According to an e-mail from the Garden City Group, the Claims Administrator for Full Tilt Poker, a launch date for the claims process could be given by the end of next week. U.S. Full Tilt players have been separated from their bankrolls ever since Black Friday, while PokerStars players in the United States were paid back immediately.

The e-mail, which was posted on Two Plus Two, read, “At this time, we cannot provide a specific date, but expect to be able to provide a launch date by the end of next week. Once the process begins, the Garden City Group will email instructions on how to complete an online claim to all potentially eligible claimants identified by GCG utilizing data supplied by Full Tilt Poker. Payments will be made electronically after the close of the claim submission period.”

Interested parties can reach the Garden City Group at Info@FullTiltPokerClaims.com or toll free at 866-250-2640. The Group was appointed Full Tilt’s Claims Administrator earlier this year.

On the first day of August, the Garden City Group updated its claims website, FullTiltPokerClaims.com, with news that player balances as of April 15, 2011 will determine the amount a person will be paid back. Still seemingly up in the air are items like points, medals, and tournament tickets. Players also questioned what would happen to outstanding checks, bounced checks, and cashout requests.

Also to be determined is whether U.S. players will receive the full balance of their Full Tilt accounts or merely a percentage on the dollar. The FullTiltPokerClaims.com website merely states, “If the forfeited funds available for distribution equal or exceed the aggregate FTP account balances for all eligible petitioners, each eligible petitioner with an approved claim will receive the entirety of his or her FTP account balance. If the aggregate FTP account balances for all eligible petitioners exceed the funds available for distribution, payments shall be made to eligible petitioners on a pro rata basis.”

Previously, the Group was tossing around the idea of deposits into Full Tilt determining a person’s cashout amount. The Poker Players Alliance, the primary lobbying voice for poker players on Capitol Hill in the U.S., wrote two memos to the Department of Justice campaigning for player balances to be used as the basis for refunds. Read the letters.

Whether the claims process will start next week, or merely a time line will be given, is not yet clear. We’ll keep you posted on the latest right here on PocketFives.

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