Compensation To Victims Of Full Tilt Poker 'A Long Way Away,' Says Poker Players AllianceGroup's John Pappas Meets With Government |
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$159 million.
That’s about how much money is still owed to American victims of old Full Tilt Poker.
19 months.
That’s about how long Americans have been waiting for access to their accounts.
It has been more than three months since PokerStars handed U.S. federal authorities, as part of its own deal to get out of hot water, an initial settlement payment of $225 million, more than enough to compensate former U.S. Full Tilt Poker customers.
This week, the Poker Players Alliance, a lobbying group on Capitol Hill that does most of its work on the online poker legalization front, met with the Department of Justice.
The purpose? To figure out what is taking so long.
After sitting down with government officials, John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA, said in a statement that “completion of a refund claims process is a long way away.”
The slowness is particularly frustrating to poker players since PokerStars wanted to be the payment agent for Americans, Jeff Ifrah, an attorney who helped broker Full Tilt Poker’s settlement with the government, told Card Player in early August.
Questions also remain on whether or not frozen account balances will be returned in their entirety. Pappas maintained that 100 percent of funds is a must:
“We laid out compelling legal and practical arguments why full repayment was the only equitable solution. We also raised the issue of ‘player point’ balances and encouraged the DOJ to recognize the inherent value of these points when they consider what a player is owed. Our thoughts on these matters were well received; however, it was clear from our discussion that no decisions have been made regarding the manner of repayment of player balances.”
Another point which remains a mystery is precisely how victims can apply for compensation. Pappas wants it to be “streamlined” and “flexible.” In other words, it shouldn’t be too cumbersome for poker players to get their personal information verified.
The Department of Justice is not going at this alone. In August, the feds announced that a third-party “claims administrator” will be hired to pay out potentially 1.3 million people.
Pappas said there is no timeline for the pick. Up to 20 firms could have potentially bid on the contract, Card Player learned in August. It’s unclear what kind of fee such a firm would charge.
Pappas concluded: “We fully expect to keep a continued and open dialogue with the [DOJ] and we will continue to update you as more information becomes available.”
While Americans still wait, the new Full Tilt Poker has launched overseas and has reunited those customers with their respective funds.
Follow Brian Pempus on Twitter — @brianpempus
Comments
idun215
6 months ago
Time to put up or shut up. They are obviously dragging their feet in this situation. I wonder what kind of chance we would have if there was a massive lawsuit against the DOJ.
misfits
6 months ago
what else could you expect from the worthless sacks that make up the DOJ and the rest of our corrupt government? they dont want to pay anyone. leave it to them to say no to pokerstars when they could have paid everyone back in full long ago and instead have a months long bidding process to hire a third party processor which will of course take themselves a nice chunk of money to do what stars would have done for free. the U.S. government, colossal ineptitude at its finest.
I_P_Freely
6 months ago
I am very surprised.
Oh wait. No, I'm not. I predicted this.
agoo758
6 months ago
Did you? How about you explain to everyone all the thing you incorrectly predicted? Which is just about everything.
bmpek
6 months ago
when did the president know american poker players were being screwed???? oh wait he did not even know four americans were being killed in libya. get your prioties in a row. government does not give a crap about you or your single issue politics.
dsgnr4hire
6 months ago
bmpek, elections are over and your guy lost so just shut up already!!!
exOmorfia
6 months ago
"Victimes of Full Tilt Poker?" That's who we're the victims of? Uh huh. All I know is that my money was just fine until Black Friday. On Black Friday it was no longer fine. And that's not because of Full Tilt.
Internal bad guys and malfeasance and irresponsibility aside, all the mess inside Full Tilt would have, most likely, eventually been worked out without players ever having been the wiser.
The DOJ just picked a very bad time. They're the ones who created this disaster.
I_P_Freely
6 months ago
Your money was not fine before Black Friday. You just didn't know it.
You can blame Obama's DOJ for shutting down Full Tilt's operations, which they did. Just like Pokerstars. But they allowed both Full Tilt and Pokerstars to return players money to them in just a few weeks. Pokerstars returned everyone's money immediately. Full Tilt did not, and could not, because Lederer, Bitar, Ferguson, Furst, Ivey, and all the rest had taken it all. Unless you have evidence that the DOJ ordered Full Tilt's board of directors and executives to steal all their customers' money, you can't blame the DOJ for the money being gone.
THEJOEF
6 months ago
The only business that is as filthy as poker is??
Government!!! Anything that has any ties to the government is most likely working off its own idea of what is fair. That money should be taxed and checks cut immediately. I would bet that money lives in limbo forever.
John25
6 months ago
The Poker Industry?
You didn't build that!
djbrit2002
6 months ago
wow cardplayer you suck deleting my post. the post was that i hope no one gets any money back. that's what you all get for playing on those crooked ILLEGAL sites in the first place!!! go ahead you bums delete my fair and honest opinion again.
pokertruth
6 months ago
IF AND WHEN YOU FILE YOUR CLAIM WITH THE DOJ JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU CROSS YOUR T'S AND DOT YOUR I'S.
FOR SURE YOU WILL RECEIVE FROM THE DOJ A 1099 FORM OR SOME OTHER IRS FORM FOR EACH PRIOR YEAR.
EVENTUALLY YOU WILL HAVE TO FILE A TAX RETURN FOR EACH PRIOR YEAR WITH THE IRS AND YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY INCOME TAXES ON ALL PRIOR YEARS' UN-REPORTED INCOME.
THE FACT THAT YOU DID NOT WITHDRAW YOUR MONIES FROM YOUR FULL TILT ACCOUNT ON A YEARLY BASIS MAY NOT ABSOLVE YOU FROM PAYING INCOME TAXES FOR EACH PRIOR YEAR.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?