Legendary stories · 2011

Black Friday: the day online poker went dark

On April 15, 2011, American poker players logged in and found their favorite sites replaced by an FBI seizure notice. Poker players have called it Black Friday ever since.

The story in short: The US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, along with others, 11 people in total. US players were locked out overnight. Full Tilt turned out to owe players far more than it held. A 2012 settlement with PokerStars led to players being repaid years later.

The day it happened

For years, online poker had boomed in the United States. Then on April 15, 2011, the Department of Justice unsealed its case, and the biggest sites stopped serving American players overnight. Thousands of players who made a living online suddenly couldn't play, or reach their balances.

The Full Tilt shock

The worst news came later. According to the Department of Justice, Full Tilt Poker owed players worldwide about $390 million, around $150 million of it to US players, while holding only about $60 million. Players' money had not been kept safe.

The settlement

On July 31, 2012, PokerStars reached a $731 million settlement with the US government. As part of the deal it acquired Full Tilt's assets, which made money available to repay Full Tilt players outside the United States.

Getting the money back

American Full Tilt players were repaid through a government remission process: about $118 million went to US players over the following years. Separate remission rounds later repaid players of Absolute Poker and UltimateBet.

What changed

Black Friday pushed many American pros to move abroad to keep playing online, and it ended the era of unregulated online poker in the US. Today, legal online poker is available state by state where it has been regulated.