Full Tilt poker players were shocked on Friday April 14th when the US DOJ unsealed an indictment against them and 2 other companies (Pokerstars and the Cereus Network) that effectively shut down their global operations. For 495 days, fulltiltpoker remained closed to players worldwide, but on May 6, 2025 they reopened their doors to the majority of the world. The biggest country where players still cannot play is the United States, with other countries such Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and Denmark also being restricted. The only reason that Full Tilt players can access their funds is due to PokerStars purchasing their assets and agreeing to pay back players outside the United States.
Players from the US cannot play for real money on Full Tilt and unless the gambling laws change, that will always be the case. If you are waiting for the payout of your balance, that is in the hands of your Department of Justice. If you are looking for another room that accepts US poker players, we suggest these.
Full Tilt Poker Latest News
May 6th, 2025 – Full Tilt opens real money tables to players (except US).
May 31st, 2025 – PokerStars buys Full Tilt and settles civil suit with DOJ. All said, they pay $731 million.
April 24th, 2025 – PokerStars rumored to be in talks with DOJ to buy Full Tilt.
April 24th, 2025 – Deal with Groupe Bernard Tapie has failed. Cite unresolvable legal issues.
April 15th, 2025 – One year anniversary of Black Friday. Full Tilt players still waiting to withdrawal funds.
January 24th, 2025 – Full Tilt finalizes forfeiture with DOJ. GBT can now purchase the Full Tilt assets from the US DOJ.
May 15th – Groupe Bernard Tapie and Full Tilt come to agreement on transfer of assets.
May 17th – US Attorney Office and Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) officially sign letter of agreement. Once FTP signs their side of the agreement GBT will take over Full Tilt Assets paving the way for players to be paid.
May 1st – US DOJ has agreed to terms with investors Groupe Bernard Tapie. Agreement was necessary before any deal to sell Full Tilt was finalized. Full Tilt shareholders will now be able to vote on deal from GBT, and if approved the process of paying back players could continue.
May 29th – After suspending Full Tilt Poker's license on June 29th, Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC) officially revoke their license.
May 21st – Being millions in debt, Full Tilt appears to have a serious French investor who is considering the purchase of FTP
Complete Full Tilt Timeline here
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FullTilt Poker Indictment FAQ
Can players play at Full Tilt
For 495 days the answer was no, as of May 6th, 2025 it all depends on where you live. Countries that cannot include: United States, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and Denmark. All other countries can now play real money games on Full Tilt Poker. This was all made possible from a deal that PokerStars struck with the US DOJ.
Can US Players Withdrawal funds at Full Tilt
Unfortunately Not. Although the Department of Justice struck the deal with PokerStars to pay back players funds, that was only for non- US players. The responsibility of paying the outstanding balances for those who live in the US is still in the hands of the DOJ. It has been rumored that they are searching for a third party that can assist in the payment of the funds, but there has been very little said about that in recent months. After being indicted it was revealed that Full Tilt had serious debt issues and didn't have the funds to pay players. The months leading up to the indictment, Full Tilt had serious mismanagement issues as they were crediting players accounts with funds that they weren't actually taking out of their bank accounts. Full Tilt was hoping that they would catch up on those deposits, but with the indictment they got their hand caught in the cookie jar.
Can non-US residents play at Full Tilt Poker?
YES. There was a long period of 495 days where no one could play, but as of May 6th 2025 that has all changed. Shortly after the indictment Full Tilt did allow non-US residents to play however that's changed. In May 2025 the Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC) suspended their license effectively shutting down the site. After conducting a hearing, the AGCC decided to revoke the license and Full Tilt is left without a license to operate. The AGCC could not ignore the seriousness of the indictment and how Full Tilt has handled themselves.
Can players deposits funds at Full Tilt Poker?
Again it depends on where you live. For those outside the US (and Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and Denmark) it is business as usual.
Should I be legally concerned as a US player?
