USA Fulltilt Poker Payments Coming Soon

Friday August 9,2013 : FULL TILT POKER PAYOUTS IMMINENT?
 
It all depends on your definition of the word "shortly".
 
Amid a growing clamour for the delays to stop and the payments begin, the independent payments administrator Garden City Group gave owed Full Tilt Poker players renewed hope this week with an announcement that payments would commence shortly.
 
Garden City was appointed by the US Justice Department to disburse the multi-millions paid to it by Pokerstars for refunds to US players on the run-up to its acquisition of Full Tilt back in 2012, and players have been waiting for payment with growing impatience ever since.
 
Justice Department officials appeared to take an inordinately long time to find the right independent administrator, and that was followed by a protracted review of Full Tilt records.
 
Garden City says it has now completed review and verification procedures, and players will soon receive emails advising them how to lodge their claims online.
 
The administrator says that amounts owed to individual players will be calculated "….on players’ final balances with FTP as of April 15, 2011.”
 
That would appear to rule out relief for the alleged pre-Black Friday shenanigans of the previous owners of Full Tilt Poker, who reportedly indulged in some creative if ephemeral accounting practices when their payment processing arrangements were disrupted by federal enforcement actions .
 
There should be plenty of cash in the pot; the massive $731 million Pokerstars settlement agreed with the US Justice Department more than a year ago included $184 million earmarked for the reimbursement of Full Tilt players outside the USA, leaving a healthy balance for US claimants.
 
Garden City says that if the amount of cash available is insufficient to pay all US players in full, there will have to be a pro rata assessment.