Posted 5/21/11 :
Determination to pay players remains, but still no breakthrough
One of the online poker operators impacted by the Black Friday indictments, Full Tilt Poker.com, made a further announcement to its players late Friday, advising on the conversion to cash of loyalty and other awards, but indicating that little progress has been made in surmounting obstacles to the refund of monies to US players.
The email advised that FTP has converted Tickets or Tournament Dollars in player accounts to cash at a rate of $1 for every T$1.
In addition, each Tournament Ticket has been credited at full cash value. Ring Game Tickets which expired after April 15 have been credited at their initial cash value, or at their current value if partially used.
Full Tilt Poker also used its FAQ page to advise that Black Card and Iron Man statuses will be maintained.
The rest of the announcement shows little change from previous assurances that the company's priority is to get its players paid.
It reiterates that since Black Friday the company has faced a number of challenges and obstacles to the efficient running of its international business and the fair and orderly refund of US players.
The company assures its customers that it has worked "tirelessly" to address the issues and overcome the obstacles, and claims that international business operations are returning to normal.
"We are absolutely committed to making sure that US players are refunded as soon as possible," the update concludes. "We apologize for the delay and the fact that we underestimated the time it would take to work through these issues. We will update our US players when we have more specific information to provide."