Both PokerStars and Full Tilt have made some recent additions to their international rosters, with PokerStars adding four Candian pros and Full Tilt adding two Australian pros to their stables.
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One of the most iconic — and perhaps most infamous — brands in poker will become a thing of the past on Feb. 25.
That's the reported date on which PokerStars will shelve Full Tilt Poker, its former arch rival, for good. The news was first released by Pokerfuse and is confirmed by a FAQ page on PokerStars' website detailing some of the minutiae of the move for its remaining FTP players.
Those players will essentially just be migrating over to the main skin of the network, so there won't be much meaningful change in their playing experience.
'Our commitment to improving PokerStars software and the PokerStars customer experience in recent years has limited the amount of focus and resources we could apply to the evolution of Full Tilt,' the company stated. 'We feel it is time to consolidate brands so that everyone has access to the newest features and most innovative games which are available exclusively on PokerStars.'
A Rich History...
Full Tilt Poker was not one of the early sites to market, dealing its first virtual cards in 2004.
However, co-founder Ray Bitar teamed up with some of the biggest names in the industry. The likes of Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Mike Matusow were behind the brand, and their celebrity, combined with an aggressive marketing push, led to huge success for the site.
'Learn, chat and play with the pros.'
That ubiquitous slogan, along with the trademark black and white commercials creatively utilizing the site's immense roster of sponsored pros, beckoned countless thousands of players to give Full Tilt a try. The brand became a world leader, trailing only PokerStars in a raw numbers.
But where PokerStars laid claim to the biggest quantity, Full Tilt could credibly claim to house the best quality of poker in the world.
The highest stakes games in the world usually ran there, including monstrous and legendary games as high as $500/$1,000 blinds on the famed Rail Heaven table. Patrik Antonius, Viktor Blom, Hac and Di Dang, Gus Hansen, Ivey and more made Rail Heaven their favored battleground, which in turn made it the greatest place for fans to watch six-figure pots trading hands on the regular.
Correspondingly large pot-limit Omaha tables eventually produced the biggest pots in online poker history.
The software, too, was almost as celebrated as the quality of the games. Colorful avatars and lively animations made for an entertaining experience for the casual player. A fun MTT schedule gave tournament grinders tons of options at every price point and let players aspire to one day earn a custom avatar by virtue of winning a Full Tilt Online Poker Series event.
Considered industry leaders in many respects, the FTP team birthed innovations like fast-fold poker — now a mainstay almost everywhere — and rolled out creative ideas like Irish poker that were later adapted in some fashion by PokerStars.
It all made for a high-quality and incredibly popular product. And it all came to a crashing halt in 2011.
...But a Marred One, Too
The machinations of Black Friday dealt harsh blows at many levels of the poker industry, with the ripple effects being felt to this day.
However, perhaps the most shocking development in the aftermath was the revelation that Full Tilt's accounts were more than $300 million underwater. The company had $60 million cash on hand but player balances amounted to $390 million, with $150 million of that owed to U.S. players.
After repeated assurances from company reps that players would be paid, the fact of the matter was the company simply didn't have the money to make good on that promise.
Luckily for everyone involved, PokerStars stepped in and acquired Full Tilt's assets, with part of the deal stipulating they'd make the players whole in the process.
Entire books could be written about the ordeal and the fallout thereafter, all of which is to say the whole thing is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say some former FTP brass paid millions in penalties, others became pariahs, friends became enemies and countless poker players everywhere were left with sour tastes in their mouths regarding a once beloved company.
Relaunch and Merger
Full Tilt Poker relaunched in November 2012, but it quickly became a shell of its former self. FTOPS returned, and high-stakes action even got rolling, but the site predictably failed to regain its former glory.
As the operator slid in the worldwide rankings, company brass attempted some moves that left many in the industry scratching their heads. Rake was bumped up in many spots, rewards were cut in others, table maxes were changed from six to five players in some games and many high-stakes offerings were removed from the client altogether.
The result?
A dive in traffic as unhappy players left the site. That was in August 2015.
Early the next year, decision-makers at parent company Amaya opted to pull the plug on Full Tilt being a standalone operator, migrating the players into the same pool with PokerStars. What would have once been monumental, industry-shaking news, barely registered as a blip on the poker radar, the surest sign of all that the glory days of Full Tilt were far in the past and never likely to rekindle.
Seemingly Little Chance of Return
After the merger, PokerNews spoke to industry expert Chris Grove to get his take on the functional end of the once-proud brand. He pointed to the decline of the international online poker market as a whole as a big reason for the decision to migrate the players to PokerStars.
