The online poker gaming community is excited over the acquisition of Full Tilt Poker by PokerStars; simultaneously, poker players worldwide have a number of questions for which there seem to be no answers.
The number-one question is how the acquisition will impact the global online poker market. Although PokerStars is a highly reputable online poker company, which enjoys great popularity, it might monopolize the online poker industry now that it has acquired its one-time rival Full Tilt Poker. Players wonder if any other company will be able to compete with PokerStars once it re-launches the Full Tilt Poker brand into the European market, a question that time alone can answer.
Players also wonder if PokerStars will continue taking legal action against clones of Rush Poker and if it will pay Full Tilt Poker players the $25 bonus, which the beleaguered online poker room had promised all players who collect at least 5 Full Tilt Poker points within 10 days as part of its Take Two promotion. Neither PokerStars nor the US DoJ had mentioned this promotion in its recently finalized deal, which means that players might not receive their bonus even if they were eligible to it at the time of the crackdown.
Players are also eagerly waiting to find out if they can really transfer funds between Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars once the latter has re-launched the former. This feature will allow players to play at two online poker rooms with just one bankroll.
Players also want to know more about the cross promotions at the two online poker brands, whether the two VIP schemes will be merged, and how players can collect and use their player points.
One of the most exciting questions appears to be who would become sponsored players at the re-launched Full Tilt Poker, which used to allow its players to meet, interact, and learn from its pros. The online poker community is also wondering about the fate of Ferguson and Lederer, who have been prevented from having anything to do with the re-launched Full Tilt Poker by the recently finalized deal. The two professional poker players will find it very difficult indeed to get back to the online poker gaming world.
While US players are happy that they will finally get paid, they still do not know exactly how they are supposed to claim their funds. The DoJ is yet to issue clear guidelines for Full Tilt Poker’s US players.
