You can personalize your playing experience in any number of ways (see the ‘Features ’ menu below for more), but all poker table layouts contain the same features. In addition to a virtual table where cards are dealt and chips placed, buttons and sliders allow you to easily select the actions you wish to take (e.g. ‘check’, ‘call’, ‘fold’) or how much you wish to raise. Most of the free poker offers at Full Tilt Poker require a customer to enter a code to claim it. For example, users may use the deposit code ‘TWENTY’ to claim £20 of free play or enter the ‘STARS400’ code to receive a bonus of 100% of up to £400. The great thing about the Full Tilt mobile app is that it allows you to enjoy your favourite poker games anytime, anywhere. Jackpot Sit & Go Tournaments, Rush Poker, Ring Games - they're all there. 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.

Table Of Contents

One of the most iconic — and perhaps most infamous — brands in poker will become a thing of the past on Feb. 25.

That's the reported date on which PokerStars will shelve Full Tilt Poker, its former arch rival, for good. The news was first released by Pokerfuse and is confirmed by a FAQ page on PokerStars' website detailing some of the minutiae of the move for its remaining FTP players.

Those players will essentially just be migrating over to the main skin of the network, so there won't be much meaningful change in their playing experience.

'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,' the company stated. '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.'

A Rich History...

Full Tilt Poker was not one of the early sites to market, dealing its first virtual cards in 2004.

However, co-founder Ray Bitar teamed up with some of the biggest names in the industry. The likes of Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Mike Matusow were behind the brand, and their celebrity, combined with an aggressive marketing push, led to huge success for the site.

'Learn, chat and play with the pros.'

That ubiquitous slogan, along with the trademark black and white commercials creatively utilizing the site's immense roster of sponsored pros, beckoned countless thousands of players to give Full Tilt a try. The brand became a world leader, trailing only PokerStars in a raw numbers.

But where PokerStars laid claim to the biggest quantity, Full Tilt could credibly claim to house the best quality of poker in the world.

The highest stakes games in the world usually ran there, including monstrous and legendary games as high as $500/$1,000 blinds on the famed Rail Heaven table. Patrik Antonius, Viktor Blom, Hac and Di Dang, Gus Hansen, Ivey and more made Rail Heaven their favored battleground, which in turn made it the greatest place for fans to watch six-figure pots trading hands on the regular.

Correspondingly large pot-limit Omaha tables eventually produced the biggest pots in online poker history.

The software, too, was almost as celebrated as the quality of the games. Colorful avatars and lively animations made for an entertaining experience for the casual player. A fun MTT schedule gave tournament grinders tons of options at every price point and let players aspire to one day earn a custom avatar by virtue of winning a Full Tilt Online Poker Series event.

Considered industry leaders in many respects, the FTP team birthed innovations like fast-fold poker — now a mainstay almost everywhere — and rolled out creative ideas like Irish poker that were later adapted in some fashion by PokerStars.

It all made for a high-quality and incredibly popular product. And it all came to a crashing halt in 2011.

...But a Marred One, Too

The machinations of Black Friday dealt harsh blows at many levels of the poker industry, with the ripple effects being felt to this day.

However, perhaps the most shocking development in the aftermath was the revelation that Full Tilt's accounts were more than $300 million underwater. The company had $60 million cash on hand but player balances amounted to $390 million, with $150 million of that owed to U.S. players.

After repeated assurances from company reps that players would be paid, the fact of the matter was the company simply didn't have the money to make good on that promise.

Luckily for everyone involved, PokerStars stepped in and acquired Full Tilt's assets, with part of the deal stipulating they'd make the players whole in the process.

Entire books could be written about the ordeal and the fallout thereafter, all of which is to say the whole thing is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say some former FTP brass paid millions in penalties, others became pariahs, friends became enemies and countless poker players everywhere were left with sour tastes in their mouths regarding a once beloved company.

Relaunch and Merger

Full Tilt Poker relaunched in November 2012, but it quickly became a shell of its former self. FTOPS returned, and high-stakes action even got rolling, but the site predictably failed to regain its former glory.

