Full Tilt Poker ReviewURL: www.fulltiltpoker.com
Founded: 2004
Based: Ireland
Registered owner: Full Tilt Poker
Licensed (1): Alderney
Licensed (2): Kahnawake, Canada
Network: Not part of any network
Software verified by: Cigial & Technical Systems Testing (TST)
Accepts US players: Yes
Supported languages: 20
Official forums: pokerforums.fulltiltpoker.com
Support: Email (within 1-24 hours) Total Score: 8.1/10
Player activity: 9/10
Promotions: 7/10
Game selection: 9/10
Software: 8/10
Cash games: 10/10
Tournaments: 8/10
Support: 6/10
The Good 
Incredible high stakes action
Plenty of activity around the clock
Excellent cash game standards
Chance to play against famous pros
The Bad 
High tournament fees on low buy-ins
Customer support is slow to respond
First Deposit bonus: 100% up to $600Referral code:
Full Tilt Poker was formed back in 2004 at the onset of the poker boom. The poker room was conceived and brought to life by a team of professional poker players including Chris Fergusson, Howard Lederer and Phil Ivey. Their vision was a poker room by poker players for poker players and considering the impressive number of players currently flocking to their tables they must have gotten it right. It is one of the few poker rooms that still accepts US players and it is currently the second largest poker room in the world with an average daily concurrent real money peak player count near the 100,000 mark.
True to its roots, Full Tilt Poker keeps a rooster of exclusive professional players, giving the poker room a distinct touch and the players an ultimate way to measure their skill - against the very best in the world. There are also regular scheduled chats where players can question the pros about all their poker stratagems. All such chat transcripts are publically available on the website. And let us not forget the Full Tilt Poker Academy that comes complete with video tutorials, interactive challenges, tips and poker strategy lessons - all endorsed by the professionals that have rallied under the Full Tilt Poker banner.
Full Tilt Poker has its own software developed by its subsidiary TiltWare LLC. The software is innovative, secure, loaded with features and easy to personalize. The poker client is on top of that extremely pretty and very smooth to interact with. It is after all the product of professional minds and goes well in hand with the knowledgable support. Unfortunately, the support is slow to respond and the client/program lacks a few handy features and this lowers what would otherwise have been two fine scores. The cash games standards are excellent with great table selection, the highest stakes in the business and players who actually play them to go with that. The tournament program is fairly packed but the entry fees are unreasonably high at the lower buy-ins which makes it more or less impossible to build a bankroll from scratch by playing tournaments. Lastly we come to the promotions and there is nothing remarkable about them. They are perfectly fine but they won't rock your world.
Ultimately, Full Tilt Poker is a paradise for both high stakers and fans of the famous professional players on the team, and its sheer traffic volume makes it attractive to the more casual players as well. Full Tilt Poker also brings many unique features to the table which can't be found in other poker rooms. With all things taken into account, Full Tilt Poker is a formidable contender for the online poker crown - a poker room which is more than worth your while.
Promotions
First Deposit Bonus: 100% up to 600Bonus ratio: $0.42 bonus per $1 fee/rake
Bonus release: 10% of deposit
Time limit: 120 days
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General promotions
Reload Bonus: Not at the moment of writing
Rakeback: Yes, max in the 30% range
Freerolls: Over 500 monthly freerolls with a combined prize pool of $60,000
GTD tournaments: Over $33 million in guaranteeds every month + main events
Satellites to live events: Yes
Races/Leaderboards
Monthly Sit N Go leaderboards where top 100 win buy-ins to new Sit N Go tournaments
Monthly multi-table tournament leader board with $1000 1st prize, $500 2nd prize and satellite & freeroll entries for remaining top 200
VIP Program
Point system: Full Tilt Points (7 FTPs per $1 fee/rake)
VIP store (spend FTPs): Tournament entries, electonics, apparel etc
Poker GamesStandard
Texas Holdem
Omaha
Omaha Hi/Low
7 Card Stud
7 Card Stud Hi/Low
Razz
Mixed
HORSE
HOSE
HA
HOE
OE
HEROS
7-Game Mix
Mixed Holdem
Mixed Omaha Hi/Low
SoftwareGeneral
Developer: Internally developed by the subsidiary TiltWare LLC
Network: Not part of any network
Compatibility: Windows / Mac OS
Client size: 61.7 MB
Flash client for browser play: No
Encryption: SSLv3/TLSv1
