November 2, 2012. That’s the date that Full Tilt Poker will have their “Play-Money” relaunch as the site nears its official relaunch date of November 6th, 2012, when players in many parts of the world will not only have access to their Full Tilt Poker accounts for the first time in over a year, but will also be able to compete at the site’s online poker tables.

PokerStars, which rescued the site from the scrap heap, as well as the old ownership’s reputation as over $350 million in player funds hung in the balance, has been ramping-up their marketing and promotional efforts for the relaunch for over a month now, and as the actual date draws closer, November 6th won’t simply be the date of the US Presidential election, but the end of one of the darkest eras in poker history for many players around the globe.

With players able to log-in and use the Full Tilt Poker software (albeit only at Play Money tables) players will be able to check their Full Tilt balances as well as non-monetary assets like Full Tilt Points (FTP’s), tournament and cash game tickets, and Iron Man medals for the first time since June 29, 2011. Even players in the United States (who are still waiting on the US Department of Justice to begin the remission process that will repay US players affected by the Full Tilt Poker shutdown) will be able to participate in Play Money games at the new Full Tilt.

In addition to the announcement of the relaunch dates for Play Money and Real money games, FTP has signed several high-profile poker players to represent the brand: Gus Hansen, Tom Dwan and Viktor Blom. The site has also released four quick commercial spots as the relaunch date nears:

FTP has also released details on how players outside of the United States can access and withdraw their account balances; announced the resumption of the popular FTOPS tournament series, scheduled for December; announced the Deal Me In promotion that will run for the entire first week the site returns, including $250k in freerolls, Happy Hours, Satellite events and more.

One bit of bad news was the cancellation of the popular Full Tilt Poker rakeback program. Instead of a flat 27% rakeback deal the site will switch to a VIP Loyalty Program, much like PokerStars. People looking at the specifics of the new program have determined that it will max-out rakeback/cash-back at about 35%, far less than the old FTP model, and far less than PokerStars offers for high-volume players, where Supernova Elite’s can earn over 70% rakeback. That said, just the fact that the site will be back online in a week, with account balances immediately available to all players sans US residents, is a godsend for the poker community.

Tags: Blom, Cash Game, Full tilt Poker, Game Tickets, Games Ftp, Gus Hansen, Monetary Assets, Money Games, Money Tables, Online Poker, Play Money, poker players, Poker Software, Poker Tables, PokerStars, Real Money, Scrap Heap, Tom Dwan, Us Department Of Justice, Us Presidential Election

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