Full Tilt Poker Europe
Our commitment to improving the 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 last remaining assets of the Full Tilt software are set to be taken offline on February 25. On that date players will no longer be able to access the iconic brand, pokerfuse has learned.
Since May 2016, Full Tilt had been operating as a skin on the PokerStars network under its own branding, sharing the same games and player pool, rewards program and account system.
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The only differentiator was the cosmetic look and the retention of the Full Tilt assets including the classic cartoonish avatars and Full Tilt special table themes.
On Thursday next week, this will no longer be the case as the Full Tilt desktop and mobile application and its branding will be completely ceased and replaced with PokerStars, its original buyer.
Existing Full Tilt users can migrate to the PokerStars platform using the same Full Tilt username and password, the FAQ page for the migration process states. Players’ balances and bonuses will automatically be switched to the PokerStars platform.
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Full Tilt Shutdown Process Already Started in 2020
The decision to shut down Full Tilt did not come out of the blue. PokerStars began the process to close Full Tilt software for the dot-EU players in October last year.
In fact, this was speculated by our industry-focused sister site Poker Industry PROin early 2020 considering the cuts the operator had been making. Ten months later, the operator took its first step and switched the download link for Full Tilt.EU desktop and mobile platform with that of PokerStars.EU.
It also released a FAQ page that is now available on PokerStars’ .EU and .COM sites.
“Our commitment to improving the 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 FAQ page for the pending shutdown states.
It remains to be seen whether FullTilt.com website will remain available once the software is gone. PokerStars has yet to respond to our inquiry.
One and a Half Decades of Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker was launched in 2004, just three years after PokerStars’ inception. It was opened with the involvement of some of the biggest names in the industry: Raymond Bitar, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman and others.
Post-UIEGA, it became the main competitor of PokerStars and the second largest online poker room worldwide. It also became home of nosebleed cash game action involving big pros such as Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Viktor “Isildur” Blom and Gus Hansen—who all became Full Tilt ambassadors.
The second-largest online poker room changed the landscape of online poker by introducing several unique features to its poker platform. It invented Rush Poker, a fast-fold poker variant that has been a wildly success innovation and is now ubiquitous.
However, Black Friday happened in 2011 and this led to the brand’s downfall. It did return in late 2012 after it was bought by PokerStars with its own player pool and software and continued to operate for few more years, but its traffic was nowhere close to pre-Black Friday.
In 2015, the operator adopted a dramatic strategy to make the poker room more attractive to “recreational” players by removing table selection, heads-up games, nosebleed games and mixed games.
It then revamped its reward program to please casual players, a pivotal moment for the industry in its approach to player loyalty.
No, Full Tilt Software Is Not Up for Sale
Full Tilt Poker App
However, this was not well received by the players and its cash game traffic took an immediate hit.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
Ultimately, Full Tilt was migrated to the PokerStars platform in 2016.
Initially, the site retained the old Full Tilt branded games such as Jackpot Sit & Go’s instead of Spin & Go, and Rush Poker in place of Zoom. But the branding was gradually changed to match that of PokerStars.
At that time, a Full Tilt representative told PRO that the original software would not be put up for sale.
Over the past few years, PokerStars has made several changes to its platforms, including introducing a new game engine, Aurora, and a new Mobile NG platform for its mobile apps.
Keeping Full Tilt in sync with these upgrades was obviously an extra burden for the operator. Although it did eventually bring Aurora on Full Tilt, it had fallen out of step in many key areas such as lacking new games like Grand Tour, Tempest and even Spin & Go Max, which was launched many years ago.
Considering that the operator had been putting more focus on PokerStars brand, the shutdown of Full Tilt ultimately seemed inevitable.
“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,” the site states.
ByIt’s not like PokerStars didn’t give it a chance.
When the Stars Group bailed out Full Tilt Poker poker players after Black Friday and took over the brand, they put it on the PokerStars platform. But they kept some of the signature Full Tilt promotions like the Deal. They kept the logo but altered it slightly. The Stars Group didn’t erase the name or its players.
