6 Things You NEED to Know About: Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker has been in the news a lot over the past few years, with most of it being bad press. Whilst it has certainly been the talking point of the poker industry over that period, there have been many twists and turns to the story.

Full Tilt Poker is in a different place now to where it was and here are 6 things that you really need to know to understand the current situation.

1. I’ve heard bad press about Full Tilt Poker – Is it true?

Like with any big news story that is reported on over a period of time, some things you will have heard will be true and some will probably just be an evolution of the story with very limited truth to it.

Let me try to summarise the full story and clarify the key facts about what happened.

There is a lot more depth to the story, but that is a good summary so you can understand the background.

FullTiltPoker is now the sister company to Pokerstars, which is the world’s largest online poker operator, and who conducted itself with great dignity and professionalism throughout Black Friday and the subsequent events. It has earned great respect from the poker community due to this and it’s efforts to ensure that players got their money back and the reputation of the industry was not damaged.

2. What happened to the old Management Team that caused all these problems?

CEO Ray Bitar, who must shoulder a lot of the responsibility for what happened, is no longer involved with Full Tilt Poker. Also key directors Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson are also no longer involved with the company.

The former key directors of Full Tilt Poker who many consider to be responsible for what happened

All three have now settled their legal cases with the US government. Bitar surrendered $40m in cash, properties and other assets purchased with proceeds from Full Tilt Poker activities. Lederer surrendered $1.25m in cash as well as several luxury properties and other assets. Ferguson surrendered $2.35m in cash plus forfeited all funds in bank accounts seized by the government (estimated to contain up to $25m).

The company is still based in Dublin but Pokerstars have put a new management team in place and have put processes in place such as segregated player fund bank accounts to ensure that what happened under the previous management can never happen again.

We can certainly take a lot of comfort knowing that Pokerstars are in control following the professional way they handled the Black Friday situation and the way they acted in the player’s best interests throughout.

3. Can I still play online with all the famous Professional Poker Players from Team Full Tilt?

The former Team Full Tilt, where a number of members were actually part owners of the previous company, no longer exists.

A new team to represent Full Tilt has been created called “The Professionals” and is headed up by well known pro’s Gus Hansen, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom.

The new version of Team Full Tilt, now called “The Professionals”

Just like before any player can sit down and play online poker with these famous players on FullTilt Poker, just log on and search for their player name which will be highlighted in red and sit at any open seat or simply just watch and chat to them in the chat box.

4. Is the Software as Good as Before?

The Full Tilt Poker Software has for a long time been regarded as the best online poker software. The good news is that the excellent software was one of the “assets” that was rescued from the old Full Tilt Poker and forms the basis of the current software.

I have always loved playing on the Full Tilt software, with my favourite element being the fun avatars that you can select to represent you at the table (I’m the cheeky monkey!) and the way you can change the mood of the avatar from happy to sad to angry etc… great fun!

It remains intuitive, clean and easy to use software with a great and bug free user experience.

FTP has great Software with my favourite element being the fun avatars that you can select to represent you at the table

5. Can I Trust Full Tilt Poker?

My opinion on this has varied over the past few years. With the old management team in place, and knowing what we know now about the mismanagement that occurred then the answer would have been a resounding no.

Now with a new management team in place and being overseen by their parent company Pokerstars, an extremely well financed, well respected company who are also the biggest and most popular online poker company in the world, things are much different.

The Isle of Man Headquarters of Full Tilt Poker’s parent company Pokerstars

Under their stewardship, in the short space of time since Full Tilt Poker was relaunched, they have regained the trust of their players and grown the company back to it’s old position amongst the largest online poker operators, second only to it’s parent company Pokerstars.

Player deposits and withdrawals are fast and reliable once again, and it is incredibly reassuring to know that all player funds are protected in segregated bank accounts. They are also now licensed and regulated by the Isle of Man, which is a highly respected regulator in the industry.

Because of this, I once again play at Full Tilt Poker and have no hesitation in recommending that others place their trust in the company once again and play there too.

6. How Much do they Want Me Back?

The promotions on offer to new and existing players are excellent. They are obviously trying to win back some of the players who left them during the Black Friday situation.

All new players will receive a 100% Bonus on their first deposit meaning that for each dollar deposited you will receive a matching dollar as a bonus. This is up to a maximum of $600, so deposit $600 and you will get another $600 bonus for free. For more details see our Complete Full Tilt Bonus Guide.

On offer also is a fantastic VIP player rewards program called “Edge”, where player’s are rewarded with access to exclusive tournaments, weekly Edge Rewards cash payments and the opportunity to earn “Black Card” status or even win a Black Card Pro Sponsorship contract.

Full Tilt’s fantastic VIP player rewards program called “Edge”, where you are rewarded with access to exclusive tournaments, cash payments and the opportunity to earn “Black Card” status of even a Black Card Pro Sponsorship contract.

So… Should I play at Full Tilt Poker?

Many players, just like me, have returned to playing at Full Tilt Poker, having put the period of Black Friday behind us.

I have been in the Poker and Online Gaming industry since 2005, and would not provide my endorsement to a company that had acted in bad faith or not in the best interests of the players.

However what I have seen happen since Pokerstars took over ownership of Full Tilt Poker has convinced me that a new chapter has opened up in their history.