POKER/GAMBLING NEWS

[blueday]

Full Tilt Players To Be Paid Eventually

Rumors say that players might have their money before Christmas this year

News broke on Friday that a long-awaited solution between Pokerstars and the US Justice Department had been hammered out and that it could lead to the acquisition of Full Tilt Poker and the payment of its owed players in the near future.

As Wendeen Eolis wrote: "Without giving away the identity of a consistently impeccable resource, it is now safe to say announcements for public dissemination are in the works. At this point I am ready to go out on a limb; FTP customers will see their monies well in time for Christmas shopping."
     
It was added by Chris Costigan he had access to documents and information according to which a solution was in sight.

Following the approval by the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York of a deal for Pokerstars to acquire Full Tilt Poker, "...all players owed monies by Full Tilt Poker will be receiving their funds with an announcement forthcoming directly from the US Attorney’s Office very shortly."

Source

[blueday]

Update: Full Tilt Poker Confirms Takeover Negotiations

US DoJ agrees to PokerStars acquisition

An announcement came this week from Full Tilt Poker that the US Department of Justice agreed to the acquisition of FTP by Pokerstars, in order to facilitate the payouts of players who are owed monies.

It has been specified that the three-way DoJ-Pokerstars-FTP deal will see the company’s civil forfeiture proceedings with the U.S. Department of Justice end, but that criminal charges will remain.

Also, the deal envisages that PokerStars should pay a substantial amount of money to the United States – in the area of $330 million. In return, the government has agreed that all of Full Tilt Poker’s U.S. players will be able to request a compensation for their losses out of those funds.

Things will also look better when PokerStars enables immediate cash withdrawal or play of the account balances for all of Full Tilt Poker’s non-U.S. players, within ninety days. All together, the deal is estimated to be worth over $730 million with elements payable over three years.

On the occasion, FTP apologized to its customers, giving them credit for enduring a long and difficult period "wondering whether this day would ever come." They also expressed gratitude to its loyal employees "whose hard work over the last 15 months preserved the value of the Full Tilt Poker assets so a deal like this could be possible, and to PokerStars and the United States Department of Justice for their efforts in bringing about this resolution."

According to a FTP lawyer who played a very prominent role during the whole period, Jeff Ifrah, "Today, Full Tilt surrendered their assets to the U.S. Department of Justice, who then sold those assets to Poker Stars for $731 million.  Of that payment, $330 million will be administered by the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Section to reimburse Full Tilt’s U.S. players."

At the moment, it is not known if the deal will have any effect on a civil class action against FTP, filed by lead plaintiff Judy Fahrner in Illinois. It is claimed in the class action that, "Upon information and belief, Full Tilt's Board of Directors distributed approximately $443,860,529.89 to themselves and other owners between April, 2007 and April, 2011."

In related news, it has been reported that the DoJ has also achieved a deal with Absolute Poker and Ultimatebet, according to which those entities will forfeit all assets to the Department of Justice, and the government will abandon its massive civil claims against the companies in return.

Source

[blueday]

Update: New Details of PokerStars-FTP Deal

USA doors opening to PokerStars

Certain details of a deal between PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the US Justice Department, have been released by PokerStars directors on Aug. 1, according to which:

* FTP is to forfeit all assets to the US government. The assets will then be transferred to PokerStars, which will pay $547 million to the US government over the following three years for them.

* FTP players who are owed monies will be able to claim relief from the DoJ Asset Forfeiture Money Laundering Service.

* Another $184 million will be paid by PokerStars directly without restriction to owed FTP customers outside the USA. The timeframe for this is 90 days.

* The deal will enter into force when PokerStars pays the initial tranche of $225 million. This must be done within the next six days.

* On its part, the US government will drop all civil forfeiture and money laundering charges against individuals related to PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which may clean the slate for the company to take part in any US legalized online poker market that may evolve.

Also, it has been specified in the statement that PokerStars plans to re-open Full Tilt Poker within 90 days of the formal implementation of the deal, and that it will be operated as a separate brand under a "new, independent management team."

