In breaking news, Absolute Poker has just released a statement that it has reached an agreement with the DOJ to provide them with “all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds, currently held by third party processors, to players located in the US. This provision is an important step to return US player funds.”

In today’s Black Friday update, we go over this surprising release as well as some other news related to Black Friday.

Absolute Poker Reaches Deal with DOJ: In the statement released today, Absolute Poker and UB.com state that the "top priority has always been, and remains, the refund of account balances to its US players" but goes on to state that "Unfortunately, the Company still faces several legal issues which must be navigated before funds can be paid out to US players."

Other highlights include an appointed Monitor, approved by the US Attorney's Office to insure compliance of the agreement. Cereus has also agreed to cease ALL real money play from players located in the US.

It’s probably safe to say that many did not see this coming. The Cereus Network has lost over 75% of their traffic since Black Friday and had a barrage of bad news hit the network ever since. The release is going to cause some skepticism, but this is a very hopeful sign going forward. This is definitely a topic we will be following closely going forward. The full statement can be read at the bottom of this post.

Cereus Network Statement on Raids and Sponsored Pros: On Saturday, Blanca responded to reports of raids on their Costa Rican offices with a press release. Then on Monday, UB.com and Absolute Poker announced the parting of ways with 11 poker pros including Joe Seebok, Prahlad Friedman, Eric Baldwin and Tiffany Michelle. In the statement released by Blanca Games they stated the following:

“Recently, Absolute Poker and UB ceased their U.S.-facing operations due to legal developments in the United States. To ensure the on-going viability of the business, it has been necessary to downsize certain aspects of Absolute Poker’s and UB’s operations. These efficiency measures have been taken to enable the brands to continue to operate their non-U.S.-facing business.”

Some former UB.com and Absolute Poker pros have weighed in.

Full Tilt Poker Update: Full Tilt Poker has stated that players will be updated during the week of May 15th with additional developments regarding the status of player funds.

PokerScout Traffic Update: PokerScout has released their lastest poker site traffic report. Merge Gaming continues to grow, now up 77% since Black Friday. They have now grown 157% over the last 12 months. Cake Poker and Bodog are both up 28% and Party Poker is the big European winner up 10%. The Yatahay Network is also up 207% over the last 12 months. The entire online market is down 18% since Black Friday, with much of the loss of overall traffic loss coming from Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars. Absolute Poker is also down over 75% the time period.

Jottings: Freakonomics have had some great articles on poker lately: Does poker pass the “daughter test”. Poker is a game of skill. Why the crackdown on internet poker is a mistake…Some online poker pros are debating moving abroad…PPA to host Member fly-in on May 23rd and May 24th…Internet gambling tempting Colorado B&Ms….In non-Black Friday news IGT is looking at acquiring the Entraction Network.

Full Absolute Poker statement can be read below:

ST. JOHN'S, ANTIGUA and BARBUDA--(Marketwire - May 10, 2011) - Absolute Poker, including the UB (formerly Ultimate Bet) brand, hereafter "Absolute Poker," issued the following statement today in relation to civil and criminal matters filed in federal court in Manhattan and made public on April 15, 2011:

Absolute Poker has reached an agreement with the United States Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York ("SDNY"). Under the agreement, the US Attorney's Office has agreed to provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds, currently held by third party processors, to players located in the US. This provision is an important step to returning US player funds.

The Company has also notified the SDNY that it has closed its US-facing operations, and it has agreed to the cessation of real money poker play in the US. As such, Absolute Poker has not requested the return of its worldwide domain names, Absolute Poker and UB, and today's agreement does not provide for their return. The agreement also provides for the appointment of Monitor, approved by the US Attorney's Office, to assess the Company's compliance with the terms of the agreement.

Absolute Poker's top priority has always been, and remains, the refund of account balances to its US players. Unfortunately, the Company still faces several legal issues which must be navigated before funds can be paid out to US players. The Company's US attorneys, Blank Rome LLP, continue to work diligently to resolve these issues, which is a necessary further step to facilitate the return of funds to players. Player funds, therefore, will not become immediately available for withdrawal as a result of today's agreement with the DOJ.

A Company spokesperson said: "Today's signing of the agreement with the DOJ is an important step towards the safe and efficient return of funds to our US players. We can now move as expeditiously as possible to collect player monies from third party processors as a prelude to establishing proper mechanisms for the return of funds to our US players. As previously announced, we have already taken specific actions to exit the US market by closing our US-facing operations. Blank Rome LLP will continue to engage in discussions with the SDNY in order to complete the necessary agreements for the final transfer of frozen fund balances to our US players. This remains our highest priority. We will continue to update our players and the poker community, as we move forward to resolve outstanding issues."

