While it wasn’t white smoke, the Department of Justice gave former American Full Tilt players good news on Wednesday for the first time in months.

The U.S. government announced that it has appointed a claims administrator to oversee the process of compensating eligible victims of Full Tilt Poker.

According to a press release, Garden City Group was chosen as the claims administrator. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement: “The Garden City Group brings a track record of handling the administration of some of the country’s largest and most complicated settlements. With their selection, we take a significant step forward in the process of compensating victims of the Full Tilt Poker scheme.”

The announcement also included the following information on the process:

The victim claims process will begin shortly. Information about the claims administration will be posted on the dedicated website GCG has established in connection with the victim compensation process, www.FullTiltPokerClaims.com. Information is also available from the toll-free hotline number at (866) 250-2640.

About $159 million could go to, potentially, 1.3 million people.

American customers have been without access to their Full Tilt money since Black Friday in April 2011, when the major offshore sites were kicked out of U.S. cyberspace.

The Department of Justice settled with PokerStars last year, letting the Isle of Man-based firm acquire Full Tilt. In the deal, the government was paid enough by PokerStars to compensate American victims of Full Tilt. PokerStars handled payment to non-U.S. players.

Three of the men behind the old Full Tilt — Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst — have settled their respective civil cases with the government without admitting to any wrongdoing. Former CEO Ray Bitar still faces the possibility of life in prison. The DOJ accused the company of defrauding former customers to the benefit of owners.

Wednesday’s update from the government comes at least six weeks later that it initially had planned. In November, the DOJ said the payment processor would begin work in January.

Image via Wikipedia.