Random number generator: TRNG
Verified by: Cigial & Technical Systems Testing (TST)
Lobby
Signup process integrated: Yes
Cashier screen integrated: Yes
Live chat support: No
Change language: Yes
Search
Search for player: Yes
Buddy list: Yes
Hide from player search: No
Bookmark feature for tables/tournaments: Yes
Table
Seat preference: Yes
Max concurrent tables: 18
Increased time bank when multi-tabling: No
Option to show/hide lobby when opening tables: Yes
Option to keep current table in focus until you have acted: Yes
Custom table size: Yes
Save custom table layout: Yes
Remember table positioning: No
Predefined table sizes: Only 1
Fullscreen mode: No
Set all tables to predefined size: Yes
Cascade tables: Yes
Tile tables: Yes
Analysis
Hand history: Yes
Tournament history: Yes
Replay hand (recording): Yes
Take notes on players: Yes
Chat with players: Yes
Aesthetics
3D graphics: No
Four color deck option: Yes
Change table theme: Yes
Create table theme: Purchasable VIP feature
Change card theme: Yes
Change avatar: Yes
Custom avatar (global): Purchasable VIP feature
Remove avatars: Yes
Switch off animations/sounds: Yes
Cash GamesGeneral features
1on1 (Heads-up): Yes
Standard seats: 2, 5, 6, 8 or 9
No-flop, no-drop? (No rake if hand ends pre-flop): Yes
Rake: 5%
Rake cap: $3
Disconnect protection: No
Time banks
Fixed limit: 25 seconds
No limit/pot limit: 35 seconds
Extra time: Depends on how long you have been seated
Disconnect time bank: 90 seconds per 24 hours
No Limit Holdem stakes
Fullring (9 seats): $0.01/$0.02 - $500/$1000
6-max (6 seats): $0.01/$0.02 - $500/$1000
Heads-up (2 seats): $0.25/$0.50 - $500/$1000
Fixed Limit Holdem stakes
Fullring (9 seats): $0.05/$0.10 - $1000/$2000
6-max (6 seats): $0.05/$0.10 - $1000/$2000
Heads-up (2 seats): $1/$2 - $2000/$4000
Lobby info
Players per flop: Yes
Average pot: Yes
Hands per hour: Yes
TournamentsSpecial features
$8 million guaranteed weekly prize pool
Monthly $1,000,000 Guarantee tournament
Weekly $200K Double Deuce with a $20+2 buy-in and a guaranteed first prize of at least $30,000
Plenty of Shootouts
Bust-Out Bounties where you get your buy-in back (excluding entry fee) up to $200 if you knock out a "red" pro from the tournament
Sit and Go Matrix where you play the same players on four different tables at the same time
Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) 3-4 times per year with 25 events and a combined guaranteed prize pool of $16 million + miniFTOPS with 25 events and $4 million guaranteed
Leaderboards
Monthly MTT leaderboard where top 200 get paid; winner gets $1000, 2nd place $500 and 3-100 get satellite tokens. 1-200 wins entry to monthly Winner's Choice Freeroll tournament
Monthly Sit and Go low limit (less than $24+2) leaderboard where top 100 win buy-ins to Sit and Go tournaments.
Monthly Sit and Go high limit (more than $24+2) leader board where top 100 win buy-ins to Sit and Go tournaments.
Hosted main events
Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) - $20 million guaranteed (3-4 times per year)
WPT Cyprus Classic - Around $2 prize pool
Title sponsored tours
Full Tilt Poker Series Espana
Hosted exclusive televised live events
Poker Million
Late Night Poker
Satellites to external events
World Series of Poker (WSOP)
English Poker Open
General tournament features
Disconnect protection: No
Disconnect time bank: 90 seconds per 24 hours
Final table deals allowed: Yes
Standard time bank: 25 seconds
Refreshment time bank: Progressive
1on1 (Heads-up): Yes
Private tournaments: Available to VIP and affiliates
Tournament info
Payout displayed before tournament: Yes
Number of entrants displayed: Yes
Blind time remaining: Yes - lobby
View own position: Yes - lobby
All players position: Yes
Exiting players displayed: Yes
Multi Table Tournaments (MTT)
Standard starting stack: 1500
Standard blind increments: 10 minutes
Buy-in fee: 10% at average
Standard seats: 9
Freerolls
Over 500 freerolls every month
Total monthly freeroll prize pool of $60,000
VIP freerolls with FTPs buy-in
Nationality exclusive freerolls
$100 NL Holdem freerolls every 3 hours
Satellites
Standard starting stack: 1500
Standard blind increments: 10 minutes
Entry fee: 10% at average
Standard seats: 6 or 9
Sit and Go (single table)
Fullring buy-in (9 seats): $1+$0.25 - $5500+$200
Heads-up buy-in (2 seats): $2+$0.15 - $5500+$100
Entry fee: 3.6-25%
Standard starting stack: 1500
Standard blind increments: 6 minutes
Turbo: 3 minutes
Standard seats: 2 or 9
Sit and Go Matrix
Description: In the Matrix you play 4 SNGs simultaneously against the same players. Earn points/prizes by winning or alternatively outlasting others.
Buy-in: $1+$0.25 - $2100+$90
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Full Tilt Poker Review
