Today the Kahnakwake Gaming Commission issued a statement that Blanca Games, operator of Absolute Poker and UB.com would begin a process to liquidate the assets of the company and ultimately distribute proceeds to players. The plan has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice in the Southern District of New York for approval.

The announcement comes approximately six months after the April 15th Black Friday seizures, which of course saw the domain names seized of the top three U.S. facing sites at the time. After the seizures and the subsequent banning of U.S. players, the Cereus Network took a huge hit that became precipitously worse in the months that followed as cashouts grinded to a halt and a lack of confidence in the brand grew.

For players, this is likely the beginning of a long process that will have to play out over many more months and perhaps years. Although the statement from Kahnawake sounds optimistic, previous liquidations of online poker sites have not gone quickly or produced impressive results. BetonSports, which got into trouble before the UIGEA, eventually paid players just under 5% of their balances that were owed. Other liquidations have produced no return of funds to players.

Read below for the full statement.

(MOHAWK TERRITORY OF KAHNAWAKE – October 27, 2011) – Since the actions taken by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (the “SDNY”) on April 15, 2011, the Commission has been in close and regular discussions with its licensee, Blanca Games Inc. (“Blanca”), operating as Absolute Poker and UB.com (“AP/UB”), to facilitate the reimbursement of both US and non-US players. The Commission has also received regular updates of discussions between AP/UB and the SDNY.

Over the past several weeks, we were advised of a potential solution prepared by Blanca and its representatives, establishing a process to liquidate Blanca’s assets and distribute proceeds to players. We understand that this process has been presented to SDNY for consideration and approval.

The Commission’s foremost concern in this matter has been, and remains, the reimbursement of both US and non-US players, as quickly and completely as possible.
To avoid further prejudice to affected players, the Commission has demanded that all parties complete their discussions and implement a reimbursement solution without further delay.