In past articles about this topic, I have said that it appears that the long saga of the frozen Full Tilt Poker funds dating back to April 15th, 2011, better known as Black Friday, is nearing an end. Well, it still appears to be nearing an end, it’s just that the end is drawing closer ever so slowly. On Monday, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas informed the poker community that the latest round of Full Tilt payments is on its way.
In early August, the Garden City Group (GCG), which was authorized by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York to serve as the Claims Administrator for the seized U.S. customer Full Tilt Poker funds, posted a notice on its website that September 3rd, 2014 was to be the final filing deadline for anyone who still wished to claim their missing Full Tilt deposits. As has always been the case, those determined to be eligible to file a Petition for Remission should have received an e-mail with login credentials for the GCG site so that they could file said Petition.
On September 10th, the GCG announced that the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section approved a distribution of about $2 million, covering around 600 former Full Tilt players. According to Pappas’ post on the Two Plus Two forums yesterday, that wave of payments should hit bank accounts this week, likely from Wednesday to Friday. Pappas said that according to the Department of Justice, those payments are going to players with “undisputed” claims.
“The news is not so great for those of us with disputed claims, but any news is progress,” he continued. “For petitioners who filed a disputed claim — but in the view of the Garden City did not provide sufficient or clear evidence of this dispute — they should expect an email within 60 days notifying them of issues with respect to their claim and be given a time frame in which to provide clarifying information/evidence.”
Those players who do not receive an e-mail, Pappas said, should assume that there were no problems with their disputed claims. Odds are that these claims fall into one of two categories. The first is for players who cashed out right around Black Friday, a time when those funds transfers either never went through or a check bounced. The GCG is still figuring out the period of time for these failed withdrawals for which players do not need to submit any more documentation. The other bucket is for players with “small discrepancies” between what they think they are owed and what the GCG thinks they are owed. If it is a small enough difference (no definition was given as to how small), the GCG will likely just approved the claim.
Those players who still disagree with the GCG’s evaluation of their claim can file an appeal.
Disputed claims, according to Pappas, will probably not be approved until the first quarter of next year.
