Negreanu Praises PokerStars for Acquiring Full Tilt Poker
Bluff Magazine recently interviewed Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu to find out his take on the most significant development in the online poker gaming world—the takeover of Full Tilt Poker by its one-time rival PokerStars.
Negreanu was all praise for PokerStars and part of his comments about the deal indicates that he considers PokerStars to be the savior of thousands of former Full Tilt Poker players who have been waiting for a refund for the past 15 months. While stating that PokerStars’ acquisition of Full Tilt Poker is not a surprise, Negreanu said, “The player money was gone, it was dead. If PokerStars doesn’t step in nobody is ever going to get paid, period.”
Also expressing his opinion that PokerStars “didn’t have to do this,” he said, “The perception of online poker and things like this is so negative that they’d (PokerStars) rather bite the bullet here in order to help reinstate the image of online poker, not only in the U.S. but across the globe.”
Stating that PokerStars was very much in the right for not pleading guilty as it “has done nothing wrong,” Negreanu said, “The DoJ is clear that PokerStars is admitting zero fault to any wrongdoing. There are lots of people that are accusing PokerStars of doing things that Full Tilt did … absolutely not.”
When Bluff asked him if PokerStars’ actions are reflecting well on its sponsored players, he replied that it indeed does, adding, “Yeah, it makes me feel proud, and it makes us feel good for representing such a quality brand. So, yes, in this case, PokerStars does make the players look good.”
Negreanu also stated that it might be a long time before players start using bankrolls retrieved from frozen Full Tilt Poker funds. Although PokerStars will pay back international Full Tilt Poker players as quickly as possible, players in the US might have to wait longer before they can see their money again. Explaining it further, he said, “I thing that process with the DoJ isn’t going to be as seamless than I would be if PokerStars was handling it most likely.”
When asked if he thinks that the DoJ is going to give US players an experience of what it will be like once US online poker is regulated and legalized, Negreanu said, “With the DOJ handling paying back the funds, you’re going to have to most likely apply for your money back. Your tax receipts are going to be scrutinized a little more closely, and they’ll have records to show the validity of what you’re saying you’re paying and what you aren’t. I think if the U.S. gets regulated you’re going to have to get used to a lot more infringements on the ease that we have had in online poker over the years.”
Voicing his opinion that the settlement deal and US online poker legalization are two different things, the professional poker player said that the DoJ has no say over making online poker laws, but the US might legalize online poker soon.
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