POTENTIAL NEW investors are circling Full Tilt Poker, raising the possibility that the gambling website, which employs 700 people in the Republic, will be able to start trading again.

Full Tilt had to shut down operations last week after the regulator in the Channel Island of Alderney, where it is registered, suspended its licence.

A Full Tilt subsidiary, Pocket Kings, employs 700 people in Dublin in software development and other key operations.

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) issued a statement this week saying it was in “early stage” talks with Full Tilt and a third party concerning a possible refinancing of the business.

“The objective of these discussions is to enable the site to reopen to its current and prospective players,” the regulator’s executive director, André Wilsenach, said.

The commission did not name the third party involved in talks with the company and the regulator. Reports are circulating that it is a group of European investors, while others have linked high-profile Las Vegas casino owner Jack Binion with a bid for the company.

The AGCC’s move last week stems from a US Department of Justice indictment of Full Tilt and other poker site executives alleging bank fraud and illegal gambling. Under federal law online gambling is illegal in the US. One of the consequences was that the US authorities froze accounts containing $150 million belonging to US-based players.

The AGCC is said to have been concerned that Full Tilt had not repaid the money to these players, and raised the issue with the company before suspending its licence last week. The US players have since launched a lawsuit in a bid to force the company to repay the cash. They have lodged their claim with a New York court.