We finally have concrete news to report about the refunding of players at Full Tilt Poker. Nearly two years after the online poker site was jettisoned out of the U.S. market on Black Friday, Full Tilt players have not yet been paid back, but will likely be reunited with their funds “soon.” This isn’t speculation; this is according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice sent out on Wednesday.

The release announced that the Garden City Group would handle the claims process as the appointed Claims Administrator. The Group proceeded to debut the aptly named FullTiltPokerClaims.com, which includes the opportunity for affected players to receive automatic updates and read more about the case.

The second-to-last paragraph on the website’s home page gives a vague indication of when the claims process will begin: “The victim claims process will begin shortly. Information about the claims administration will be posted on this website.” You’ll recall that the Claims Administrator was originally supposed to start work in January.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who has overseen much of the Black Friday litigation, commented in the DOJ’s press release, “The Garden City Group brings a track record of handling the administration of some of the country’s largest and most complicated settlements. With their selection, we take a significant step forward in the process of compensating victims of the Full Tilt Poker scheme.”

The same release noted that the Group has handled a variety of high-profile claims in the past, including “Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damage Settlement, the Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation, the WorldCom Securities Litigation, and the IPO Securities Litigation.”

What’s wholly unclear is when the reclamation process will begin and whether players will receive 100% of their bankrolls back, or simply a percentage. Garden City Group’s mailing address is registered to a post office box in Dublin, Ohio, and interested players can contact them directly by e-mailing Info@FullTiltPokerClaims.com.

When this author clicked on the link to register for further e-mail notification about Full Tilt from the Group, he was met with a message that said, “To be added. Check back soon.” As such, speaking on the road ahead, Poker Players Alliance Vice President of Player Relations Rich TheEngineer Muny admitted in a thread in Poker Legislation, “It will still be a while. Glad they cleared a milestone at least. We’re that much closer.”

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.