After over three weeks of uncertainty, Moore Games has reportedly started the process of paying out players’ funds. Moore CEO Samir Mujagic told pokerfuse: “We have started to pay out players already.”
Last month, players at Moore Games were frustrated to find themselves suddenly locked out of the poker client and unable to withdraw their funds. The poker room had been suspended by Playtech, operator of the iPoker network on which Moore Games resides, for an unspecified “breach of network policy.”
Moore Games claims that the poker room did not receive prior notice of the suspension, nor were they informed of the reason: a violation of the terms of its contract with Playtech. Moore Games has since retained a US attorney to assist in the resolution of the matter.
Following the sudden suspension of the site, claims by Moore Games that Playtech held players’ funds were quickly denied by Playtech, leaving a confused situation and extremely irritated players.
The confusion over who holds what funds stems from the way cash flows between iPoker and the network skins. Moore’s Finance Manager Erik Reinfeldt explained to pokerfuse that, while Moore Games accounts for its players net wins and losses on a daily basis, the funds that represent those losses are transferred to and from other skins on the network via Playtech on a monthly basis. If a player on Moore Games wins money from a player on a different skin the actual funds are not transferred between skins until the beginning of next month. When Moore Games said that Playtech had players’ money, it was referring to the net winnings of its players which Playtech has received from other skins but had yet to remit to Moore.
Playtech does not hold player deposits, but it does hold—albeit briefly—the net sums which are transferred between its skins every month. It was this monthly rebalance that Moore games claims was withheld by the network operator.
Moore Games asserts that money deposited with Moore Games is held in a separate account and is not used for operational costs. If a player cashes out during the month, that money is paid by Moore Games from the account which holds customer deposits. The poker account is kept separate from casino and sports betting accounts.
According to Moore Games, Playtech has now released a portion of the money that it owed Moore Games. This has enabled Moore Games to restart their poker cashier and are allowing players to cash out. However, some players remain unable to withdraw funds pending additional verification as required by Playtech.