Speaking of which, the management will not be allowed to include founder and major stakeholder Isai Scheinberg, one of the Black Friday indictees, or FTP directors like Ray Bitar, Nelson Burtnick, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst.

Furthermore, PokerStars management will not enter the French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Belgian or Estonian markets with the FTP brand, while Full Tilt will remain present in Ireland, with legal compliance and regulatory supervision transferred to PokerStars' Isle of Man offices.

In addition, the company revealed plans to enable financial transactions between accounts in both brands.

It has been stated by Mark Scheinberg, chairman of the Pokerstars board: “We are delighted we have been able to put this matter behind us, and also secured our ability to operate in the United States of America whenever the regulations allow.”

A confirmation of the deal also arrived from Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who stated that the deal has allowed the US government to "quickly get significant compensation into the victim players’ hands."

Source

[blueday]

Update: US Punters to Get Their FTP Monies with Help from Poker Players Alliance

Action group claims players will be fully paid, according to terms of the settlement deal

After the announcement of the Pokerstars’ acquisition deal on Full Tilt Poker, the Poker Players Alliance issued a statement that it is ready to provide assistance in the long awaited pay-outs to players through US government agencies.

In its statement, the Alliance stressed:

“The government has not yet released the precise details on how reimbursements will occur. It is the PPA's position that the government must take all steps necessary to ensure the process for the players to recover their full funds is not unduly burdensome. PPA's legal team will remain fully involved as the ‘voice of the player’ to ensure our members are heard throughout this process."

In addition, in light of the uncertainty on how the restitution scheme is to be implemented, the PPA sent a note to the Department of Justice's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, noting that sufficient money is involved in the terms of the FTP-Pokerstars settlement to enable all owed US players to get their money through the government's pay-out system.

In the note, it also called on the government to make use of the PPA's experience, knowledge and resources in order to facilitate a fast introduction of a player-friendly and efficient "process for remission," adding its own view on the fair way of calculating the amounts owed to FTP players.

Source

[blueday]

FTP Payment Plan Outlined and Revealed by PokerStars

This week, PokerStars revealed its payment plan for Full Tilt Poker customers following the re-launch of the site on November 6.

Namely, former FTP players from Estonia, France, Spain, Denmark and Belgium are to be paid through the locally-licensed PokerStars platform, by pairing a PokerStars account with their Full Tilt account, thus being able to either withdraw the funds or use their balances on the local Pokerstars site.

The negotiations regarding the payout of Italian punters are still ongoing with the Italian regulator AAMS, with further details expected in near future.

Regarding players in regions such as Ireland and the UK, they will gain access to their accounts at Full Tilt once the site re-launches.

The company assured all players that it has been working with regulators "...in all relevant jurisdictions to ensure that repayment is conducted in strict compliance with local regulatory requirements that ensure the security of player accounts and confirmation of the rightful ownership of those accounts.”

In the meantime, US players are still waiting for their government to finalize its payout scheme, which will be funded from the $547 million paid by Pokerstars as part of its settlement and acquisition deal. Apparently, the US government is still considering applicants from independent third parties that have the expertise to make such substantial payments.

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[Rosebud]

Thanks for the info blue!! And BTW

[blueday]

You're welcome....and welcome back.  Missed ya.

blue

[Rosebud]

You're welcome....and welcome back.  Missed ya.

blue

Thanks blue,missed you too!!

[blueday]

FeltStars Shuts Its Doors

From this week, the US-friendly Merge Poker Network skin FeltStars is no longer accepting any action, for reasons undisclosed.

As the site advised its players, “The entire FeltStars Team would like to thank all of our loyal players for all the years you have played poker on FeltStars.

“We are saddened to announce that we will be leaving online poker and [will] no longer offer these services on our website.”

The operator, which has been around since 2008 assured players that their account balances are secure, being held by the network, which will help them transfer positive balances to other Merge skins, where they will have to open a new account and then ask Merge Gaming to move their balance across.

