As promised by Managing Director Dominic Mansour, Full Tilt has introduced a new VIP rewards program. The new “Players Club” will run alongside the existing Edge Rewards program which has been re-engineered but will retain much of its attraction for high volume players.

Aug 20, 2015  In order to help offset the cost of these policy changes, Full Tilt has instituted cutbacks to its Edge Rewards. The number of tiers has been dropped to three, and the highest tier is capped at a 20 percent rakeback and 4 percent cashback rate, as opposed to.

The Players Club will offer rewards based around a new game called The Deal. “It’s fun, fast action and there are all kinds of prizes up for grabs, from tickets and cash all the way up to a progressive jackpot that we’ll kick start at $100,000,” explained Mansour in a blog post on Full Tilt.

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“We’ve crafted the entire experience in such a way that if you’re an average player playing an average session, you’ll get a shot at that jackpot pretty much every single time you play.”

Players will automatically be members of the Players Club, but can opt instead for the Edge Rewards program. The changed program will offer three tiers, Edge, Edge Plus and Edge Prime. Players earn cashback based on the number of player points they earn at the tables. Status is earned on a 30 day or 100 day rolling average of player points.

A new icon will be displayed over game variants and stake levels where Full Tilt wants to encourage more players to play. Players on the Edge rewards program will receive additional cashback of up to 200% for points earned at these tables.

The specific details of the new The Deal game have not yet been released, but are expected shortly. From what has been posted, the game seems to use a mixture of ways of earning points to qualify which then leads to some form of random prize distribution. It will provide an incentive to play more while ensuring a lottery style distribution of rewards.

“The changes introduced over the last month are based not only on our in-depth analysis of Full Tilt, our customers’ behaviour and the poker industry at large, but are part of our philosophy to keep poker fun, no matter where you’re playing or what stakes you’re wagering,” said Mansour.

The changes introduced last month included a new player lobby which removed the opportunity to select specific tables, the removal of heads up games and games at the highest stake levels, and increased rake at some stake levels including the microstakes.

The changed player ecology, with players randomly distributed to tables, should benefit both recreational players and those high volume players who choose to remain loyal.

Full Tilt Poker released further details of their new VIP system, which replaces the affiliate-based 27% rakeback.

Under the new “Edge Reward Program,” players will be assigned a status level based on the number of Full Tilt Points accumulated, on a 7-day, 30-day, or 100-day rolling average.

For example, to reach Silver status, a player must maintain an average of 50 Full Tilt Points a day over a week, 35/day over a month, or 25/day over a 100-day period.

Players need to reach Silver to be eligible to turn points into cash at a rate of $1 per 100 points, the equivalent of 10% rakeback. This goes up to $2.50/100—25% rakeback—for Diamond players.

To achieve and maintain this top tier, players must average 250 points a day over a 30-day period, or 250/day over 100-days.

It was previously announced that Full Tilt rakeback would max-out at 25%, and even with other promotions, would still be lower than many competitors.

Sister site PokerStars has its SuperNova program that can return up to 70% of rake through cash bonuses, PartyPoker’s VIP program can reach 50%, and many iPoker and Ongame skins have 50%+ VIP programs for loyal grinders. FTP have already stated that it is not looking to compete for high-volume players with big rewards programs at the high end.

Of course, rakeback is only one part of the equation, and with with lower table caps that some of its competitors, players may ultimately still find a good deal at Full Tilt.

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Cash rewards will be paid directly into player accounts weekly. In addition, players gain entry into daily and weekly tournaments. Those who make Diamond will have access to the exclusive “Diamond Edge Store,” where points can be converted into cash bonuses. A new widget in the lobby will show a player’s progress towards the next VIP tier.

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Full Tilt Poker is expected to open later today for play money only. The site will re-open fully on November 6, at which point players will have the choice to withdraw their funds, transfer them to PokerStars, or leave it on Full Tilt to take advantage of their “Deal Me In” promotional launch.