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ONLINE POKER PLAYERS outside of the US are to be refunded part of a $184 million settlement by a leading poker company.
Background
Full Tilt Poker employs around 600 staff in Dublin and was investigated over allegations of fraud against its owners and main players.
The site was blocked for a period in the US, leading to the Pocket Kings, a major subsidiary of Full Tilt which employs hundreds of people in Cherrywood in Dublin, saying it would need to reduce its operating costs by about €12m to deal with the aftermath of the blockage in the United States.
Charges were filed in New York in 2011 alleging charges of illegal gambling, money laundering and bank fraud against Full Tilt chief executive Raymond Bitar.
Bitar pleaded not guilty when he surrendered to authorities in early July after returning to the US from Ireland.
Reuters reports that 11 people at Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were charged by authorities. It was alleged that Full Tilt had taken in about $1 billion from US players and owed $350 million to them.
Settlement
PokerStars has now announced that the company has reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Southern District of New York, which involves acquiring the assets of Full Tilt Poker, and reimbursing Full Tilt Poker customers outside the United States.
It will pay the US Government $547 million over a three-year period, part of which will be used to reimburse former Full Tilt Poker players in the United States.
PokerStars said it will also make available in a segregated bank account all outstanding balances owing to all non-US customers of Full Tilt Poker – an amount which totals $184 million. It said there will be no restrictions on withdrawals, within 90 days of completing this transaction.
The company said it does not admit to any wrongdoing, and that it will be able to apply to the US gaming authorities as PokerStars and Full Tilt, to offer real money online poker “when State or Federal governments introduce a framework to regulate such activity”.
Full Tilt
PokerStars now plans to relaunch Full Tilt Poker as a separate brand under a new management team, and its operations will continue to be run from Dublin, with regulatory oversight transferred to the Isle of Man.
Mark Scheinberg, Chairman of the Board of PokerStars commented:
We are delighted we have been able to put this matter behind us, and also secured our ability to operate in the United States of America whenever the regulations allow.
He added that the outcome “demonstrates our continuing global leadership of the online poker industry, and our commitment to working with governments and regulators to ensure the highest standards of protection for players”.
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Dont have much time for politicians…but saw Pearse Doherty working the insurance group on our behalf…thank you sir, restored my faith a bit, just wish we had more people like you who look after our interests and not their own
@Dan: he has also pulled them ul on the excessive tariff to be paid if you tax your car quarterly
Most paying online so the “admin” fee is total ripoff
Man of the people
@Dan: Correct, this affects drivers businesses and home owners alike. They are gouging us. FF and FG have no response. These companies for the most part are getting their profits tax free.
@Quentin Moriarty: I absolutely HATE arhat extra fee that people are charged if you pay tax quarterly to or half-yearly, it’s a horrible extra charge that directly hits the less well off, no excuse for it at all.
Fair play to Pearse Doherty -he has worked for a long time trying to make progress on this issue – at the least this report shows up some of the facts that the industry have been spinning to try justify the excessive profiteering at the expense of ordinary workers who are being ripped off. Two questions for Pearse
1. What happened the EU investigation into the cartel pricing / Insurance in Ireland following dawn raids over two years ago and why is it taking so long ?
2. We are constantly told that a major benefit of EU is single market membership – why (for something like insurance – where the principle is suppose to be the more people that pay into the fund – the lower the cost ) can we not have EU wide Insurance operating for something like motor insurance ??? Surely with hundreds of millions of people driving in the EU there would be merit in having EU wide car insurance products that the 500 million people could pay instead of this local profiteering by European insurers like Zurich , Allianz etc etc ??
@Dave Hammond: fully agree re Pearse and all he has done to highlight this, and the cartel that exists. Similar scenario on mortgages.
@Alan McArdle: Not being funny, but it’s the same in relation to rent prices also. Big corporations gouging renters and paying almost no tax.
@Dave Hammond: absolutely that was meant to be the way benefit of access to bigger market but look at term. Of deal. Done b b lenihan that we keep bank capped so that no German bank will suffer if an or bank goes under and that why bank rates here are higher. We are pat to keep bank or bank healthy and well and sell nol loan but p Doherty done never challenged min power to make that deal binding without dail. Approval or referral back to eu on terms. Too muchv
@DaMoons: Pearse is at least working for the Irish people
And Sweet F. all will be done about it
@Will Bourke: at least Doherty helps bring it to people’s attention. He’s a good politician!
