FullTiltPoker.eu Officially Launches
Certain members of Full Tilt Poker who were playing on the tables Monday were privy to a brief pop-up message that explicated an upcoming, momentary downtime of the servers. The online poker room was preparing for a quick transition that would result in its software being moved to a new Malta-based sister site, FullTiltPoker.EU.
Full Tilt Poker had previously made it clear their intention to perform the switch to a Malta-based server, but players were nonetheless surprised by the sudden appearance of the message. When the online poker room originally reported its objective to move the software platform, the statement said that the new servers would launch “in the next few weeks”?. Instead, the transition was made just days after the initial publication.
FullTiltPoker.eu will be, at least for the time being, a sister site of FullTiltPoker.com. Although players located in Greece, Slovenia and Luxemburg have been shuffled over to the new domain extention, those residing in Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden are still scheduled to make the transition in the very near future.
There is absolutely no outward difference between the original .COM and the new .EU of Full Tilt Poker. They are exact mirror images of one another, boasting the same tournament rosters, card games, promotions and everything else the world’s second largest poker room has to offer. The only visible difference is the licensing information, where .COM is licensed in the Isle of Man and .EU by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta, and the terms and conditions in regards to governing laws.
Players on the .EU version will be required to download and install the new software platform, and agree to the new terms and conditions, as all disputes will now be handled by Maltese authorities.
The most prominent difference between the two sites is a transparent one regarding the taxation of winnings. There is no requirement to pay taxes on winnings derived from gambling at any online gaming site that is located in, and licensed and regulated by, a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA), such as Malta. The Isle of Man – where both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, under equal ownership by the Rational Group, have their .COM websites located – is not a member of the EEA.
For Full Tilt’s online poker players in Greece, Slovenia and Luxemburg, making the switch to the new FullTiltPoker.EU is not optional, but compulsory. They will not be permitted to continue playing at FTP if they do not download the new software and agree to the corresponding terms and conditions. The same will go for members from all other countries expected to move to the new FullTiltPoker.eu when the time comes.