In just a few days, the Full Tilt Poker brand will officially become extinct.
According to an announcement by PokerStars, the company will officially close both desktop and mobile applications for the poker site on Feb. 25 and all account information and balances will be moved to the corresponding PokerStars account.
Because the cash rewards will be doled out based on Full Tilt Poker points, points will be awarded based on the Weighted Contributed method, instead of the Dealt Method, as they had been during. Online Poker Download Featuring exclusive promotions and tournament types you won't find anywhere else, we are the home of authentic poker players worldwide. Joining the tens of thousands of players.
During the poker boom, Full Tilt Poker emerged as one of the largest online poker sites in the world. It was neck-and-neck with PokerStars as the largest site on the planet. It was home of the 'Rail Heaven' cash games, the $500-$1,000 no-limit hold'em game that featured nosebleed legends like Tom Dwan and Phil Galfond regularly played six-figure pots.
Its roster of sponsored pros were some of the most highly regarded players in the world at the time, including Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, and Erick Lindgren.
But in the wake of Black Friday, it was revealed that the company was insolvent and couldn't pay back its players account balances. The U.S. Department of Justice infamously called the site a 'global ponzi scheme.'
Poker Hall of Fame nominee Isai Scheinberg, who owned PokerStars during the U.S. federal government's attack on online poker, worked out a deal with the feds to acquire the company and its software for $547 million.
As part of the deal, PokerStars would repay all of the U.S. players who weren't paid back by the previous owners. At the time of the deal, both PokerStars and Full Tilt were not allowed the entre the U.S. market. U.S. players were paid towards the end of 2014.
PokerStars owned both companies and kept them as separate platform until 2016, when all active accounts on Full Tilt Poker would be merged with a corresponding PokerStars account. But now, five years later, The Stars Group, which is owned by Flutter, decided to shut the site down for good and cease all operations regarding Full Tilt.
The Stars Group has access to the U.S. market in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan, but the Full Tilt Poker platform was never re-integrated into the country.
In late July 2015, Full Tilt made some sweeping changes to its ring-game offering and the way players are seated in those ring games.
After removing the ability for players to select which tables they sit at, in order to eradicate 'bum hunting' and improve the playing experience of recreational players, the Full Tilt management team promised changes to its rewards program. Those changes were unveiled today and will come into effect soon.
'We believe our decision to make these changes is in the best interests of the game and our players, will set Full Tilt apart from the competition, and will ultimately help balance the poker ecosystem,' said Dominic Mansour, Managing Director at Full Tilt.
All Full Tilt players are set to be part of the new Players Club. This new rewards program has a brand new game known as The Deal that the Full Tilt Blog describes as 'fun, fast action' and with 'all kinds of prizes up for grabs, from tickets and cash all the way to a progressive jackpot starting at $100,000.'
Other facets of the Players Club include more than doubling the amount of money given away in freeroll tournaments, mystery prizes being awarded to those who become regulars on the site, and daily money-added tournaments exclusive to Players Club members.
The current Edge Rewards Program will still exist and players can switch to this system should they so wish.
The current Edge Rewards Program will still exist and players can switch to this system should they so wish.
Edge has also been revamped and now has three status levels: Edge, Edge Plus, and Edge Prime. Players receive $1, $1.50, or $2 per 100 Full Tilt Points earned, with Edge Prime members being able to convert their collected Full Tilt Points to cash at a rate of $1 per 250 Full Tilt Points.
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In late July 2015, Full Tilt made some sweeping changes to its ring-game offering and the way players are seated in those ring games.
After removing the ability for players to select which tables they sit at, in order to eradicate 'bum hunting' and improve the playing experience of recreational players, the Full Tilt management team promised changes to its rewards program. Those changes were unveiled today and will come into effect soon.
'We believe our decision to make these changes is in the best interests of the game and our players, will set Full Tilt apart from the competition, and will ultimately help balance the poker ecosystem,' said Dominic Mansour, Managing Director at Full Tilt.
All Full Tilt players are set to be part of the new Players Club. This new rewards program has a brand new game known as The Deal that the Full Tilt Blog describes as 'fun, fast action' and with 'all kinds of prizes up for grabs, from tickets and cash all the way to a progressive jackpot starting at $100,000.'
Other facets of the Players Club include more than doubling the amount of money given away in freeroll tournaments, mystery prizes being awarded to those who become regulars on the site, and daily money-added tournaments exclusive to Players Club members.
The current Edge Rewards Program will still exist and players can switch to this system should they so wish.
The current Edge Rewards Program will still exist and players can switch to this system should they so wish.
Edge has also been revamped and now has three status levels: Edge, Edge Plus, and Edge Prime. Players receive $1, $1.50, or $2 per 100 Full Tilt Points earned, with Edge Prime members being able to convert their collected Full Tilt Points to cash at a rate of $1 per 250 Full Tilt Points.
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Players can also receive a cashback boost of up to 200 percent by playing in games that are experiencing low traffic. An Edge Bonus Cashback symbol will appear next to these games and anyone playing in them receives an additional cash back boost of up to 200 percent, with additional month-long cashback boosts being available to winners of Edge leaderboards.
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When the changes to Edge come into force, players still achieve the different levels based on a 30-day or 100-day rolling average. However, these averages have been altered and will now be:
- Edge: earn a 30-day average of 80 FTPs or a 100-day average of 70 FTPs
- Edge Plus: earn a 30-day average of 250 FTPs or a 100-day average of 150 FTPs
- Edge Prime: earn a 30-day average of 500 FTPs or a 100-day average of 400 FTPs
'The changes introduced over the last month are based not only on our in-depth analysis of Full Tilt, our customers' behavior, and the poker industry at large, but are part of our philosophy to keep poker fun, no matter where you're playing or what stakes you're wagering,' Mansour said.
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