PokerStars Buys Full Tilt Poker, Players To Be Paid

After more than a year of waiting, former players of Full Tilt Poker, which has been described as a Ponzi scheme by the U.S. Department of Justice, are set to get repaid. The defunct company has been bought by PokerStars, which announced Tuesday that it has reached a settlement with the DOJ.

According to PokerStars, the settlement has it acquiring the assets of Full Tilt Poker for a price of $547 million. In a press release, PokerStars said it’s “committed to the full reimbursement of Full Tilt Poker customers outside the United States.”

The press release continued: “The money paid to the U.S. government will in part be used to reimburse former Full Tilt Poker customers in the United States, through a remission process to be administered by the Department of Justice. PokerStars repaid all amounts owing to its own U.S. customers shortly after it closed its U.S. operations.”

“PokerStars will also make available in a segregated bank account, all outstanding balances owing to all non-U.S. customers of Full Tilt Poker (an amount totaling $184 million), with no restrictions on withdrawals, within 90 days of completing this transaction.”

The deal gives PokerStars permission to operate once again in the U.S., but only under a regulatory framework at the state or federal level.

“We are delighted we have been able to put this matter behind us, and also secured our ability to operate in the United States of America whenever the regulations allow,” Mark Scheinberg, Chairman of the Board of PokerStars, said in a press release.

The Department of Justice had its own press release around noon EST.

Follow Brian Pempus on Twitter — @brianpempus

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