PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com Return - First Step Towards US Cashouts

 

PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com Return - First Step Towards US Cashouts

Preet Bharara, chief prosecutor in the case against PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, just issued a statement that the seized internet domains will be returned to the companies. This is a first step towards allowing US players to withdraw their funds from PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

Preet BhararaThe statement explains that the US Attorney's office expects the indicted poker companies to refund their US players fully and that they are aiming at a close cooperation with the poker rooms to make it possible.

As a first step, the internet domains (PokerStars.com and Fulltiltpoker.com) have been returned, even though probably just temporarily.
Still significant roadblocks
Full Tilt Poker already released a statement as a reaction to this, stating that it welcomes the actions by the State Attorney, but still sees significant roadblocks before the money can be paid out.

The problems with paying their customers - as Full Tilt Poker sees them:

    * There is no authorized payment method for US customers
    * Full Tilt Poker has no accounting of the millions of dollars in player funds that were seized
    * The government hasn't permitted Full Tilt Poker to pay out any funds

Interestingly, the last point stands in contrary to the Attorney's office statement in which it says "each implicated poker company has at all times been free to reimburse any player's deposited funds."

In regard to Poker in oher parts of the world, the statement reads: "In addition, the agreements do not prohibit [...] PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to provide for [...] players outside of the United States to engage in playing online poker for real money."

Update, 16:20 GMT: PokerStars responds
The second poker room in question, PokerStars, also just released a statement. In it they "categorically deny" the allegations stated in the charging document and that that the will defend themselves and the two charged executives "robustly".

In regard to the US player withdrawals, PokerStars states that it is their "top priority" to return the funds and that they have always complied with the regulation enforced on the Isle of Man. This regulation requires a poker operator to segregate player assets from company assets and therefore player balances are "completely safe".

You can read the press release from the United States Attorney's office here.


You can read the full statement from Full Tilt Poker here:

Full Tilt Poker™ is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to regain the use of its worldwide domain name, www.fulltiltpoker.com.

Although players in the United States will not be permitted to engage in real-money play, the agreement expressly allows for real-money play outside of the United States.

In addition, the agreement represents an important first step towards returning funds to U.S. players because it allows Full Tilt Poker to utilize its domain to facilitate the withdrawal of player funds.  But, unfortunately, there remain significant practical and legal impediments to returning funds to players in the immediate future.  As a result of the recent enforcement action, there exists no authorized U.S. payment channel through which to make refunds; Full Tilt Poker has no accounting of the millions of dollars of player funds that were seized by the government; and the government has not agreed to permit any of the seized player funds to be returned to the players.

Finally, there are numerous legal and jurisdictional issues that must be considered before poker winnings can be paid out to players throughout the United States.  While Full Tilt Poker continues to believe that online poker is not illegal under federal law or in 49 states, the indictment and civil forfeiture action filed last Friday require Full Tilt Poker to proceed with caution in this area.

Notwithstanding these issues, Full Tilt Poker is ready to work diligently with the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York to try and resolve these issues and to get players their money back as soon as possible.


Below you can find the statement from PokerStars:

PokerStars is pleased to confirm that the US Department of Justice has agreed to release the www.pokerstars.com domain name for use by PokerStars outside the US.
The company categorically denies the allegations brought by the US Department of Justice on 15th April 2011 and is taking all steps necessary to robustly defend itself, and the two named individuals. Meanwhile, the company has stopped offering real money poker services in the United States.

PokerStars' services outside the US are not affected. The Company has received assurance from the Isle of Man regulator that its licence status is unchanged. The company remains compliant with all of its other international licences.

Following discussions with the US Department of Justice, PokerStars has now entered into an Agreement which has been publicly filed. The US Department of Justice Agreement expressly states that the domain name can be used by PokerStars outside the US to facilitate the provision of real money poker services, and that PokerStars can pay out player balances to its former customers in the US.

Returning US players' funds is a top priority for PokerStars and the company can now start the process of returning money to its former US customers.

All PokerStars player deposits are completely safe. The Isle of Man's strict licensing laws (similar to other jurisdictions where PokerStars holds licences) require all funds to be held in accounts that are segregated from company assets. PokerStars has always complied with this requirement and continues to do so. This money is readily available to meet withdrawal demands, indeed the company continues to comply with withdrawal requests from players based outside the US as normal.

Outside the US PokerStars continues to operate business as usual.
Read more !!