Amaya Gaming Announces Full Tilt PokerStars Merger

The Canadian online gaming giant Amaya has announced the merger of Full Tilt Poker with PokerStars. Amaya owns both online poker brands through its subsidiary Rational Entertainment Group. The reason given by Amaya Gaming for this move is that Full Tilt has not been performing to par since 2012. In fact the numbers have been consistently declining over the last four years.

The merger of PokerStars and Full Tilt is expected to be given effect in April 2016. More details have been provided on the Software Update FAQ section on the Full Tilt web site. The Full Tilt platform will be disbanded and the online poker room will run on the PokerStars platform. Therefore, PokerStars and Full Tilt will become separate brands on the same platform. The identity of Full Tilt will not immediately be lost. However, sources say that eventually Full Tilt is likely to be completely merged into PokerStars and only become a part of online poker history. No time frame has been announced for this.

The FAQ covers essential questions and is a must read for all Full Tilt players. Players will have a single account for all Rational products, that include Full Tilt, PokerStars, BetStars and Duel by PokerStars. They will also have more choice when it comes to promotions and games and will have more players to compete against. Full Tilt players also having a PokerStars account will have to use that. If they do not have a PokerStars account, then details will be transferred from their existing Full Tilt account to the PokerStars platform.

Full Tilt was at one time the premier online poker room, especially for high stake poker players. It was launched by notable poker players, including Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson, Phil Gordon, Clonie Gowen and Phil Ivey, in 2004. By 2010 it became known for the nosebleed stakes cash games involving high profile poker professionals. Bad times started on April 15, 2011, also known as Black Friday. The domain name of Full Tilt Poker was seized by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation for violating the UIGEA. PokerStars was also seized, but that online poker room was able to pay off its customers and regularize the issue with the authorities. Full Tilt was unable to do so and had to shut down, till it was finally bought by Amaya. But it never recovered from the blow. This merger will make things better for its players who have remained loyal to Full Tilt.

Online Casino Articles

A listing of the newest online casino & gambling related articles that have been added to Canadian Casino Sites can be found featured in the listing below.

More Articles