Nearly a month after the seizure and freezing of their players accounts, Absolute Poker has reached a deal with the US Department of Justice. According to the company, players may soon see the thawing of their bankrolls, finally allowing cashouts.

Here’s the word, straight from a recent Absolute press release:

“Absolute Poker has reached an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”). Under the agreement, the US Attorney’s Office has agreed to provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds, currently held by third party processors, to players located in the US. This provision is an important step to returning US player funds.”

While this is certainly encouraging progress, it is by no means the end of the road. As the release goes on to say, it could take a while for the checks to land in players’ mailboxes or online accounts.

“Today’s signing of the agreement with the DOJ is an important step towards the safe and efficient return of funds to our US players… We can now move as expeditiously as possible to collect player monies from third party processors as a prelude to establishing proper mechanisms for the return of funds to our US players. As previously announced, we have already taken specific actions to exit the US market by closing our US-facing operations. Blank Rome LLP will continue to engage in discussions with the SDNY in order to complete the necessary agreements for the final transfer of frozen fund balances to our US players.”

So, the tumult in the world of Absolute/UB continues. It was just over a week ago that the company laid off most of their staff, keeping just enough manpower to maintain their non-US services. Then, earlier this week, the company parted ways with its stable of American pros. Mixed in with this was a raid by the Costa Rican authorites, which was at first believed to be targeted at UB/Absolute.

And so, the American poker populace continues to watch and wait, hoping for a chance to withdraw its collective bankrolls.