Table mountain casino friant ca. This Friday marks the fifth anniversary of the most memorable Friday in many poker players' memories — Black Friday, or the day everything changed as far as online poker in the United States is concerned.
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On that day — April 15, 2011 — the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a 52-page indictment against top executives of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, as well as a civil complaint against those companies. Those named in the indictment faced years in prison while the civil complaint sought $3 billion in assets from the sites. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker immediately stopped serving U.S. players, with Absolute Poker and its sister site UltimateBet (of the Cereus Network) following suit afterwards.
Here's a look back to what things were like before Black Friday as well as some of what has happened over the last five years as a result of the events of that day.
Before Black Friday
The story of Black Friday is long and complicated, stretching back in part to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was signed into law by then President George W. Bush in October 2006. While not specifically prohibiting American players from playing online poker, the UIGEA did outlaw businesses from transferring funds to and from gambling sites. Final regulations weren’t formulated until November 2008 and didn't go into effect until Jan. 19, 2009 (the last full day of of Bush's presidency). Compliance wasn't required until December 2009, however, with another bill later introduced that would delay the requirement to begin complying to June 1, 2010.
While some sites responded to the passage of the UIGEA by pulling out of the U.S., others continued to allow Americans to deposit, withdraw, and play, with PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and UltimateBet the most popular among U.S. players.
When Black Friday dawned, the poker world continued along as normal. According to the tracking site PokerScout, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker continued their status as the top two sites in terms of traffic by a healthy margin, with partypoker and the iPoker Network battling back and forth as the next two in line and the Cereus Network hovering inside the top 10.
The PokerStars-sponsored North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun festival had just concluded a couple of days earlier, and the poker world was still buzzing about Vanessa Selbst and Jason Mercier each pulling off back-to-back victories in Uncasville, with Selbst repeating as NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event winner and Mercier winning the High Roller Bounty Shootout there as he had done the previous year. Meanwhile the NAPT — then moving through its Season 2 — was planning ahead for more U.S. stops.
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Speaking of planning ahead, online poker bills were a hot topic with many states considering such legislation and there having been a lot of focus on a possible federal bill during the lame duck session that closed 2010. Alliances had begun to be appear between the big sites and brick-and-mortar groups, including one between Fertitta Interactive (owners of Station Casinos) and Full Tilt Poker and another recently publicized one between Wynn Resorts and PokerStars. Such 'joint ventures' were contigent on future, favorable legislation in the U.S. regarding online poker, and had everyone starting to wonder what might happen next.
The poker world was further occupied by the second installment of the 'durrrr' Challenge between Tom Dwan and Daniel 'Jungleman' Cates, which had been intermittently providing excitement over the previous seven-plus months. Just a few months before at the end of 2010, Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth had ended long tenures as UltimateBet-sponsored pros. The remaining representatives of Cereus Network sites were fending off ongoing questions about earlier scandals, with Joe Sebok and Prahlad Friedman — who surprisingly signed on as a UltimateBet sponsored pro in January 2011 after having been cheated on the site before — doing what they could to convince players to deposit on the new 'UB.'
Televised poker shows like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark had never been more popular. With that season of High Stakes Poker sponsored by PokerStars and Poker After Dark continuing to be sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, tensions rose regarding a site's sponsored pros being allowed to appear on the other site’s show, an issue that seemed at the time like a problem that mattered a lot to players and viewers alike.
Priorities were about to change in a big way.
April 15, 2011: The Lights Go Out
It was early afternoon on the East Coast and not quite lunch time out West when the first reports of the indictment and civil complaint began to circulate. Not only were the sites charged with violating the UIGEA, but additional charges of bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling helped clarify the gravity of the situation, as did restraining orders against 75 bank accounts used by the sites and the seizure of five related domain names.
That morning two of the 11 defendents named in the indictment — John Campos (part-owner of an involved bank) and Chad Elie (payment processor) — were arrested, with another, Bradley Franzen (also a payment processor), having indicated an intention to turn himself in early the following week. The other eight defendants — Isai Scheinberg (PokerStars founder), Ray Bitar (CEO of Tiltware), Scott Tom (part-owner of Absolute Poker), Brent Beckley (payments director at AP), Nelson Burtnick (payments director at Tiltware), Paul Tate (payments director at PokerStars), Ryan Lang (payment processor), and Ira Rubin (payment processor) — were all outside the U.S.
