10 ms·

Full Tilt Poker Payments Arrive for U.S. Players

62 points by whbk 13y ago

mathattack 13y ago
Wow - I'm surprised that there would be any money left after all the legal wrangling.
- iSloth 13y ago
  There wasn't any money - PokerStars agreed to buy the shutdown Full Tilt Company, Infrastructure and Assets in full, then re-pay all the customers of Full Tilt our of their own pocket, mainly to stop the DOJ chasing after Pokerstars as well.
  - Phlarp 13y ago
    Part of me wonders if the same type of strong arming will start to happen with bitcoin.
    - dmix 13y ago
      Oh it will. MtGox already had assets seized by DHS/ICE: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/16/mt-gox-dwolla-account-money-seizure/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/16/mt-gox-dwolla-account-money...
ngokevin 13y ago
After filing for my claim in November, I got mine back yesterday (http://ngokevin.com/blog/poker11/ http://ngokevin.com/blog/poker11/). It shows up in my bank account as "Doj Poker Stars".
downandout 13y ago
Well that only took ~3 years. Thank you US Attorney Preet Bharara. I appreciate you protecting me from....me.
- differentView 13y ago
  I would have lost it all. Now, where can I buy some lotto tickets.
  - downandout 13y ago
    Those are taxed, so that's perfectly OK.
- marvin 13y ago
  By confiscating all your money, no less. Protecting and serving.
  - hackerboos 13y ago
    Don't forget empowering organised criminals.
- tzs 13y ago
  Do you like anything he does? He seems to have a pretty good record [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preet_Bharara http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preet_Bharara
  - ps4fanboy 13y ago
    Hes also the one who subpoenaed Mt.Gox http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/us-bitcoin-subpoena-idUSBREA1P18820140227 http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/us-bitcoin-subpoen...
  - downandout 13y ago
    Define "good". Obtaining oppressively long sentences for non-violent crimes isn't "good" for anyone imo. His brother made $500 million selling diapers. The world would be a better place if Preet were a diaper salesman like his brother instead of doing things like ensuring that poker players have to play illegally. The worst part is that he does all of this for one thing: camera time. He is angling for elected office on the backs of those whose lives he has destroyed while pursuing prosecutions that increasingly stretch the boundaries of criminal law.
whbk 13y ago
Got mine this morning, 1048 days later. Nice, but hardly makes up for this whole ordeal, yet another reminder of just how free the "Land of the Free" we live in is.
- Crito 13y ago
  I don't suppose there is any chance that they at least gave you some interest for your troubles?
  - whbk 13y ago
    Oh of course not, and I'll likely be treated to an audit to boot. People were selling their FTP balances for extremely low amounts (.20 on the dollar at one point?) though, so while ridiculous I'm still on cloud nine. Someone stole thousands of dollars from me and I got it back..not everyday that happens :)
    - at-fates-hands 13y ago
      Did you forget about it and then when the check showed up it was like finding a FIN ($20) in your jeans? Or did you feel like you were always going to get it, it was just a matter of time? Just curious, that's all.
      - whbk 13y ago
        I'd kept tabs on it by checking in on 2p2 (the StackOverflow/HN of poker) every few months -- there were long threads with people who had much more invested paying much more attention. I was lucky in that this occurred in the spring of my senior year of college, so I was able to move on without significant real-life impact other than a loss of secondary income stream. There were people with hundreds of thousands locked up, people who had been doing this for a living for several years who lost their homes after they were no longer able to pay their mortgage, etc. Early on I was iffy on whether or not I'd ever see my money back, but once PokerStars stepped in it became clear it was probably just a matter of (way too much) time. It was funny to see how the whole shut down unfolded -- it happened on a Friday morning and PokerStars had their ducks in a row software-wise, and were immediately able to boot American players from tables. Full Tilt, on the other hand, had their software written such that players could continue playing until they logged out or disconnected from the network. Myself and some other enterprising Americans set their computers to not go to sleep ever, so I was able to keep playing through Sunday. I was the last American playing in the last big FTP tournament that Sunday and ended up finishing in the 50s out of 7000+ players iirc, and was leading at several points with less than 100 players remaining. Had I won or come closer, I'd have had ~100k-250k locked up, but ended up with a much smaller amount locked up. I almost suffered much more heartache wondering if I'd ever see my (potentially much larger) sum of locked up money.
llamataboot 13y ago
I haven't heard anything about my claim yet aside from getting the "claim approved" email back in the fall. Should I be worried?
- mbrameld 13y ago
  I hadn't heard anything since that email until the 24th of this month when they sent an email saying my claim would be deposited in the next week. It was deposited today.
whbk 13y ago
A bit more background for the uninitiated: http://t.co/GT8YsOZlrT http://t.co/GT8YsOZlrT
- 1ris 13y ago
  Link goes to http://espn.go.com/blog/poker/post/_/id/1528/green-friday-ftp-money-returned http://espn.go.com/blog/poker/post/_/id/1528/green-friday-ft...
Sambdala 13y ago
I'd like to make the point that PokerStars paid for these payments and offered to pay the players directly and immediately. However, this offer was rejected, and instead PokerStars paid the amount of the balances (I'm not sure about any fees, etc), and then the players needed to wait until now to receive payment. Rest of world customers of Full Tilt were able to receive payment from PokerStars long before now. Edit: For transparency's sake, I do work for PokerStars, I don't speak for them, and I wasn't directly involved with any of the US/DOJ stuff.
- whbk 13y ago
  Please share the thanks of a grateful nation (or at least the poker playing portion :)) with your coworkers. Mentioned this in a Twitter rant about this whole ordeal, but to this day PokerStars is the best company I've ever dealt with regardless of industry. I wish I could continue to give you guys my business. Thanks for protecting us from our disgraceful government.
- ptmx 13y ago
  As someone who was affected by this (non-U.S.), I have to say I was very satisfied with how PokerStars handled everything. When Full Tilt was shut down I essentially treated the funds I had on there as a write-off, and was delighted by the windfall of actually being reimbursed some time later.
- thret 13y ago
  DOJ has effectively removed all of that lucre from the poker economy. I was hoping the US players wouldn't be paid back until they could play online again. It would have been much better for the rest of us if their Tilt/Stars accounts had simply been credited with the money like everyone else. Of course that's an entirely selfish point of view.

