Nearly three years after their monies were frozen in one of the biggest scandals in online poker’s brief history, players from the United States should start seeing their funds from Full Tilt Poker before the scheduled date.
In a statement on the Two Plus Two forum dedicated to the ongoing Full Tilt debacle, Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas was “delighted” to confirm the news regarding the remissions. “I spoke with the AFMLS/DoJ (Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the U. S. Department of Justice) today (Wednesday) and they informed me that they have approved approximately 30,000 undisputed player claims totaling approximately $82 million in remissions,” Pappas wrote in his post on the thread. “Players with undisputed claims should be looking for an e-mail from Garden City Group (the administrator for claims in the Full Tilt case) within the next few weeks with instructions on how to receive their payment.”
Perhaps the important note in Pappas’ post is the “undisputed” claims. When the process for remission through Garden City Group began last fall, players could verify their balance on Full Tilt Poker against their own records. If they determined that was the amount they were due, they returned their petition not challenging the records as they were. These people are the 30,000 who should start to see their funds returned to them.
There are a couple of issues that Pappas points out in his post. “The DoJ could not provide me with a definitive date on when the e-mails (from Garden City Group) would go out and when the payments would be processed,” he wrote. “It does look like it will be in advance of their March 31 deadline, however.”
Some of those uncontested 30,000 claims may also have issues, Pappas notes. “Some of the 30,000 undisputed claims were filed incorrectly or incompletely,” he states. “Those individuals will receive an e-mail outlining the issues with their claim. I do not believe this is a significant number, but it (was) significant enough for the DoJ to raise it.”
Pappas cannot give the same good news to two segments of claimants in the Full Tilt Poker case. Affiliates and “Red Pros” – two segments that were given extra time to put their claims in due to disputes on whether they would be eligible for reimbursement – will have to wait to hear any news from the federal authorities. “Affiliates and pros are still unresolved,” Pappas wrote. “The DoJ and Garden City are working on this very diligently and I trust they will be sharing news with this affected class of players soon.” Pappas also indicated that there “isn’t a timeline” for players who filed disputed claims with Garden City Group.
Although the breakdown of the uncontested claims comes to approximately $2300 per player, the total of $82 million is a far cry from what was taken by the federal government regarding the “Black Friday” indictments of April 2011. The Department of Justice settled their case with PokerStars in August of 2012 for $731 million and, counting in the plea deals against those indicted in the “Black Friday” case, it is entirely conceivable that over $1 billion has been brought in by the Department of Justice regarding the case. The $82 million that has been determined to be “remission” to those undisputed cases is but a drop in the bucket compared to what has come into the government’s hands.
While this might be an issue to be examined at a future date, Pappas concludes his post by saying, “Overall, I was very impressed that the DoJ worked through these issues and shared the info with the PPA. It has been a long time coming, but I think Phase I and $82 million of players’ money will be returned very soon.”