Full Tilt Poker Review

Updated March 4, 2005

Overall	71	...............
Ease of Competition	58	........
Cashouts	83	.........................
Customer Service	78	.....................
Software	87	.............................

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Click here to visit Full Tilt Poker

Overview
Full Tilt Poker is a newer poker site that has some unique features. It recruits a lot of pros to play at the site, so players can have the experience of pitting their skill against a professional. Their software is also much more cartoonish than most sites, which some people may enjoy. However, this site has some of the tightest games out there of all the online poker sites.

Software
The software is definitely unique. People can choose among an array of cartoon characters as their avatar. You are also able to display various emotions with the avatar. This adds a level of enjoyment to the game, but the graphics do slow the game down a bit. I think the software makes this place much more suitable for no-limit games than fixed-limit ones.

Bonuses and Promotions
They offer a 100% first-deposit bonus of up to $600. The bonus code is DEPBONUS. But don't be fooled; it takes forever to work off this bonus if you play lower stakes. The way it works is that you receive $.06 of your bonus for every dollar that is raked from the pot. Thus, people who play in higher stakes games (such as $5-$10 no-limit) end up working off the bonus very quickly, but people who play lower stakes (where the rake is generally not even a dollar) work it off VERY slowly. Most sites award you around $.10 per raked hand, so this deal is not so good for lower stakes players but it is great for higher stakes players.

They also have other promotions. For example, they hold satellites to World Series of Poker tournaments and satellites to Howard Lederer's Poker Fantasy Camp.

Cashouts
Neteller cashouts should be received within a couple of business days.

Competition
This is the major downside of Full Tilt Poker. Everyone and their dog at this place is a rock. Even at lower stakes, there isn't much action in the games. Most of the games at this site are low-stakes no-limit games, so these games are naturally not too difficult at least. Nevertheless, at most limits, you can find much easier games elsewhere.

Ironically, the one time the games are somewhat soft is when a professional sits in to play. For some reason, these games tend to attract more loose play since everyone wants to "break" the pro.

It should also be noted that generally new sites have easier competition. This is because of the way the poker ecosystem works. Fish tend to migrate to various places and then the sharks move after them. However, this is not the case with Full Tilt. From the get go, it's tended to have harder competition than most sites, especially new sites.

Customer Service
Currently, they only have customer service via email. This is kind of annooying because it is nice to know that you can call and talk to someone in case a serious problem occurs. However, in my experience, they respond to their emails very quickly. Usually, I received a response within a couple of minutes.

Ring Games offered
Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha hi-lo, 7-Stud, Razz

Ring Games stakes
Fixed-Limit: $.25-.50 up to $200-$400
No-Limit/Pot-Limit: $.05-$.10 up to $25-$50

Tournaments Offered
Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha hi-lo, 7-Stud, Razz

Tournament Buy-ins
Heads-up: From $5 up to $100
Single-Table: From $4 up to $200
Multi-Table: $1 up to $200

Minimum Deposit: $50

Click here to visit Full Tilt Poker

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