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Tony G -- "I am really excited a deal is finally done to get the players paid first and foremost, and thankful that the guys at PokerStars did the right thing and stepped up to make this happen. It’s great to put this terrible chapter to rest and those who were involved with FTP will no longer be a part of any future dealings."



PokerNews CEO Robbie Davies -- "My thoughts are solely with all of the players who have had their funds locked up for so long. It is very disconcerting what many of our friends, as well as the poker community have had to go through. Thankfully we can see some hope with the future.

This is a sober reminder to all. I urge players to avoid unregulated and unlicensed poker rooms and to stick to the big reputable sites for a fun and safe experience.

I feel a very compelling reaction of inspiration. It is galvanizing to see the commitment the Scheinberg family exhibits toward the positive advancement of poker. I would like to wish all the best to everyone at PokerStars and FTP who are taking on this re-building project."

2012 World Series of Poker October Niner Greg Merson -- "I'm super happy for everyone in the community. The poker world has been through so much the last 16 months and deserves this type of news!"

JC Alvarado -- "Personally, I don't think this is something we should really be celebrating. It's just a relief that we finally got our money back. That's all this is. The fact that we have been paid back doesn't negate the fact that a lot of us weren't able to generate income for the past year. We should never forget that we still got screwed by a system that can decide to make it illegal for people to play a game they enjoy and by people so greedy that they can steal directly from the pockets of their own customers for years without anyone knowing about it.


Even though our 'jobs' depend on online poker, I hope we can all work together to make sure something similar doesn't happen again (as I suspect it will). I think we should proceed with caution.

That said I'm very thankful that there were people out there fighting the good fight and helping us get our money back. Occupy Poker. All day."

Felipe Ramos -- "Every poker player got really injured here, especially FTP Pros, as I was one and deeply involved in all of this. Very nice that PokerStars and DOJ worked this agreement. PokerStars has always treated the players as they should be and this is no news for me. DOJ is doing its job, which is great. All I want to see is our activity full regulated.

"I am just wondering now if PokerStars will fully honor contracts, as besides FTP money laying on my account, there was an agreement as a Pro. I was damaged, financially and more than that as our image was attached to the brand for too much time."



Matt Vengrin -- "It's a step in the right direction towards legalization I think."

Galen Hall -- "Like everyone, I'm pretty excited about the news. I actually didn't have much on FTP, but a lot of my closest friends had huge sums ($350k+) on there, and for them to get it back makes me really happy.

"What you're essentially gonna see is over a hundred million dumped right back into the poker economy, especially if the FTP --> Stars transfer is completed. Hopefully this means that marketplace action will pick back up, bigger games will run again, tournament fields will increase, etc.


"Probably the most exciting thing for me is that this is a strong indication that the U.S. market is opening up within the next 24 months. I pay close attention like many, but Stars has better info than any common person could ever hope to have, so if they look like they seem quite confident about it, then that's pretty significant.

"Customer loyalty and trustworthiness are really important in real money online gaming, and Stars has now put themselves so far ahead of the closest competition that I doubt any existing competitor can touch them. It's going to be really interesting to see a Stars v Zynga battle in the (hopefully) near future, which pits Stars' superior support/technology/software/loyalty of grinders vs. Zynga's massive unique casual player base."

Eric Froehlich -- "It's great news. Anything that puts more money into the poker economy is always a good thing. People having so much money locked up for so long online directly leads to decreased numbers at WPTs and WSOP events. The sooner we can actually get online poker regulated and back online and available for American players, the sooner the poker industry will start to return to the high levels it was at a few years back."


Anonymous Poker Pro from Australia -- "The first week/fortnight that FTP is back is going to be so amazing as so many people will be treating their recovered sums as "wins" of sorts and those who don't withdraw will be gambling it up and playing stakes/tourneys they probably shouldn't. Add to that those who have had small amounts tied up for so long just punting it off all in unison and it's going to be an amazing time for the regs who don't go berserk.