It is the news that the poker community has been waiting to hear for well over a year now.
After several false starts, the United States Department of Justice and PokerStars have announced a settlement of the civil claims by the federal government against the number one online poker site in the industry. As a part of that settlement, PokerStars will assume the assets of the defunct Full Tilt Poker, adding another layer of excitement for the poker world.
At around noon Eastern Time today, PokerStars released a press statement that brought an end to the 2011 “Black Friday” indictments on several fronts. In that press release, PokerStars stated, “(We) have reached a settlement with the U. S. Department of Justice Southern District of New York. As a part of the settlement agreement, PokerStars has acquired the assets of Full Tilt Poker and has committed to the full reimbursement of Full Tilt Poker customers outside of the United States.”
Before American players take up arms to rail against the announcement, PokerStars has assured U. S. players they will be paid. PokerStars is paying a $547 million settlement over a three year time span. This money – to be paid to the U. S. government – will, in part, go to pay off players from the U. S. who haven’t been able to access their funds since April 2011. That payment process will be administered by the DoJ, but full details of the processes the DoJ will use have yet to be revealed.
Worldwide players will have two options. PokerStars has said in their statement that, as a part of the agreement, they will repay those international players within 90 days from today. That money will be segregated away from operational funds and totals approximately $184 million, according to the PokerStars press release. There will be no restrictions on withdrawals and players will receive their money in its entirety.
For those that choose not to withdraw their money from Full Tilt, PokerStars has stated that they will relaunch Full Tilt Poker in “most markets” as a separate brand. This will occur after PokerStars has placed a new management team in place to run Full Tilt Poker from its Dublin location. Regulatory oversight of the new Full Tilt Poker will be transferred to the Isle of Man.
Oddly enough, the settlement between PokerStars and the federal government does not exonerate any personnel from PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Isai Scheinberg and Paul Tate from PokerStars and Ray Bitar and Nelson Burtnick from Full Tilt Poker still have criminal charges facing them regarding the “Black Friday” indictments and they are prohibited from having any involvement with either PokerStars or the new Full Tilt Poker. Scheinberg will have to give up any leadership of PokerStars – and have no involvement with Full Tilt Poker – within 45 days.
Additionally, the poker professionals from Full Tilt Poker named in the September addendum to the April indictments will not be allowed to have any involvement with either company. Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst were the three players named as members of the Board of Directors of Full Tilt Poker who were involved in what Preet Bharara, the District Attorney for the SDNY, called a “global Ponzi scheme.”
It is rumored that Burtnick is on his way back to the United States and will be met by federal authorities, who will take him into custody on the charges he faces. Bitar already returned to the United States earlier this month and is currently awaiting trial, while Scheinberg and Tate have, to this point, eluded American authorities. Lederer, Ferguson and Furst also remain free.
Of course, the news regarding the settlement has been greeted by ecstatic celebration across the poker world. Many of the Team PokerStars Pros, including Jonathan Duhamel, David Williams and Vanessa Selbst, trumpeted the success of their sponsor coming to the rescue of the internet poker world. The news of the settlement caused several websites to collapse under the traffic.
With this chapter of the sage complete, there are still the criminal complaints against those charged to finish. But the announcement of the settlement of the “Black Friday” indictments against PokerStars – and their purchase of Full Tilt Poker – has to be viewed as a cause for celebration.