It would be really shocking if this were an issue. Not just because it would seem fundamentally unfair but also because it would result in them actually paying out more money:

Deposits - rake = balances

I guess the fear, whether it is paranoia or reality (see Forbes article), is the DoJ would credit only up to deposits within someones current balance but if they had a 0 balance on BF, then past deposits don't matter. That way the DoJ pockets more and the player is screwed. To be clear, I have never thought this was realistic, but that Forbes article really shook me up.

Yeah, thats what I noted too. I guess from a pure dollars and sense standpoint you'd have to factor in how much less likely it is for zero balance players to file a claim, but its just so much easier to pay out current balances.

That said, wouldnt surprise me to see the DOJ try and find a way not to pay out winnings.

I don't think it will ever happen. If they pay out deposits, 500M wont be enough and they will need to pay 1 Million people more who have zero balance but made deposit before.

Then they repay pro-rata, its not like they have to come out of pocket.

Just seems so much harder to administer.

Emphasis added.

The reason why the language regarding U.S. player remissions has been ambiguous is that players in some states were NOT acting legally when playing online poker. So those players may not receive their remission.

Again, that has been my non-expert interpretation of the information thus far, so take it for what it's worth.

LOL, that would mean I only get about 30% of my initial deposit. I'll get back $15.

I don't think there are any states that make playing poker illegal? Washington could be the only state, but FTP stopped serving Washington well before BF.

Does anyone know where the DOJ (whichever department handles remission in this case) posts information regarding confidentiality? It seems to me that victims should have rights to privacy and confidentiality in regards to compensation, should they seek remission.

I would like to know if my private information, the details of this case as it pertains to me, and anything else pertinent will be passed around among various federal agencies and/or stored indefinitely (and if so, for what purpose). That would go a long way towards letting me know if I should bother with this.

wait a minute, if they are going to go the "internet poker is illegal" wasn't it by UIGEA illegal from the operator side and not from the player side? I thought that as far as the law is concerned, the players did nothing wrong. Also as it has been brough up by pappas, it is beyond hypocritical BS that the PS payed balances after BF as was FTP and AP/UB supposed to but now they decided to flip the script? They better not even think about it!!!!

forbes is such a piece of **** every time I read it I wonder why people refer to it.

that said, it's not out of the question cause imo pokerstars got off way too easily.

Please post trip reports here from conversations with any arm of the DoJ, especially those in charge of facilitating the remission process.

These are the kind of fears I had immediately upon reading the press release. It sounded great until they said us players will have to apply througy doj

If they pay deposits, all the fish with only $5 left in their accounts will be very very happy.

Given that pokerstars is directly paying the doj, if the doj then refuses to pay us our balances that would be outright theft. The ponzi scheme would be the us govt not ftp

I don't know if I understand this fully. Deposits - Rake /= US players balances necessarily, which is what you were talking about right?. But yeah, I would think that US players are going to get their account balance as of April 15, 2011. Not just what, if anything, they deposited.

+1

It could work something like this.

You deposit $1000 and I deposit $1000. We play and I lose $500 and you win $500 but rake was $20 so you net only $480.
Balances:
You $1480
Me $500
you get $1000 and I get $500 and the DOJ keeps the rest.

this is absolutely true, there's a reason the manhattan DA brought this suit in the first place; it's got nothing very little to do with the law and a whole lot to do with politics/economics and the exercise of power.

rut roh

^

I don't think that makes sense. Looks like you are trying to have it both ways.

I completely agree the idea is ridiculous for so many reasons, but Forbes is saying they are considering it.

However, isn't it more complicated than you suggest, Ike? The many people with large balances who deposited small amounts would be screwed (the good players who ran up their accounts) and people who have very small amounts of their deposit left could recover. I can't see how anyone could recover more than what is in their account, because the fraud did not cost them more than that.

People with zero balances were not harmed by this fraud, so I don't see how they could recover.

So the way I'm seeing it, skilled players couldn't recover, and fish couldn't recover unless they had amount of their deposits in their accounts, which seems unlikely.

DOJ would unjustly clean up under this method. Maybe I'm seeing it wrong, though?


Amend your taxes, pay them.

Freak outterz gunna freek out

maybe they are simply mixing up the words balances and deposits like has been done here a gadzillion times before.

That's how I see it, too. Problem is that any good players balance is substantially more than their deposits (except for those who merely transferred large wires onto the site) and bad players is substantially less.

Bad players can only recover a little, good players can only recover a little, DOJ takes most.

tweeted them. couldnt figure out how to post on their facebook page. It's shenanigans like this that kept me from fist pumping and feeling good when the announcement came yesterday. I still think we'll get paid, but the fact that ideas like this are even being thrown out is just absurd. If the DOJ doesn't plan to screw players it would be a huge relief to everyone involved if they made a simple press release suggesting that they intend to return player balances as best as possible through the remission process. I would hope that when the deal is in effect at the end of the week they'll make such a press release and we'll all be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

lol frobes