Hi folks -
Obviously it's a big day for all of us. If you haven't seen the
official announcement from PokerStars yet, please go read it now. There is also a
corporate blog post that you may find interesting reading. My job here is to provide a FAQ about what's going on. Like any good FAQ, it will grow and expand as time goes on.
General
Q: Will Full Tilt be closed down permanently?
A: No. We plan to re-open Full Tilt in most markets within 90 days of closing (which will take place within seven days). At that time, player accounts will be fully available for use, play or withdrawal. We are not currently planning to seek a license to operate Full Tilt in France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium and Estonia. For Full Tilt players in these markets, we will work with regulators to determine the appropriate mechanisms for making funds available. In any case, these funds will be available as soon as possible.
Q: When will Full Tilt be re-opened?
A: We plan to re-open Full Tilt in most markets within 90 days of closing (which will take place within seven days).
Q:I play on PokerStars but not on Full Tilt. How does this affect me?
A: This will not impact players on PokerStars in any way. You can continue playing as before and your money is completely segregated and safe for play and/or withdrawing at any time you please.
Q: What countries will Full Tilt Poker reopen in?
A: Full Tilt Poker will reopen in most countries and we plan to apply for a global license with the Isle of Man and Malta gaming authorities. We are not currently planning to seek a license to operate Full Tilt in France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium and Estonia. Full Tilt players in these countries will be able to play on PokerStars.
Q: Does this settlement mean I can play real money online poker in the United States?
A: No. Under the terms of our agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, we will not offer real money online poker in the U.S. until such time as there is regulation and licensing permitting this. The agreement does expressly allow for both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands to apply for such licenses in the U.S. whenever they are offered.
My Account
Q: Can I transfer my FTP funds to an account on PokerStars?
A: We hope to have the functionality in place to allow inter-site transfers between Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, so that you can enjoy playing again on either platform of your choosing. We will provide additional guidance on this in the coming weeks.
Q:I’m from Italy (also: France, Spain, Belgium, Estonia, Denmark). Can I use my funds on PokerStars, due to not having the option to play on Full Tilt Poker again?
A: We are currently working with the relevant authorities in your country and hope to put in place a solution that allows you to transfer your Full Tilt funds to a PokerStars account.
Cash-outs
Q: How do I cash out my funds? (US)
A: The process of reimbursing Full Tilt US players will be addressed by the US Government.
Q: When will I be able to cash out my funds? (France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Estonia, Denmark)
A: We are currently working with the regulators in your country on the mechanisms required to withdraw your funds. We are committed to making these funds available within 90 days of the formal closing of the deal, which will be within seven days.
Q: Will I be able to cash out my entire balance? (ROW)
A: Yes. Full balances will be made available for immediate withdrawal once the site is reopened.
Q: What cash-out methods will there be? (ROW)
A: We will strive to ensure our complete payment offering is available at the time of launch. Where possible this will be consistent with the current offering at PokerStars.
Q: Are there going to be play-though requirements before I can cashout? (ROW)
A: No. You will have full access to your funds immediately and in most cases will be able to fully withdraw funds using the same methods previously available in your market.
Q: How long will my cash-out take to process? (ROW)
A: Processing times will differ depending on the method of cashout.
Q: What happens to my Full Tilt loyalty rewards?
A: We are reviewing all previous Full Tilt reward programs and will provide more details on plans for these programs in the near future. We intend to have a fair resolution for players with accumulated points and other rewards under the program.
Q: Can I use my FTP funds on PokerStars?
A: We are currently working on solutions for players to have inter-site transfers between FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com.
Contact
Q: Who should I contact in the future to discuss my Full Tilt account?
A: You should contact
support@fulltiltpoker.com where one of Full Tilt's representatives will assist you with your account query.
That's it for now. I'll be back here 2-3 times per day to update you. As you can certainly understand, I'm not going to be shooting from the hip in this thread; please allow me time to collect questions and get approval for the answers. But you'll be seeing a lot of me here over the next few days.
Also, a brief personal observation: I know this has been a long and painful period for many of you. It's been that way for us too; a lot of people have worked extraordinarily hard to bring this to a successful conclusion. I'm prouder than ever to work for PokerStars.
Best regards,
Lee Jones
Mod edit, NoahSD:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Jones
Hi folks -
A lot of people are asking about the date which is used to establish whether you're a "U.S." or "Rest of World" player, for the purposes of from whom you get your money.
We have officially confirmed that that date is June 29th, 2011. Reports that the date is April 14th, 2011 are incorrect. If your Full Tilt account had an address in the U.S. or U.S. Territories as of June 29th, you are considered to be a U.S. player.
Best regards,
Lee Jones
Added 8/1/2012 10:49am PT
Hi folks -
We've gone through the thread so far and picked up the questions you've asked. Some of the important ones are answered here - we are still working on the answers to others. Please be patient with us - we will get to virtually every question, I promise.
Also, I just want to be clear that I'm a pinch-hitter here. We wanted to be in front of the curve and make sure your questions got answered. The Full Tilt poker room management team will be coming to the forums shortly and they'll be answering your questions that are directly related to playing on Full Tilt.
Okay, without further ado…
Q: I understand that my status as a US or RoW player is based on the address in my Full Tilt account as of June 29, 2011. Is there anything I can do to change that?
A: No.
Q: Will US [1] players be able to log into their FTP accounts to see their balance, or have some other method to view their balance?
A: Unfortunately, we don't know the exact mechanism by which you'll be able to view your account balance once Full Tilt re-launches. We are working on that now and will let you as soon as it's finalized.
