According to a Forbes article published on Tuesday, "There are people at the Department of Justice who are uncomfortable with the idea of paying U.S. players money that was won in online poker games played on Full Tilt's website." In essence, rather than being paid back their full balances, Full Tilt Poker players may only receive their initial deposits.Educating the DOJ about the merits of paying back account balances in full is the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a 1.2 million member strong poker lobbying group whose Executive Director, John Pappas, sat down with PocketFives on Thursday.
To start off, Forbes summed up the argument for why U.S. players' deposits should be paid back, as opposed to full balances: "The Department of Justice has consistently taken the position that online poker violates U.S. law. This position is what led to [Preet] Bharara's crackdown on the online poker industry in 2011, the shutdown of the U.S.-facing websites of PokerStars and Full Tilt, the indictment of 11 individuals, and a $3 billion civil forfeiture lawsuit."
Forbes summarized, "Since online poker is a no-no, according to the Federal Government, lawyers working for the Government are not so sure that the Department of Justice should be paying out money that was won in online poker games."
Pappas conceded that no decision has been made regarding what U.S. players will see returned to them from their Full Tilt Poker accounts. But, he added, "I don't see any way they would make any determination that just deposits would be the rational move. It's simply much easier to pay off account balances. It's also consistent with what they've already allowed for. They already allowed PokerStars to repay full account balances. They had given Full Tilt permission to do so as well, but it was then they found out that Full Tilt didn't have the money to pay players back."
Pappas (pictured) called the argument that player balances are the result of illegal gambling "specious," telling PocketFives, "It's a specious argument that player balances are the proceeds of illegal gambling. I would challenge anyone to show me the Federal law that says it's illegal for players to play online poker. The winnings are not rake; it is players' money. Overall, there are a number of reasons from the logistical side, historical side, and legal side for why they should pay players' account balances in full."If the historical, logistical, and legal arguments all point to players receiving their account balances in full, then why the debate? Why would Forbes and other media outlets concede that the process is up in the air? Pappas explained, "No one has said what the process will be one way or the other, so there is debate. I think it's best for us to educate the DOJ on why refunding 100% of players' balances makes sense and hopefully they'll make that determination."
Once a framework for repaying players in the United States is determined, how long will it take? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Pappas prognosticated, "This is going to be a major undertaking for the DOJ. I think players would much prefer that they get it right rather than get it done fast, though, and I think we need to be cognizant of that. This is a completely new thing for the DOJ to deal with. Their staff will need to deliberate on how they will disperse funds."As a result of the uncertainty, the PPA has launched a Repayment Resource Center. Right now, no information on the repayment process is available, but players are encouraged to enter their name and e-mail address in order to receive updates as they become available.
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