@Gareth Forde: As much as I dislike Sinn Fein, I do think Pearse Doherty is very good. Even outside of this, he is constantly calling the government out for it’s shortcomings, we need more opposition TDs like him.
@John Black: why do you dislike them? They stand up for us joe soaps
@Jake: maybe still to close yo it’s shady past for many?
@John Black: why opposition, why not give him the government position he so richly deserves…?
why cant the state just work out some way of providing insurance instead of through private companies that can charge whatever they want?
@Benny: 3rd party cover through the price of fuel (pay more the more you drive, so should be fairer). Then let people pay privately for comprehensive and theft etc as totally optional. Also, jail the hell out of anyone ever caught faking or exaggerating claims.
@Benny: there is a way. Other countries provide 3rd party insurance through tax on the petrol or diesel. If you require fully comprehensive you pay the extra
@Benny: Australia does it. Third party insurance is included in motor tax/registration https://www.australia-backpackersguide.com/vehicle-registration-rego-guide/
@Richard: interesting idea but I don’t think it would work in that form, would each person have their own individual price for fuel or would everyone pay the same?
Don’t see how it would be fair that someone with 20 years no claims would pay the same as someone who has had several accidents.
@Benny: EU rules. A state cannot provide a service at a reasonable price if there large companies willing to provide the same service at inflated prices. Not the exact wording, but essentially what it means.
@Tommy Roche: Correct. But cartels are also against EU rules. In fact, companies can be prosecuted for doing so. Where do you think the idea came from to charge the premiums they are charging. Also note, most of them pay almost no tax on their profits, which have gone through the roof.
@Tommy Roche: surely meeting a legal obligation is different than buying a service?
@Benny: I sent Leo Varadkar an e mail regarding this when he was Minister for Transport. I got a reply asking me where was I registered to vote.
Well said pierce about time someone published the facts
@Marianne: Agreed, anyone who goes after ‘compo culture’ & welfare cheats etc should be fully supported.
@Melissa Mahony: what?
@Melissa Mahony: did u actually read the article?!
@Melissa Mahony: yes let’s turn on ourselves over pittance and leave the blue-collar criminals bankrupt the country.
Interesting when you’re not legally required to have insurance for example contents insurance the premiums are low and companies actually compete for business. When you need to have it – boom wallet rape
Well done Pearce The only politician tackling this issue head on
@Danny O’ Mahony: What has he actually done?
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: Eg: his Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill!!
There should be no profit made on something is required by law.
@neuromancer: Pearce is milking this one for all its worth, what a chancer, they made 9% how much should they be allowed to make and how much did they make on motor alone. Telling half the story agaon and the gullible lapping it up because ya know insurance companies
@Carpentoza: I see the FFG spin machine is working well today.
@Gus Sheridan: good lad Gus, always a conspiracy.
When shareholders are involved in any industry/business. Pressure is put on the company so that the shareholders see their returns plus a nice profit. Every year needs to be better than the last. Let’s jump up the price, let our shareholders get profit and the big wigs working in insurance companies get a nice bonus. Wonder how much longer they can shaft the working man/woman til people say no more.
Why do ppl not give SF a chance – what is written above males complete sense he is standing with the consumer. Everyone needs insurance it should be affordable to all.
Invite European companies into to quote us, this is not the free market we signed up for in 1973
@Jake: Agree with your sentiment – but it is a bit more complex than just inviting in european companies to give us a quote – where do you think the biggest players like Allianz , Zurich, Aviva are from ?
@Jake: all the Insurance companies here bar 1 are “European”, by the way they are leaving in droves …. https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2019/1210/1098279-250-insurance-firms-exited-irish-market-over-six-years/
@sportsmad: they’ve probably made business agreements between themselves to give eachother monopolies in different places. It’s definitely profitable.
@SC: yep, following the American telecommunications model where each mega corporate provider has a monopoly in a state. As anti-consumer as you can get. The EU needs a big dose of Socialism to balance this seesaw.
