Players who have had their money frozen in their Full Tilt accounts since April 2011 may finally be seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It appears that PokerStars will be acquiring the remaining assets of Full Tilt through the Department of Justice. PokerStars has agreed to reimburse monies owed to Full Tilt players everywhere except in the US. Players in the US will have to go through the Department of Justice to claim the money owed.
Here's the meat of the statement from PokerStars:
The total amount to be paid by PokerStars is USD$547 million which will be payable over a period of three years. The money paid to the US Government will in part be used to reimburse former Full Tilt Poker customers in the United States, through a remission process to be administered by the Department of Justice. PokerStars repaid all amounts owing to its own U.S. customers shortly after it closed its U.S. operations.Please take a look at the Diamond Flush Poker site for the full statement.
At the very least this is encouraging news. Having to deal with the DOJ (or any government entity) is sure to be a slow, frustrating process. Plus filing a claim for money they are claiming was obtained outside of the law will probably make a number of players think twice before they jump on that train. I guess we'll have to wait a little longer here in the states to see how it all unwinds.
For those who are interested, there's also a FAQ thread at 2+2.
For now there's a ray of hope, which is more than we've had for the past 15 months.
Fortunately I have no money on Full Tilt, but if I did, unless it was a lot, I'd think long and hard before trying to get it back from the Feds.
ReplyDeleteAre they even planning on giving back 100%?
Although I only deposited one time for $50 on FT, I never withdrew any of my winnings and just let it build into what is now a sizeable amount. Boy, do I wish I had pulled at least some of it out.
ReplyDelete20/20 hindsight.