Updated on 22 Feb 26 by
Valentin Scorus
Poker Expert

Department of Justice Reactivates First Full Tilt Poker Bank Account

An Irish bank account belonging to Full Tilt Poker and its co-founder Raymond Bitar has just been unfrozen by the American Department of Justice. Thanks to this action, more than a third of the $100million - $150 million owed to US players has been freed.

DoJAccording to eGaming Review, the Department of Justice has just unfrozen the first account belonging to Full Tilt Poker, following the Black Friday indictments.

The bank account in question belongs to Raymond Bitar and Full Tilt Poker, and was opened at the Bank of Ireland. With the reactivation of this account, more than a third of the $100 million to $150 million belonging to American players is now available to Full Tilt Poker.

While this could be considered a step in the right direction, a source at Full Tilt Poker has told EGR that this action does not mean the payment procedures will begin immediately. The source also did not specify a date when the US players would start receiving their funds.

The FTP source also told EGR that there were other issues in regards to the payment, as their other accounts were being frozen: "Banks that weren't even subject to restraining orders started shutting down because they thought 'We've got to be careful, the Americans are after us.' We actually had to ask the prosecutors to call these banks and tell them they weren’t interested in them."

He also added: "There are a lot of factors involved. Some of that is the $60m backlog referenced in the Franzen case, some is the bank accounts that voluntarily decided to restrain funds, and some is the status of negotiations with the Southern District."

Read more about the "Black Friday" events in our previous news items below:

Valentin Scorus
Poker Expert