On Tuesday, Full Tilt Poker officials in Dublin apologized to customers who have been separated from their funds for the last 15 months, which it dubbed a "long and difficult period." The statement, which appeared in a thread on PocketFives, opened by saying, "Full Tilt Poker is very pleased to announce the conclusion of a three-way transaction with PokerStars and the United States Department of Justice which will result in all of FTP's U.S. players having the opportunity to be paid."Full Tilt Poker's U.S. clientele won't just receive checks in the mail that they can then pay bills with or spend as they see fit. Instead, Full Tilt users in the United States will need to file a claim with the U.S. Department of Justice's Asset Forfeiture Money Laundering Service in order to be repaid. The exact process players will need to go through in order to claim their bankrolls has not been announced.
In an FAQ on the PokerStars Blog, inter-site transfers between Full Tilt and PokerStars were addressed: "We hope to have the functionality in place to allow inter-site transfers between Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars so that you can enjoy playing again on either platform of your choosing. We will provide additional guidance on this in the coming weeks." PokerStars also claimed it would not re-launch Full Tilt in France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, or Estonia.
PokerStars is on the hook for a $547 million payment to the U.S. Government and another $184 million to non-U.S. Full Tilt players. It owes $225 million of that to the DOJ by August 6th. Full Tilt officials called the nine-figure payment a "substantial amount of money." Non-U.S. player balances will be available within 90 days and PokerStars also has plans to reopen Full Tilt Poker as a separate site.
Full Tilt apologized to its customers for their troubles, saying, "Full Tilt Poker apologizes to all of its customers who endured a long and difficult period wondering whether this day would ever come." Site front man Ray Bitar surrendered to U.S. authorities earlier this month and was later freed on bail. Bitar (pictured) is now being electronically monitored and has travel restrictions, confined to his home in California and court hearings in New York.What will happen to Full Tilt Poker's staff in Dublin and elsewhere is not clear. The company thanked its employees in the same statement: "Full Tilt Poker expresses its appreciation to its loyal employees whose hard work over the last 15 months preserved the value of the Full Tilt Poker assets so a deal like this could be possible, and to PokerStars and the United States Department of Justice for their efforts in bringing about this resolution."
When Bitar turned himself in earlier this month, he said in an e-mail to Full Tilt staff that the company had "made arrangements for PokerStars to guarantee all July salaries" for Full Tilt employees. How much overlap will occur with PokerStars' staff, and consequently how many employees will be out of a job, remains to be seen.
On Tuesday, PokerStars announced plans to reopen Full Tilt Poker under its own brand. In comments in a feature article here on PocketFives, posters agreed they'd welcome playing on a re-launched Full Tilt. To that extent, one poster asserted, "If PokerStars owns and runs Full Tilt, then it's all good. Full Tilt will be 100% PokerStars' operations and they have done everything correctly."A member of PocketFives from the United Kingdom poker community perhaps summed up the sentiments of players the best: "If Tapie or most other entities had bought FTP, I would say 100% that I would not have played on the site, but since it's PokerStars and they run the best site on the internet, I will definitely be playing on the re-launched FTP."
In a press release posted on the PokerStars Blog, room officials noted that "innovative features, the authentic poker, and the cutting-edge software" propelled Full Tilt to become the second largest online poker room in the world prior to its shuttering in September 2011.
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