FBI seizes domains of pokerstars, full tilt, ub.. (UPDATE: Howard Lederer Interview)

[drmcboy]

cashed out
sad panda

[baudib]

better than the alternative

[boost]

wait, so Americans are able to cash out from both stars and ftp now?

[BooG690]

Just Stars atm.

[bigspenda73]

just stars, hearing if you are cashing out more than $4k and have never done an ID verification Stars is making you do one now so be prepared to ship your ID, utility bill, bank statement, etc...

[Trons]

Will they allow me to cash out. The last time I tried, they said no because I had made a portion of my money through staking and I hadn't played enough with that winning. Are they waiving that requirement?

[BooG690]

Try and find out.

[boost]

I'm sure they will... but would be epicly bad if they didn't...

[Sasquach991]

Cashed out via bank transfer. Mixed emotions. Kinda sad to see $0.00 balance but happy that the zero balance was transferred to me instead of confiscated.

I'm up 30BIs in 3 days at 200NL in play money

[WeaselT]

I know that 0.00$ made me sad too....

[rowhousepd]

What the hell are you talking about. The seized funds have nothing to do with giving players their balances back. Stars, FTP, and the DOJ are all cooperating to make sure players get their account balances back. These are completely separate issues.

Yikes, sorry, you're right. For some reason I thought your original post was about whether Stars/FT would say f**k you to the players & not return their funds -- rather than not pay the fines (similar to the way Party did they left the market). My bad.

Like you said, they will see to it that US players get their money back, because if they don't their reputation is ruined and no one will trust them anywhere. But this has nothing to do with whether they say "Fuck you!" to the DOJ when it comes time to serve jail time and/or pay massive fines.

Right, but regardless I still wonder whether fact that they were (supposedly) bribing bank officials to process payments, etc., is also going to hurt their reputation. Yes, we all kinda figured something like that was going on, but they are the only ones who now have a very bad public relations mess on their hands. This is a separate issue from not returning funds to the players though which I think we all agree would be disastrous & thus we can probably assume it's going to happen.

[Shotglass]

Here's a news link for those poor souls with a bankroll on UB or AP:
Antigua seeks support in gaming dispute with US - Caribbean360

[rowhousepd]

A friend of mine made a great analogy today (which apparently he read somewhere) about the legalization issue, and I had to share:

Saying it's alright to play poker in a bricks & mortar casino but not at home is like saying you can go have a drink at a bar or night club, but it's totally illegal to have a glass of wine at your dinner table.

[celtic123]

Saying it's alright to play poker in a bricks & mortar casino but not at home is like saying you can go have a drink at a bar or night club, but it's totally illegal to have a glass of wine at your dinner table.

+rep

Is the issue still fraudulent activity or online poker legality?

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

do you guys think we should set aside 33% of our online rolls in anticipation of the government coming back to collect 'gambling tax' revenue on it next year?

[bode]

do you guys think we should set aside 33% of our online rolls in anticipation of the government coming back to collect 'gambling tax' revenue on it next year?

you should have already payed tax on your winnings. You pay tax on your winnings when you win them, not when you cash them out. For anything you have made so far this year, yes, you will have to pay takes on it next year.

[drmcboy]

got the normal 3-5 day email

Cashout request time: 2011/04/26 19:41
Cashout amount: USD BARGE


Dear cuthbertt,

A wire transfer for USD has been sent to your bank account XXX.

Please allow 3-5 business days for this transaction to show up on your statement.

Fees: PokerStars covers all fees charged by the sending bank, but you may be charged a fee by your bank and by an intermediary bank (if applicable) for receiving a wire transfer. The amount of the fee charged by receiving banks is normally approximately $30.00. For more information on your bank's policy concerning fees for receiving wire transfers, please contact your bank directly.

[bigspenda73]

cash out is now processed

a lot of people have already received their funds

[BennyLaRue]

Sales at Best Buy will spike this month, imo.

