If any of you poker players in the United States have been looking for something to do since online poker disappeared (well, it’s not totally gone, but you get the point), you may be in luck. The U.S. government is looking for qualified people to take on the gigantic task of returning millions of dollars back to Full Tilt Poker customers.
An employment notice for a Claims Administrator was recently posted on the website for the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) of the Southern District of New York, an administrator who would specifically handle the Full Tilt case. It would be an interesting contract for a poker player, should one be fortunate enough to get the business. One the one hand, you would be assisting the government, the “enemy” responsible for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 and Black Friday of 2011. This is the entity responsible for all but taking online poker away from us. But on the other hand, you would get to make whole (hopefully) all your fellow online poker players and help everyone bring some sort of closure to the whole Full-Tilt-stole-player-funds mess.
This isn’t a job for a lone independent contractor sitting in his home office. The U.S. government estimates that there is somewhere around 1.3 million players who are owed money by Full Tilt Poker, with $159 million waiting to be distributed. The USAO is looking for a Claims Administrator who “will design and execute a process to solicit, receive and evaluate claims, and to process payments, for losses incurred by U.S. victims” of Full Tilt Poker.
“In so doing,” continues the job posting, “the Claims Administrator will obtain and evaluate information, such as financial transaction records, from claimants, and analyze information contained in user account records provided in database and other format by Full Tilt Poker.”
Applicants, as one would expect, must detail their qualifications, including relevant expertise (read: knowledge of the online poker industry) and prior claims administration experience.
In addition, however, applicants must also divulge all contacts they or any relatives (as well as everyone else who would be involved in the claims administration) have had with PokerStars, Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker, or any other gambling company. They must also reveal any possible conflicts of interest involving online gambling companies that could affect independence.
The repayment of Full Tilt’s U.S. customers is the result of a settlement between PokerStars and the U.S. government on July 31st, 2012. In the settlement, PokerStars agreed to pay the United States a penalty of $547 million an acquire the assets of Full Tilt Poker, an acquisition that also requires Stars to pay the outstanding balances of all Full Tilt customers. The amount going to non-U.S. customers is $184 million, bringing the total cost to PokerStars to $731 million. The U.S. payments will come out of the sum going to the U.S. government. PokerStars has already made the first of three required payments to the United States; $255 million has already been transferred.
While we know that Full Tilt’s U.S. customers will have to go through the United States government to receive their funds, details on how the remission process will proceed is unknown at this time.
