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Overall: 4.5
Full Tilt Poker is probably best known for
having a huge team of poker professionals on their
advertising team (Phil Ivey, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson,
Howard Lederer, Mike Matusow, etc.). Exposure aside,
this is a very strong poker room on its own merits. They
earn my top score in terms of software, and new players
can grab a 100% bonus through our site. They also do
well in accommodating new players with micro-limit
games, while still offering high-stakes tables for their
professionals and online players with a bankroll. Their
aggressive commercial advertising has also seemed to
help their player base, with ring game traffic steadily
improving. Overall, this is a very classy site that
offers a big bonus, great software, and consistent games
which can be good for more conservative players or those
who can take advantage of them.
Bonus: 5 (100%
up to $600)
Full Tilt is continuing to offer their 100%
deposit bonus to our visitors, which will double your
first deposit after you earn this bonus. This is one of
the largest bonuses online, and I give them a good score
for making the maximum $600 to accommodate larger
bankrolls. Be sure to use our
exclusive link or the bonus code "FTPFREE100"
at signup to make sure you get the full 100%. Their
cashier is pretty simple, and I like the fact that you
can see how much of your bonus you’ve earned down to the
penny. Small-stakes players will appreciate that this
bonus is usually cleared fairly easily even at the lower
limits. Offering a 100% bonus is meaningless if you
can’t earn it, but I was able to clear the entire thing
without a huge amount of playing time.
♣ Bonus code "FTPFREE100" will
get you a 100% deposit bonus.
Promotions: 4.5
The main reward for frequent players are the Full Tilt
Points, which can be used for special tournament entries
or free merchandise like those jerseys we’ve seen their
pros wearing at the big tourneys. I liked Lon McEahern’s
comment about Howard Lederer during the coverage of this
past year’s WSOP: “Norm, doesn’t it just look silly to
see anyone over 40 sporting a hockey jersey?” Howard’s a
cool guy, but I have to agree on this one… Of course,
Full Tilt loves to show off their
professional team, and they’re probably the best group
of sponsored tournament players out there. Once in a
while, you can spot a pro at the tables, and their name
will be displayed in red in the player list. To round it
out, they offer cash VIP freerolls and satellites into
WPT and WSOP Circuit events.
Fish: 1.5
The truth is that the tables at
Full Tilt are some of the tightest and most
consistent online. That being said, I still manage to
make a decent profit. I’ll try to explain further about
this in our “Tips” section at the end of the review, but
you can maximize your profit by slowplaying your monster
hands, and playing aggressively preflop. I don’t think
that players should shy away from this poker site
because of the tight competition. It’s actually nice to
run into less bad beats and dominate the table through
aggression. Of course you’ll still get drawn out on
occasionally, but it doesn’t seem to happen as often
against more observant players. You’ll typically see
flop percentages in the 20-30% range.
Tournaments: 4
The tournament schedule has been expanding at
Full Tilt, with a new $200,000 guaranteed
weekly event and a good number of small-stakes events
throughout the week. Full Tilt could probably work on
adding some mini $5 and under events for tournament
newcomers, but middle-stakes and up players will be
satisfied with the offerings. Most events have at least
a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. You’ll also find lots
of freerolls available to frequent players, which will
get you a tournament entry for finishing in one of the
top spots. This past summer, I was invited to a
multi-table freeroll with a WSOP seat up for grabs to
the winner. It was a nice little perk for playing a few
hours at the tables.
Software: 5
I really love this software for some reason. It seems
really fun to me, for lack of a better word. First of
all, it’s very original and you can tell that
Full Tilt didn’t go the cheap route and
“borrow” from another software platform. You’re able to
choose your own cartoon-like avatar from a list of
characters like sharks, fish, boxers, gangsters, and
baseball players. Each avatar can give a few facial
expressions at the table with a right-click. The game
speed here is quick, and the hand history is easy to use
as they display an entire table graphic for each hand.
You can also customize the background image and my
personal favorite is the space theme. Players can also
change the deck color and change the perspective of the
table so you can always be sitting at your desired spot.
Overall, this is one of my favorite software packages
and it gets a top score.
Best Features
-Big deposit bonus that you can actually earn. The
amount of gameplay required is reasonable.
-Very attractive software. I just think that it's
unique, fun, and fast.
-High-stakes and micro-limit tables. New players can
find small games but they still accommodate larger
bankroll players.
-Less maniacs in ring games. Frustrated online poker
players may appreciate the consistency of the games.
Cashouts: 4.5
I used Neteller through
Full Tilt, and all of my cashouts have been
processed within 24 hours so no complaints here.
Customer Service: 4
While I’d prefer to see live chat support and/or
telephone service, they are quick to answer e-mails and
you’ll usually receive a response within 20-30 minutes.
Game Selection: Hold'em, Omaha, Razz, Stud
Limits: Fixed Limit: .05/.10 - $200/400
No Limit: .05/.10 - $25/50
Tips
Unfortunately, many players have a tough time figuring
out how to extract the most money from tighter opponents
and that's usually who you'll be facing at
Full Tilt. The first thing that you should
realize is that a win is a win. If everyone folds to
your preflop raise with pocket Aces, you still won the
pot. Don’t get greedy – at least you didn’t get drawn
out on. That being said, you might want to consider
slowplaying monster hands after the flop such as two
pair, a set, the nut flush, or a full house. At Full
Tilt, you usually won’t be up against more than a couple
of opponents on the flop, so you can worry less about
potential draws. Of course, you should be aware of 2
suited or connected cards of the flop, but these players
don’t draw as much compared to looser sites. Let them
catch up to a lesser hand, then be prepared to raise and
reraise if you still think you have the best hand. You
should also change gears often against more observant
opponents. Finally, you should consider playing less
drawing hands like suited connectors here, since you
usually won’t be getting the correct pot odds to do so.
Click
here to visit Full Tilt Poker.
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