Full Tilt, the poker website rescued in August after legal and licensing problems shut it down, is on a recruitment drive.
Rival Pokerstars took over Full Tilt, whose service hub is in Dublin, last August, following a court settlement in New York that involved paying about €600 million to the poker site’s former players and a complete split from its previous owners.
This week, a new company, Rational FT Services, responsible for servicing the website, advertised for staff to work at its Dublin offices in Cherrywood Industrial Park. The jobs are mainly in information technology, content management, data analysis and engineering, as well as finance and other roles.
A spokesman said yesterday that job numbers there have grown from 175 to more than 200 in recent weeks and confirmed the business is continuing to recruit. “We have a number of remaining open positions that we are seeking to fill,” he said.
The change of ownership means that Full Tilt is now part of the Rational Group, which employs 1,500 people globally. Its poker and gaming operations are licensed in the Isle of Man. The website relaunched last month after a turbulent period that saw its previous owners fall foul of authorities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Last year, New York prosecutor Preet Bharara accused its executives and shareholders of siphoning off players’ funds.
Its Irish-based companies, Pocket Kings and Pocket Kings Consulting, were named in court documents detailing the allegations.
Licence lost
The controversy led to the loss of a licence from the Alderney Gaming Commission in the Channel Islands, and to the shutting down of its website.
Its former chief executive, Raymond Bitar, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he defrauded former Full Tilt clients of up to $430 million, which was paid to the firm’s executives and owners.
When Mr Bitar was charged in a New York court in August, Mr Bharara compared the business to a Ponzi scheme.
The New York courts approved Full Tilt’s takeover by Pokerstars, but barred Mr Bitar from having anything to do with the business. Mr Bitar was a director of the Pocket Kings entities.