'In a world where Full Tilt found a unique niche or footing, or in a world where online poker continued to expand, I think we certainly could have seen the two sites continue on separately,' he said. 'Only when it became clear that Full Tilt wasn't finding that footing did a merger start to seem like a matter of 'when' more than 'if.'
Full Tilt Poker Team Program
With online poker moving toward a regulated future in the U.S., that meant there could have been buyers interested in acquiring Full Tilt. They'd get to avoid the headache of constructing software from scratch, to say nothing of the brand's name recognition stateside. Grove estimated PokerStars could rake in between $10 million and $50 million with such a move.
Of course, that would require interest by the selling party as well, and that never seemed much of a possibility. Poker Industry PRO reported being told by a company rep the software wasn't for sale ($), and nothing that happened in the intervening years has made that appear to be mere lip service.
The most likely case going forward would appear to be Full Tilt Poker simply collects dust in a virtual PokerStars storage room. In one sense, having your once-chief rival neatly tucked away on some backup storage drive is the ultimate power move.
In another, though, it's the most sad, meek ending imaginable to a company that took the poker world by storm more than 15 years ago.
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Online PokerFull Tilt
Full Tilt Poker has a long history of having the most famous and high profile team of sponsored professional players.
In the past these players were known under the name Team Full Tilt and contained some big celebrity poker names such as Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson.
Team Full Tilt were more than just sponsored pro’s however as many of the high profile members were also shareholders and founders of the company. It was their original idea, concept, design and ongoing idea’s for development that really make Full Tilt Poker what it is today, a poker room designed by poker players for poker players.
The former Team Full Tilt Poker included some of the biggest names in poker
The majority of these players are no longer associated with Full Tilt after the acquisition of the company by Pokerstars. The new Full Tilt has a much smaller team of professional poker players who are now know simply as “The Professionals”.
In this section you can find out all about the history and achievements of The Professionals and the former Team Full Tilt Poker.
Full Tilt Poker – The Professionals
Since Full Tilt Poker was relaunched under the ownership of Pokerstars it has cut down the size of it’s team of players who endorse and promote the company. This smaller team is now called “The Professionals”.
Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom – Fearless Young Poker Whizz
Viktor Isildur1 Blom has earned his reputation through his aggressive no-holds-barred style and willingness to take on any opponent at any stake level. [more...]
Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan – Possibly the Greatest Online Poker Player ever?
With his current winning record, Tom 'durrr' Dwan is recognised as a modern poker genius. But is he the greatest ever Online Poker Player? [more...]
Gus Hansen – The Most Aggressive Poker Player on the Planet?
Lets take a closer look at Gus ‘The Great Dane’ Hansen who is highly respected due to the way that he stood up for the players of Full Tilt Poker during the difficult Full Tilt Poker black Friday situation. [more...]
The Former Team Full Tilt
The former Team Full Tilt is a collection of some of the biggest named Pro’s around, many of which are also former shareholders in the company. Although they are no longer associated with the company, the role they have played in the vision and growth behind Full Tilt is considerable and they remain an important part of the companies history.
Aaron Bartley – The Success Story of Online Poker
Aaron Bartley is most often known in online poker as 'GambleAB' and was one of the success stories of the early days of online poker. [more...]
David Benyamine – Competitive Drive to be Successful
David Benyamine was born in France and spent time as a professional Tennis Player and Top 10 National Billiards player before turning his skills to Poker. [more...]
Andy Black – The Monk – Mixing Poker and Buddhism
Andy Black is known in poker circles as “The Monk”. After 5 years away from Poker living monastic life as a Buddhist devotee he returned to great success. [more...]
Andy Bloch – From MIT Blackjack Team Movie Star to Top Poker Player
Andy Bloch was grounded in the world of Gambling by being a member of the Famous MIT Blackjack team which the movie '21' was based on. These days he is a top Poker player [more...]
John Cernuto – Air Traffic Controller now controls the Poker Tables
John Cernuto has been around the professional poker circuit for over 18 years. After packing in his job as an Air Traffic Controller and moving to Las Vegas [more...]
Allen Cunningham – Able to Analyze any Situation at the Poker Table
Allen Cunningham is recognised as one of the best poker players in the world. He is Disciplined and has an amazing ability to Analyse things at the table. [more...]
Roland de Wolfe – Journalist Who is Now Creating the News
Roland de Wolfe started life as a Journalist reporting on Poker Tournaments for Inside Edge magazine. Now he wins millions at those same poker tournaments [more...]
Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson – Poker God turned Poker Devil?
Chris Ferguson, the well branded poker player and the brains behind Full Tilt Poker but now faces growing animosity after the events of Black Friday [more...]
