NY Internet poker deals aim to repay customers

NEW YORK—Settlement deals reached between federal prosecutors and three Internet poker companies call for more than a half billion dollars to be paid to the government, enabling US poker players to recover more than US$160 million lost when the companies shut down US operations last year, authorities said yesterday.

US District Judge Leonard B. Sand approved settlement agreements with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. A separate agreement between the government and a third company, Absolute Poker, had not yet been approved by the court. PokerStars said in a release that its deal with the US Department of Justice calls for it to pay the government US$547 million over three years with the money being used in part to reimburse former U.S. customers of Full Tilt Poker.