OIJ Raids PokerStars' Costa Rican Offices, EPT High Roller Update, and More

Judicial Investigation Organization Knocks

            PokerStars confirmed on Friday, via TwoPlusTwo, that their Costa Rican offices had been raided by the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ), Costa Rica’s equivalent to the FBI. "PokerStars continues to operate the world's largest poker room, business as usual. It is true that the OIJ is currently at the PokerStars Costa Rican office and has sent employees home temporarily, but employees will be able to return in a few hours. PokerStars expects the office to return to business as usual in short order as this action was most likely taken as a response to problems experienced by other local companies in the same industry." Twenty minutes later, the employees were allowed to return to the offices. According to Costa Rican news, six offices and residential homes were raided.

EPT Grand Final High Roller

The PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final High Roller began with 58 players, creating a €1,435,500 prize pool. Eugene Katchalov, Mike "Timex" McDonald, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, Vanessa Selbst, Tom Dwan, and Jonathan Duhamel were among the 58-player field. The top eight players will get paid, first place will take home €525,000. At the time of writing, nine players remained and Galen Hall was leading the stacked field. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Vanessa Rousso, Peter Jetten, and David Sands were all still in too.

World Poker Tour Five Star World Poker Classic

            The World Poker Tour Five Star World Poker Classic kicked off Friday at the Bellagio, with 16 events scheduled prior to the Main Event, which starts on Saturday, May 14^th. One of the more interesting events on the preliminary docket is the $500+$40 Position Poker event with $10,000 added to the prize pool. Position Poker is a new variant that adds a second button to the table. There will be one button that determines where the dealer begins pitching the cards and where the small and big blinds are. That's standard. What's new in this variant is the second button that will be placed in front of the player who won the previous pot at the table. On each street, the player with that button will act last, giving him the ultimate position in the hand.

Full Tilt Poker Update

On the Full Tilt Poker FAQ page, you'll find that the question "When will I be able to withdraw my account balance?" has finally been updated, with an announcement of an announcement. "Full Tilt Poker is diligently working on facilitating the withdrawal of funds for US Players - this is our top priority. We are sorry for the delay and will update you with any progress made by Sunday, May 15th."

PokerStars FAQ Update

            PokerStars have also recently updated their FAQ’s, mainly to address the question “What will happen to my FPPs?" According to the page, "PokerStars has obtained an approval from the US Department of Justice that will allow former US players to use their FPPs in the PokerStars VIP Store to purchase VIP Reward Bonuses. These VIP Reward Bonuses, once purchased, result in cash being instantly deposited into the account of the purchaser. These funds will immediately be available for cash out."

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