September 30 2011, Brett Collson

Another day, another huge Full Tilt Poker development. One day after having its license revoked by the Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC), FTP released a statement announcing an acquisition agreement with a French investment group. Meanwhile, Betfair admitted to hiding identity fraud from its customers, PokerStars revealed the schedule for the PCA, and more.

In Case You Missed It

There were huge headlines all week long and we’re afraid you may have missed something. Catch up on all things Full Tilt Poker and get your tournament results in the PokerNews Weekly.

On Friday, Full Tilt Poker announced it had come to an acquisition agreement with the Bernard Tapie Group. Read the press release and find out more about the key players behind the acquisition.

Ray Bitar also made headlines on Friday. We learned that the Full Tilt Poker CEO had filed a claim against the U.S. Department of Justice’s forfeiture allegations.

Sunday is almost here and that means football. Find out which NFL trends you can trust in the latest Pigskin Diaries.

The high-stakes cash games at PokerStars are still going strong after the conclusion of the World Championship of Online Poker. The Online Railbird Report fills you in on this week’s biggest winners and losers.

Betfair Reveals Data Hack After 18 Months of Silence

Online gambling giant Betfair admitted Friday that it failed to notify customers that their personal details had been stolen by cyber hackers 18 months ago.

The criminals, believed to be from Cambodia, reportedly stole 3.15 million account usernames with encrypted security questions, 2.9 million usernames with one or more addresses and 89,744 account usernames with bank account details, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Betfair said it was able to recover the information without harm to customers and that its security measures made the information unusable for fraud. The Daily Telegraph reports that the theft wasn’t detected until a computer server malfunctioned in May 2010, leading to the discovery that “at least nine servers [had] been compromised in the UK and two in Malta.”

Read more about the Betfair scandal at the Daily Telegraph.

PokerStars Announces 2012 PCA Schedule

The official tournament schedule for the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was released on Thursday. The flagship series of the PokerStars live circuit is set to take place in the Bahamas from Jan. 5 through 14, with the Main Event running from Jan. 7 through 13.

As usual, PokerStars has put together a schedule that offers something for every type of player. Forty-one events are scheduled during the 10-day festival, including a $5,000 8-Game Championship, a $2,100 Battleship event, and even a Dealer Button Choice tournament. The $100,000 Super Higher Roller and $25,000 Higher Roller events will be back, too, to the delight of top pros in the game.

“I’ve never missed the PCA and never will,” said Team PokerStars member Daniel Negreanu, who finished second in last year’s $100,000 Super High Roller Event to fellow PokerStars pro Eugene Katchalov. “It’s grown each year and has become a must-play poker festival for every serious poker player. It’s not just about the Main Event, because there is a full schedule of events for both high- and low-rollers. There isn’t a better way to start off your 2012 than heading out to the PCA.”

A full complement of satellite qualifiers to the series are now running at PokerStars.com.

Visit the PCA website for an extensive look at the schedule.

New Bling at the EPT

European Poker Tour champs will be donning some new bracelets in Season 8. On Thursday, Global Poker Tours Limited announced a new partnership deal with luxury jeweler Shamballa Jewels, making the company the Official Bracelet Sponsor of EPT Main Events.

The new sponsorship deal will see Shamballa Jewels provide EPT Main Event bracelets, each one valued at an estimated “10,200 retail value, plus one EPT Grand Final bracelet valued at “25,000, for the winners of the events. The new-look bracelets have black engraved ceramic balls, three 18k white gold balls, and one 10mm diamond pavé made on an 18k rose gold ball.

The first Shamballa Jewels bracelet will be awarded at EPT London, which kicked off on Friday at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel. The first two event winners of Season 8 in Tallinn (Ronny Kaiser) and Barcelona (Martin Schleich) will also receive their customized jewelry at a later EPT venue.

“The EPT is delighted to welcome on board Shamballa Jewels as the Official Bracelet Sponsor of the tour for a second time,” said EPT President Edgar Stuchly. “The tour continues to go from strength to strength, attracting highly-renowned companies as sponsorship partners, highlighting the broad appeal of the European Poker Tour to companies outside the poker sphere.”

Have a look at the new bling at the PokerStarsBlog.

Festa al Lago Classic Kicks Off at Bellagio

The Festa al Lago Classic at Bellagio got under way on Thursday with the first of 16 tournaments on the schedule. The series, which is no longer a part of the World Poker Tour, runs through Oct. 14 and concludes with a $5,000 Main Event starting on Oct. 11.

The Main Event buy-in has been reduced from $10,000 and tournament officials are expecting a bigger turnout as a result. Last year, Randal Flowers bested a field of 335 players to win his second WPT title along with a top prize of $831,500.

This year’s Festa al Lago Classic features 15 no-limit hold’em events plus a $500 Omaha eight-or-better Event on Oct. 3.

Visit the Bellagio website for the full schedule.

Calculate the Odds with … Phil Hellmuth?

Phil Hellmuth has always believed in his “reads” more than in the math in poker. So we were a little surprised to discover that the Poker Brat had teamed up with app developer MEDL Mobile to create the Phil Hellmuth Poker Odds Calculator, which was announced this week.

The app calculates the odds of any hand and even allows users to put opposing players on a range of hands. It will then calculate the user’s chances of winning, losing and tying with that particular hand.

“You need to have solid control over your game to win,” said the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner. “If you want that control, you need to make better decisions, and that comes from having the best information you can get!

If nothing else, this should make Hellmuth’s insurance negotiations a lot easier.

The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.

London, baby!

Team PokerNews is in London for the latest PokerStars European Poker Tour stop. After arriving, Sarah Grant found some time to explore the city – and show us a number of different looks.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

September 30 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

On Friday, Full Tilt Poker announced on PokerStrategy.com that an acquisition agreement was signed with the Bernard Tapie Group. This comes just one day after the Alderney Gambling Control Commission revoked Full Tilt Poker’s license.

The announcement was made by Laurent Tapie, managing director of the Bernard Tapie Group.

Laurent Tapie is the son of Bernard Tapie, a French businessman and politician. Bernard Tapie is credited with rebuilding a number of bankrupt companies and making them profitable - his most famous is Adidas, which he owned from 1990 to 1993. He also owned a cycling team that won the Tour de France twice and a soccer club that won the French Championship five times in a row, as well as the Champions League in 1993. Bernard Tapie’s record isn’t only littered with wins however, in 1993, he was accused of fixing a match between his soccer club and another, for which he served a seven-month prison sentence. Tapie was also convicted of tax fraud and was sued by his banker for repayment of a $240 million loan.

Reprinted below is the press release in full:

Full Tilt Poker and Groupe Bernard Tapie Sign Acquisition Agreement

Dublin, Ireland (September 30, 2011) Laurent Tapie, Managing Director of Groupe Bernard Tapie announced today that the group has signed an exclusive agreement with the Board of Directors of Full Tilt Poker to acquire the company and all of its associated assets.

This agreement, which includes the repayment of Full Tilt Poker’s world-wide players in full, is subject to several conditions; the first of which is a favorable resolution with the United States Department of Justice. Discussions with the United States Department of Justice will begin immediately.

Groupe Bernard Tapie has over 30 years of experience in the salvation of financially distressed businesses, with over 40 companies acquired and managed to profitability, the most well-known being the sport equipment giant, Adidas.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Follow Elaine Chaivarlis on Twitter – @LaneyLV