Full Tilt is Returning!

I kinda forgot about this but I got an email from Full Tilt 10 days ago;

It certainly has been a long time coming. Since Black Friday when it got closed down, the site has had so much drama, from its poor ownership and lack of organisational structure, the shocking fact that it didn't have credit, the selling of red pro accounts, the loaning of money to its pro's straight from customer's deposits.... ouch. Plus the trouble it has had in finding a new owner who is willing to pay for all the shit... literally.

And strangley enough it was its rivals, Pokerstars who now own Full Tilt. But it has cost them $731 million to settle with the US Government.

In my last post we talked to Josem who works for Pokerstars on the Isle of Man. He told us that Full Tilt are literally gonna be setting base in the Pokerstars offices right there. So as far as running both sites are concerned, its not gonna be a problem... they're probably even gonna save space!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly?

The question that we're all asking (well me mainly, lol... I don't really go on twoplustwo forums or anything like that), is how will things turn out and how will that effect the poker community as a whole? Before they were rivals and there was competition, but now Pokerstars literally owning such a big part of the pie, how will that effect it all?

One thing for certain is that Pokerstar's reputation for its customer service support has been second to none. We are in good hands when it comes to that, comparing to the week long waits for [automated] email responses from the old Full Tilt that drove me nuts. And as a whole this is a really good thing, because there's nothing worse then not trusting the site's ability to handle its customers.

There are talks that Pokerstars are planning to integrate a money transfer system through both sites. This seems interesting. Seems like an example of how Pokerstars can really have a huge advantage in this market. Maybe they've managed to turn the US [Vegas Casino] lobbyists who want a piece of the online poker pie on its head. By the time they start up again, will Pokerstars have too much power?

Even if that's the case, many of us poker players are not going to be too fussed at all. Pokerstars has proven itself to be a great precedent for Online Poker, and if they're the ones in charge of this field, then a lot of us aren't gonna be worried at all.

So another big question is going to be, what's the traffic going to be like? This certainly is going to be interesting to see. I do know a few people who actually only played on Full Tilt and not Pokerstars. From an Interactive Design point of view (that is actually my university degree), I have to say that Full Tilt has a way better interface and overall friendlier cartoony style that would appeal to more casual players. The fact that it had taken this direction was great for its brand as it really distinguished itself from Pokerstars.

I'm certainly gonna be playing on Full Tilt when it reopens again I think. For one thing, I also liked its promotions that it had, The Iron Man was relatively easy to get, and I remember something about The Black Chip which was basically the same as Supernova Elite on Pokerstars but the Full Tilt equivalent. With these promotions it basically means extra income and I'm happy to put in a few extra hours for it.

It will be very interesting when Full Tilt opens again. They never managed to rival the traffic numbers of Pokerstars when they were both in its prime, and I think that's not gonna change either. Only time will tell what happens, this is just another stepping stone towards seeing what happens when USA finally fully legalizes Online Poker again. Only time will tell... but I welcome it.

We will also be interested in how Full Tilt is promoted. With a few of its previous owners being under so much scrutiny, how will the Pro's be represented and how will they market it again?