Recent Posts
- The Week That Was: WPT Announces Season XI Schedule, New WSOP Bracelets
- WPT: Steve O’Dwyer Leads After Day 1 of $25K Championship
- THE FIGHT: Delaware, Illinois Move Forward, Nevada Issues Warning
- Tournament Tracker: Weinraub, Baldwin Triumph on the West Coast
- WSOP Reveals New Bracelet Design by Jason of Beverly Hills
- Power Rankings: Sands Rejoins Top 20, Failla Loses Ground
- WPT Unveils First Half of Season XI Schedule
- POY: The Calm Before the Summer Storm
- The Week That Was: ESPN Announces TV Schedule, WSOPC Heads to NOLA
- THE FIGHT: No Change for Barton Bill, MGM Pushing Federal, Bwin Goes Tribal
Search BLUFF News
Cereus Poker Denies Bankruptcy, Admits Downsizing
- Jessica Welman | May 5, 2011
Online poker players were feeling good after PokeStars issued quick cashouts, but since then, the process of getting funds returned from the other two sites involved in the Black Friday indictment has stalled. Full Tilt Poker recently updated its player questions post on the TwoPlusTwo forums and informed its US customer base that the payout process is being delayed even further.
Things at the Cereus Poker Network are even murkier than that. Over the past week, rumors of bankruptcy, FBI agents near Cereus’ home base in Costa Rica, and the closing of the customer call center for the site have players with money on the site genuinely wondering if it is lost and gone forever.
Earlier today, Cereus’ parent company, Blanca Games, issued a press release clarifying some of the rumors. The statement says the company is restructuring with an emphasis on non-US markets. This restructuring apparently includes major downsizing:
“This decision comes after considerable review and analysis of the impact that ‘Black Friday’ has had on the business as a whole. The workforce has been liquidated, and the process of rehiring approximately 20% of staff in key positions has commenced. All affected employees have been informed of this necessary restructure.”
The statement also addressed the bankruptcy rumors that first surfaced in a Wednesday report on MSNBC. According to MSNBC, Madeira Fjord, a Norweigian investment group that represents the majority shareholders of Blanca Games, sent an email to shareholders informing them the company was filing for bankruptcy in Norway. Within the correspondence, the company said that Blanca Games informed them it was currently unable to make payments towards its debt and would not be able to do so in the future.
The statement from Blanca emphasizes that the company is not filing for bankruptcy. The statement explains, “that Blanca recently informed a debt holder,
Madeira Fjord, that it was terminating debt payments to, and its relationship with them. As a result, Madeira Fjord apparently filed a notice of bankruptcy in Norway. This notice has no negative impact upon Blanca, the operating company, or its brands. As stated previously, Absolute Poker and UB continue to operate their non-U.S. facing business around the world.”
The statement also provided news for non-US players looking to withdraw. The site is upping the withdrawal limit from $500 a week to $1,000 a week for Visa withdrawals. Those withdrawing via other methods will have a $500 limit.
For US players looking for cashout answers, the statement only said that the company is still working with the Department of Justice to iron out a plan to return money to its US customer base. There was no indication whether any of these financial issues or downsizing will impact the company’s ability to reimburse customers.
Related posts:
- UB Poker Lays Off Entire Team of Sponsored Pros The fallout from Black Friday just keeps getting worse for...
- Epic Poker League’s Parent Company Files For Bankruptcy Chapter 11: Epic Poker League Federated Sports + Gaming, the...
- CEREUS Investigating Major Software Malfunction Only months after both Absolute Poker and UltimateBet were involved...
- Win Your Way to the WSOP Main Event: Cereus Poker Network Playing in the World Series of Poker Main Event is...
- UltimateBet and Absolute Poker Join Forces on CEREUS Network Players on AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com will soon notice the tables are little...
“The site is upping the withdrawal limit from $500 a week to $1,000 a week for Visa withdrawals. Those withdrawing via other methods will have a $500 limit.”
Sorry, but this statement is not correct!
I´m an non-US player and they stoped now payment´s to every user. The delais are now 10+ days
I play on AP and i recieved a 250 check last week that I cashed. It seems that they are currently holding withdrawls, but I would advise players to continue to play at the tables. If we don’t play, UB/AP doesn’t make money, and we don’t get paid!
Hey, I am a non US player. I have $6.5k on AP. I put in a request for $500 payout on sat. It is now Tuesday and they have told me that they cannot give me a time frame of when it will be approved/processed.
One misleading thing they say is – 1 withdrawal per week. A week since your last request.
This is crap.
I was told by their cashier today thats its a week you have to wait till the last payout has been approved. So this means wait is 7 days + time for them to approve. So far its 10 days. So 1 withdrawal a week could well be 1 withdrawal per month or more.
I hear what you are saying about playing Mark, but I am not keen to play and make money when I am not confident I will get it.
I want to get out and run, even though I have played there for 5 years relatively exclusively, raking in the top 100 most months.
How can they expect non US players to keep playing at their site when you cant access your own money.