Full Tilt will reopen

An agreement between PokerStars and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has been reached which allows PokerStars to take control of Full Tilt Poker's assets. As part of the deal, PokerStars will directly reimburse all Full Tilt account holders located outside of the United States.

According to the company's press release, PokerStars will pay the United States a total of $547 million over 3 years, some of which will be used to reimburse American Full Tilt customers. A $225 million payment must be made within 6 days of this announcement.

Another account with roughly $184 million will be opened to reimburse non-US customers. There will be no restrictions on withdrawals, and this account will be created within 90 days.

Impact on the charges against PokerStars

PokerStars has admitted to no wrongdoing in reaching this agreement with the DOJ. 

The deal prohibits PokerStars from employing former Full Tilt management members Raymond Bitar, Howard Lederer, Rafe Furst, Chris Ferguson, and Nelson Burtnick.

According to Diamond Flush Poker, the civil charges against the PokerStars companies will be dismissed as part of this agreement, while the criminal charges will remain unchanged.

Additionally, the deal allows both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to apply for US gaming licenses in the future when US law allows that as a possibility.

Full Tilt will reopen

With respect to the future of Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars plans to re-launch Full Tilt Poker as a new, separate brand from PokerStars. A new management team will be brought in to run it. 

Full Tilt will continue to be based in Dublin, but now operations will be overseen from the Isle of Man.

Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications at PokerStars, stated on the company's corporate blog that "It's too early to begin disclosing many details about our strategic plans for Full Tilt, but our first order of business is to re-open the site, pay back all of the players and begin rebuilding Full Tilt's reputation. Going forward, we will operate Full Tilt as a separate brand, giving players another leading and trusted platform to enjoy the game. The re-launched Full Tilt site will bring back the innovative features, the authentic poker and the cutting-edge software that made it so popular with millions of players worldwide."


Tuesday was a day that online poker players had been looking forward to for over a year when rumor became fact that PokerStars and the U.S. Department of Justice had come to terms on an agreement to settle the civil charges against PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

Key Points of the Deal

--PokerStars will pay $731 million to settle the U.S. government civil charges 
--Of the amount paid, $547 million will be forfeited to the U.S. government and $184 million will go to paying non-US players 100% of their balances within 100 days
--U.S. players will be able to apply for reimbursement from the U.S. Department of Justice at a time TBA
--PokerStars will reopen Full Tilt Poker as a separate brand within 90 days
--Full Tilt Poker will not reopen in regulated markets in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, Spain
--Isai Scheinberg, founder of PokerStars, will step down from his executive position at PokerStars
--PokerStars does not admit any wrongdoing and is able to apply for licenses on a federal and state level. This does mean that they will receive a license, but they are not forbidden by the DOJ to seek a license.
--The criminal charges related to Poker Stars and Full Tilt are not impacted by this deal