In one of the first pieces of positive news to emerge for players since last Friday’s indictments of the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, the U.S. Department of Justice has struck a deal with the former two sites to return player funds. A press release distributed by the Department of Justice on Wednesday morning read in part, “This agreement will facilitate the return of money so that players can register their refund requests directly with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.”

Players concerned about whether they’d ever see their online bankrolls again can take some solace in the Justice Department’s press release, which continued, “This office expects the companies to return the money that U.S. players entrusted to them, and we will work with the poker companies to facilitate the return of funds to players, as today’s agreements with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker demonstrate.”

As part of the agreement, PokerStars and Full Tilt vowed not to facilitate or allow real money games for players in the United States. In exchange, the Department of Justice will grant both sites the use of their primary domain names, PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com, “to facilitate the withdrawal of U.S. players’ funds held in accounts with the companies.” No deposits are allowed from U.S. players going forward.

Interestingly, the Department of Justice press statement explicitly approves real money play on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker for those located outside of the United States: “The agreements do not prohibit, and, in fact, expressly allow for, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to provide for, and facilitate, players outside of the United States to engage in playing online poker for real money. “

A special government monitor will be appointed in order to ensure that the world’s two largest online poker sites are complying with the terms set forth on Wednesday.

What the cashout process will be for U.S. players remains to be seen. At the time of writing, PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com have the all-too-familiar FBI warning plastered on them. The image is chalk full of U.S. code and features warnings about fines and prison time.

If you haven’t yet noticed, the Department of Justice press release did not mention the return of the AbsolutePoker.com, UB.com, or UltimateBet.com domain names, all of which were seized as part of last Friday’s actions. To that end, the statement reveals that another deal could be in the works: “The government stands to enter the same agreement with Absolute Poker if it so chooses.”

After the Department of Justice revelation was posted in a thread in Poker Sites, one PocketFives.com member from Illinois weighed in, saying, “That hurricane force wind gust was the sigh of all the U.S. poker players. At least everyone can get their money off, but playing is still an issue.”

Following the indictments and the corresponding domain seizures, PokerStars picked up shop and moved to PokerStars.eu, while Full Tilt Poker headed for FullTiltPoker.co.uk. Absolute Poker and UB.com can now be found at AbsolutePoker.eu and UBPoker.eu, respectively. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are no longer taking U.S. action, while the CEREUS Network is, but it’s not allowing U.S. players to cash out, deposit, or withdraw.

Meanwhile, sites like Bodog, Carbon Poker, and Cake Poker remain open for business in the United States.