If you had cash on Full Tilt shortly before Black Friday, you’ve got until this weekend to inform government contractors that you’d like your money back, please. Check out what I got in the mail recently from the poker world’s new-good friends at Garden City Group, who are handling Full Tilt remissions on behalf of the DOJ, whom you may or may not recall earmarked nearly $200 million of PokerStars money for paying back Full Tilt player/ponzi victims.
Curious though, their effort to contact me, as my email has been the same since I signed up in 2004 … and I’m almost certain I maintained a negative balance on Tilt ever since I stopped playing there in like ’09. (According to my records I was in the red for about $300, but hey, I’m standing in solidarity with Erick Lindgren; I called “not paying!”)
Presuming I didn’t unknowingly luckbox into some sorta secret errant money transfer, I think this postcard campaign reveals a GCG serious about covering various asses should someone and their lawyer(s) can come back later and claim ignorance when trying to get a piece of any FTP payout pie. Otherwise you gotta wonder … they didn’t have my email address — the one that just about everybody remotely connected to poker has? (You know, the one that has been the same ever since signing up with Full Tilt in ’04?) And yet they were able to track me down through a postal address that didn’t even exist for me or Pokerati until after Black Friday? It wasn’t anything I ever provided to Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Garden City Group, nor the DOJ, as far as I know. In fact, I could be wrong here, but I think the only federal agency that would have this address for me is the IRS.
Hmm … makes you wonder what kinda sit-n-gos the NSA really might be playing!
If you haven’t yet submitted your online poker DNA to Uncle Sam and you still want a chance at seeing your Full Tilt bankroll ever again, visit http://fulltiltpokerclaims.com/.
It has certainly been another eventful time in the fight for poker rights. I encourage you to view a terrific video by PPA Executive Director John Pappas. In it, he shares insights from Capitol Hill and the progress being made. This video was sent to 2013 members last week and is a great example of the timely insider information you can get by becoming a 2013 PPA member. Please join today.
Instructions for Finding Your Full Tilt Poker Balance
Full Tilt Poker Claims Administrator Garden City Group will start accepting applications for remission of Full Tilt Poker balances on September 16th. You may wish to check and see what they have on record as your balance. To find your current Full Tilt Poker balance, you will have to download your account history. I downloaded mine and it was pretty straightforward. Here’s how to do it:
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Last week, I shared with you a plan to get individual lawmakers involved in helping to expedite remission processing for those of us with accounts on Full Tilt Poker. I have very good news on that front. On August 1st, Full Tilt Poker Claims Administrator Garden City Group posted a status update on their website promising that the claims process will begin “shortly” and clarifying that remission will be based on final balances and not on deposits. I encourage you to read the entire statement on their website, atwww.fulltiltpokerclaims.com.
This announcement shows that progress is being made. Over the past several weeks, PPA and the poker community intensified its pressure on the DOJ and Garden City Group to expedite full remission of player funds. Even members of Congress began weighing in on behalf of their constituents. While many factors contributed to the timing of the announcement, there is little doubt player activism played an important role.
While this announcement is much-needed good news, we cannot rest now. We are seeking specifics, including dates for application, expected dates for processing, etc. We are also seeking as streamlined a process as possible.
U.S. vs. DiCristina Appeal Update
Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the U.S. vs. DiCristina ruling. The ruling was not contested on the basis of poker being a game of skill or not, so that remains intact. Here’s PPA’s statement on the unfortunate reversal:
“Today’s decision by the 2nd Circuit Court, while unfortunate, only adds to the growing call for federal clarity on the definition of gambling. The 2nd Circuit clearly did not dispute the district court’s finding that poker is a game of skill. This is a key point distinguishing poker from the types of gambling games that Congress and state legislatures have often tried to prohibit. What the court did was conclude that the IGBA does not set forth an independent federal definition of gambling, but instead only incorporates state law.
“Ample academic studies and judicial rulings at the state and federal level have concluded that poker is indeed a game of skill. Period. The PPA will continue to advocate for a clear, federal definition of gambling as a game predominated by chance, thus preserving the right of Americans to play this great game of skill.
“The PPA stands ready to support Mr. DiCristina should he choose to appeal this decision, and we are committed to working through the judicial and legislative processes to establish a clear definition of gambling based on the predominance test.”
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