Poker operators reach agreement with D.O.J to Return Poker Players' Funds

Online poker operators Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars have reached an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to give American poker players the chance to access and withdraw funds from their poker accounts.

According to a recent press release, the two online poker sites entered an agreement with the government that allows them to use their web domain names (.com) “to facilitate the withdrawal of U.S. players’ funds held in account with the companies.” The companies also agreed not to allow poker play in the United States for money or anything of value The government has also given Absolute Poker the option to enter the agreement.

“No individual player accounts were ever frozen or restrained, and each implicated poker company has at all times been free to reimburse any player’s deposited funds. In fact, 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.” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in the statement.

Since last Friday, April 15th, thousands of American players lost access to their accounts when U.S. authorities seized five Internet domain names and froze dozens of bank accounts in 14 countries as part of an complaint filled by the Justice Department. The indictment charges 11 individuals, including the founders of PokerStars.com, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, for money laundering, fraud, and violating the infamous Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
John Pappas, Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, issued an statement on the agreement between the Department of Justice and online poker operators.

“The poker players have spoken, and it seems the U.S. Government has heard their cries. But players are still in pain. While today’s action allows players on two of the three online poker sites to access their funds, this is just a small victory in the ongoing fight to protect Americans’ rights to play poker online. Even with today’s announcement, millions of Americans are being denied their hobby, avocation and in many cases their livelihood because they remain unable to play poker on the Internet” said Pappas in the statement.