62 points by whbk 13y ago

mathattack 13y ago

Wow - I'm surprised that there would be any money left after all the legal wrangling.

iSloth 13y ago
There wasn't any money - PokerStars agreed to buy the shutdown Full Tilt Company, Infrastructure and Assets in full, then re-pay all the customers of Full Tilt our of their own pocket, mainly to stop the DOJ chasing after Pokerstars as well.
- Phlarp 13y ago
  Part of me wonders if the same type of strong arming will start to happen with bitcoin.
  - dmix 13y ago
    Oh it will. MtGox already had assets seized by DHS/ICE: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/16/mt-gox-dwolla-account-money-seizure/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/16/mt-gox-dwolla-account-money...

ngokevin 13y ago

After filing for my claim in November, I got mine back yesterday (http://ngokevin.com/blog/poker11/ http://ngokevin.com/blog/poker11/). It shows up in my bank account as "Doj Poker Stars".

downandout 13y ago

Well that only took ~3 years. Thank you US Attorney Preet Bharara. I appreciate you protecting me from....me.

differentView 13y ago
I would have lost it all. Now, where can I buy some lotto tickets.
- downandout 13y ago
  Those are taxed, so that's perfectly OK.
marvin 13y ago
By confiscating all your money, no less. Protecting and serving.
- hackerboos 13y ago
  Don't forget empowering organised criminals.
tzs 13y ago
Do you like anything he does? He seems to have a pretty good record [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preet_Bharara http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preet_Bharara
- ps4fanboy 13y ago
  Hes also the one who subpoenaed Mt.Gox http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/us-bitcoin-subpoena-idUSBREA1P18820140227 http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/us-bitcoin-subpoen...
- downandout 13y ago
  Define "good". Obtaining oppressively long sentences for non-violent crimes isn't "good" for anyone imo. His brother made $500 million selling diapers. The world would be a better place if Preet were a diaper salesman like his brother instead of doing things like ensuring that poker players have to play illegally. The worst part is that he does all of this for one thing: camera time. He is angling for elected office on the backs of those whose lives he has destroyed while pursuing prosecutions that increasingly stretch the boundaries of criminal law.

whbk 13y ago

Got mine this morning, 1048 days later. Nice, but hardly makes up for this whole ordeal, yet another reminder of just how free the "Land of the Free" we live in is.