Probably Not. Although we aren't lawyers, the advice we give is based on our experience and what others we speak with have to say. But it's always important to check the laws in your jurisdiction. It is important to note that the FullTilt Indictment is targeting the poker room and payment processors. The Federal Law (UIGEA) that took effect in 2025 was created to target the payment processors and there is no federal law against playing poker. However some states such as Washington State do have individual laws. Again we do not give legal advice.
Legal Background for Online Gambling in the US
In the Indictment against FullTilt they quote the the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) which was passed on back of the Port Security bill late in 2025. This law effectively stated that processing illegal gambling transactions was illegal,putting the onus on the banks and payment processors. The problem was that “unlawful internet gambling” has yet to be defined.
When the law was passed, the European companies such as Party Poker immediately left the US market (and have settled with the DOJ since). FullTilt which is privately owned remained in the US market and benefited huge from the law as their traffic rose dramatically. Since then they hadn’t looked back and were the second largest poker room prior to the indictment. The irony is that same law that saw them rise, is instrumental in the indictment and their current downfall.
What Should a Player Do?
With the FullTilt indictment no one in the online poker world would expect that the poker will come to an end. However as a player you need to make some important decisions. The first question you will probably ask is “What about my money?”. This is a tough question to answer and it appears to be a wait and see game. If the deal goes through with the Bernard Tapie Groupe it appears that players will get their funds back. However this deal has been in the works for months and the poker world is still waiting on any for those who live outside the US you have some decisions to make. Do you feel comfortable playing at a site that was just indicted?
The next step will be trying to find a poker room to play at. There are literally hundreds of sites out there, many just skins on a network. You need to be comfortable with finding a site that is safe and secure along with all the poker aspects that you like. We’ve done some research and you can check out our picks.
Why Indict Full Tilt?
Most articles written about the legalities of online gambling in the past few years have seemed to indicated that poker was the most likely to be regulated. Some were even suggesting that it would occur within the next couple of years and we are seeing more bill put in front of House and the Senate in different states. So why would a game that many argue involves an element of skill (and as such could be argued to be the most legal) be targeted by the DOJ leading to the FullTilt indictment? Why wouldn’t the DOJ indict and target an online casino or sportsbook?
The reason many believe has to do with the exact fact that poker is more likely to be regulated in the US. With FullTilt being indicted, it will make it much easier for the eventual regulation and licensing of online poker rooms to get into the market. Maybe the lobbying power of big casino groups is starting to pay off.
More Player Information
Where do I play now?
If you’re like most poker players you have some interest in Full Tilt being shutdown and how it effects you, but most importantly you want to find where you can play now. There are really two very distinct situations when it comes to finding a new place to play and it’s all about your citizenship. If you are from the Land of the Free (USA) then your options are limited and it’s been over two months since you could not play at Full Tilt Poker. For those who live elsewhere such as Canada, UK, Germany or pretty much anywhere else you have some more options.
US player Poker Rooms
It has been over two months since Full Tilt was shutdown for US players, and since that time we’ve seen other poker rooms and networks (Merge Network) leave the US market voluntarily. The options for US players since Black Friday are becoming slim and with the largest rooms being shutdown you have many poker rooms that are seeing volumes that they are not used too. We have been in online poker for years and played at pretty much every major site, but we are giving each site a double check in terms of their stability in these new times.
We have found 2 poker rooms that we think will suit your needs as a player. Both are listed in our Recommended Poker Room section, but we feel very strongly that intertops Poker is by far the best available out there. They have been online for over 15 years which says a lot about the organization. The game play is excellent, there are a tremendous amount of promotions happening all the time and they also run a sportsbook and casino for those that enjoy more than just online poker. You are getting a quality product with Intertops. Right now for a limited time they are offering players a 110% up to $600 bonus. We recommend that you Join today
Non-US player Poker Rooms
Players who do live outside the US and have continued playing with Full Tilt Poker since they were originally shutdown, you are now forced to find a new online poker room. If we have learned anything over the past few months it's that the what happens to poker rooms accepting US players can impact those around the world. If the US government decides to shutdown a poker room they will, and as a non US resident you may get caught up in the mix. We saw this with Full Tilt Poker withdrawals taking forever with non-US players. Our best bit of recommendation is to select a poker room that does NOT currently accept any US players. There are too many good non-US poker rooms available for you to take the risk.
