Full Tilt Poker Launches On Demand Tournaments

As 2010 winds down, Full Tilt Poker continues to release updates to its software to improve the user experience.  Arguably, Full Tilt Poker became the leader in the online poker industry in 2010 in terms of lobby and table software.  Its latest update brings several brand new features to the world’s second largest online poker site.

The first major feature was the implementation of a new tournament type called “On Demand,” which are half sit and gos and half scheduled tournaments.  The new tournament type kicks off just like how a sit and go works.  However, players can still register late in the main tournament lobby.  For now, the $2 180-man sit and gos, 54-man Super Turbo sit and gos, and the Rush Poker 135-man sit and gos have been converted to On Demand.  Full Tilt Poker’s spokesperson, “FTPDoug,” said on PocketFives.com that depending on their popularity, the site might add more down the road.

On top of this new tournament feature, Full Tilt has tweaked how other multi-table sit and gos work.  Instead of only one registering at a time, an empty one will always be registering, just like how single-table sit and gos work.  This should make it a lot easier for players to join however many tournaments they want to play right away.  Only the sit and go with the most number of players will show up at the top of the Tournament lobby; the rest can be found inside the Sit and Go lobby.

One new feature inside the lobby is the addition of time zones for the game clock. Previously, the clock was hardwired to always display ET, but now you can set it to your local time zone.  Right now, this only works within the Full Tilt software; web pages will still show ET as the default time.  Players should also note that Iron Man days still work under ET.

One more major update for tournament players is the addition of the default “Auto Add-On” setting for tournaments.  Now, you don’t have to check it at the start of every tournament.  You can now also rebuy any time during the add-on period.  That means you can late register at any point until the end of the add-on and still complete your rebuy and add-on.

One nuisance that cash game players dealt with was the constant announcements of tournaments in the chat box window.  You can now adjust that setting because a new “Disable Tournament Announcements” feature has been added.

Full Tilt Poker has also changed late game registration.  Now, when you late register and get moved tables before paying your big blind, you’ll be dealt in right away at your new table assuming you aren’t between the blinds.  Also, the “Must Wait for Big Blind” rule has been eliminated for Super Turbos.  On top of that, the check, bet, raise, fold, and call action messages are all smaller in size to allow the pot to still display a player’s stack information.  This way, you don’t always have to hover your mouse over a player’s spot at the table to see their stack size.

Tournament players will also enjoy the new automatic “I’m Back” on reconnect.  After you’ve been disconnected and get back, any tournament that you are sitting out in will automatically recognize you as being back.  There’s also a new “Two-Click Exit” with which you can quit the game while still seated.  Also, instead of having to click a dialog for each table you are sitting in, you can click once in a new dialog.  You can use this method to bulk un-register from sit and gos as well.

There are new Eight-Game and Nine-Games tables available at Full Tilt Poker.  The Nine-Game is just like the Ten-Game that already existed, only there is no Badugi.  The Eight-Game is just like the existing Seven-Game, only Triple Draw is added.

There is a new “Quick Fold to Any Bet” button inside Rush Poker games that replaces the “Fold to Any Bet” button.  Finally, there is a Sit & Go Finder change, as the checkbox that says, “Register for Another Sit & Go of this Type” has had its behavior changed.  Instead of always remembering your last setting, it will always reset to unchecked for each new type of sit and go.

Players should also note that two major changes were made to the Iron Man program.  The 500-point daily requirements are now implemented, making gaining Iron Man status easier if you earn 500 points in a day.  In addition, the Iron Man Plus program was revived.  There’s another major Black Card change coming, but it’s been planned for January, likely sometime in the middle of the month.