The crackdowns on several major U.S. online poker sites not only affected the career prospects of several hundred online poker pros but also resulted in thousands of players losing their hard-earned deposits. Nevertheless, for the first time, there is definite hope on the horizon for former Full Tilt Poker patrons.
The Rise and Fall of Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker has since shut down its operations following the Black Friday indictments, but just a short while back, it was one of the biggest players in the online gambling scene in the United States. Established just a few short years back in 2004, Full Tilt Poker nevertheless enjoyed a fairy–tale, meteoric rise, reaping millions of dollars of profits every year.
Full Tilt Poker was launched by parent company TiltWare, LLC, in June 2004 and began operations on July 2004 with the involvement of several major poker pros, including Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, and Phil Ivey. The site offered several online poker rooms and was a major force behind the popularity of online poker tournaments. The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), established in August 2006, had the highest stakes in online poker games, and a hundred of the biggest online pots of 2009 were earned during the 2009 FTOPS.
However, on April 15, 2011, Full Tilt Poker, along with several other online poker operators, had their domains seized by the FBI as part of a series of indictments, which has since been dubbed the “Black Friday” indictments by online poker players.
Players Become Collateral Damage
The Black Friday operations were a major blow to the various online poker sites. In addition to calling the Internet gambling giants to account on several serious criminal charges, including illegal gambling and money laundering, the Department of Justice also froze several of the companies’ main offshore accounts. Full Tilt in particular lost around $40 million as a result of a frozen offshore account. Following the various indictments, Full Tilt completely shut down their operations in June.
The freezing of the accounts of several of the online poker sites, including Full Tilt Poker, by the U.S. Department of Justice meant that the players were unable to reclaim their original deposits, let alone their winnings on the site. Thousands of poker players around the world found themselves out in the cold as they were unable to access the money credited to their accounts.
Hope for the Thousands Who Lost Cash in the Crackdown
However, the latest news indicates a positive outcome is finally in the cards for the beleaguered gamblers as a French investment corporation has started negotiations with the Department of Justice to take over the Full Tilt Poker operations. There is a strong possibility that, as a result of these negotiations, the DOJ might well unfreeze the accounts of the former online poker giant. If this should happen, then users who lost their money to the crackdown may finally appeal to the Department of Justice for compensation as well as a refund on the money in their accounts.
However, while most would agree that reparation for Full Tilt users is only fair, industry insiders are still skeptical about how successful the compensation claims will turn out to be. Many of the former players on the site are nevertheless cautiously optimistic.
Right now, though, everyone concerned is following a strict wait-and-see policy as they keenly observe the tabled negotiations between the French company and the Department of Justice.