Players visiting the sites' dot-coms were greeted with ominous-looking seizure notices appearing under the FBI and DOJ seals. By mid-afternoon PokerStars had blocked U.S. players from real-money games, with Full Tilt Poker doing so a few hours later. Soon after that a spokesperson from Feritta announced its partnership with Full Tilt Poker had already expired, while the Associated Press reported Wynn Resorts had likewise ended its alliance with PokerStars.
That evening both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker issued statements explaining that while U.S. players were shut out, it was business as usual for those playing from other countries. 'Please be assured player balances are safe,' added PokerStars in its statement. By contrast, Absolute Poker and UB both remained silent on the matter, with U.S. players in fact able to continue to play on their sites.
April 16, 2011: Anybody Remember the Onyx Cup?
The next day, Full Tilt Poker announced the cancellation of the Onyx Cup, a six-event series of high-stakes tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $100,000 to $300,000 that had just been introduced a month before.
ESPN jettisoned all poker-related ads from its site, and soon would announce it had cancelled all of its planned-for coverage of NAPT events, with PokerStars likewise announcing the cancellation of the tour.
April 18, 2011: Court Dates and Cancellations
On the following Monday, Franzen surrended to authorities in New York and was released on bail, with Elie and Campos likewise released following initial court appearances.
On that day it was also confirmed that the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge and PokerStars.net Big Game had both been cancelled.
April 20, 2011: The Dot-Coms Return
PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker both regained their dot-com domain names after striking deals with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, a development that encouraged U.S. players regarding the withdrawal of their funds from the sites.
In a press release, the U.S. Attorney's Office added how the 'Government stands to enter the same agreement with Absolute Poker if it so chooses.' Both Absolute and UB continued to operate on new dot-eu domains.
April 21, 2011: Absolute Rubbish
Absolute Poker finally issued its first statement regarding the indictment and civil complaint, noting how it would be consulting with its lawyers before entering into any agreements with the U.S. government, and adding that 'Absolute Poker's top priority is, and must be, the refund of balances to its and UB's U.S. players.'
April 25, 2011: The Hopeful PPA
While the Poker Players Alliance issued a statement hopeful that Congress would be inspired by the developments of Black Friday to act positively toward online poker legislation going forward, defendant Ira Rubin was arrested in Guatemala.
April 26, 2011: PokerStars Payments (Already!)
Just a week-and-a-half after Black Friday, U.S. players were able to begin the process of withdrawing their balances from PokerStars.
A couple of days later 'FTPDoug', a Full Tilt Poker representative, began a thread on Two Plus Two to answer player questions and report the site was 'diligently working on return of U.S. Players funds which is a top priority.'
May 2011: Cereus Trouble
The first half of May saw Blanca Gaming of Antigua, parent company to Absolute Poker and UB, announcing its intention to file for bankruptcy. Not long after that, 11 U.S.-based sponsored pros were laid off by the two sites, including Sebok and Friedman.
Then on May 10, 2011, the two Cereus sites did finally reach an agreement with the DOJ to 'provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds, currently held by third-party processors, to players located in the U.S.'
The agreement also involved assurances from the Cereus sites that U.S. players would not be able to continue depositing and playing on the sites — something that had still been possible to do for nearly a month after post-Black Friday. (In fact, U.S. players would still be able to get onto the sites in the following days, even after Cereus introduced a new system to block them.)
Over on Two Plus Two, 'FTPDoug' continued to promise the 'orderly return of U.S. player funds.'
On May 21, 2011 the final new episode of High Stakes Poker aired, with the announcement coming in December there would be no further shows produced.
June-August 2011: Full Tilt Poker Goes Dark
The next big development came on June 29, 201,1 when the Aldernay Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) suspended Full Tilt Poker's license to operate and the site suddenly shut down worldwide. The next day came reports of both a class-action lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker by players demanding their funds and a rumor of European group of investors looking to purchase the operator and help U.S. players recover their funds.
The rest of the summer would be punctuated by continued stories of possible investors buying Full Tilt Poker and more explanations from the site's representatives about why players were unable to access their funds.
September 2011: A 'Ponzi Scheme'
On Sept. 20, 2011, came the biggest Black Friday aftershock when the DOJ amended the Black Friday complaint to include allegations that Full Tilt Poker and its board members, including CEO Bitar (already named in the original indictment and complaint), Howard Lederer, Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, and Rafe Furst had defrauded players, and that Full Tilt Poker 'was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme.' The amendment detailed how Full Tilt Poker owed approximately $390 million to players worldwide, including about $150 million to American players, while having only about $60 million on hand in its accounts.
Over the next week-and-a-half, the AGCC would revoke Full Tilt Poker's license altogether, the DOJ released an additional statement regarding player funds and its intention to try to help facilitate 'the return of forfeited funds to victims of the alleged fraud,' and the site-sponsored Poker After Dark was cancelled.
October 2011-March 2012: What's to Come of Full Tilt Poker?
Over the following months, the Full Tilt Poker story would be dominated by an effort by the French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie to purchase the site once it forfeited its remaining assets to the U.S. government. A deal would in fact be signed, and Full Tilt Poker's remaining assets were turned over to the DOJ.
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That provided plenty to talk about for forum posters, some of whom were also reporting by mid-October that the cashier would no longer open on either Absolute Poker or UB.
Online poker's future in the U.S. appeared especially dim, but a flicker of hope appeared in December 2011 when the Nevada Gaming Commission approved regulations for intrastate online poker in the Silver State.
April-July 2012: Tapie Taps Out; Bitar's Battle
Shortly after the one-year anniversary of Black Friday passed, the three-way negotiations between the DOJ, Full Tilt Poker, and Groupe Bernard Tapie at last fell through, with the French group citing 'unresolvable' legal complications and a failure to agree on a player repayment plan as having nixed the deal.
Then — after issuing a public apology back in March — in early July, Ray Bitar surrendered to U.S. authorities. He'd eventually enter a guilty plea the following spring, with the plea bargain (and a health condition said to warrant a heart transplant) enabling him to avoid jail time while giving up assets rumored to include several homes and $40 million in cash. (Photos of Bitar's million-dollar wedding last month suggest he may have since recovered, both physically and financially.)
As far as the other Black Friday defendants are concerned, all but Scheinberg, Tate, and Tom would ultimately face prison sentences ranging from a few months to three years.
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July-December 2012: PokerStars Buys, Reopens Former Rival
Rumors about possible negotiations involving PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and the DOJ had only started to surface when a settlement was announced on July 31, 2012, permitting PokerStars to acquire Full Tilt Poker's assets with PokerStars in turn forfeiting $547 million to the U.S. government. PokerStars also agreed to make available all outstanding balances to non-U.S. Full Tilt Poker players within three months, with a plan begun as well to repay U.S. players their FTP balances. As part of the deal, founder Isai Scheinberg agreed to step away from his role with PokerStars within 45 days.
But Full Tilt Poker wasn't out of the woods just yet, as the DOJ would file a Second Amended Civil Complaint in September introducing new forfeiture charges against Lederer and Bitar. After a year-and-a-half of silence, Lederer would speak at length to PokerNews about what led to Black Friday and Full Tilt Poker's management thereafter in a seven-part series titled The Lederer Files.
Lederer would settle his civil case in December.
In late September 2012, PokerStars announced plans to reopen Full Tilt Poker, and on Nov. 6, 2012, the site was back online (for players outside the U.S., of course).
At the time of PokerStars acquisition of Full Tilt Poker in the summer of 2012, a request for a settlement agreement between the DOJ and Absolute Poker/UB was initiated, and in August 2012 news arrived that the sites' remaining assets were being forfeited to the U.S. government. Alas for players on Absolute and UB, with the sites' parent company having already declared bankruptcy long before, there weren't any funds with which to repay them, and today — five years later — the funds remain lost.
2013: Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware
While PokerStars continued to thrive globally and Full Tilt 2.0 operated at a much more modest pace than in its previous incarnation, legal and regulated online poker finally returned to the United States more than two years after Black Friday.
With many entities having obtained licenses in Nevada to start online poker sites, Ultimate Poker beat them all to the starting line by launching on April 30. Among those following their footsteps was WSOP.com who after going live in Nevada in September, would move ahead of Ultimate Poker traffic-wise just a couple of months later.
Both New Jersey and Delaware would follow Nevada's lead to pass online gambling legislation. By the end of 2013, online gambling had only been up and running in New Jersey for just over a month — with Ultimate Poker and WSOP.com among the more than half-dozen sites — and over 125,000 accounts had already been created.
2014: Enter Amaya
By the end of February 2014 — nearly three years after Black Friday — the first cashouts of Full Tilt Poker funds began to hit U.S. players' accounts. (The latest update last month shows 94 percent of petitions have been paid out.) A few months later in June came news that Daniel Tzvetkoff, the Australian payment-processor-turned-informant whose plea bargain in back in 2010 eventually led to the Black Friday indictment and civil complaint, had been sentenced to time served and $13 million in forfeitures.
June also saw another big piece of online poker news, a development that could also be regarded a belated after-effect of Black Friday. The Amaya Gaming Group Inc. reached an agreement to acquire the parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker for a whopping $4.9 billion, a move instantly making the Toronto-based group the world's largest publicly-traded online gaming company. For the rest of the world, the purchase would eventually mean changes to the sites' poker offerings and a new emphasis on casino games. But for the U.S., it opened the door to the possibility that PokerStars could one day return to America, removing the 'bad actor' obstacle in states' online gambling legislation.
Before the year was out, Ultimate Poker would shut down its operations in New Jersey in September, then leave Nevada in November, ending the fledgling site's struggle after just a year-and-a-half.
2015: The Land of the Free (Money Games)
Four years on from Black Friday, U.S. online poker players in the other 47 states still had few real-money options. Lock Poker proved an especially bad choice, going offline without notice in mid-April 2015 and taking players' funds with them. By contrast Bovada (formerly Bodog) continued to thrive, moving up to third position in online traffic according to PokerScout's best estimates in August 2015.
PokerStars continued to lead the global market by a lot, with traffic and festivals like WCOOP and SCOOP returning to pre-Black Friday levels. And after much back-and-forthing the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcementat last granted Amaya a license in late September 2015.
2016: PokerStars Returns To America
A little over three weeks shy of the fifth anniversary of having dealt its last hand of online poker in the U.S., PokerStars was back in the States with the launch of PokerStars NJ on March 21, 2016. The development has inspired some to think back to those days of the NAPT, wondering if perhaps a new, New Jersey-based tournament festival sponsored by PokerStars might be on the horizon.
For those who lived through the 'boom' and pre-Black Friday rise of online poker in the U.S., it's hard to believe how long ago it has been. Five years on, and online poker in the United States is still mostly relegated to modest options restricted to just three states. Serious U.S. players seeking to make a living playing online have long ago realized the need to go abroad to do so. Many of those who've stayed behind have moved over to the live realm, with many brick-and-mortar rooms thriving as a result.
One imagines online poker in the U.S. should be much different five years from now. That said, it seems highly unlikely the difference will be anywhere near as stark as the difference between what online poker in the U.S. was before April 15, 2011, and what it became even before that day had ended.
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Full Tilt Poker is the world’s fourth largest poker site in
terms of committed players and at their busiest times, they can
have over 20,000 people playing on their site at once. Full Tilt
Poker has gone through some major changes in the past that have
helped them develop such a popular site for gambling enthusiasts
today.
Unfortunately, some people have strong negative feelings
towards Full Tilt Poker that will probably hinder its further
growth. We will explain all that and more below in our elaborate
history of FullTiltPoker.net.
How It All Started
Bitar, featured in the photo above, a former day trader who
saw potential in the internet gambling market and Ferguson, an
accomplished poker professional who had earned over five WSOP
gold bracelets, were introduced to each other in the early
2000s. Together, they became the masterminds for the site that’s
known today as Full Tilt Poker.
The play money version of Full Tilt Poker was launched in
June of 2004. It was such a success that the real money version
of the game was available only a month later. The site operated
under the software development and licensing company, Tiltware,
hence where their name derived from.
Many professional poker players were asked by Ferguson and
Ivey to become part of the marketing committee for this new site
including Andy Bloch, Jennifer Harmon, Phil Ivey, John Juanda,
and Howard Lederer to list a few.
Not only did these professionals promote the site but they
played on the site as well, giving average players from all over
the world an opportunity to compete against the pros, an
innovative idea at the time that was exclusively done by Full
Tilt Poker. Players from all over the world opened up accounts
with Full Tilt Poker, which lead to the company’s early growth.
The site’s motto became “Learn, Chat, and Play with the Pros.”
Early Improvements
One year after the site had been up and running, Full Tilt
Poker decided to do a complete renovation, updating the
graphics, adding new games, and changing other aspects of the
sites, according to what their customers were saying. Thanks to
their efforts, Full Tilt Poker attained industry recognition and
respect.
The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) is Full Tilt
Poker’s premier tournament series that was established in
August, 2006. The FTOPS consisted of multiple tournaments in a
variety of different poker games and formats. Professional poker
players associated with Full Tilt Poker would host the
tournaments, giving people further incentive to sign up.
Throughout the series, Full Tilt offered a number of
challenges and prizes that rewarded players for accomplishing
mini goals along the way. Full Tilt Poker also sponsored a mini
FTOPS for players with a smaller budget one month later that
featured most of the same professional players and events at
1/10th the buy-in.
The UIGEA’s Effects
When the Bush administration instituted the Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006, it had a major impact on all
major online gambling websites. Under this act, financial
institutions in the United States were prohibited from
processing payments to and from online gambling sites and many
of these sites decided to close down because of these new laws.
However, Full Tilt Poker decided to take a risk and continued
to serve customers from the United States, which at first seemed
like a great idea as many new customers started playing at Full
Tilt, as they were one of the only sites still in operation.
Over the next few years, Full Tilt Poker made several
changes. In 2008, they decided to start allowing some existing
players to get rakeback through their newly founded website
located Rakebackpros.com. This enticed many new players to come
and try out their site, while also ensuring that their dedicated
customers would stay faithful to them.
In 2009, Full Tilt Poker’s website was re-designed again in
order to present a more contemporary look for its players. Later
that year, the site also started offering free podcasts that
gave poker advice to its players in a variety of different
languages.
The Infamous Black Friday Reveals a Scandal
Everything seemed to be looking up for Full Tilt Poker until
that dreadful day on April 15th, 2011 when Full Tilt Poker and
every other online gambling site that were still serving US
customers had their domain seized by the US government. This day
later became known as Black Friday and it was the day that Full
Tilt Poker finally decided to stop allowing US players to play
at their site. Five days later, Full Tilt Poker reached an
agreement with the Department of Justice stating that they could
regain use of their domain in order to repay US players.
However, two months had gone by and Full Tilt Poker still had
refused to pay back the US Customers like they had promised.
Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended their license and
Full Tilt Poker was temporarily shut down. There were
accusations that Full Tilt Poker claiming had been using funds
deposited by players to meet operating costs and that they
weren’t paying customers back because they didn’t have the funds
to do so. These accusations left players wondering if they would
ever receive the money owed to them and as you might imagine,
they were furious.
It was estimated that Full Tilt Poker owed over $300 million
in player funds, with at least half of that being owed to US
customers. After a further investigation, the Department of
Justice accused Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Ray Bitar of
defrauding U.S. players by paying themselves dividends from the
money that players had deposited to their personal accounts.
Bitar admitted to have put aside $24 million worth of stolen
goods under his name in a foreign bank account. He was charged
on accounts of money laundering and bank fraud and was sentenced
to up to sixty-five years in prison. However, less than two
years later, he was released on a $40 million dollar bail as he
wasn’t expected to live more than a few years due to ongoing
heart conditions.
Additional Legal Troubles (Before and After Black Friday)
Clonie Gowen, profession poker player and former member of
Team Full Tilt pressed charges against Full Tilt Poker towards
the end of 2008. Gowen claimed that she was offered a 1%
ownership in the company in exchange for her promotional efforts
back in 2004, but they refused to grant her this after her work
was done. Despite a good hearing, Gowen didn’t receive any
additional funds.
In the spring of 2009, James B. Hicks filed a civil complaint
against Full Tilt Poker, claiming their games were unfair and
that they were in violation of the UIGEA. Hicks and the hundreds
of other people that filed complaints are partially responsible
for Full Tilt Poker’s shut down.
Phil Ivey, featured above, filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt
Poker in 2012 for breeching their contract. He claims to have
sued them to help innocent players who lost money during the
scandal exposed on Black Friday, but speculation leads us to
believe that he did this for more selfish reasons.
Out of Jail Free Card
Full Tilt announced that they were going to sell the company
if the right buyer came along. Groupe Bernard Tapie and Jack
Binion were both interested parties, but neither company had
enough funds to cover all of Full Tilt Poker’s obligations.
PokerStars came forth and offered to purchase all of Full
Tilt Poker’s assets in July, 2012, agreeing to pay the
Department of Justice three annual installments of $182 million.
This money would go both to US customers and customers outside
of the US to compensate for their losses. Thanks to PokerStar’s
willingness to save Full Tilt Poker, their site was fully
operational by November.
PokerStars didn’t just agree to do this out of the kindness
of their hearts, but instead they bargained with the DOJ to
allow them to serve US customers, as long as they were in a
state that allowed online gambling.
What Their Site Has to Offer Now
Full Tilt Poker offers a wide selection of cash games and
tournaments. They are proud to offer satellite, sit-n-go, and
multi-table tournaments daily. Unfortunately, the game selection
at Full Tilt Poker has declined dramatically since it was
re-launched in 2012, as the site now mostly offers Texas Holdem,
Omaha, and Omaha Hi/Lo in limit, pot-limit, and no-limit
formats.
The site offers a plethora of other poker variants as well
but there isn’t as much action at these games, so you might have
to wait longer than you want to in order to start a game. You do
at least have the option to wage anywhere from $0.01/$0.02
blinds to $500/1000 blinds in big bet games and up to $2000/4000
limits, which is convenient for those on a budget.
In early 2010, Full Tilt Poker introduced a new poker
variation called, Rush Poker, which helped players play a
substantial amount of hands of poker in less than an hour. It
works differently than regular poker, as whenever players fold
their hand, they are instantly transferred to a new table and
dealt a new hand. They don’t have to wait for the next hand to
be dealt and they are constantly getting to play against
different opponents.
Full Tilt Poker also offers all new players a 100% match on
their first deposit bonus, up to $600. You have sixty days to
make up to three different deposits that will count for this
deal. The bonus is cleared at a rate of 25 points for every $1
in bonus, which is pretty generous.
Full Tilt Poker has a dedicated support team works 24/7 and
dedicated to assisting you with any concerns or problems that
come up. On their site, you can also find a thorough Frequently
Asked Questions page that may be able to help you as well. On
their site, it states, “;We pride ourselves on putting our
players first, providing a continuous first-class gaming
experience.” Full Tilt Poker also takes pride in keeping your
personal information securely protected by using the most
advanced encryption technology available.
Full Tilt Poker’s Innovative Edge Plan
Full Tilt Poker’s VIP program is called The Edge. Nj online casino with camera. There are
six sections: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Black
Card, which are listed in order of less beneficial to most
beneficial. All players that reach Bronze status and above will
be put in a drawing for two daily $500 free-rolls. Once you
reach the silver level, you’ll get paid for every 100 FTPs you
earn on top of that.
- Silver: $1 for every 100 FTPs
- Gold: $1.50 for every 100 FTPs
- Platinum: $2 for every 100 FTPs
- Diamond: $2.50 for every 100 FTPs
- Black Card: $2.50 for every 100 FTPs
Diamond and Black Card players have exclusive access to the
Diamond Edge Store where they can purchase special prizes. Black
Card players are also granted the option to exchange their FTPs
for cash.
Full Tilt Scandal
Charitable Giving
When it comes to natural disasters, Full Tilt Poker is always
willing to step in and do their part to help communities in
need. On November 8th, 2013, the Philippines was devastated
after the Typhoon Haiyan demolished their country, as it was one
of the strongest storms ever recorded. They encouraged their
players to donate money to the Philippines so that they can
rebuild their homes and get past this tragedy. Thanks to their
efforts, players donated $27,780.97 and Full Tilt Poker matched
that to donate a total of $55,561.94 to this cause.
Free Tilt Poker
On April 25th, 2015, a deadly earthquake occurred in Nepal,
destroying the homes of many people in the country and leading
to the deaths of an estimated 10,000 people. Full Tilt Poker and
Pokerstars decided to ask the poker community to participate in
this charity, as their hearts ached for all of the families
affected by this natural disaster. For every donation given in
honor of Nepal, Full Tilt History generously promised to match
it as well.