PokerStars releases US player funds
American players can withdraw full balances from the site, with discussions ongoing regarding redemption of loyalty points.
Pokerstars has begun allowing American players to withdraw the funds in their accounts, following last week’s agreement with the US Department of Justice to return its dot.com domain.
Steve Day, manager of VIP, team online, ring games and sit n’ go tournaments for Pokerstars, broke the news on the Two Plus Two forum’s Pokercast podcast, broadcast yesterday.
A number of cash-out requests were accepted last night, and Day reassured players that they “should have their money within a matter of days in most cases.”
An official release today from Pokerstars confirmed that the company has begun the process of returning player funds and that “The funds to cover these withdrawal requests are readily available.”
As well as the withdrawal of cash balances, one poster on the Pocket Fives poker forum relayed a message from Pokerstars that it “is currently working with the US government to achieve an agreement on what can be done with FPPs [frequent player points].”
According to statements relayed on poker forums including Two Plus Two and Pocket Fives “ US players withdrawing from PokerStars are required to take their entire account balance off the site.
Pokerstars is the first of the three poker sites with domains and accounts seized by the US Attorney’s Office on Black Friday to begin processing cash-outs.
Full Tilt issued a statement following the return of its dot.com domain which suggested it could not return player funds at this time.
The third US-facing site Absolute Poker stated over the weekend that it was still in negotiations with the Attorney’s Office over the return of its dot.com site. The Kahnawake-licensed site explained that “Absolute Poker’s counsel has initiated communications with the US Attorney’s office and plans to continue proactively advancing those discussions.”
As well as reassuring players about their funds, Day used the podcast to explain the procedure for Americans considering moving overseas to continue playing poker online at PokerStars for a living.
He said: “There’s definitely no play from within the United States regardless of your residency, and if you want to play outside then you need to be a resident of another country.”
Day added that “Anyone who relocates from the US to another country will be subject to some extra scrutiny to make sure they’re actually playing from where they’re playing from.”