Updated 05-10-2011 at 05:40 PM by GonzoPAS (Update to details of Press release)

Tags: absolute poker, black friday, cereus, doj, player funds, ub.com

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‎ Poker Gaming , ‎ Poker Industry News

Be sure to follow the Poker Affiliate Solutions Twitter feed for the latest up-to-the minute updates.

In the biggest Black Friday related news on Tuesday, Steve Day of PokerStars announced on the 2+2 PokerCast that US players would start making cashouts as early as April 25th as a “best case scenario,” with only technical hurdles remaining. Sure enough, soon after players began reporting that they could initiate cashouts and a lobby message confirmed that "US Cash Outs Now Available!"

Poker Stars Now Making US Cashouts: In the 2+2 PokerCast near the 54 minute mark, Steve Day said that he was “happy to announce that PokerStars will be processing cashouts very, very soon. The best case scenario would be Tuesday [April 25th].... Once cashouts are requested, people should have their money within days, in most cases.”

In the lobby US players are currently greeted with a "US Cash Outs Now Available" message.

We are pleased to announce that the Cash Out option in the PokerStars Cashier is now available. Please log in to your PokerStars account and visit our Cashier to withdraw your real money account balance at your convenience. Due to the expected high volume of cashout requests, we anticipate a delay in processing and delivery of your funds. Rest assured that your funds are safe and we will process your request as soon as possible.

At this time, there has been no new word from Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker or UB.com cashouts to US players. Previous statements have been released by both sites.

Traffic Updates: PokerScout is doing a fabulous job of tracking the events of Black Friday. Merge Gaming is now up 60% since April 15th, while Euro sites have stabilize. PokerStars and Full Tilt have stopped their slide, while the Cereus Network slide continues. More updates:

Current US facing sites: Merge up 61%; Bodog, up 32%;Cake Poker, up 30%; Everleaf, up 1%
Euro-facing sites: Party Poker, up 9%; iPoker, up 2%; Ongame, down 9%; 888, up 4%
Former US facing sites: PokerStars, down 28%, Full Tilt Poker, down 35%; Cereus, down 65%

Jottings: Great LA Time op-ed….Caesars CEO Gary Loveman says “Legalize it!”…..PPA’s John Pappas says the following of regulation: “They are spending millions to prosecute these individuals when they could be making billions through regulation of online poker. We are urging Congress to pass legislation to license online poker.”……Calvin Ayre’s Winners and Losers

Feel like you’re behind on the developments?:

You can also check out our Twitter feed where we provide you with the latest up-to-the minute developments. For your convenience we have also provided an archive of previous updates:

PAS Statement on DOJ Announcement 4/15
4/16 Cliff Notes: Details of indictment, when US players were shut out, Player funds, canceling of B&M partnerships, Initial statements from PokerStars, Full Tilt and the PPA
DOJ Domain Name Agreement 4/20
4/21 Cliff Notes: DOJ agreement, A new not guilty plea, AP/UB.com new message for US players, statements from gaming commissions of Kahnawake, Isle of Man and Alderney
Incredible Black Friday Promotions: We lay out the best of the best
4/22 Cliff Notes: Online poker traffic update, Antigua weighs in, Absolute Poker statements, collection of statements since 4/15
4/25 Cliff Notes: Merge gaming Breaking traffic records, Arizona credit union shut down, comments from Steve Wynn.

Tags: black friday, player funds, poker stars, traffic

Categories

‎ Poker Gaming , ‎ Poker Industry News

Be sure to follow the Poker Affiliate Solutions Twitter feed for the latest up-to-the minute updates.

The Department of Justice has released a statement that they have entered into an agreement with FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com to have their domain names restored to facilitate the return of U.S. player funds. As part of the agreement, both sites have agreed not to accept real money play from the United States. The statement also expressly allows for both sites to continue accepting play in non-US markets. The statement also says that the agreement is open to Absolute Poker if it chooses.

The statement reads as follows:

“the United States [has] entered into domain-name use agreements with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, two of three online poker companies named as defendants in an April 15 civil money laundering and forfeiture Complaint (the "Civil Complaint"), alleging bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling offenses. The Complaint, a related Indictment, and a related Restraining Order issued against multiple bank accounts utilized by the companies and their payment processors do not prohibit the companies from refunding players’ money. Nevertheless, this agreement will facilitate the return of money so that players can register their refund requests directly with Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker.

