operational and anyone who was a decent player was playing on both sites to begin with and I highly doubt any of the fish who do come back to ftp will want to re deposit once they get paid out.
It will most likely be a rush on the bank so to speak.
Either way I am happy that things will work out and its always interesting to have these discussions.
I don't believe they will run it, not at least until after they have paid out and converted players. Then they will burn it to the ground while sipping DOM.
i think everyone is missing the REAL reason stars bought FTP... they launched the ZOOM poker beta and they see how fast rake $$ accumulates and purchased full tilt for the purpose of owning the "rush poker" rights
It doesn't seem any different than reports out there, will read again when I wake up more.
Seems to be a summary of all credible pieces we have heard so far. I am on the Stars PR list, so will get anything breaking just as everybody puts it up, so will be able to verify then. I would expect PokerNews to be first with real news, some of the smaller sites like to jump gun IMO.
All I got off of wicked chops was this, an update after a meeting on may 6th
" the DOJ is asking for more money, close to $1B, Scheinberg (PS) is insisting that he not be required to admit to having done anything wrong, and Ray Bitar is trying to get something out of the deal (unknown if the something is related to dropping his own charges or financial gain). "
i remember DOJ was seeking 3 billion before, so they have come down. Also, the old number when this news first broke was 750 million.. so there has been movement the past week.
I had problems cashing out of this site when they ran into financial problems. They ended up closing doors with player balances owing. Pokerstars bought their debt and database, so they have played the white knight before.
Comments
If stars holds all the software, no one really can just come and get it, they can run whatever they want, they have all the rights to it, and really what is close to stars in traffic their next competitor is probably easy 18 months out from even denting them.
When poker legalizes in the states, pokerstars has nothing to hold it back from sucking up the market so to speak, if this is even remotely the angle they are taking, whats 750 mill to them really??.....I am upset I can't afford this, sounds like a safe bet to me!
Resale value would be massive for them:
1. Sell Stars to Caesars
2. Sell FTP2 to MGM
3. Wash your hands and leave with a few birrrrrion
ya, I heard this on quad jacks last night and it blew me away lol
fuck......if they said it on QJ's, I must be full of shiite
Yu darvish
haha, yeah, that place is a bit of a joke sometimes
I had to shut off the podcast last night after they did a great job of covering the PS/FTP rumors, but then they had JRB on - and they started talking poker strat, i gtfo'd pretty quick lol
Yeah I get that, but if a company goes out and buys another company why are they going to take the time to run it differently if they already have a product out there? The idea is to swallow competition up no?
If another company bailed FTP out and ran it like the old days (bonuses/nosebleeds/etc) that would make sense, i think there is a reason why stars has now implemented "rush poker", new nose bleed tables, different bonus structures to finally put the dagger in FTP and the innovations they did.
Whether money is on 1 site or 5 million sites it is still the same poker money. It makes more sense to have 1 site with 5M users from a logistical standpoint (marketing/servers/customer service etc)
I do agree that it is healthy for more competition but it really isnt competition if the same company owns both sites.
The GBT Repayment Plan, Fact vs Fiction | Diamond Flush Poker
Not many people aware of how horrible the repayment or ROW players was going to be with Mr Tapie.
I was gonna put a long retort in......but I'm too lazy....and, I agree with u......so I won't
VIDEO: Business Ethics with Howard Lederer | PokerNews
I was gonn...
Kraft makes several different brands that compete at several different price points to cater to all customers.
Pokerstars already does that with all different types of games and buy ins etc.
Now if you said "pokerstars is the high end model reserved for bigger buy ins etc" there may be an argument.
If I am a poker player sell me on the difference between two sites owned by the same person theoretically offering the same game but different names.
Saying one site is softer than the next doesn't really apply because at this point stars has been operational and anyone who was a decent player was playing on both sites to begin with and I highly doubt any of the fish who do come back to ftp will want to re deposit once they get paid out.
It will most likely be a rush on the bank so to speak.
Either way I am happy that things will work out and its always interesting to have these discussions.
HAHAHAHA......its poker, I am usually rational
I don't believe they will run it, not at least until after they have paid out and converted players. Then they will burn it to the ground while sipping DOM.
PokerStars Buys Full Tilt Poker
jon, u know how credible this is?
it blows not having 2+2 at such an important time!! :mad:
Seems to be a summary of all credible pieces we have heard so far. I am on the Stars PR list, so will get anything breaking just as everybody puts it up, so will be able to verify then. I would expect PokerNews to be first with real news, some of the smaller sites like to jump gun IMO.
tapie is taking all of FTP's staff and starting his own company...
They should buy UB somehow lol
" the DOJ is asking for more money, close to $1B, Scheinberg (PS) is insisting that he not be required to admit to having done anything wrong, and Ray Bitar is trying to get something out of the deal (unknown if the something is related to dropping his own charges or financial gain). "
i remember DOJ was seeking 3 billion before, so they have come down. Also, the old number when this news first broke was 750 million.. so there has been movement the past week.
all i got lol sry I know its not much.
I had problems cashing out of this site when they ran into financial problems. They ended up closing doors with player balances owing. Pokerstars bought their debt and database, so they have played the white knight before.
And FTP players are a far better investment
PokerStars Saves Fleet Street Games Players - European Poker News