Full Tilt Poker

Launched in 2004, Full Tilt Poker is now by far one of the biggest and most famous poker sites online and always pushing to build its reputation as a market leader. Adding to its prestige is "Team Full Tilt," the site's main sponsored pros and the bulk of its ownership group, including poker legends Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow and Andy Bloch.

The site's famous catchphrase is "Learn, chat and play with the pros" and they definitely live up to it, with the main team and a growing list of Full Tilt "red pros" playing regularly at a variety of limits. For the average joe there's action at virtually any game and limit 24/7, with Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo, Five-Card Draw and Razz all offered.

Full Tilt Poker is also 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.

Full Tilt Poker's software has some very innovative functions and features excellent graphics - definitely measuring up as one of the best in the industry. The cartoon avatars are a bit tiresome after a while, but not a huge obstacle to overcome. Same goes for the constant spamming and $5 transfer requests in the chat wherever the pros are, but that can also easily be turned off.

For those that want to look like the pros, the points shop is excellent with all sorts of FTP merch that can be bought with your Full Tilt Poker points. Overall, Full Tilt delivers what you expect - plenty of tables and games to pick from, a strong pro presence to give you the "poker experience" and a chance to watch some super sick games at the marquee $500/$1,000  tables.

The hard work and huge advertising budget has definitely paid off, as real-money player statistics as of December 2009 show 10500 ring-game players at peak hours and 70000 tournament players at peak hours.

Back to top

Bonus Code and Promotions (8)

Full Tilt Poker offers a $600 sign-up bonus at 100% deposit match for all players.

Exclusive Full Tilt Poker bonus code for PokerListings players: POKERLISTINGS

Bonus Payout: $100 in rake/$6. Bonus is released to a player's cash account in increments of 10% of the initial deposit or $20, whichever is smaller. Clearing time is 90 days.

Loyalty Program

Playing in any qualifying raked real-money ring-game hand or real-money MTT or sit-and-go earns Full Tilt player points. For each $1 raked from a pot in a ring game, every player dealt cards gets one Full Tilt Point. Fractional points also count with a maximum of 3 points earned per hand.

For every $1 in MTT or SNG fees, players get seven Full Tilt Points with no limit to the amount earned per tournament. E.g. play in a $200+$16 tournament, you'll earn 112 points.

Full Tilt Points can then be spent on merch in the FTP store, exclusive tourneys and more. Earn double or triple points during daily Happy Hour periods; bonus points automatically appear in your account.

Because of the sheer volume of players, there's also never a shortage of ongoing promos at Full Tilt. Points tourneys run frequently with plenty of satellites to big live and online events like the WPT, WSOP or the FTOPS series included. Daily happy hours, bounty tourneys, leaderboard and Iron Man challenges are just a few more examples - check the news and promos page on FTP for the latest.

Exclusive Offers for PokerListings players:

Weekly $3,000 freerolls Weekly $3k freerolls every Sat. at 1 p.m. for PokerListings players. Earn just 200 pts the week before to play.

> Sign up through a PokerListings link and receive a $600 bonus at 100% deposit match

Back to top

Tournaments and Freerolls (8)

Full Tilt Poker has a massive amount of tournaments with buy-ins from $1 all the way up to $25,000 or more. Events are busy, fast, well structured and are very competitive at all levels. The bigger buy-in tournaments are super tough and you're very likely to meet the world's top pros at the final table.

Players wanting to test their skills at big guaranteed MTTs will find plenty of chances at Full Tilt with over $8 million in guaranteed events each week. It's also still one of the fastest-growing poker rooms adding more tournaments daily and players are sure to find an event they like.

Full Tilt Poker runs plenty of freerolls also - most of which are multi-table events with relatively loose play. One of the unique features of Tilt though is that freerolls are run in all game varieties, not just Texas Hold'em. It's a huge benefit for game specialists and old schoolers looking for a shot at free money, while players looking to try some new games can enter the events without the risk of crippling their bankrolls.

For those looking for larger freerolls, Full Tilt Poker runs an assortment of free tournaments where players can buy in with their player points. Tons of big ticket freerolls for packages to the WSOP, WPT, EPT and more are also constantly on the table.

Back to top

Software and Graphics (9)

Full Tilt Poker's software is one of the best online, with good customization options, fast game play, nice graphics and high reliability. It offers all the major functions including player notes, statistics and multi-table play, plus a number of unique special features that really enhance game play.

Overall, it's definitely made by and for poker players, and gets better with every update. The latest version of the Full Tilt Poker software supports play at 18 tables simultaneously and it's very 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 clean and easy to use with nine tables possibleon a 22" monitor with no overlap. You can also save your own custom table layout settings.

Full Tilt Poker offers a ton of special features and every software update adds more smart functionality. Among the best are the time bank for making big decisions, a "top up" feature that automatically refills your stack at cash games, pre-determined buy-ins, automatic re-buys, a log-in history and taking satellite wins in credits instead of a fixed buy-in.

New additions in July 2009 include an in-game hand replayer, three new lobby views, favorites, lobby widgets and tournament deal making.

For a direct and free Full Tilt Poker download, click on the download link above.

Back to top

Soft Competition (7)

Competition at Full Tilt Poker ranges from relatively loose and terrible at the micro limits to pretty much unbeatable at the high and ultra-high stakes.

Full Tilt Poker is definitely one of the rooms you’ll find “grinders” making a living from online poker, so realize if you’re hitting the mid-stakes games and up you'll find players with thousands of hours of experience ready and able to pick your game apart.

That being said, there are plenty of noobs at the micro-stakes. Basically, pick your tables and stakes well and you can find very beatable games. No-Limit games are still soft, but more difficult than your average online poker room. Players looking for softer games should consider Omaha and the mixed games also.

Back to top

Support (9)

Support response time and quality are both very good and e-mails are usually answered in a reasonable time. Some support lag has been known to occur at times, however, due to the high influx of players or during a large software update.

Back to top

Deposit Withdrawal Options (9)

Deposit Options: eCheck, Visa, MasterCard, Neteller, Moneybookers, InstaDebit, ClickandBuy, Webmoney, EntroPay, cash transfer and Click2Pay.

Withdrawal Options: Visa, Click2Pay, Moneybookers, InstaDebit, ClickandBuy and check.

Back to top