[drmcboy]

anyone thinking the WSOP could be big this year? Long term I'm sure no US poker online will be bad this year suddenly ~1/2 everyone's roll is off line...

[bigspenda73]

not everyone's, just people on Stars

FullTilt needs to get their ish together

[BooG690]

Received my funds today. In the bank, safe and sound. Go Stars.

[CBAT]

Received my funds today. In the bank, safe and sound. Go Stars.

Wow, fast BooG is fast. What method?

[StarGrinder]

Just cashed out on Stars. You're up FTP. Now what to do with all the FPPs.

[BooG690]

Bank transfer.

[Donachello]

For those FTP people who haven't seen it yet here is the FTP post from 2p2 recently.

Hi all,

I've been collecting your unanswered questions and asking around for the answers. The questions that I've "ignored" aren't answered below either because I don't have any kind of answer yet, I can't give any kind answer yet, or they're more general questions that I'll answer in the next "normal" Answers thread. Apologies for the long delay in posting again here. Unfortunately the process of posting is drawn way out when my answers need to be double and triple approved instead of my normal one man show.

We're also working on getting a FAQ page up on the US site soon.

1. Any estimate on when we [US players] can begin cashing out?

- Here's the official statement about this question: "Full Tilt Poker is diligently working on return of US Players funds which is a top priority and will have a further update for US customers by early next week."

2. What is the procedure for assessing the value of USA player accounts?
Tournament tickets (including IM freeroll tickets)
- Tournament tickets will be converted to their real money value before withdrawal. I don't have a final answer about freeroll tickets, but my best guess is they will be left untouched (not converted, but not taken from the account).
Cash game tickets (soon will be "expired cash game tickets")
- All Ring Game ticket balances will be converted to real money, even if they've expired since the 15th.
FTP points (as if converted to tourney tickets?)
- We're still looking into this one. It's unclear what we can do with FTPs, but they definitely won't just "go away."
IM medals (as if converted to tourney tickets?)
- We're still looking into this as well. My guess is they will be converted to FTPs once we determine what will be done with FTPs.
Bonuses in progress (pro rata as if points/medals refunded?)
- Bonuses purchased with points or medals will likely have their "unused" points/medals refunded. First time deposit bonuses (or any other non-purchased bonuses) will probably just expire.
IM progress in April (as if purchased up to 4 days for next level? medal value of freeroll?)
- We're looking into this as well, but I think we'll give a pro-rated April status (and medals) of some sort. The details still need to be worked out.
Unpaid rakeback (or cashback or whatever)
- This will be paid out as soon as possible. Almost definitely before cashouts are turned on.
Progress toward promised mid-year bonus
- This is still under discussion, but I think it's unlikely we'll pay out a potential bonus in cash. What might happen is that we preserve the "potential" from January through April and add it to the next one of those bonuses that our US players might be eligible for.
Accumulated months in IM
- These will be frozen in time until a player starts playing again. You won't have your streak broken because you can't play at the moment.
FTP Academy points
- Academy points will be treated the same as Iron Man medals, and likely be converted to FTPs.
Take 2 promotion
- Take 2 will be paid out (on a pro-rated basis of some sort since US players couldn't participate in the final day or two) as soon as possible, again before cashouts are turned on.

3. Will United States players who move to a new country be allowed to resume play at the site and/or withdraw their funds to a non-US bank account?

- I needed to get a very official answer on this one as well:

"Yes. But your existing account and balance will not yet be available on logging in. You will be required to provide sufficient proof of relocation, including your photo identification and proof of residency at your new address. You can then use non-US funds to play from outside the US. And, after return of your US funds, you will be able to use those funds as well from outside the US."

I know that's still a bit fuzzy, sorry about that. We'll work on clearing up all the details as soon as possible.

4. but Moneybookers are unavailable as a cashout option

- Sorry, this was my mistake. The MB issue is separate from other issues, and we're working with them to resolve the situation as soon as possible. I don't have an exact timeline for when it will be available again, but we're hopeful it will be soon.

