Full Tilt Poker Moves One Step Closer to Repaying its U.S Based Customers

full-tilt-poker-moves-closer-repaying-us-based-customersFull Tilt Poker (FTP) has moved one step closer to repaying the $150m in seized assets, after the Garden City Group (GCG) announce the first step in the remission process has been completed.

Some good online poker news as the GCG have announced that the first stage of the FTP remission process has been completed, after 1.4m e-mails have been distributed to former U.S based customers held on file in the FTP player database.

In a flurry of activity to ensure that no stone remains unturned, the GCG have also sent hard copy letters to all personal addresses that have been supplied by former U.S based players (We still have a hard copy mail delivery system in place!)

The announcement was made on the official Full Tilt Claims site and here is that announcement in full

We are pleased to report that the Remission Process is now well underway. All told, GCG has sent over 1.4 million email notifications to Full Tilt Poker (“FTP”) players, and in response GCG has already received over 23,500 Petitions through the online filing system.

The email notification process is now complete. If you did not receive an email and you believe you are in Full Tilt’s database and should have been identified as a potentially eligible player, please contact us to provide your updated email address and we will provide you with your Petition and Control numbers if you have been assigned them. To the extent GCG has been provided with physical mailing addresses, we will be sending postcards to Petitioners whose emails were returned as undeliverable in the next few weeks.

No one is prevented from filing a Petition for Remission. If GCG is unable to provide you with a Petition and Control number, you may still file a new Petition by clicking here and then clicking on the “Create a New Petition” button. All Petitions—confirmed, disputed and new—will be reviewed after the filing deadline, using the Department of Justice criteria to determine eligibility for remission.

The Excitement is Too Much to Bear

After waiting for two and a half years for their money, one would think there would a stampede to get it back? Not so. GCG have revealed that only 2% of those 1.4m players have even bothered to return their petition.

It would be interesting to see the raw data so you could understand how that $150m is broken down? Perhaps the largest slice of that juicy pie contains hundreds of thousands of accounts with infinitetisemal amounts of money, that all add up to a nice chunk of change for the Department of Justice (DOJ), but don’t even result in a player completing a petition to get it back.

I prefer the lazy angle myself. Poker players are not known for their verve and vigor, hence the reason they are so adept at sitting on their bums for hours whilst they fold cards.

I believe they just haven’t gotten around to submitting their paperwork, and the GCG should expect a late flurry as the Nov 16th deadline approaches.

Need Some Guidance and Advice?

If the thought of completing an e-mail terrifies you, then Martin ‘PokerXanadu’ Shapiro – the man who created his own online poker bill ‘The Internet Wagering Citizens Act’ – has some great advice at the Online Poker Report, and you should check it out.

If you have fortune enough to be beta testing the new Virgin Galactic ride into space and aren’t even aware that your $20 in FTP money is waiting for you to collect, then you had better head to the Full Tilt Claims site at www.fulltiltclaims.com and follow the step-by-step guide to riches.