Final Full Tilt Poker Refunds at Risk, Says Garden City Group

October 28th, 2014 | by Kaycee James

Some players who submitted incorrect or incomplete information could risk losing their Full Tilt Poker refunds. (Image: rfts.com)

Some players waiting for Full Tilt Poker refunds may risk not receiving those funds at all if they do not fix errors or finish incomplete petitions by an upcoming deadline.

More than 2,200 petitioners were recently contacted by the Garden City Group (GCG) with instructions on how they could complete their petitions by November 24, after which some may see their claims denied if there are still problems with their requests.

“GCG has identified certain Petitioners who previously confirmed their FTP Account Balance but who submitted incomplete or incorrect banking information or an incomplete or incorrect Social Security Number,” the GCG posted on the Full Tilt Poker Claims Administration website.

“On October 25, 2014, GCG sent emails to more than 2,200 of these Petitioners with instructions on how to update and correct their Petitions through the online filing site.”

Social Security Numbers Key to Receiving Refunds

According to the GCG, the consequences of failing to update and correct the appropriate information will depend on exactly what’s wrong with each petition. If it’s simply a matter of incomplete or incorrect banking information, for instance, the GCG will still send a check out to the mailing address listed on the petition.

On the other hand, a problem with a Social Security number could cause more serious complications. Without a proper Social Security number, petitions will be recommended for denial.

“Prior to the payments of funds to a Petitioner, GCG is required to provide the Petitioner’s Social Security or other Taxpayer Identification Number to the Government, in order to offset and collect any qualifying debts currently listed in the Treasury Offset Program,” the GCG statement says.

Recourse Unknown for Denied Petitions

Should a petition be recommended for denial, it’s likely that it would result in no refund for the player who submitted that application. It’s unclear if there would be any further recourse available at that point.

So far, players in the United States have seen over $110 million returned to them through the remuneration process. Players had until September 3 of this year to submit their applications to the GCG. According to reports, the average account balance refunded to players so far has been more than $4,000.

FTP Account Refunds

The refund process is the final result of a settlement between PokerStars and the United States government in the wake of Black Friday. As a part of its settlement with the Department of Justice (DoJ), PokerStars agreed to purchase the assets of Full Tilt Poker and take responsibility for all account balances outside of the United States.

That left American players still waiting for their money, however. The DoJ took on the task of repaying US account holders using funds paid by PokerStars as a part of the settlement. After naming GCG as the claims administrator, the repayment process began, with the first round of refunds being send out in February 2014.

Most players who held accounts on Full Tilt Poker that still had balances at the time of Black Friday were eligible to receive refunds through the remission process. After some debate, that also included most professional players who were associated with Full Tilt. However, it did not include employees of Full Tilt Poker or the “Team Full Tilt” players.