As the operator slid in the worldwide rankings, company brass attempted some moves that left many in the industry scratching their heads. Rake was bumped up in many spots, rewards were cut in others, table maxes were changed from six to five players in some games and many high-stakes offerings were removed from the client altogether.

The result?

A dive in traffic as unhappy players left the site. That was in August 2015.

Early the next year, decision-makers at parent company Amaya opted to pull the plug on Full Tilt being a standalone operator, migrating the players into the same pool with PokerStars. What would have once been monumental, industry-shaking news, barely registered as a blip on the poker radar, the surest sign of all that the glory days of Full Tilt were far in the past and never likely to rekindle.

Seemingly Little Chance of Return

After the merger, PokerNews spoke to industry expert Chris Grove to get his take on the functional end of the once-proud brand. He pointed to the decline of the international online poker market as a whole as a big reason for the decision to migrate the players to PokerStars.

'In a world where Full Tilt found a unique niche or footing, or in a world where online poker continued to expand, I think we certainly could have seen the two sites continue on separately,' he said. 'Only when it became clear that Full Tilt wasn't finding that footing did a merger start to seem like a matter of 'when' more than 'if.'

With online poker moving toward a regulated future in the U.S., that meant there could have been buyers interested in acquiring Full Tilt. They'd get to avoid the headache of constructing software from scratch, to say nothing of the brand's name recognition stateside. Grove estimated PokerStars could rake in between $10 million and $50 million with such a move.

Of course, that would require interest by the selling party as well, and that never seemed much of a possibility. Poker Industry PRO reported being told by a company rep the software wasn't for sale ($), and nothing that happened in the intervening years has made that appear to be mere lip service.

The most likely case going forward would appear to be Full Tilt Poker simply collects dust in a virtual PokerStars storage room. In one sense, having your once-chief rival neatly tucked away on some backup storage drive is the ultimate power move.

In another, though, it's the most sad, meek ending imaginable to a company that took the poker world by storm more than 15 years ago.

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Still not sure? No problem – We’ve put together detailed step by step instructions for you…

Step 1 – Download & Install the Full Tilt Poker Software

Click on Download Now to go to the Full Tilt Poker download page and follow the instructions below.

1.1 – Hit the “Play Now” button and then Click on the “Run” button to start the download process.

1.3 – Click on the “Next” button to start the Installation Wizard

1.4 – Accept the License Agreement and click “Next”

1.5 – Accept or change default installation location & click “Install”

1.6 – Ensure “Launch Full Tilt Poker” is ticked and click “Finish”

Step 2 – Create Your Free Account

After the software has installed then you can create your own account, choosing your nickname that you will be known as at the poker tables and also the Avatar to represent you.

2.2 – Fill out the form and choose the Name / Avatar you will appear as at the poker tables then click “Sign Me Up”

2.3 – Check your email & enter the validation code you received then click “Validate”

Step 3 – Login and Hit the Tables

Now you have signed up you can claim your free first deposit bonus – that’s up to $600 completely free as a gift from Full Tilt Poker. Just make a deposit and whatever your deposit Full Tilt will match it as a gift.

3.2 – Choose a deposit method and make your first deposit – remember whatever the amount of your first deposit – Full Tilt will double it automatically for up to $600 Free!

3.3 – That’s it – All Done. Now just select Real Money in the lobby and choose the table to sit down at and get playing poker!

If you are having any problems getting started with Full Tilt Poker then please do not hesitate to contact us and we’ll be only too happy to try and help you out.

Don’t like pictures? Here is the text version…

Downloading the Software

Downloading Full Tilt Poker onto your PC, laptop or Apple Mac is as easy as clicking a button. Everything is done for you and all you have to do is follow the easy instructions given to you.

Full Tilt Poker Log In

First of all click on Download Now which will take you to the software download page. From there click on the big red round button with “Play Now” written in the middle of it.