They go on by stating:

“No individual player accounts were ever frozen or restrained, and each implicated poker company has at all times been free to reimburse any player's deposited funds. In fact, this Office expects the companies to return the money that U.S. players entrusted to them, and we will work with the poker companies to facilitate the return of funds to players, as today’s agreements with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker demonstrate.”

Furthermore:

“Under the terms of the agreements with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, the companies agreed that they would not allow for, facilitate, or provide the ability for players located inthe United States to engage in playing online poker for "realmoney" or any other thing of value…. The agreements do not prohibit, and, in fact, expressly allow for, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to provide for, and facilitate, players outside of the United States to engage in playing online poker for real money.”

Tags: absolute poker, black friday, doj, full tilt poker, player funds, poker stars, regulation, settlement

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‎ Poker Gaming , ‎ Poker Industry News

Be sure to follow the Poker Affiliate Solutions Twitter feed for the latest up-to-the minute updates.

April 15th, 2011 will surely be a day US poker players will never forget. Mid-day Friday, players started to report of an ominous FBI message on the sites of PokerStars.com, Fulltiltpoker.com, UltimateBet.com, UB.com and AbsolutePoker.com. The domain names had been seized by the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York. Shortly after, the Department of Justice released a press release confirming the seizures along with detailing the points of the case.

PAS has released a statement on the news concerning publishers. Be assured, that we will be following any new developments very closely. If you want to stay on top of the developments as they happen check out the PAS Twitter feed.

For now, lets take a look at the facts as we currently know them:

Brief Details of the case:
--11 individuals were named in the suit, including the owner of Poker Stars, Isai Scheinberg, and Full Tilt Poker Chief executive, Raymond Bitar. Also included are other founders and individuals who helped facilitate payment processing for US players.
--Restraining orders were issued against 75 bank accounts utilized by the poker sites.
--According to the press release, the firms were involved in massive money laundering and bank fraud, which included disguising payments and partnering with banks located in the US.
--The indictment seeks at least $3 billion in penalties.

Domain Names: All the domain names involved in the seizure are not operational. However, PokerStars can now be accessed via PokerStars.eu. Full Tilt Poker can be reached by going to FullTiltPoker.co.uk.

US players: Within a couple hours of the domain seizures, US players were unable to sit down at real money tables at Poker Stars. Full Tilt Poker banned US players as of Saturday morning. At the time of this writing, Absolute Poker and UB.com have not released statements or their future intentions. Players can currently play and log on.

Player Funds: Cashouts are expected to be held up for a significant amount of time for US players (delays were already many weeks). Depositing and withdrawing by US players has been suspended. Non-US players are also experiencing issues.

PokerStars has released this statement about player funds: "Despite the expected delays, Poker Rooms are starting to release statements that player balances will be honored - Please be assured player balances are safe. There is no cause for concern."

Brick and Mortar partnerships: Wynn Resorts and Fertitta Interactive have canceled their US-based partnerships with Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker, respectively.

Traffic: PokerStars traffic was down 37% from last Friday, according to PokerScout. Full Tilt Poker and the Cereus Network were both down 20% week over week. This is even before Full Tilt Poker barred US players from playing. Party Poker was up 2%. Bodog Poker and Merge Gaming are seeing 10%+ increases while Cake Poker remains stable.

Statements:

Full Tilt Poker:
Mr. Bitar and Full Tilt Poker believe online poker is legal - a position also taken by some of the best legal minds in the United States. Full Tilt Poker is, and has always been committed to preserving the integrity of the game and abiding by the law.

"I am surprised and disappointed by the government's decision to bring these charges. I look forward to Mr. Burtnick's and my exoneration", said Mr. Bitar.

Unfortunately, as a result of this action, Full Tilt Poker has decided that it must suspend "real money" play in the United States until this case is resolved. However, Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide peer-to-peer online poker services outside of the United States.

Poker Stars:
As you may have heard, we have had to suspend real money poker services to people based in the US due to legal developments there. These developments are confined to US and not have any impact on your ability to continue our services.

Please be assured player balances are safe. There is no cause for concern. For all customers outside the US it is business as usual.

The PokerStars website has been moved to pokerstars.eu, and our Support Email address is now support@pokerstars.eu. We apologize to our players for any inconvenience caused by this disruption.

PPA
On behalf of the millions of poker players across the country, we are shocked at the action taken by the U.S. Department of Justice today against online poker companies and will continue to fight for Americans’ right to participate in the game they enjoy. Online poker is not a crime and should not be treated as such. We are currently gathering all of the information around today’s announcement and will offer detailed analysis when the full facts become available

Tags: black friday, full tilt poker, player funds, pokerstars, ppa, wynn resorts

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‎ Poker Gaming , ‎ Poker Industry News