DoJ Allows Funds to be Withdrawn from Online Poker Sites

April 26, 2011 | News Category: Gaming Law

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The United States Department of Justice and two of the online poker sites that had their domain names seized recently have reached an agreement by which the players will be able to withdraw their online gambling balances from the sites.

The two sites that have reached this agreement with the Department of Justice are Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. Both of these online gambling websites will now be allowed to return their players' funds to them. The online gambling sites will be assisted by the government.

At this time, Absolute Poker has not agreed to the terms offered by the US Attorney's office. A statement out of the US Attorney's office noted: "The government stands to enter the same agreement with Absolute Poker if it so chooses. This office expects the companies to return the money that US players entrusted to them, and we will work with the poker companies to facilitate the return of funds to players."

The agreement that was reached between the US Department of Justice and Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars is that their domain names would be returned to them on the condition that the two companies immediately cease to allow players located in the United States to play any real money games on their online gambling sites. This includes a prohibition on offering any other objects of value to those in the US too. The two .com domains would be able to continue to offer real money games to those of their patrons that are located outside of the United States.

The agreement also states clearly that the online gambling sites should use the return of their domain names in order to facilitate the return of funds to players in the United States. Players will be able to request their funds directly from the online poker sites, and will not have to go through any official channels in order to have their money returned to them.

At the same time that the two companies have said they will return the funds, players should not expect this to be a speedy process since the companies will have to find a payment processor that can facilitate the transfers. The bank accounts and payment processing companies that were being used before have been frozen or seized by the Department of Justice.

Those US players who held accounts at Absolute Poker are not so lucky since the online poker site has not agreed to the terms of the agreement, and players will simply find that it is not even possible to access the Absolute Poker website at this time.