|
Site
Rating (7.5/10):
Full
Tilt Poker is one star studded online poker
room. Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Chris Ferguson and
Howard Lederer are just a few of the big name
players associated with Full Tilt. How much time
they actually spend playing at the low limit
tables is open to debate, but there is always a
chance you could take a seat in a game and find
Phil Ivey to your left. At least online you can
bluff him and not have to endure his
stare.
Established
during the 2004 WSOP, with more stars than there
are in heaven, Full Tilt Poker is one of top
online poker sites. Since day one, Full Tilt has
been steadily expanding, continually adding more
games, stakes, tournaments and pros to their
lineup. Full Tilt has established a solid
reputation as a player-friendly site, offering
the biggest signup bonuses and the most variety
on the net. The recent opening of the online
Full Tilt Store, offering all manner of poker
related merchandise, has been another
unqualified success.
Software
/ Graphics (8/10):
Full
Tilt Poker has the look and feel of a site that
has deep pockets. The software runs quickly and
efficiently, giving a player everything they
need. The lobby is laid out cleanly and simply,
making it a snap to find your favourite game.
There is a buddy option, allowing players to
track their friends, an excellent hand history
feature (presenting the hands visually rather
than as text), player notes and labeling (to
distinguish the fish from the pros), and
complete table statistics functions. In all the
time I have spent playing on Full Tilt, I have
never encountered any problems with the
software.
The
Full Tilt avatars are another nice touch. In
addition to being able to choose from five
different table backgrounds, there is a huge
selection of player avatars, more than 40 as of
this writing. The avatars tend to be cartoony,
with some choices including a monkey, elephant,
dog, cat, horse, and grinning shark. As a fairly
serious online player I find the cartoon avatars
a bit out of place, but this is something many
players find fun. Another cool feature of the
avatars is that you can change the facial
expressions, from normal, to happy, sad, angry
and surprised. This is a fun feature that helps
break up the monotony of long tournaments.
Bonuses
/ Promotions (8.5/10):
Full
Tilt offers up the biggest signup bonus on the
net, a 100% deposit match bonus up to $600. For
the low limit player, it is quite time consuming
to earn such a large bonus. Playing a $1-$2
Limit or NL table, a player will typically earn
around $5 in bonus money. You can do the math
from here, but the money is there for the person
who puts in the time. The bonus is released into
your account in increments of 20% of your
initial deposit, just like a parent doling out
allowance to a child. There are also periodic
reload bonuses, offering 50% up to $300. This
bonus is cleared in the same manner as the
signup bonus.
Full
Tilt also has a bonanza of promotions. For the
2005 WSOP, Full Tilt gave away 20 seats for the
Main Event through various promotions, and they
always give away at least 10 seats for each WPT
stop. As a further part of the 2005 WSOP
promotion, Full Tilt had tournaments that gave
away 10% of their pros' take in the Main Event (Juanda
and Ivey both cashed for over 300K). There are
bounties on their pros when they are playing
(anywhere from $50-$100), 200K guaranteed
tournaments, standard refer-a-friend payouts,
and Full Tilt player points. These player points
can be redeemed for merchandise from the Full
Tilt store and entry into the juicy bonus
tournaments. 7 points are earned for every
dollar in tournament entry fees.
Player
Skill (6/10):
Full
Tilt has some of the best players on the net.
The competition is good and the play is very
tight. There just aren't that many fish on this
site, and you definitely have to earn your keep.
That said, Full Tilt is a good site for the
player that is interested in improving their
game, and not just out to make an easy score.
The fixed limit games are the toughest, while
the NL games are marginally softer. I have
played both of these games on Full Tilt for
quite some time, with a small profit to show for
it. The recent advent of the .net version of
Full Tilt has brought some new players into the
fold, and it is only a matter of time before
they will find themselves testing the waters in
the cash games.
Number
Of Players (8/10):
Even
though Full Tilt only started operating in July
of 2004, they have had decent traffic from the
get go. During peak hours, there are over 4,000
players playing both sit and go's and
multi-table tournaments. For the ring games,
there are typically 1000-1500 players during
peak hours, of which at least 90% are in the
Hold'Em games. On Full Tilt, you can always find
whatever game you want, whenever you want.
Cashouts
/ Customer Support (7/10):
Surprisingly,
for such an excellent site, there is no live
player support. There is currently only e-mail
support, which is primitive in today's online
poker landscape. There is an FAQ section on
site, but I expect Full Tilt to institute live,
24-hour support in the very near future.
Deposit options: VISA, MasterCard, NETeller and
FirePay.
Cash out options: Credit card, NETeller and
FirePay.
Full
Tilt Poker Pros & Cons:
Pros:
- Huge roster of stars - they play in the low limit games and offer poker
tips
- Good note taking features
- Graphical hand history view
- Excellent software and graphics - variety of tables & avatars
- Excellent bonuses (100% sign up bonus, up to $600) and
great promotions
- Frequent player points, to be used for merchandise and freerolls
- Full game stats - flops seen, hands won, average pots etc.
- Play with the pro's
- Good game selection, they even offer Razz
- Good starting stack and blind structures
Cons:
- Withdrawal options are limited
- Games are very tight, some of the toughest competition on the net
- Limited high stake games at present
- Bonus is extremely time consuming to earn, and it comes in 20% increments
- Only offer email customer support
- Cartoon avatars are off putting to serious players
Full
Tilt Poker Site Review Conclusion:
Full
Tilt is one of my favourite online poker sites,
I highly recommend it. There are so many good
things about this site - the excellent signup
bonus, the 200K guaranteed tournaments, the
software and graphics, and the chance to play
with one of Full Tilt's numerous pros (including
Juanda, Ivey and Lederer). When the pros sit
down at the low limit tables, they are always
friendly and open to answering any questions
directed to them. Its hard to top that. I also
like Full Tilt because of the strong level of
play. Full Tilt challenges me as a player, and I
have seen big improvements in my game since I
have started playing here. Full Tilt is the
ideal site for the serious player, and I expect
this site to be an industry leader for a long
time to come.
|