5. I am a canadian player and it looks like Instadebit is disabled. Im just curious if you plan to use Instadebit in the near future?

- Instadebit should be up and running now. Let us know if that's not the case.

6. What about the money that the payment processors BOUNCED us in checks? And pending withdrawals via check that have not been received? Do we e-mail support with the bounced checks? Are the checks requested prior to 4/15 going to be received? Are they good?

- Definitely email cashier@fulltiltpoker.com if a check bounced. If you already emailed them a while ago and they haven't gotten back to you, PM FTPSean and he will see if there's anything he can do to help speed things along. You should also email cashier with the other questions so they can look into the specific case for you as I don't think there's a general answer that covers all cases.

7. Is there an estimate time table for withdrawals to Neteller?

- Many players started getting their Neteller withdrawals late last week. There have been a couple of hiccups along the way, so there is still a bit of a delay until that clears up, but things are looking good to resume normal withdrawal speeds within a week or so.

8. cashed in medals for points last night but still haven't been credited my points.

- If you are in the US, we aren't currently processing Iron Man purchases. It's likely the order will be cancelled and you'll be refunded the medals. If you aren't in the US, there's currently a bit of a delay in the processing because of the US block. Sorry about that.

9. Can players in the US still buy things from the FTP store?

- Not at the moment, no.

10. What is going to be done with the multiple US players who were previously able to change their location?

- They have been reset back to have the United States as their country. They won't be disqualified from any tournaments they happened to enter, though.

11. Address the PMI issue

- We haven't forgotten about this. I haven't seen an update in about two weeks, as you might imagine, but I know we are still looking into it.

12. am I gonna get my tv i ordered last monday before Black Friday?

- For the moment the store isn't shipping to any US address. If your item already shipped it will get to you. If it was ordered but not yet shipped, it's been placed on hold. If it turns out we have to cancel those orders, your FTPs will be returned to your account. If you want more details about your specific order, please contact the FTP store at customersupport@fulltiltpoker.com and they can look up the status of your order.

13. when are you paying the take 2 money ?

- Non-US players should have already been paid for Take 2. For US players, see question 2. If you are a non-US player and haven't gotten paid for Take 2 yet, contact support and they will look into it for you. We were pretty conservative when it came to identifying players as US players so it's possible you were wrongly tagged and that's why you haven't gotten paid yet.

14. I'm very curious as to what will happen to players that made deposits that have not yet been collected from their bank accounts?

- At this point it's not clear what will happen here. We're looking into it and as soon as we know more we'll inform the affected players.

15. i just cashed out large parts of my roll via local bank transfer because i'm still not sure whats happening and i obviously wanna be rather safe than sorry. rumours say that full tilt went bankrupt and is going to have problems to pay out euro players once they start paying the players from the u.s. can you comment on that and explain why my money is supposed to be safe? i dont wanna go to stars or something bc i hate that site but when it comes to security/reliability stars is looking way better these days than full tilt. how can i be sure that my funds are really safe?

- We are not bankrupt. While there is some fallout from the US situation on non-US withdrawals (mostly in the form of delays), we won't have any problems paying out Euro (or any other) players, even after players in the US have their withdrawals processed.

16. why Webmoney still not working, sir?

- I'm hearing the Webmoney issue will be resolved within a week or so. Sorry for the delay.

17. What about FT [transaction] history. When will that be back up?

- Transaction History should be working again for US players tomorrow I think. If not tomorrow, then by next week at the latest. Sorry about that.

18. can us players still play the race to the main event freeroll?

- No, I'm afraid not.

19. We all need an answer to when and how long it should take for FTP support to get back to us.

- There are a couple of issues here. One is for US players getting nothing back except for a generic template explaining the current situation (or, worse, nothing at all). This was the advice given to support by our legal team, so their hands were tied. We're trying to get more clarity here as soon as possible as to what exactly they can and can't say (as opposed to the current "don't say anything" approach) so that support can be more helpful to US players. I do apologize for the length of silence coming from Full Tilt. It's a sensitive situation and I think we probably were a bit overly cautious here.