Crito 13y ago
I don't suppose there is any chance that they at least gave you some interest for your troubles?
- whbk 13y ago
  Oh of course not, and I'll likely be treated to an audit to boot. People were selling their FTP balances for extremely low amounts (.20 on the dollar at one point?) though, so while ridiculous I'm still on cloud nine. Someone stole thousands of dollars from me and I got it back..not everyday that happens :)
  - at-fates-hands 13y ago
    Did you forget about it and then when the check showed up it was like finding a FIN ($20) in your jeans? Or did you feel like you were always going to get it, it was just a matter of time? Just curious, that's all.
    - whbk 13y ago
      I'd kept tabs on it by checking in on 2p2 (the StackOverflow/HN of poker) every few months -- there were long threads with people who had much more invested paying much more attention. I was lucky in that this occurred in the spring of my senior year of college, so I was able to move on without significant real-life impact other than a loss of secondary income stream. There were people with hundreds of thousands locked up, people who had been doing this for a living for several years who lost their homes after they were no longer able to pay their mortgage, etc. Early on I was iffy on whether or not I'd ever see my money back, but once PokerStars stepped in it became clear it was probably just a matter of (way too much) time. It was funny to see how the whole shut down unfolded -- it happened on a Friday morning and PokerStars had their ducks in a row software-wise, and were immediately able to boot American players from tables. Full Tilt, on the other hand, had their software written such that players could continue playing until they logged out or disconnected from the network. Myself and some other enterprising Americans set their computers to not go to sleep ever, so I was able to keep playing through Sunday. I was the last American playing in the last big FTP tournament that Sunday and ended up finishing in the 50s out of 7000+ players iirc, and was leading at several points with less than 100 players remaining. Had I won or come closer, I'd have had ~100k-250k locked up, but ended up with a much smaller amount locked up. I almost suffered much more heartache wondering if I'd ever see my (potentially much larger) sum of locked up money.

llamataboot 13y ago

I haven't heard anything about my claim yet aside from getting the "claim approved" email back in the fall. Should I be worried?

mbrameld 13y ago
I hadn't heard anything since that email until the 24th of this month when they sent an email saying my claim would be deposited in the next week. It was deposited today.

whbk 13y ago

A bit more background for the uninitiated: http://t.co/GT8YsOZlrT http://t.co/GT8YsOZlrT

1ris 13y ago
Link goes to http://espn.go.com/blog/poker/post/_/id/1528/green-friday-ftp-money-returned http://espn.go.com/blog/poker/post/_/id/1528/green-friday-ft...

Sambdala 13y ago

I'd like to make the point that PokerStars paid for these payments and offered to pay the players directly and immediately. However, this offer was rejected, and instead PokerStars paid the amount of the balances (I'm not sure about any fees, etc), and then the players needed to wait until now to receive payment. Rest of world customers of Full Tilt were able to receive payment from PokerStars long before now. Edit: For transparency's sake, I do work for PokerStars, I don't speak for them, and I wasn't directly involved with any of the US/DOJ stuff.

whbk 13y ago
Please share the thanks of a grateful nation (or at least the poker playing portion :)) with your coworkers. Mentioned this in a Twitter rant about this whole ordeal, but to this day PokerStars is the best company I've ever dealt with regardless of industry. I wish I could continue to give you guys my business. Thanks for protecting us from our disgraceful government.
ptmx 13y ago
As someone who was affected by this (non-U.S.), I have to say I was very satisfied with how PokerStars handled everything. When Full Tilt was shut down I essentially treated the funds I had on there as a write-off, and was delighted by the windfall of actually being reimbursed some time later.
thret 13y ago
DOJ has effectively removed all of that lucre from the poker economy. I was hoping the US players wouldn't be paid back until they could play online again. It would have been much better for the rest of us if their Tilt/Stars accounts had simply been credited with the money like everyone else. Of course that's an entirely selfish point of view.