Malta LGA on Everleaf Poker Situation

When the Everleaf Poker Network abruptly pulled out of the American market leaving US players unpaid, followed a "cease and desist" order from enforcement authorities. The investigation has been continued by Malta regulator, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA), which confirmed in a statement on Thursday that not all the complaints it has received were from "genuine players" but were from marketing affiliates. According to the statement, since the beginning of 2013 Everleaf has been under scrutiny due to slow payment of players. Although its efforts have resulted in a number of players being paid, complaints are still being lodged. As the regulator claims, some complaints came from "non-genuine players” who were investigated and found to originate from "affiliates disguising themselves as players." "Notwithstanding, the LGA was and still is systematically contacting all players with genuine complaints to process their cases, but as Everleaf is currently under investigation, the LGA would not be prudent to disclose any further information at this stage," it was stated. Many players have already questioned the will and capability of the LGA to protect them from non-compliant operators bearing in mind disasters like the Purple Lounge failure and the segregation of its player funds. In the current Everleaf situation the LGA position should be very clear, and the longer the enquiry drags on, the more damage will be made regarding the regulator's reputation.