What's Going To Happen with Full Tilt Poker, Really?

The Full Tilt Poker latest news has been a whirlwind of a ride to keep up with over the past 18 months. Finally, it appears that following Full Tilt news has calmed down a bit. With the future of this brand a little less hazy, what can be expected out of Full Tilt over the next year or two?
PokerStars’ Power
Despite its name having been drug through the mud since Black Friday, poker players do not seem too concerned about Full Tilt’s integrity in the gaming industry. And rightly so. The Full Tilt brand is in a healthy position under the ownership and guidance of Rational Entertainment Enterprises, owners and operators of PokerStars. This company has demonstrated the utmost degree of competence in running an online poker site with its tremendous execution of building PokerStars into the de facto number one online poker room.
As such, fan and followers of Full Tilt Poker can expect a bright future out of the brand over the upcoming years. The site is drawing strong traffic since its relaunch. According to PokerScout.com, Full Tilt has easily regained its pre-Black Friday standing as the second-largest online poker room behind PokerStars. Unfortunately for sites like 888 Poker, the dream of seizing standing as the second largest online poker room became a much greater challenge with the relaunch of Full Tilt Poker.
Where’s the Money?
Full Tilt’s former U.S. customers have been less than thrilled at how the Department of Justice has handled the repayment of players. These individuals have been left with sparse information since it was announced that PokerStars would buyout Full Tilt and that as part of the process, the U.S. government would handle redistributing funds to U.S. players.
This week, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that they are currently evaluating applications to determine who will be in charge of handling payment requests from Full Tilt’s former American customers. The office said that they will begin to work on processing player claims in January 2013. Indeed, it could take two years, or longer, for Full Tilt’s U.S. players to be reunited with their funds following Black Friday.
Party in the USA?
The question many Americans have when Full Tilt Poker latest news is brought up is: will they be back in the U.S. someday? The short answer to this question is: don’t bet on it.
In order for Full Tilt to re-enter the U.S. market, they need not only for online poker to be legalized and regulated but also for the brand to be in good legal standing with the U.S. government. Licensed U.S. online poker operators may feel they are taking too big of a risk by associating themselves with Full Tilt Poker.