Garden City Group (GCG) have confirmed that all non monetary items in US facing Full Tilt Poker (FTP) accounts such as Full Tilt points, bonuses and Iron Man medals are worthless, and therefore will not be considered as part of the remission process.
There has been a lot of activity since a rogue employee of the GCG leaked an internal e-mail to the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) a few weeks ago. That confidential piece of electronic paper – which circulated around poker news outlets like wildfire – gave instruction not to process accounts for remission that belonged to affiliates, former employees and professional players who had benefited from the FTP brand.
The e-mail was posted on 2+2 and was met with an avalanche of questions, which John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA, boiled down to 14-distinct points, attached them to the foot of a crow and sent it off into the night sky.
The GCG was swift to respond with news that affiliates would have their ‘playing money’ refunded; and we can also announce, courtesy of PokerFuse, that they have also made a decision concerning the in-house loyalty programs that FTP were running at the time of closure.
Question 26 on the FAQ section of the FTP claims site states: “FT points were a marketing tool and have no monetary value – they will not be refunded and are not reflected in account balances. Iron Man medals and similar bonuses will also not be redeemed for their cash value and are not reflected in account balances.”
As a European FTP member who had his account handed back to him November, I have to disagree with the statement that the GCG has put out. My account contained all of the FTP points that I had accrued when the site was closed down on Black Friday and I have been using those points to play tournaments and earn money.
That being said, kudos to John Pappas and his crew over at the PPA, for reaching out for clarification and the GCG for responding so quickly.
The deadline for submitting petitions remains Nov 16.
