Exclusive: Stars repayment of Italian FTP players unresolved
No certainty of agreement being reached with regulator before 6 November relaunch.
Italian regulator AAMS is yet to reach a resolution with PokerStars on the operator’s reimbursement of Full Tilt Poker’s former players in the dot.it market, eGaming Review has learned.
With less than a month remaining before the relaunch of its former rival in non-US dot.com markets, PokerStars has come to an agreement with other regulators in terms of the repayment of players in territories where FTP will not be operational, with players permitted to transfer their balances to PokerStars’ relevant dot.country client. It is unclear how much is owed to players in Italy.
Full Tilt will not be relaunched in Italy, France, Denmark, Spain, Estonia or Belgium, where PokerStars holds dot.country licences under its main brand, while players in other territories (excluding the United States) will be able to either play or withdraw funds when the site goes live.
Under its previous ownership, Full Tilt Poker had applied for an Italian operating licence and stopped recruiting new Italian players for its dot.com site, however it withdrew the application following Black Friday.
A spokesman for AAMS confirmed to eGR that the situation was “complicated” and a resolution before 6 November was not guaranteed, noting “[in its previous guise] Full Tilt Poker was not a recognised company in the Italian market].”
“The situation in France was different, as Full Tilt had a licence there,” the spokesman added. Full Tilt’s Rekop subsidiary was licensed by ARJEL in 2010 but had its accreditation suspended in July 2011, less than one week after the Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended the company’s four operating licences in the jurisdiction.
AAMS was unable to provide further details on the ongoing discussions with PokerStars, while a Stars spokesperson failed to respond when contacted by eGR.
Earlier this week Full Tilt Poker confirmed that it had been successful in its application for an Isle of Man egaming licence, bringing the two sites under the remit of the same regulatory regime, an ambition outlined by Stars after it agreed to acquire Tilt in July. PokerStars also holds licences in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, Malta and Spain.
Meanwhile a number of sources are reporting that American players have been contacted by Full Tilt Poker with regards to their player accounts, with the operator informing them that their frequent player points (FPP) balances will remain intact and that they are permitted to take part in play-money games only.
The repayment of US players is subject to the US Department of Justice remission process, with players required to file individual petitions for repayment with the DoJ which has advertised for an external claims administrator to handle the process.