Phil Gordon – dot com Millionaire, Poker TV Celeb and FullTilt Suckout
Phil Gordon is one of the most recognizable TV faces from the poker world. Former part owner of Full Tilt Poker, Black Friday was a dark period of his life [more...]
Clonie Gowen – Former Beauty Queen turned Poker Pro
Clonie Gowen is a former Beauty Queen turned Poker Pro who was one of the early faces of the TV poker boom thanks to her good looks and poker skills. [more...]
Jennifer Harman – The Greatest Ever Female Poker Player?
Many people believe that Jennifer Harman is not just the best female player in the world, but also amongst the top players in the world regardless of sex [more...]
Phil Ivey – The Most Feared Opponent on the Planet
Phil Ivey is considered the best player in the world with tournament winnings of $18m and who knows how much more from the nose bleed stakes cash games he plays in [more...]
John Juanda – Quietly Scooping up the Pot
John Juanda is one of the quietest poker players you will meet, however he is also one of the most dangerous and feared players in the world. [more...]
Howard Lederer – The Most Hated Man in Poker?
A few years ago Howard Lederer was one of the most well known Poker Players. Now, after his full involvement in Full Tilt Poker and their near bankruptcy has been revealed he has been ousted from the poker community. [more...]
Erick Lindgren – Debt, Gambling & Rehab
Erick Lindgren was one of the early 'poker boom' TV celebrities, but his relationship with gambling is one that has lead him to massive debt and rehab. [more...]
Jeff Madsen – Exploded into Poker Winning $1.4m at his First WSOP
Jeff Madsen borrowed money from his college fund and his Parents to go to the 2006 World Series of Poker. He came away with 2 Bracelets and $1.4million [more...]
Mike Matusow – Drugs, Jail and the WSOP Main Event Final Table
Mike Matusow is the ‘bad boy’ of poker and the poker world loves him for it. Having served time in Jail for drug offences he turned his life around and made the final table of the WSOP Main Event in 2005 [more...]
Robert Mizrachi – Teaching his Brothers How to Win Millions at Poker
Despite winning millions Robert Mizrachi is often pushed into the background by the success of younger brother Michael who Robert taught and mentored [more...]
The Hendon Mob – 4 Players Who Created Britains Biggest Poker Brand
The Hendon Mob are just 4 simple poker players based around Hendon in London. Stars of the hit TV show Late Night Poker they have been around from the start [more...]
Carlos Mortenson – First Ever to Win both the WSOP & WPT Championships
Carlos Mortenson is the first player to ever win both the WSOP and WPT world championship events. Known for the imaginative way he arranges his chip stacks [more...]
Greg Mueller – Hockey Pro turned into a $2million Poker Pro
Greg Mueller is a former Hockey Professional who turned his back on the game to concentrate on Poker, the right move after amassing $2m in lifetime winnings [more...]
Is Full Tilt Poker Legit
Max Pescatori – Soccer or Poker? $3m says he made the right choice
In his youth, Max Pescatori was torn between playing soccer and poker. With over $3m in winnings as a Poker Pro, he thinks he made the right choice [more...]
Eddy Scharf – Airline Pilot Flying High at the Poker Tables
Eddie 'Eddy' Scharf is a commercial airline pilot who is also one of the most experienced poker players in Germany with 2 WSOP bracelets to his name. [more...]
Erica Schoenberg – A Life Destined Towards Gambling
Erica Schoenberg grew up in a family centered around Gambling and joined in as soon as she was old enough to understand. Known as BlackJack Babe for her love of Blackjack. [more...]
Huck Seed – Basketball Geek turned Poker World Champion
Huck Seed was a former College Basketball player and star of the TV documentary Quantum Hoops. Now he is a Poker World Champion with 5 WSOP bracelets [more...]
Erik Seidel – One of the Few Remaining of the Old Generation of Poker
Erik Seidel will be remembered as a star of the movie Rounders and his incredible success with a staggering $20 million in career poker earnings. [more...]
Gavin Smith – The Liveliest Guy at the Table
Gavin Smith started life as a dealer and went on to be a successful and well know poker player with WSOP and WPT titles and $6million in winnings. [more...]
Paul Wasicka – Recovering from being one card away from World Champion
It was a devastating blow that was hard to take for Paul Wasicka, despite becoming a wealthy man after losing heads up at the 2006 WSOP Main Event [more...]
Full Tilt Poker Net
Full Tilt Poker Team Profiles
Lee Watkinson – Wrestling His Way to the Top of the Poker World
Lee Watkinson is a Wrestler where he has to use strategy to beat opponents, now he applies strategy on the poker tables with career winning of $4 million+ [more...]