Nearly a decade later, however, PokerStars – now under the Flutter Entertainment umbrella – decided to retire the brand. Player accounts and balances will move to PokerStars, and the company will shut down the desktop and mobile applications associated with Full Tilt.
Most players said goodbye to Full Tilt Poker many years ago. The rest of them must do so this week.
A Long Goodbye
The Full Tilt Poker story started in the summer of 2004. Owned by TiltWare, the site began accumulating players on July 10, 2004. Names like Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer got together to create the company, along with Rafe Furst and Ray Bitar.
The poker site quickly grew to become one of the most popular. Its Team Full Tilt boasted of some of the biggest names on the poker scene with Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon, Erik Seidel, and Erick Lindgren. Others joined through the years, including Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham, John Juanda, Viktor Blom, Clonie Gowan, and Tom Dwan.
Farewell #FullTiltPoker. End of an era. pic.twitter.com/ueu8RBOaRi
— Jennifer Tilly (@JenniferTilly) February 21, 2021
While the big names remained on Team Full Tilt, the site grew a roster of “red pros” and “friends of Full Tilt” that exceeded 150 members at one point. Full Tilt Poker quickly became one of the largest sites in the world for online poker, often battling PokerStars for the top spot.
As the poker boom began to settle, rumors swirled that United States attorneys were investigating Full Tilt for violating gambling laws.
That all came to fruition on April 15, 2011, when the US Department of Justice revealed indictments against the top executives at Full Tilt Poker, including Bitar, as well as those at PokerStars, UltimateBet, and Absolute Poker.
While PokerStars immediately began working with the US government to pay its players, Absolute Poker and UltimateBet disappeared from the landscape altogether. Full Tilt Poker began to collapse into itself, its structure crumbling and unable to pay players. By September 20, 2011, the DOJ determined that Full Tilt may have purposely operated as somewhat of a Ponzi scheme. Whether due to intentional fraud or simple mismanagement, Full Tilt became insolvent.
Full Tilt Poker Download
PokerStars continued to work with the US government to make things right, first by handling its own player remissions and then offering to do the same for Full Tilt players. The DOJ agreed that PokerStars could do so in exchange for taking control of the Full Tilt brand, software, and other remaining assets.
Full Tilt Poker ultimately became a skin of PokerStars in early 2016.
PokerStars moved forward in facilitating the payment of Absolute Poker and UltimateBet players from the fines it paid to the US government. Meanwhile, the company worked its way back into the US market through New Jersey and then Pennsylvania. The company just launched its latest online products in Michigan at the beginning of 2021. Prior to that, however, in 2020, Flutter Entertainment finalized its acquisition of PokerStars and the Stars Group for $6 billion.
Not long after the blending into Flutter, PokerStars quietly decided to begin the shutdown of Full Tilt Poker. According to Pokerfuse and its sources, PokerStars began shutting down the European Full Tilt platform last year and now confirms it will officially close Full Tilt for good.
2004 – Full Tilt Launched
2007 – Becomes Second-Largest Online Poker Room
2009 – Introduces Rush Poker
2011 – Black Friday
2012 – Full Tilt Returns
2015 – Makes Dramatic Changes to its Game Offerings
2016 – Migrates to PokerStars
2021 – Full Tilt Brand to Shut Down
RIP 2004-2021 https://t.co/9JGm7Cd4uA
— Anuj Arora (@anuj2212) February 19, 2021
The Final Shutdown
The PokerStars and Full Tilt websites now state that Full Tilt’s desktop and mobile applications will shut down on February 25, 2021.
“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. 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.”
The process of accounts transferring to PokerStars should be seamless, since Full Tilt accounts already link to PokerStars. The same username and password will work at PokerStars. And balances are already available on PokerStars, along with the ability to withdraw funds if desired.
Even when Full Tilt is offline as of February 25, players can access all of their information and funds via desktop or mobile PokerStars.