- 17th February 2020 World Series of Poker Expands Online Bracelet Schedule to 14 Events. On Thursday, the World Series of Poker released the schedule for this summer’s online bracelet events, to be hosted on WSOP.com.
- In a process similar to the Full Tilt Poker remission, the Garden City Group, LLC will again be the purveyor of funds, this time for the Absolute Poker Claims Administration.
- Call us toll-free at: (855) 907-3254, email us at: info@AbsolutePokerClaims.com, or write to us at: Absolute Poker Claims Administration, c/o GCG, P.O. Box 10277, Dublin, Ohio. Failure to update your contact information or banking information may delay payment should your petition be approved.
- On Monday, Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a claims process similar to that which is wrapping up with Full Tilt Poker has begun to reunite poker players with their lost Absolute Poker money. Also like with Full Tilt, the Garden City Group (GCG) will be the claims administrator.
Absolute Poker Claims Administration Definition
Absolute Poker represents the third of three online poker hosts that have to settle claims made by plaintiffs in class action lawsuits. All three online poker companies conspired with payment processors to steal funds from unsuspecting online poker players. Absolute Poker agreed to a class action settlement in July of 2013.
Because of the way the refund process was setup, a bet a lot of you had forgotten that you were still waiting to receive long-lost deposits from Absolute Poker (AP) and UltimateBet (UB), didn’t you. Well, check your inboxes, as Garden City Group, the U.S. Department of Justice-appointed claims administrator that we became all too familiar with during the long Full Tilt Poker claims process, began sending out e-mails yesterday, confirming the approval of people’s claims for funds.
It was in April that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York raised eyebrows and produced smiles when it announced that former customers of Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, the two online poker rooms that comprised the Cereus Network, would be eligible to receive their deposits that they hadn’t seen since April 15th, 2011, best known as “Black Friday” in the online poker world. After Black Friday, AP and UB went under, taking player funds with them.
GCG managed the claims process for Full Tilt Poker, using funds from the settlement PokerStars agreed to with the U.S. DoJ, a settlement which included PokerStars’ purchasing of its former top rival. According to the April press release announcing the start of the AP and UB remissions process, it looks like excess funds from Full Tilt are being used to pay Cereus players.
The bulk of the procedure for players to submit an application for remission was the same as with Full Tilt: enter a Petition Number and Control Number from an e-mail, fill out some basic personal information, and send. Those who didn’t get the e-mail (like me, because I didn’t use the e-mail address anymore) could use their AP/UB login info, instead. After that, it was up to GCG to review the application and give it the thumbs up or thumbs down.
The difference with AP/UB is that GCG did not ask for bank account information so that payment could be sent upon approval. Instead, that step was to be taken after approval, which is now. The e-mails sent out in the wave Friday include instructions on how to login with the Petition Number and Control Number once again in order to submit bank account information for a domestic ACH payment.
All in all, four months from the start of the remissions process to the approval confirmations isn’t all that bad. Another four to six weeks for payment is something I know I can live with, especially since I never expected to see my Absolute Poker or UltimateBet money ever again.
Absolute Poker Claims Administration Rules
I can’t say I’m in love with the separation of the application submission from the payment info submission, as there is a risk that former customers may not see the approval e-mail and forget that this whole claims process was even going on. If GCG would’ve taken the payment info in April, it could have saved players a potential headache down the road. At the same time, though, some people will have their claims rejected, so it might be for the best that GCG doesn’t have their banking information if those players aren’t going to get paid. Not that GCG will do anything with it, but why risk any trouble.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Previous Updates
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING PAYMENTS
GCG has been informed that the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Department of Justice (MLARS) has approved a third round of payments to Petitioners who confirmed their Absolute Poker / Ultimate Bet account balances after the initial September 7, 2017 filing deadline. The distribution will include payments to approximately 450 Petitioners with awards totaling $1,084,200.97.Payments will be made via electronic ACH to Petitioners residing in the United States and via foreign currency check to Petitioners residing outside of the United States. In cases where a foreign currency check cannot be issued, the payment will be made via USD check or foreign currency wire depending on the Petitioners country of residence.
