With 2,000 former Full Tilt Poker players set to receive approximately $5 million in remissions over the next two weeks, the Black Friday saga is finally reaching its end.
This final set of payments closes a chapter on one of online gambling’s darkest stories and paves the way for Full Tilt Poker to rejoin the igaming industry in good standing.
In particular, Full Tilt and its parent company Amaya Gaming are now free and clear to enter the burgeoning American market in New Jersey.
Former FTP players who receive checks from this round of remittance are the seventh to go out. According to CalvinAyre.com, that means approximately 40,000 players have already divided up around $110 million worth of remittance.
John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA told CalvinAyre that roughly 3,800 claims are still waiting to be settled. For the most part, these claims were either filed late in the process, or are proving particularly difficult to confirm.
Most igaming industry watchers agree that the conditions that led to Black Friday, and Full Tilt Poker’s massive payback, are unlikely to reoccur.
Today’s online poker industry self-regulates considerably more than its predecessors. And any deficiencies in self-regulation are more than made up for with stringent rules from governmental bodies.
Nowhere is the online poker industry more closely scrutinized than in the emerging American markets in Nevada, Delaware, and especially New Jersey. These states are particularly keen on insuring that players get a fair game, and a more than fair chance at withdrawing their funds whenever they like.
With the bitterness of Black Friday in the rear view mirror, the online poker industry has a genuine chance of rebuilding credibility with the American poker playing community.