Absolute reaches agreement with authorities
The indicted poker operator will now begin working on returning US player funds, although it has not requested the return of its dot.com domains.
Absolute Poker has reached an agreement with the Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, potentially paving the way for the return of funds to US players.
According to a press release from operator Blanca Games this morning: “[T]he US Attorney’s Office has agreed to provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds to players located in the US.”
And the release also carried confirmation that Absolute Poker and sister site Ultimate Bet would be ceasing their US-facing operations, meaning that the settlement with the authorities did not come with the return of dot.com domains.
However, Blanca went on to explain that “Unfortunately, the Company still faces several legal issues which must be navigated before funds can be paid out to US players.”
Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet are being represented in the United States by Philadelphia law firm Blank Rome LLP.
Earlier this week both Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet terminated the contracts of all their sponsored players, pointing towards the confirmation of the two poker sites’ withdrawal from the US market.
And, following blog posts from former Ultimate Bet pros Joe Sebok and Bryan Devonshire earlier in the week, a third player “ Dave Stann “ has written about the situation.
Stann admitted that he was “strongly considering…going ex-pat and moving overseas,” and also revealed that he had been developing a new tournament blackjack platform for the site which was “literally 2 weeks away from being launched when Black Friday hit.”
Last week eGaming Review revealed that debt holder Madeira Fjord had filed for bankruptcy, and reports emerging from Norwegian business newspaper E24 suggest that Madeira Fjord will be subjected to a tax audit.
And, on a separate note, former Pokernews editor-in-chief Haley Hintze is set to publish a book on the cheating scandals relating to Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Hintze has blogged on the subject “ receiving information from insiders “ since September 2009.