On Tuesday, the United States Department of Justice issued an amendment to its Black Friday complaint alleging that Full Tilt Poker was nothing more than a “global Ponzi scheme” to defraud players. Shortly after the DOJ’s statement was released, the Poker Players Alliance(PPA), the poker industry’s main lobbying group, issued a challenge to the DOJ to repay affected players. Read more about the Department of Justice’s allegations against Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Rafe Furst.

PPA Executive Director John Pappas commented in the two-paragraph rebuttal, “This is a sad and disappointing day for American poker players. If true, these allegations detail a massive betrayal of player trust which will cause financial hardship for thousands, if not millions, of individual poker players, none of whom are accused of doing anything wrong.” The DOJ alleges that Full Tilt Poker paid its executives and pros more than $440 million over the last four years.

Pappas asserted that the DOJ should now take money seized or raised as a result of its legal actions and direct it to players: “We call on the Department of Justice to certify that the proceeds of any settlement or seizure that may result from this action will first be dedicated to reimbursing players. We further call on Full Tilt Poker, its management, directors, and owners to take all available steps to ensure the prompt payment of players as their first priority.”

The DOJ’s filing alleges that Full Tilt owed $390 million to players around the world as of March of this year, but had as little as $6 million in its coffers..

To many, including the PPA, the latest allegations underscore the need for regulation of online poker in the United States. To that end, Pappas commented, “These new Government allegations underscore the sincere need for Congress to act immediately to pass legislation that appropriately regulates internet poker in the U.S. so that players can be protected from the types of abuses alleged by the Department of Justice today. Today’s news does not change the mission of the PPA – to make player reimbursements and effective Federal or state licensing of internet poker a priority.”

In a lively thread in the Poker Sites forum, members of the PocketFives community were largely upset that Full Tilt Poker could have been a “global Ponzi scheme.” One poster wrote, “I just don’t understand how people who are intelligent enough to pull off a Ponzi scheme for an extended period of time are not intelligent enough to understand that they will get caught at some point… If you do the crime, then you deserve the time, and I hope that if these possible criminals are found guilty, they get every minute they deserve.”

Another poster on PocketFives referenced the still-unresolved closed-door hearing in London between Full Tilt Poker and Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) officials, which reportedly continued today: “Even if the AGCC reinstated Full Tilt’s license, you’d have to be a complete idiot to deposit money there and continue to play. Full Tilt player funds were gone long before Black Friday. This is one time I’m glad the Feds got involved. I hope they confiscate every single bank account and personal item from every one of these thieves that were involved in this scam.”

Meanwhile, mainstream news media like CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and CNBC were reporting on the Ponzi scheme allegations in earnest on Tuesday afternoon. PocketFives.com asked PPA Vice President of Player Relations Rich TheEngineer Muny to assess the effects of having major media outlets cover the issue.

Muny responded, “It’s largely a good thing. The public is seeing that a large number of Americans enjoy playing. These players deserve the safety of having the sites required to conform to U.S. law and also having an enforcement mechanism where the sites are in the reach of U.S. law enforcement to prevent this type of situation from happening in the future.”

Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest.