PokerStars folds Full Tilt poker brand

PokerStars has confirmed the closure of Full Tilt, a move which brings the shutters down on a poker brand that has been around since 2004. From 25 February, Full Tilt’s desktop and mobile applications will no longer be available to players, with the Full Tilt player database including account information, preferences, balances, tickets and bonuses migrating over to PokerStars. Players who have previously signed up for a Full Tilt account are automatically given a PokerStars account, with this account providing access to the poker heavyweight. Full Tilt has operated as ‘skin’ on the PokerStars network since 2016, with both sharing player liquidity pools and rewards programmes. “Our commitment to improving PokerStars software and the PokerStars customer experience in recent years has limited the amount of focus and resources we could apply to the evolution of Full Tilt,” PokerStars said. “We feel it is time to consolidate brands so that everyone has access to the newest features and most innovative games which are available exclusively on PokerStars,” the firm added.

Farewell #FullTiltPoker. End of an era. pic.twitter.com/ueu8RBOaRi

— Jennifer Tilly (@JenniferTilly) February 21, 2021

  The move comes after parent company Flutter committed to investing significantly in PokerStars following its acquisition of The Stars Group in May 2020, citing a lack of investment by prior owners. Full Tilt was co-founded by Raymond Bitar and several leading poker lights before going on to become the second-largest poker site in the world behind PokerStars with a stable of poker stars as sponsored pros. Despite its cartoonish graphics, Full Tilt’s stellar software drew plaudits and it also pioneered Rush Poker, the fast-fold variant of the game adopted by most sites and networks. However, that all changed on 15 April 2011 with a US Department of Justice investigation into online poker for alleged violations of US law stemming from the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006. The case, which forced Full Tilt to exit the US led to the demise of the company. However, a $731m settlement deal saw PokerStars acquire all the IP assets belonging to Full Tilt, with PokerStars paying back Full Tilt’s customers and absorbing the brand. Bitar and several other leading figures at Full Tilt were later indicted by US authorities, with the Full Tilt co-founder later agreeing a deal to avoid a 65-year prison sentence.