Hmmm it's certainly plausible that FTP decided that the easiest way for them to handle the direct rakeback was to designate you as an affiliate in their internal systems, with yourself as your only customer.

If so, it's pretty brutal if you get denied remissions because of that.

Is anyone able to speak to a representative today. The voice prompt doesn't give an option for speaking to a representative.

I'm calling 866-250-2640

Try option 3

That is my situation. I figured there are a lot of players from the 2004-2006 era that are in the same boat.

Can someone better define direct rakeback for me? I had rakeback through rakebackpros but they way you all are talking about it, it seems FTP had their own internal rakeback program? I thought RBP's was owned by FTP?\

I was not pegged as an affiliate fwiw.

Did you sign up to get RB when you made the account or did you sign up with rakebackpros after the account was made?

After the account was made. I think it was one of the main reasons that I joined 2p2 to look into rake back after I had created another FTP account for rakeback... Those were the days.

Ok, so that reason is scratched off the list.

I can only speak for my own situation, but I was playing big volume and didn't know about rakeback. I had signed up directly through FTP. Once I found out about rakeback I asked to be moved to a rakeback provider, but FTP wouldn't let me. I threatened to leave and take my volume elsewhere, so they offered to affiliate my account. I made 20% off of my own account. It wasn't the 27% everyone else was getting, but it was better than nothing. Years later they started rakebackpros and I got an email (which I still have) that stated that affiliates can not earn revenue on their own accounts and that I was being moved to rakebackpros.

Hi guys,

Apologies if this has been answered already (I'm just now discovering this thread), but is there anything special I should be doing as a person who attempted a withdrawal on Black Friday, never got the money, and currently show an account balance of $0?

I've already filled out the form and filed my claim, just wondering if there's anything additional.

thanks in advance.

OK, yeah this is way different than what happened with me. Obv ****ed up if you get binked b/c of this.

So you've already filled out and hit confirm on your claim? I think you might be ****ed. But I would give them a call and ask for direction.

If you haven't confirmed it through the site then just get all the evidence you can and submit it to them.

no, i created a new claim with my correct balance and attached various emails, screenshots, etc. to show my true balance.

im probably ****ed either way though lol

I think you did about all we can at this point.

GL obv.

I have plenty in my FTP account to make hiring a lawyer on my own worth it. I was trying to be nice, and say that if someone doesn't have that much money in their account, and would like to join me/connect with me/work together, I'm willing to do that. There's been several live players I've been talking to, and online guys, that have $500 or $236 or $2K and are just going to write it off, because they're "sort of" pre denied, even though I don't think they should, it's their money, and they deserve it.

However I prefer a lawyer outside of the PPA bubble, because 1.) don't know them 2.) the PPA was started by FTP/Stars and I don't know the history there (aka maybe some of them still like Howard, or still think Bitar is an ok guy that just did one bad thing, and isn't cut throat like I am going to be in getting my money back) 3.) I want a fresh lawyer looking at it from a different angle then what others are. Because if the PPA lawyer "figures it out" someone is going to post that on 2+2 and I'll just follow that template. But I would get the added benefit (and added cost) of having a whole nother person/firm looking at the case and they might think of something someone else misses.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is I am hiring a lawyer, any suggestions?

you probably won't end up paying a shady lawyer a bunch of money for no real reason. i heard that rarely happens with lawyers.

I am confused beyond belief on this affiliate issue.

I originally had NO Rakeback.
I stopped playing on Full Tilt because of it.
In early 2011 I email support and told them I wanted to come back but only if they gave me RB
They granted me RB @ 27%
I received an email with my petition information.
Submitted and filed and received confirmation.

The Q's:
A) Do I still have to worry about this affiliate nonsense?
B) If not, why am I different than some of the others who are having issues?

Lawyers are people. Some people are shady, some aren't.

It's naive to think all lawyers are shady/lazy/not worth the money in some circumstances.

Better Call Saul!

you've got 2+ more months where you're neither approved or denied, and you don't even know what you want the lawyer to do for you. you're naive to think you're not gonna get exploited.

I agree they should all file claims. Getting a lawyer in your situation is probably a wise move. If you are going to cover all the costs associated with representing you, and having multiple other clients would reduce the cost to others, then it may also be a generous move.

and you know a different lawyer? Why are you still loooking?

Even if the lawyer referred though the PPA had worked for FTP/Stars, IDK if it would be a conflict situation. In fact, more players getting the money back makes the poker sites look a little better.

As long as your lawyer is any good, this is a valid reason.

• You probably want somebody local, or from the nearest big city if you're in a small place.
• You want somebody with experience in remissions (probably fairly uncommon). Possibly somebody who handles creditors' claims in bankruptcies, or maybe victims' claims in criminal cases.
• You probably want to avoid very small firms.

So now you're just in the usual situation of having to find a good enough lawyer with a specific area of expertise. This is not a problem I have reliably solved. The ususal steps include:

• Ask all your contacts for referrals.
• Ask for referrals from businesses in related industries (e.g. bankruptcy trustees, accountants, banks)
• Use online lawyer search tools (beware of ones where the lawyer has to pay a fee to be listed - many lawyers on those are just starting out).

If you are a PPA member, perhaps the PPA could refer lawyers for claims submissions (and any follow-on appeals) - this might go beyond whoever they are working drectly with on this matter. I would hope at least that they might provide guidance to players on how to find legal representation in this matter.

Perhaps the lawyers who post in this forum could provide generic tips on how to find a good lawyer.

My situation is like yours, so a third question
C) Who is in a similar situation but did not receive a petition number.

Did anybody have to submit multiple requests for petition/control #'s before they got theirs? I did one and got the standard "just open a new petition" boilerplate, but I don't want to do that quite yet.

I'm in exact same spot as you. Think I am going to go ahead and call them tomorrow and try to ask them for it (read a post in one of the 2 threads that guy said he called last week and they gave him the PC numbers over the phone). I don't see how it could hurt to call them, worst they do is tell you that you have to file a new petition. (the only difference I see in going this route compared to having the P+C numbers, is that you have to "prove" what your balance was, and the only thing I believe they would need is the spreadsheet from FTP that you can request very easily)

Who knows? For now, you seem fine. If some issue arises later, deal with it then.

Who knows? Maybe they assigned you to an affiliate instead of making you one yourself. But it's FTP interacting with the government. Anything's possible.