Full Tilt Poker Review  95/100

Introduction

Full Tilt Poker is a relatively new site (launched 2004) but is one of the biggest and most famous poker sites online.

Their catchphrase is “Learn, chat and play with the pros”.

“Team Full Tilt” is the site’s main sponsored pros and the bulk of its ownership group. It includes poker legends Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow and Andy Bloch.

Adding to its unique appeal, Full Tilt Poker is one of few sites with mixed games like H.O.R.S.E. and H.O.S.E. in both cash games and tournaments, making the game variation one of the most extensive online. The exclusive Rush Poker was introduced in early 2010.

The unique style, reward programs, excellent software, game play and overall reliability offered on Full Tilt Poker make joining simple and playing fun.


Bonus & Promotions   |   9/10

Full Tilt Poker offers a variety of promotions and bonuses. These include:

• Receiving a 100% matching bonus up to $600 on your initial deposit
• Reloading bonuses at regular intervals
• Receiving 1 player point for each dollar raked from pots in which you were dealt a hand. Bonuses are released when you’ve collected the required number of points
• Daily Full Tilt poker tournaments with guaranteed prize pools ($5 million each week) and satellites to major events
• Earning player points that can be exchanged for merchandise and tournament tickets when you play real-money games

Software Graphics   |   18/20

Full Tilt Poker’s software ranks as one of the best online, with good customization options, fast game play, simplicity, excellent graphics, high security and software reliability.

The major functions include:

• Player notes
• Statistics and multi-table play
• A number of unique special features that really enhance game play
• The time bank for making crucial decisions
• A “top up” feature that automatically refills your stack at cash games
• Pre-determined buy-ins and automatic re-buys
• A login history
• Taking satellite wins in credits instead of a fixed buy-in
• Resizing of the tables
• Last hand history (a graphic representation of any of the previous hands at that game)
• IM ready (If you are in a sit and go that can last more than 1 hour and the players do not want to take the schedule break, when all players hit the “IM Ready” button, the game will automatically resume.)

The Full Tilt Poker software supports play at 18 tables simultaneously and is well-suited for multi-table play with easy-to-use table functions, a great mini-view, a “time bank” for crucial decisions and the ability to sit at any table position.

The mini-table view is easy to use with nine tables possible on a 22″ monitor with no overlap. You are also able to save your own custom table layout settings.

The Full Tilt Poker graphics are some of the best and most visually appealing of all the poker sites in the industry. They boast a variety of choices in avatars, backgrounds, animation, emotions and center-filled seating.

Full Tilt Poker is available for download for both PC and MAC.


Tournaments & Freerolls   |   20/20

Full Tilt Poker hosts many different tournaments with buy-ins from $1 to the thousands. Many of the tournaments feature guaranteed prize pools. You’ll always find good satellites to the big events, which are busy, fast, well structured and very competitive.

The bigger buy-in tournaments can be quite difficult and you’re very likely to meet the world’s top pros at the final table. When a famous poker pro is at the table, the name is highlighted in red.

Full Tilt Poker runs plenty of freerolls, most of which are multi-table events with relatively loose play. Not all of these are played out in Texas Hold’em as you may find a tournament on Omaha or H.O.R.S.E. once in a while too.

No-limit games are known to be rather soft, but still more difficult than your average online poker room. If you’re looking for softer games, consider Omaha and the mixed games.

The tournaments and games can be seen as a social experience, but unwanted chats can also be censored.


Deposits and Cashouts   |   9/10

Full Tilt Poker offers offer a variety of options for financial transactions, all of which are simple and reliable.

Deposit options:

• eCheck
• Visa
• Debit cards
• MasterCard
• Neteller
• Moneybookers
• InstaDebit
• ClickandBuy
• Webmoney
• EntroPay
• Cash transfer (minimum deposit of $250)
• Click2Pay (minimum deposit of $50)

Withdrawal options:

• Visa
• Click2Pay
• Moneybookers
• InstaDebit
• ClickandBuy
• Cheque (These will not be issued for less than $150 or more than $5000)

The minimum withdrawal for Full Tilt Poker is $50, unless your account holds less than $50, at which point you must withdraw everything you have.

Your withdrawal will be credited to the same payment processor that you made your deposit with, and within 48 hours of your request.

Cashouts cannot be credited back to your Visa or MasterCard and Cash outs via Click2Pay will be declined unless the email address listed with Full Tilt is the same as the one you have with Click2Pay.


Service & Support   |   19/20

Full Tilt Poker offers full-time support for any queries or concerns you may have. The response time and quality is good. The high influx of players during a large software update may cause some support lag.

Their 256-bit encryption ensures that all your information is kept strictly confidential with the highest possible security.

Full Tilt Poker has a zero tolerance policy for fraud and collusion. Only one account is allowed per user.

Hand and chat logs are routinely reviewed to ensure a fair, honest game.

If a player is thought to be conspiring or engaging in fraudulent behavior, Full Tilt Poker will close his or her account immediately.


Traffic   |   9/10

Full Tilt Poker traffic has been on the rise due to advertisements, promotions and a hot list of poker pros that have increased the site’s popularity.  Unlike other poker sites, at Full Tilt Poker you are likely to find a fair amount of traffic even in the smaller games.

Peak hours at Full Tilt Poker usually occur around 7 PM (PT) (GMT-8).

There are always a large amount of Texas Holdem tables available with a large player volume. The upper limit tables may be difficult to get to during off hours.

During peak hours, there are plenty of mid-stakes cash games to get involved in. There are many promotional freerolls and at least 6 freeroll tourneys a day.

You can view the amount of players logged into Full Tilt Poker at any given time. You may also view how many tables are being played on the main page of the client, as well as how many people are seated at those tables.


Game Variety   |   10/10

Full Tilt Poker has one of the best varieties of poker game play online with plenty of game play selection and a solid frequency of tables and tournaments.

Full Tilt Poker offers the following game variety:

• Holdem
• Omaha
• No-Limit
• Pot-Limit
• Fixed Limit Hold-em
• 7-Card Stud
• Razz
• Mixed games such as H.O.R.S.E. and H.O.S.E. These are combinations of Holdem, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7-Card Stud, 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo and Razz.
• Rush Poker – super fast games in Holdem and Omaha where you’re moved to a new table at the end of each hand

Summary

Full Tilt Poker definitely delivers on its promises and your expectations of the site. There are always plenty of tables and games to choose from and it is the online place where the biggest pots are played. You get the chance to watch some super pro games at the marquee $500/$1,000 tables and experience the presence of high-profile poker players such as Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer and Jennifer Harman.