The United States Department of Justice has entered into domain name use agreements with both Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. The agreements with the poker companies outline that the use of PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com will only be restored to facilitate the return of U.S player funds.
Preet Bharara, who is the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the agreements had been made with Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker today, 20th of April 2011. Preet stated that the agreements will allow the return of funds so that players can register their refund requests directly with Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker.
The agreements also stated that Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker “would not allow for, facilitate, or provide the ability for players located in the United States to engage in playing online poker for real”.
The Department of Justice went on to state that “no individual player accounts were ever frozen or restrained”. The DOJ also stated that they will work closely with Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker to return the funds to US players. More importantly, players from outside the US can deposit and play at PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com as set in the agreement – it only affects US players. The agreement has been offered to Absolute Poker too but there has been no comment or action by them.
This announcement from the Department of Justice follows from the Black Friday indictment (as it’s known) whereby 11 defendants were charged with bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling offenses. To read more about the indictment, please click here for the article.