Q: What if Player A purchased the funds in Player B’s FTP account? Will PokerStars cooperate with that?
A: No. We will not get involved in brokering sales of the funds in Full Tilt accounts.
Q: How do FTP players who don’t remember email/password information for their account get their money back?
A: We have an obligation to protect the security of the players’ funds. As such, we will establish a procedure for verifying the information for player accounts if they don’t remember the email address and password. Only fully verified account owners will have access to their Full Tilt Poker account.
Q: I’m an American (that is, I have a Full Tilt account with an American address as of June 29, 2011). But I have moved out of the US and have received permission to play on PokerStars. Can I play on the newly reopened FTP?
A: Anybody residing outside the U.S. (and the IT/EE/ES/BE/FR/DK countries) can play on Full Tilt Poker once it re-launches. We are still determining the exact mechanism by which formerly American Full Tilt players will restart their play on Full Tilt (from outside the U.S.).
Q: Can a player who is defined as a U.S. player, but is now living outside the U.S., simply reopen his account and have access to the funds in it?
A: No. You have to apply to the U.S. DoJ for remission (i.e. to get your money back). Again, we don't know the exact mechanism by which former U.S. players will restart at Full Tilt; we'll let you know as soon as we have it confirmed.
Q: If I’m an American player and fail to apply to the DoJ for remission, does my FTP balance remain intact if/when FTP reopens in the US?
A: No. The only way you can get your money is by applying to the U.S. DoJ for remission.
Q: Full Tilt froze my account before they shut down (investigation for collusion, chip dumping, etc). What happens to my account balance?
A: If you are a U.S. player, you will have to deal with DoJ . For Rest of the World players, we will restart the investigation and take it to its appropriate conclusion.
Q: How do I apply for a job at Full Tilt?
A: There will be a “Jobs” section on the FTP website where you can apply for open positions.
As I said, we're aware that there are many other questions outstanding; we're getting answers to those questions as quickly as we can. The most important thing is that we get you accurate information, so please be patient as we do that.
Best regards,
Lee Jones
[1] For the purposes of this discussion, "U.S." refers to "U.S. and U.S. Territories".
8/4 Update:
Hi folks -
Here's the next batch of Q and A's. Whoever said that I'm running around collecting answers is absolutely correct. We had a seismic event here and we don't know all the answers to everything right now. It is
far more important that we give you the correct information than we get it out in the next eight hours.
Q: Will screen-name changes be permitted at FTP?
A: There are a number of questions such as this one that are directly related to how FTP manages their operation. The FTP folks will be in the forums in the not-too-distant future; they can address your questions directly then.
It’s still early days yet – we all need some time to work these questions out and make sure we do the right thing.
Q: Am I going to get rakeback on FTP?
A: That’s a question for the FTP folks. At some point in the not-too-distant future, they’ll be here and you can bring it up with them.
Q: What will the FTP reward program be like? More like the traditional FTP reward program or more like the PokerStars VIP program?
A: Once again, this is an operations decision that the FTP management and marketing teams will make. We’ve got 90 days before the answer really matters – please give them some time to figure out the answer.
Q: Is a player who is banned or self-excluded on FTP (collusion, multi-accounting, problem gambling, etc) automatically banned on PokerStars and vice versa?
A: Our systems will not allow barred or self-excluded players on one site to play on the other site. We will ensure that we have the technical solutions in place to preserve our game integrity and responsibility in responsible gaming. However, we will deal with exceptional situations on a case-by-case basis.
Q: How will you deal with exchange fluctuations since the Euro has devalued since last year?
A: All Full Tilt account balances were held in U.S. dollars (USD), so whatever local currency you receive in your cash-out will be based on the exchange rate with the USD on the day you cash out. For example, let’s suppose you have $100 in your Full Tilt account and you cash out on December 19, 2012. You will receive $100 converted to your local currency (e.g. EUR) using the exchange rate for 19/12/12.
Q: What about phantom deposits to FTP which were never collected? Are they still treated as valid account balances? Will you attempt to collect phantom deposits?
A: Our finance people don’t yet have all the data they need to make a decision on this. We will let you know as soon as we can.
Q: I requested a cash-out from FTP and it was debited from my account, but I never saw the money. Do I get the money back?
A: All player account balances and transactions will be reviewed, including pending cash-outs. Once account balances have been verified (including any adjustments for pending cash-outs), players will be able to cash out. At this point, we have no access to individual accounts so we’re unable to discuss your particular case. We appreciate and thank you for your understanding and patience until we can get this resolved.
Q: I got a check from FTP but it bounced. The money was still debited from my account. Do I get that money back?
A: Almost all of the cases involving bounced checks are for “defined” U.S. players (those with an account address in the U.S. and U.S. Territories as of June 29, 2011). We have absolutely no involvement with refunding those players – you will have to deal with the U.S. DoJ.
For the relatively few players who are “defined” RoW, we will have to wait and review your account once we have the data. That’s going to take some time; we appreciate your patience while we do the necessary review and audit.
=======================
Again, please be patient. We have many questions to answer and right is
way more important than fast.
Best regards,
Lee Jones
------------------
8/6 Post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Jones
Hi all -
Very briefly:
Q: Will PokerStars and Full Tilt have separate player pools ("liquidity") or a single shared player pool?
A: PokerStars and Full Tilt will have separate player pools. If you are at a Full Tilt table, you will not be playing against PokerStars players, and vice versa.
Best regards,
Lee Jones
Last edited by Videopro; 08-06-2012 at 05:52 PM.
