“Since Black Friday, American poker players are being denied their freedom to play poker online”

What are the consequences that American players are facing after the Black Friday?
Since Black Friday on April 15th, 2011, American poker players are being denied their freedom to play poker online. For many, this means they have lost their favorite pastime and for a significant number of Americans who are professional online poker players, it means they lost their livelihood.

What do you think about Full Tilt Poker’s shut down?
It is unfortunate that because of unclear laws in the United States that FullTilt, as well as the other two poker sites, are unable to serve the American market.

Rumours said the that investors ready to purchase Full Tilt Poker have no interest in the American market. Do you think that American players have a chance to recover their funds?
Since April 15th, the PPA has called on FullTilt Poker and Absolute/Ultimate Bet Poker to make it a priority to return player account balances.  The prospect of new ownership for FullTilt brings the promise of U.S. player payouts, however, that is not a certainty.  If FullTilt is unable to pay the players then we will work with the community to explore other opportunities for players to be refunded, either through the courts, legislation or directly from the DoJ’s seized funds. 

In your opinion, will the launch of FairPlayUSA lead to the regulation of online poker in the US?
I think that adding another voice of support for licensing and regulation in the United States will only help efforts to make that a reality.

How will you coordinate PPA’s work with FairPlayUSA?
We have an open line of communication with the organization and intend to work together as often as is feasible.

What future do you see for US online poker?
I see a strong future for US online poker. More than ten million Americans want to be able to play poker online, and more and more policymakers are seeing the value in licensing and regulating the game on our own shores. The momentum continues to build.