PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker

In the world of online poker, there are hundreds of competitors, but none better known than PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. They are the world’s largest online poker rooms respectively. There are plenty of reasons relating to the excessive popularity of both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, but we would like to take a moment to compare the two rooms to help you, the reader, decide which is better, PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker.

The easiest way to go about this is to compare pros and cons of each online poker room. First, we’ll list the things these poker sites have in common. These are important aspects, of course, but can’t be used to set one apart from the other since they are equal qualities.

PokerStars & Full Tilt Poker Common Denominators

1.    US players acceptance
2.    100% up to $600 welcome bonus
3.    Presence of multiple well known poker pros
4.    Excellent customer support services

All of these things PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker have in common. Now, let’s take a look at some other important aspects and see how these online poker rooms stack up.

PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker – Player Traffic

PokerStars takes the cake here with nearly twice the active player volume at peak hours than Full Tilt Poker. We must admit, however, that Full Tilts traffic is impressive, none the less – just not nearly so much so as PokerStars. Take a look at the average real-money players online at peak hours as of September 2009.

PokerStars Average Peak-Hour Traffic
Cash Games: 22,500
Tournaments: 155,000
Overall: 177,500

Full Tilt Poker Average Peak-Hour Traffic
Cash Games: 10,500
Tournaments: 70,000
Overall: 80,500

PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker – Game Variety

In this department, we have to give the thumbs up to PokerStars, no doubt about it. Full Tilt Poker has a larger game variety than most online poker rooms, but PokerStars go well beyond the standard offerings. Plus, having such an intense active player base ensures all games are actually trafficked throughout the day. Just have a look at the difference between game variety at PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

PokerStars Game Variety: Texas Holdem, Omaha Holdem, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo, Razz, 5 Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw, A-5 single Draw, Badugi, H.O.R.S.E. and 8-Game Mix.

PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker – Tournaments

Both online poker rooms are famous for their immense tournament scheduled and well structured payouts. Both offer millions in guaranteed tournaments each and every week. Both have a massive SNG roster that is constantly active from the lowest to highest stakes. PokerStars does come out on top, however, when it comes to the largest weekly guarantees. Let’s compare the Sunday Guarantees.

PokerStars Largest Sunday Guaranteed Tournaments
Sunday Million: $1.5 million GTD
Sunday Warm-Up:  $750k GTD
Others: $100k, $200k, $250k and $300k GTDs

Full Tilt Poker Largest Sunday Guaranteed Tournaments
The Sunday $750K GTD
The Sunday Brawl: $350k GTD Bounty
Sunday Mulligan: $200k GTD

Both online poker room also host seasonal online poker events with a series of guaranteed tournaments worth millions. Let’s take a look at these.

PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP)
WCOOP Events: 45
WCOOP Overall GTD Prize Pool: $40,000,000
Last WCOOP Held: September 2009 (annual event)
WCOOP Main Event: $5,200 buy-in, $10 million guaranteed

Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS)
FTOPS Events: 25
FTOPS Overall GTD Prize Pool: $16,000,000
Last FTOPS Held: August 2009 (seasonal)
FTOPS Main Event: $535 buy-in, $2.5 million guaranteed

Comparing the PokerStars WCOOP with Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS events, there are pros and cons to both. PokerStars is larger and pays out more, but just by looking at the Main events, we can see that it is much more cost effective to play in the FTOPS Main Event. Also, Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS series of played seasonally, while PokerStars’s WCOOP only occurs once a year.

PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker – Soft Competition

Another important area to look at is the soft competition. We have to give Full Tilt Poker the thumbs up in this department. PokerStars is notorious for its tight, strategic poker players. It’s not easy to find a soft game at PokerStars unless you’re playing the lowest stakes, and take the extra time to look through the lobby for the absolute best qualities (high viewed-flop percentage, 5+ players, good average pot size, etc.)

At Full Tilt Poker, you’ll definitely want to avoid the high-stakes tables, but it won’t take nearly as long to find a fishy game at the lower stakes levels. Be sure to watch out for Red Pros at these tables. They are easily found as their names are displayed in red, and underlined. Full Tilt has a lot of poker pros and red pros amidst the player base. The real pros are found in high stakes, but the lesser known red pros are like sharks – watch out for them.

Thus far, we’ve been talking about cash game competition. We’d also like to take a moment to compare the tournament competition. Again, Full Tilt Poker wins out here. You’ll only find loose players at PokerStars cheapest events and Freerolls, and even these tighten up exceedingly towards the bubble. At Full Tilt Poker, you’ll find extremely loose Freerolls and cheap tournaments, though as the price tag rises, the ferocity of opposition follows.

PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker – Welcome Bonus Details

Last but not least, we’re going to compare the welcome bonus details of PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker. As we know, both offer a 100% up to $600 welcome bonus, but the way in which these are awarded are not quite equal.

PokerStars Welcome Bonus

• 100% up to $600
• Can be earned over 1, 2 or 3 deposits
• Released in $10 increments for every 170 points collected
• Expiration: 6 months

Special Details: What makes this bonus so awesome is that the player can split it up into 3 deposits, or claim it all at once. A $600+ initial deposit awards the full $600 bonus. If the player deposits $300 on the first deposit, then another $300 on the second, the bonus is awarded in two lumps; or a $200, $300, $100 series of deposits where the bonus is paid in three lumps. So long as all three qualifying deposits are made within 90 days of each other, all will qualify for the bonus.

Plus, each deposit is given 6-months to clear its bonus. If you deposit $200 t tart, you have 6 months to clear the $200 bonus. If 30 days later, you deposit another $200, the 6-month expiration for that section of the bonus starts that day. As soon as you clear the first portion, all points thereafter go towards clearing the next bonus.

Full Tilt Poker Welcome Bonus

100% up to $600
Released in $10 increments for every 167 points collected
Expiration: 4 months (120 days)

Special Details: What online poker players love about the Full Tilt Poker welcome bonus is that all points earned towards clearing the bonus are not stripped away from the player. He or she may still use these points for other purposes, such as entering Freerolls and other special tournaments or purchasing items from the famous Full Tilt Gear Store.