Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker owns the somewhat dubious honor of… um… let’s just say breaking me in twice. It was the first online poker site I ever played at and now it is the first poker site that I am reviewing.

Let’s start with what is good. It is well known and respected. Lots of pro poker players (most of them are famous and on the boob tube a lot) play online too. I played with one once but it wasn’t that memorable of an occasion as I don’t even remember which it was. I also had the opportunity to play with Phil Ivey but didn’t because I wasn’t comfortable playing for the stakes he was at. They were pretty reasonable but I was a newbie. Passing on this game is something I regret and something my friends will never let me live down.

What’s not so good about this site? Well the competition can be pretty stiff. This is in comparison to other online sites of course. Full Tilt isn’t associated with any online casinos (none that I am aware of). These tend to attract fish. However, most of the people that play at Full Tilt probably know about it from watching poker on TV or going to poker related websites and seeing banners promoting Full Tilt.

Other things of note: I’ve heard that Full Tilt has a slightly tweaked tournament structure that many seem to like. I personally did not notice much of a difference in terms of structure playing there as opposed to some of the other sites. But supposedly it is there. Also, Full Tilt offers the full selection of HORSE at their site. For those of you that don’t know, this stands for Holdem, Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Eights or Better. Full Tilt also offers a decent deposit bonus (currently 100% up to $600) and occasional reload bonuses. These tend to be on the slower side but make up for it by being some of the largest bonuses out there. Finally, Full Tilt provides some of the best software out there which includes the perk of possibly getting your own personalized avatar if you play enough.

On to the ratings (scale of 1 to 5)

Player Quality (x2.00): 1.75
Software Quality (x1.50): 4.25
Bonus Quality (x1.25): 4.00
Tournament Quality (x1.00): 4.25
Game Variety (x1.00): 4.00

Total Weighted Points: 23.13
Total Weights: 6.75
Weighted Average: 3.43