There are two great options for non US residents that really stand out to us, Party Poker and winner. We highly recommend these poker rooms and they are run on different networks which provide you with different game play and promotions. Party Poker runs its own network while winner is on the iPoker Network. winner has impressed us over the years and the poker site offers some impressive promotions, lots of tables and a very nice loyalty package. If you don't already have an account, Join Now
. For more information check out our Poker Room section.
The Full Tilt indictment has had a ripple effect across the entire online gambling industry with many online casinos also leaving the market and we have been contacted by some players looking for online casinos to play at. Although we have good knowledge of the online casino space we aren’t experts and would rather point you somewhere else to find that information. There are many “review sites” that have top 10 ratings, but those are based on advertising dollars and not who is the best. One website that we’ve found particularly useful, and ranks online casinos based on actual player reviews is Real Casino Reviews. Real player review sites aren’t common in the online casino space so we recommend that you check it out. Alternatively if you have any feedback on sites or information that you think is valuable for us to share please let us know. If there’s enough interest in Casino we may put up a small information section to help out players.
What Happened:
An Indictment was unsealed by the US Attorney's office that alleges Full Tilt was involved in money laundering, bank fraud, wire fraud and illegal gambling. The US DOJ used these charges to seize the fulltiltpoker domain and effectively shut it down. This shocked many in the online gambling industry that the largest poker rooms were effectively shutdown by the US DOJ.
In the months that followed the original indictment, Full Tilt went through a PR nightmare in terms of paying US players and having issues paying non-US players. On June 29th 2025 what appeared to be another blow to the once massive poker company was dealt by their regulatory body, the Alderney Gaming Contol Commission (AGCC) which suspended the Full Tilt license and effectively shut Full Tilt Poker down to all players worldwide. Our Full Tilt News section covers how it all has unfolded since Black Friday.
With the largest poker sites in the US being shutdown, millions of poker players were searching for a new online poker room to play at.
Will US Players Ever Get Their Money?
This has been a long and drawn out process that has tested the nerves of many poker players. Over time and after many statements from Full Tilt that amounted to nothing, it became apparent that players cash was in jeopardy. It seemed like a roller coaster ride as information slowly came to light about the financial struggles that Full Tilt Poker was under. Then it became obvious that they didn’t have the funds to ever pay back players. There was the on again, off again potential investor deal with the Bernard Tapie Groupe who would take over the company and payout players, but that fell through. Then came the unexpected news that Poker Stars would purchase the company and payout player debts, unfortunately for the US players they weren’t included in that. Now your Full Tilt balance as a US poker player is left in the hands of your Department of Justice. They say that they’ll pay you back, but who knows if and when. We will update this situation as more news becomes available.
What’s Next?
With Full Tilt poker originally being shutdown it took many by surprise. The revoking of their Alderney license also caught many off guard as was evident by the fact that Full Tilt Poker was still the second largest poker room in the world. Many players had to ask themselves questions about whether they want to continue playing online poker. For US players, the question is more difficult but there are still some stable companies that accept US residents. When looking at the size of US poker rooms, it has become apparent that many have left the game. That’s no surprise when the three largest sites in the US are shutdown, its bound to rather a few people. We love playing poker and believe that there are still good options in terms of where to play, even with Full Tilt and PokerStars not available to US residents.
Players who reside outside the United States can be more confident about their options, especially those who live in regions where online gambling is completely regulated. We would recommend that you pick a stable poker room that doesn’t have any outstanding legal issues or could possibly have some down the road. Here are our picks for great Non-US poker rooms,
Finally, don’t make a bad decision when selecting a new room. We’ve found a few that we like and think you’ll enjoy playing there is you’re not already.
