Full Tilt Poker Closing 2016 Edition

Your Guide to the Full Tilt / PokerStars Merger in 2Q 2016

PokerStars has announced that Full Tilt Poker will close in early 2016. Your account (along with many features from the Full Tilt platform) will move over to PokerStars instead.

This page gives an outline of what will happen – or has just happened, depending on when you are reading this article. I also suggest the best next steps for you, depending on what combination of accounts you have.

Full Tilt Shut 2016 – What Exactly is Happening?

At some point during the 2^nd quarter (April, May, June) of 2016, you’ll click to open up Full Tilt Poker and be hit with a software update instead.

This will upload a brand new version of the PokerStars client, which includes the best of both sites and also moves your FTP account over to Stars. Many players will already have a PokerStars account, in which case your funds will be moved over to this (assuming you have linked them). In this case you will keep your PokerStars user name and the Full Tilt one will disappear.

If you do not have an existing PokerStars account, then your Full Tilt account becomes a PokerStars one. If your accounts are not yet linked, then you will be able to tell them about this when the changeover occurs.

Note that this is for real money accounts only, if you have a ‘guest’ account at Full Tilt, then this will simply disappear. Partially cleared bonuses and rewards will be converted into real money, and  tournament tokens will be converted into the PokerStars T$ - which can be used to enter any online tournament or Sit N Go. Casino bonuses and credits will be switched over to real money based on how much is already cleared!

Full Tilt Closing 2Q ’16 – The Avatars will Survive (Whew!)

A lot of us love the Full Tilt Poker software, with the choice of colorful and expressive avatars to represent us at the table a popular feature. The good news is that these will stay after the merger. We will have to wait and see about the exact format, my money is on there being a choice of ‘Stars view’ or ‘FullTilt view’ within the upgraded software.

Some other popular features will also remain, including ‘the deal’.

There is the promise of better promotions and bigger offers with the combined player pools. I am skeptical here, since the number of linked accounts and sheer size of PokerStars means that the increase is only a fraction of the total player pool there.

What I am more interested to find out is whether popular tournaments like the Sunday Brawl or the $3 / $8 / $24 buy-in progression in standard buy-ins will move over – along with some of the more crazy mixed game and Omaha variations.

Are There Steps I can take before the Closure?

 Yes – though exactly which ones do depend on your goals.

Here are a few different scenarios:

• If you would like to change your screen name and do not yet have a Stars account: A great way to get rid of your player history would be to open a Stars account now with a different user name, and link this to Full Tilt. When the switch happens, your screen name changes to the (new) Stars one. Remember marketing code = PSP3018 when you register and bonus code STARS600 will get you up to 3 'first' deposit bonuses (see www.pokerstars.com for more)
• If you really don’t like PokerStars… well, here you are out of luck. I recommend you head over to Sit and Go Planet’s infamous Fish-o-Meter and find a softer site with fewer grinders!
• If you have an old FTP account and forgot the details: Now is a good time to reset your password and dust off that old account. If nothing else you’ll be credited for partially cleared bonuses when the move happens, and knowing Stars I am sure there will be some promo offers coming our way once the move takes place.

I already wrote a long blog post charting my memories of this site and their ups and downs over the years. I'll be sad to see them go, though one thing still bugs me a little... I can't remember the name of a single member of what was once an 'army' of Red Pros!

GL at the tables

Mark