It is refreshing to see a TD.. act on behalf of the people..pearse well done hopefully we will see more of this
@Marianne: Well said, we need to continue to tackle welfare and insurance fraud. https://www.thejournal.ie/social-welfare-fraud-recovery-system-4811979-Sep2019/
well done Pearse, a politician that actually cares for his people
I don’t know. But isn’t for profit company first rule to make profit? If there is nothing stopping them it’s hardly their fault. Gov should introduce caps that’s where the anger should be focused.
Not only that, but buried in most clauses is a condition that the insurer decides the manner in which the claim will be dealt with. If the insurance decides to settle a third party claim which is obviously a fraudulent claim in order to save themselves the costs of a court case the person against whom the claim is being made still loses the no claims bonus. The house always wins as they say in gambling parlance.
But banks do the same as well as the stock markets but anything that has money to it wants to make it quick, make as much of it as possible and only care about the now and not the future. That why there is hedge and vulture funds?
https://medicalmalpractice.levinperconti.com/big-banking-recommends-drug-companies-avoid-making-effective-drugs/
We live in a culture of corruption and greed, people are just the cattle for the rich and that is what is at the heart of the EU, the IMF…
“John Perkins, Former Advisor IMF.
“My job was to identify countries with resources that corporations covert, like oil and then arrange a huge loan to that country from the World Bank or from one of its sister organisations. The money however would not go to the country, it would go to our own corporations who would make huge profits, but the majority of the people would suffer terrible as a result, because money would be diverted from Education, Healthcare and other Social Services to pay interest on the debt.”
What happened when the IMF moved in and the debt couldn’t be repaid?
“We go back into that country and say, since you can’t pay your debt, sell your resource oil or whatever real cheap to our corporations without any environmental restrictions or, or social regulations. Privatise, sell your electric utilities, your water, sewage systems, your schools, your jails, all your public sector businesses to our corporations, and in the few cases where we failed economic hitman, the jackals went in and still do and aah, they either assassinate the leaders of the country or overthrow them in coups.”
@TamuMassif2019: now there is CHINA for LOTS OF AFRICA NATIONS,.
SO IMF IS GONE, BUT MORE BETTING COMPANYS ON HIGH STREETS IN NAIROBI,.,.
@TamuMassif2019: John Perkins is an american author full of conspiracies that published that ‘Economic Hitman’ book in 2004 that was widely discredited at the time – it was about corruption in third world but full of exaggeration and nonsense – we have our own clusterf***k in Ireland these days without needing to peddle outdated nonsense from him.
This political debating about 3rd party insurance needs to stop, & the establishment of a state insurance scheme needs to be set up by the next Dail in 2020.
The law requires that business, social organisations, & drivers have 3rd party cover, & then it is left to the private sector, mainly by off shore enterprises, to operate it.
These are for profit outfits, so what do our politicians expect them to do, only go for maximum profit.
And may I point out the nonsense of spending tax funds to promote enterprise through the IDA, Bord Bia,Bord Failte, & the many other state/ local area quangos, when this type of extortion is allowed free reign?
And don’t avoid responsibility by hiding behind EU law,or more long fingering investigations!
We are hammered by rents, mortgages, & taxes, so do it.
Why haven’t you investigated the judicial system and legislature regarding insurance claims? Or is it too easy to blame insurance companies for costs when it’s clear that new legislation is needed? Trying to drum up support for yourself based on the unpopularity of insurance rather than investigating the real problems associated with it.
Quinn Direct brought competition to the market before they were taken over by the state. Now it’s a cozy Dublin cartel.
What’s needed is a law to control anti-competition business practices. But Leinster House has been looking the other way for a long time.
Good article though.
Reform – we have never offended thee…
he could abolish car TAX and we would all be sorted AND WIN A MAJORITY,.
an end debates ,.
@Michael Heery: tax is lower than insurance and it stays in Ireland and gets spent on stuff here. Insurance profits just bleed the country dry. Motor tax is also somewhat justifiable.
@SC: road ran is daylight robbery in Ireland compared to the rest of the EU
@Gus Sheridan: I just checked motor tax in a couple of EU countries and all the ones I checked were about the same as Ireland. Do you mean the tax on a new car purchase?
@Dan: I have even less time for Sinn Fein politicians than for politicians in general. But the stated policies here are ones I could get behind.
Why haven’t
Why haven’t
have your say