20. What will happen with my bankwire I req in early march that still hasnt gone thru?

- Contact cashier@fulltiltpoker.com (or FTPSean if the cashier people haven't gotten back to you in a reasonable amount of time) with all of the details and they will look into it for you.

Again, let me apologize for the length of time it's taken to give these answers (and apologize for the fact that many of the answers aren’t very satisfying yet). I'm going to do my best to keep everyone as up to date as possible as often as possible, but the situation is complicated and I'm pretty limited in what I can say without a bunch of approval.

Doug

[drmcboy]

not everyone's, just people on Stars

FullTilt needs to get their ish together

~1/2 everyone's roll

I had equal amount on FT, I'm aware of the situation.

[CBAT]

Received bankroll as of today from stars in bank account.

[drmcboy]

got mine too,

[Halv]

Thanx DC, hopefully what they say about non-US neteller being back next week or so works out.

Gratz on getting bankrolls back USfish!

[Halv]

Fast forward 45 mins, half the FTP BR is safe in NETeller account.

Now if only the holy raptor lord will let AP funds be paid out as well..

[surviva316]

Fast forward 45 mins, half the FTP BR is safe in NETeller account.

Now if only the holy raptor lord will let AP funds be paid out as well..

are you even bothering withdrawing 250 at a time?

[surviva316]

PS: pokerstars is having me sending verifying documents. luckily they're only asking for photo ID and bill. i've heard of sites asking for a lot more than that (like whacky stuff i wouldn't even know where to find), but i guess since this is like my 10th withdrawal through them without an address change, they're goin easy on me? lol

[bigspenda73]

heard it was only for $4k+ withdrawals

so at least you got that goin for ya

[surviva316]

heard it was only for $4k+ withdrawals

so at least you got that goin for ya

well, in that case, hi5 on the thinly veiled brag!

[Miffed22001]

Applications at Best Buy will spike this month, imo.

FYP

[givememyleg]

Now if only the holy raptor lord will let AP funds be paid out as well..

better luck praying for world peace imo

[surviva316]

my money just hit my bank account. PS was very timely in responding to my documents being shipped. HI5!

still have a few k tied up between FTP/fpps/bounced check that hasn't been resolved yet

[jakegra]

I want it legalized! Online poker is a skill game we all love and we should all ban together to make it happen.

I started jiizzyshirts.com and created T-Shirts that Support Online Poker legislation.
All sales donate to the PPA! Check it out!

[bikes]

The more I read about AP the worse the news seems to get. Apparently they downsized 95% according to 2p2

[BooG690]

The more I read about AP the worse the news seems to get. Apparently they downsized 95% according to 2p2

This. There's also news that they will be spending any promotions, rakeback, and rake races.

Christ.

[surviva316]

This. There's also news that they will be spending any promotions, rakeback, and rake races.

Christ.

managed to post this during your 3 hour gym session?

[BooG690]

OH SHIT! I forgot about you!

[rowhousepd]

Link to this news anyone? 1,000,000+ threads on 2+2 about the big three these days.

[BooG690]

Can we discuss Cereus specifically? - Page 17 - Poker News - News, Views and Gossip

From post ~#1663 on...

[rowhousepd]

Can we discuss Cereus specifically? - Page 17 - Poker News - News, Views and Gossip

From post ~#1663 on...

Thanks.... and wow.

[oskar]

The last deuces cracked potcast was on cashing out and taxes only. In a nutshell: self reporting 'errors' in your tax report is usually trouble free. If you're not looking to gamble with the irs, you guys shold prolly look into that.

[givememyleg]

Can we discuss Cereus specifically? - Page 17 - Poker News - News, Views and Gossip

From post ~#1663 on...

lol jesus

[givememyleg]

better luck praying for world peace imo

imo

[bikes]

going rate for AP/UB on 2p2 is around .5-.6
not sure if anyone is buying though