A pop up may appear asking you if you want to accept the file download. Once accepted the file will automatically download to a destination of your choice on your computer. Normally this will save to the Downloads folder on your computer. For Apple Mac users the software download page will automatically detect you are on a Mac and download the correct version of the software for you.

Once downloaded, find the file called “FullTiltSetup.exe” and open the file. You will be asked to select a language and then you can then proceed through the screens by clicking on the “Next” button. You will be asked to accept the terms of the license agreement which you do so by ticking the check box after which the “Next” button will become active and you can continue on to select the Install button on the following screen to start the installation.

The destination of where the program will install to will automatically be selected, but this can be changed by clicking on the Change button and selecting a different destination on your computer.

After a few minutes the installation will be complete and you will be given the choice to launch the Software when clicking on the Finish button. If you choose not to launch Full Tilt straight away, there will be a shortcut icon put onto your desktop where you can enter the Full Tilt poker room at any time.

Creating an Account

When you launch Fill Tilt poker for the very first time you are presented with three options. The first option is to create a new account, the second is to watch a table which allows you to go in and view any tables currently in progress. The last option is to log in with an existing account which is for players who already have an account set up.

To create an account you select the big red “Create New Account” button from which you will be presented with the new player signup form.

The first field you need to complete is the Player ID. This is the Screen Name that you will play under that all opponents will see. Once you have entered your preferred Screen Name click on the Check ID Availability button next to it to see if the name you have chosen is taken by another user. If it has, you will be presented with available alternatives or you can re enter another name and try again.

You will then be asked to enter a password and re-type your chosen password in the next field. You have to do this because you cannot see what characters you are entering in the password fields, so this is to prevent you from making any mistakes. If the passwords do not match you then know you have hit the wrong key some where within the password, so its best to retype the password again in both fields.

Once you are happy with your password enter a valid email address in the next field. You can then select your Avatar which is the character that will appear when ever you sit down at a table. You can change this again later so don’t worry too much if you are undecided.

Make sure you have clicked on the two boxes where you confirm you are over 18 years of age and that you agree to the terms and conditions. Once done hit the red Sign Me Up button at the bottom of the screen.

You have now created your FullTilt Poker account but a screen will pop up which asks you to validate your email address. To do this open your email account which you have entered onto your Full Tilt account details and you should have received an email from the Full Tilt Poker support team. This will contain your validation code. Copy and paste this code into the space provided and click on the red Validate button to continue. Validation codes are valid for 24 hours and you can get another code resent to you by clicking the blue “Resend Code” link.

When the email validation code is accepted you will now have a live and active account and be ready to play poker.

Play Poker

The only step left now before you can start to play poker is to make your first deposit. To do this click on the large red “Deposit Now” button in the top right of the lobby screen.

FullTilt accepts all major payment methods, so select your preferred option and follow the instructions on screen to make an initial deposit. Remember that you can get up to $600 free on top of your first deposit if you have downloaded the software via the links on this website. Whatever amount you deposit Full Tilt will match with a bonus so deposit $600 and get another $600 for a total of $1,200 or any other amount below $600 will be matched in the same way.

You won’t be able to just cash out your bonus amount straight away and in your bonus will be released to you in stages as you play poker. This is a fraud prevention method to ensure only genuine players benefit from the bonus. Full details can be found in our Full Tilt Bonus Guide.

Once you have made a deposit and have some funds in your account balance then go back to the lobby screen. You will first be presented with the simple version of the lobby where you make a series of choices and let the software find you a table. You can also select the “advanced” view which provides you with a full list of tables for you to browse through and select from.

Click on “Real Money” and then complete the other selections to Type, Game, Limit and Stakes that you wish to play. Once a table has been selected you can choose an empty seat to sit down at and select the amount of your bankroll that you wish to sit at the table with.

Full Tilt Poker Free Download

Now all that is left is to play poker. The software is very intuitive and you should have no problems knowing what buttons to press to take the actions you want. Good Luck!