We’ve had a number of members of the PocketFives community ask for an update on the ongoing sale of Full Tilt Poker to Groupe Bernard Tapie. With the rumored transaction deadline of last Friday having come and gone, the online poker community has been left to wonder whether a contract will actually be finalized and, if so, if it could happen by this Friday. In response, PocketFives sought an update.

A source close to the negotiations told PocketFives on Thursday morning, “I don’t want to speculate. It is anybody’s guess whether it is this week or next.” We can safely say that when a deal is finally struck, a major announcement will be made.

Last week, a source told PocketFives that the conclusion of Tapie’s acquisition of Full Tilt Poker could be near: “The deadline for a deal is Friday [March 16th], and that is possible, but next week is more realistic in my opinion.” The sale was announced last September shortly after Full Tilt had its operating license formally revoked by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. One day before, the U.S. Government called Full Tilt a “global Ponzi scheme.” Read more.

Also last week, a Gambling Compliance article asserted that the deadline for a deal was Friday, March 16th: “The Bernard Tapie Groupe looks well placed to complete its agreement to buy Full Tilt Poker this week. Tapie and the owners of Full Tilt agreed to extend their deadline for completion until this Friday [March 16th] to allow for further due diligence and sources on both sides are confident that the deadline will be met.” As you know by now, last Friday came and went without word of a deal.

The rumored transaction will likely see the U.S. Department of Justice pay back U.S. Full Tilt customers, while Tapie will refund players from the rest of the world. However, whether players will be paid back in full, or a percentage of their bankrolls, remains to be seen.

Even when the deal is finalized, according to EGR, there are still several tasks that need to be completed before any cash can be refunded to U.S. users: “After [Tapie] closes with the Government, the Government still has to deal with the forfeiture proceedings, as they’re selling the assets through the court.”

EGR also received a tip last week that Tapie had secured an unnamed external investor for the yet-to-be-closed transaction. Recently, sources close to PocketFives have speculated that Tapie either does not have enough cash to close the deal or doesn’t want to spend the cash necessary, perhaps explaining the need for an external investor.

Oddly enough, Full Tilt Poker’s Ray Bitar (pictured) apologized to the poker community earlier this month, rationalizing his silence by saying that he didn’t want to derail any potential agreement. At the same time, he stated that he had been working “every single day” to refund players.

Nearly a year after Black Friday, however, U.S. players continue to be separated from their bankrolls. And lest we forget that in order for Full Tilt Poker to launch to the rest of the world, the site still needs a valid gaming license.

Today, the poker community has been buzzing about a Wicked Chops articlerevealing that Full Tilt Poker officials are “gearing up” for a re-launch. Steve “Chops” Preiss told PocketFives on Thursday, “For the last three months, we’ve been hearing a lot of contradictory chatter regarding whether or not this deal is going to go through. We have a couple of sources who don’t believe it will go through. Recently, the loudest chatter has been from people very well connected who are providing intelligence and details saying that it’s near completion and will go through.”

“I am still on the skeptical side given how long negotiations have been going on,” Preiss admitted. “However, I’m hearing way more now from other people who are close to the negotiations that the deal is going to happen.” Preiss guessed that a “reasonable” date for the re-launch of Full Tilt Poker would be by the start of the 2012 World Series of Poker in late May.