Within the next few weeks, GCG will be sending an email notice to all approved Petitioners that contains the amount and method of their payment. For Petitioners scheduled to receive their payment via electronic ACH or foreign currency wire, the email notice will also include instructions for submitting the required banking information needed for payment.
GCG will also be sending an email notice to certain Petitioners who were approved for payment and were identified as having a delinquent debt qualifying for collection through the Treasury Offset Program. Payments for these Petitioners will be reduced in order to satisfy their debt in part or in whole. To receive the balance of their payment, Petitioners must provide GCG with the information required to complete a Unified Financial Management System Vendor Request Form. Instructions on how to provide this information will be included in the email notice.
Specific questions regarding outstanding debts and offset amounts cannot be addressed by the Department of Justice or GCG. To obtain information on your individual debt, you must contact the Treasury Offset Program at (800) 304-3107 or visit https://fiscal.treasury.gov/fsservices/gov/debtColl/dms/top/debt_top.htm for additional information.
Petitioners should continue to check this website for updates regarding the payment process and this administration.
Updated 03/15/18
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING PAYMENTS
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GCG has been informed that the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Department of Justice (MLARS) has approved a second round of payments to Petitioners who confirmed their Absolute Poker / Ultimate Bet account balances prior to the September 7, 2017 filing deadline. The distribution will include payments to approximately 4,600 Petitioners with awards totaling approximately $3.7 million.
Payments will be made via electronic ACH to Petitioners residing in the United States and via foreign currency check to Petitioners residing outside of the United States. In cases where a foreign currency check cannot be issued, the payment will be made via USD check or foreign currency wire depending on the Petitioners country of residence.
Within the next few weeks, GCG will be sending an email notice to all approved Petitioners that contains the amount and method of their payment. For Petitioners scheduled to receive their payment via electronic ACH or foreign currency wire, the email notice will also include instructions for submitting the required banking information needed for payment.
GCG will also be sending an email notice to certain Petitioners who were approved for payment and were identified as having a delinquent debt qualifying for collection through the Treasury Offset Program. Payments for these Petitioners will be reduced in order to satisfy their debt in part or in whole. To receive the balance of their payment, Petitioners must provide GCG with the information required to complete a Unified Financial Management System Vendor Request Form. Instructions on how to provide this information will be included in the email notice.
Specific questions regarding outstanding debts and offset amounts cannot be addressed by the Department of Justice or GCG. To obtain information on your individual debt, you must contact the Treasury Offset Program at (800) 304-3107 or visit https://fiscal.treasury.gov/fsservices/gov/debtColl/dms/top/debt_top.htm for additional information.
Petitioners should continue to check this website for updates regarding the payment process and this administration.
Updated 10/19/17
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING PAYMENTS
GCG has been informed that the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Department of Justice (MLARS) has approved a first round of payments to Petitioners who confirmed their Absolute Poker / Ultimate Bet account balances prior to the initial June 9, 2017 filing deadline. The distribution will include payments to approximately 7,400 Petitioners with awards totaling almost $33.5 million.
Payments will be made via electronic ACH to Petitioners residing in the United States and via foreign currency check to Petitioners residing outside of the United States. In cases where a foreign currency check cannot be issued, the payment will be made via USD check or foreign currency wire depending on the Petitioners country of residence.
Within the next few weeks, GCG will be sending an email notice to all approved Petitioners that contains the amount and method of their payment. For Petitioners scheduled to receive their payment via electronic ACH or foreign currency wire, the email notice will also include instructions for submitting the required banking information needed for payment.
GCG will also be sending an email notice to certain Petitioners who were approved for payment and were identified as having a delinquent debt qualifying for collection through the Treasury Offset Program. Payments for these Petitioners will be reduced in order to satisfy their debt in part or in whole. To receive the balance of their payment, Petitioners must provide GCG with the information required to complete a Unified Financial Management System Vendor Request Form. Instructions on how to provide this information will be included in the email notice.
Specific questions regarding outstanding debts and offset amounts cannot be addressed by the Department of Justice or GCG. To obtain information on your individual debt, you must contact the Treasury Offset Program at (800) 304-3107 or visit https://fiscal.treasury.gov/fsservices/gov/debtColl/dms/top/debt_top.htm for additional information.
Petitioners should continue to check this website for updates regarding the payment process and this administration.
Updated 08/07/17