Poker Players To Get $33.5 Million From Absolute Poker, Ultimate Bet Claims
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Found money for online poker players
The US government, via a third party, recently announced it would be refunding “almost $33.5 million.”
The news came from the Garden City Group, which is handling the remissions process, via a website dedicated to refunding players’ money.
More from the annnouncement:
GCG has been informed that the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Department of Justice (MLARS) has approved a first round of payments to Petitioners who confirmed their Absolute Poker / Ultimate Bet account balances prior to the initial June 9, 2017 filing deadline. The distribution will include payments to approximately 7,400 Petitioners with awards totaling almost $33.5 million.
Anecdotal reports from poker players indicated some of them had received confirmation.
Where did the money come from?
The US government and GCG completed the claims process for players owed money from the also defunct Full Tilt Poker. (That money came from a settlement with PokerStars in 2012 in the wake of 2011’s Black Friday.)
At the end of the process, some $45 million was still unclaimed. In the spring, the US government indicated it would use those remaining funds to attempt to make whole some players from Absolute Poker and UB:
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that the United States has retained the Garden City Group to oversee a process for compensating eligible victims of a fraud committed by Absolute Poker against United States players who were unable to withdraw funds from Absolute Poker following the Office’s filing in 2011 of a civil money laundering and forfeiture action against Absolute Poker and others in United States v. PokerStars, et al.
The announcement this month marks a quick turnaround from the announcement in April.
[i15-table tableid=20717][i15-table tableid=19346]Claims can still be made
According to the claims site, petitions for money can still be made through Sept. 7. It appears there’s roughly $10 million still left that could be distributed to players with a valid claim.
People wishing to make a claim must provide information that would allow GCG to link them to an AP/UB account. Then the petition can move forward and payment made, if warranted.
This appears to be the last chance for online poker players to get their money back from the events surrounding Black Friday.