Just read this on RakeTheRake.com

PokerStars have reached a settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice that means their purchase of Full Tilt will go ahead, and that Full Tilt players will have their money repaid to them in full!

PokerStars plan to re-open the Full Tilt site and repay all US and non-US players. They will pay out a sum of 547 million dollars to the US Government over the course of three months; some of this money will be used to repay US players, but the amount will also cover the costs of wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering charges that Full Tilt incurred when their license was revoked in September of last year.

For more on this story, including info on when players will be repaid check out the RakeTheRake blog post on the latest development in PokerStars’ acquisition of Full Tilt.

Complete story HERE.

I just read this on Grinder School:

Pokerstars Settles with DOJ; Will Bring FTP Back Within 90 Days

In case you’ve been in a sensory deprivation chamber for the last week, the big news in the poker world is that Pokerstars has purchased its biggest rival, Full Tilt Poker, and will bring the site back online as a separate, stand-alone site within 90 days of the deal’s closing next week.

While Non-US players (aka Rest-of-World or ROW) will have their accounts reopened and be eligible to access their balances when FTP comes back, U.S. players will have to receive their funds from the Department of Justice, likely through a remission process (click here to see a sample of a remission form).

The deal is part of a settlement of the Department of Justice’s civil suit against PokerStars, which sees PokerStars paying the U.S. $547 million, with $184 million going into a segregated account to reimburse U.S. players. This doesn’t mean Pokerstars or FTP will automatically or immediately reopen in the U.S., but it does pave the way for both sites to apply for a license if and when states or the federal government enact online poker legislation.

PokerStars representative Lee Jones has started a thread on TwoPlusTwo to answer players’ questions. It’s already a little unwieldy, but his original post contains a must-read FAQ.

This is really good news for the poker community.

This is a must read: Full Tilt’s operating licence suspended

This is on the front page of Phil Ivey’s official site:

For many years, I have been proud to call myself a poker player. This great sport has taken me to places I only imagined going and I have been blessed with much success. It is therefore with deep regret that I believe I am compelled to release the following statement.

I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm. I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible.

My name and reputation have been dragged through the mud, through the inactivity and indecision of others and on behalf of all poker players I refuse to remain silent any longer. I have electronically filed a lawsuit against Tiltware related to the unsettled player accounts. As I am sure the public can imagine, this was not an easy decision for me.

I wholeheartedly refuse to accept non-action as to repayment of players funds and I am angered that people who have supported me throughout my career have been treated so poorly.

I sincerely hope this statement will ignite those capable of resolving the problems into immediate action and would like to clarify that until a solution is reached that cements the security of all players, both US and International, I will, as I have for the last six weeks, dedicate the entirety of my time and efforts to finding a solution for those who have been wronged by the painfully slow process of repayment.

Boy am I glad I was able to withdraw all my funds from Full Tilt Poker!

In the past few weeks I have logged daily on Full Tilt Poker to try and make a withdrawal.

I always got the same answer: “This option is unavailable for now” (or something similar). But today, the site let me complete the transaction and 30 minutes later I had my funds.

To be quite honest I did not expect that at all. I really thought that the cashout would be declined in a day or two, like it was last time… I am really glad of the outcome and I am impressed at the time it took to process the cashout.

It seems Full Tilt Poker is trying to do the right thing.

Good luck to everyone who have money stuck in poker sites since Black Friday.

I just received my withdrawal from PokerStars. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!!!

Still waiting for FullTilt… They are always behind PokerStars for some reason…

PokerStars did such a great job with their customers that I am considering depositing for their 50% up to 200$ SCOOP 2011 bonus… It’s valid until May 8th. When/if I receive my FullTilt cashout I’ll decide on what I do.

Card Runners – Legal Gaming Expert Joe Kelly Talks About DOJ Indictments

Well, it seems the UIEGA has scored some points against the biggest online poker sites.

This is what is displayed on the front page of PokerStars, FullTilt and Absolute Poker…

For now, I am withdrawing my money from FullTilt and Pokerstars, leaving myself just a little bit over 400$ on Stars. I’ll be keeping money online so I can get on a poker site when this all clears out.

I am certain that this will clear out with some kind of fee the sites will have to pay to the US government. The owners will avoid, at all cost, prison time.

On of the possibilities I see is that the sites could pay the fee to the US government and declare bankruptcy for their US business in the same process.

The government would get money, the site owners would keep theirs and the US poker players would… get fucked! Nice move US government…

I have updated to version 3.0 of WordPress and I am happy to see that WRP-Cards is still working flawlessly.

I still have plans to update WRP-Cards to include only cards that would show only suits or only cards with no suit. I plan on doing this by the end of the month.

I was lucky to land a new job as an IT consultant for a pretty large firm. Consequently my poker playing has been put on the back burner. So no poker news, no vents, no rents, etc…