Source

[kattboots]

OMG and WTF? Just like that! Poof! No more Feltstars... I wonder what this means? Thanks for the info blue!

katt

[Rosebud]

I hear you Katt and for me it means one less place to play at!!

[blueday]

Yes it's darned frustrating and annoying for sure.  Yet another USA site bite sthe dust....sigh

[kattboots]

The really bad part is that I was going to sign up with Feltstars this week because of the info you shared the other day blue. I just missed PokerStars too before it shut the door. Back when blue was coaxing me over the poker threshold! Dang it.

katt

[blueday]

Update: FTP Sends Advisory to US Players, Releases Info about Rewards Program

After sending an informational email to non-US players, the new Full Tilt Poker, now owned by Pokerstars and the Rational Group, addressed US players with a note that was supposed to show that the company cares about them even though it does not serve them at present.

In the message the US players were reminded that based on a deal between Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and the US Department of Justice, neither Full Tilt Poker nor Pokerstars will offer real money online poker in the USA "...until it is permissible to do so under relevant law."

In addition, the email reads:

"In relation to your account balance, you will have the opportunity to file petition with the DOJ through a remission process which will be administrated by the DOJ.

"In light of the above, only play chip games will be available to Full Tilt Poker players in the U.S. following re-launch, in the first week of November, 2012. Your Full Tilt Points balance will remain intact in your account.

"Please note that we are unable to answer queries in relation to your funds - all such questions should be directed to the DOJ in accordance with the procedure to be defined by them."

In related news, an announcement came from Full Tilt’s poker room manager Shyam Markus about the company’s reward program which will be launched along with the revamped site, in November.

According to him, the Full Tilt Reward Programme is not a PokerStars initiative but an original Full Tilt idea, which was under development at the time of the Black Friday crackdown.

It now comes in a new and improved form than the initial concept, so it will offer weekly cash payments based on Full Tilt Points (FTP's) earned that week, topping out at $2.50 for every 100 Full Tilt Points awarded.

Markus also said that the program will be available to eveyone and that it includes:

-     “Unlike affiliate-paid rakeback, there are no deductions of fees (store purchases, promotions, etc, therefore, the 25 percent mentioned above will almost always beat the 27 percent that rakeback was giving,” he said.

-     “Because the weekly cash payments are now based on points earned, FTP’s will now be earned using the Weighted Contributed method instead of the Dealt method.

-     “The weekly cash payments don't use up the FTP’s earned, so players can still spend them in the store. Depending on how they are spent, points add an additional 4-5 percent to the program, giving the top level of the new program a giveback of up to 30 percent.

-     “Since there are no fee deductions, all FTP’s are worth more to former rakeback players than previously, which increases the value of promotions like Happy Hour and Take 2.

-     “Full Tilt will have a transition from Iron Man and Black Card to this new program, so long-term players of both promotions will likely get a leg up in the new program from the start.

-     “The top level of this program is significantly easier to achieve than Black Card was.  The Black Card store will be changed so that anyone in the new top level can use it. This means that more players will be eligible to purchase cash bonuses in the store.

-     “If player's qualified for the 2011 Iron Man Mid-Year Bonus, they will still receive it when the site re-launches.

-     “The Black Card program will return (not at re-launch, but eventually) in a brand new way. Expect a little news about that soon."

Finally, he pointed out the following things about the site relaunch: that it will be available for download, install and even log in before November 6th, that the same log-in PIN will be in effect, that it will feature the same lobby, with a multi-currency cashier in the pipeline, that the .eu site is a top priority for the company and is expected to be one of the first updates after the re-launch, and that players will be able to pair Full Tilt and PokerStars accounts by logging in to both sites and using a pairing code to link them, with more info about the procedure coming soon.

[utl=http://www.latrce[/url]estpokerbonuses.com/poker-news/2012-10-12/update-ftp-sends-advisory-to-us-players-releases-info-about-rewards-program/]sou

[orren]

That is soooo not fair. I was able to deposit only one time at Full Tilt before they would no longer take my credit card. Now I can only play with "Fun money".

They should call it "Anything but Fun, Money".