Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet players are set to receive $33,500,000 in reimbursements from funds lost during the Black Friday scandal of 2011. Customers of the Cereus Network of poker sites can learn how to be reimbursed through www.AbsolutePokerClaims.com.
Garden City Group LLC, which oversaw the reimbursement of funds for Full Tilt Poker’s US customers, will oversee the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet reimbursement process. After the FullTilt process ended in April 2017, the Department of Justice had $45,000,000 in unclaimed monies to dole out.
Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet Reimbursements
The money is held by the US Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS). Those who confirmed their balances prior to the initial June 9, 2017 filing deadline will receive a total of $33.5 million in reimbursements.
The distribution amount was determined by the number of petitioners — roughly 7,400 — who came forward to file claims. Petitioner still residing in the United States will receive payment via electronic ACH. Those who reside outside the United States will receive a foreign current check. In those countries where petitioners cannot receive a foreign currency check, payment will be made via US dollar checks or a foreign currency wire.
MLARS Petition to Remission Process
All approved petitioners should receive an email notification within the next few weeks. Those set to receive a payment via electronic ACH or foreign currency wire will receive instructions in the same email.
Those who are identified as having a “delinquent debt qualifying for collection” through the Treasury Offset Program will have their payments reduced in order to pay down that debt. If they have funds remaining after their delinquent debt is paid, then they will receive the balance of their payment in the above stated manner.
Delinquent Debt Forms
If you are a petitioner who needs to pay off delinquent debt, provide the GCG with a completed “Unified Financial Management System Vendor Request Form”. When you receive your email, it will contain information on how to fill out and deliver such a form.
Those wanting to learn about their debt should to go the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service website, where you can find information on the Treasure Offset Program (TOP).
Treasury Offset Program Information
MLARS tells petitioners on their website they will need to contact the Treasury Offset Program at 1-(800)-304-3107.
Those who are hearing-impaired can use the Federal Relay Service, which can be contacted by dialing 1-800-877-8339. A Communications Assistant (CA) can dial the toll free number for you.
Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet petititioners should visit the GCG website frequently for updates, because it doubles as the site for the “Absolute Poker Claims Administration”. Those who went through the FullTilt Poker “petition for remission” process should understand how things work, because the same system will be used.
Black Friday Reimbursements
Black Friday was the darkest day in the history of US poker. On April 15, 2017, the US Justice Department unsealed 13 indictments of poker site executives, while seizing the domains of PokerStars, FullTilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and Ultimate Bet. In the wake of Black Friday, American poker players were barred from the remainder of the world’s largest online card rooms.
PokerStars eventually paid $731 million to escape a long court case, though its executives eventually had to sell PokerStars for $4.9 billion in order for the site to re-enter the US gaming market (in New Jersey). The other sites faced scandals which branched off from the original case, because they did not segregate operating funds from executive funds. PokerStars bought FullTilt Poker, which meant FTP players could reasonably expect to be reimbursed for their frozen player funds. The last of those payments came in April 2017.
Absolute Poker’s Role in Black Friday
Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet were a different matter. Brent Beckley and Scott Tom, the co-founders of Absolute Poker, had been Sigma Alpha Epsilon frat brothers at the University of Montana. They made serious money at Absolute Poker, but did not segregate funds they way they should have.
When Black Friday hit, Beckley and Tom owed their customers over $50 million, but did not have anywhere near the cash on hand to cover those debts. Brent Beckley pleaded guilty to felony charges in 2012 and eventually served 18 months in prison. Scott Tom left the country, only returning in late-2016 to face justice. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in 2016 and received probation. Fleeing the country was a good idea.
Six years later, MLARS and GCG appear ready to pay back thousands of Absolute Bet players. Diligent players will need to jump through some legal hoops. Follow the instructions and information above and you should have you Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet player funds soon.
